Alexa App is Amazon’s assistant and device-management app for Android, iPhone and iPad. It lets you use Alexa from a phone or tablet, manage Echo devices, control compatible smart home equipment and carry shopping lists and reminders between devices. You can use the app without owning an Echo; linking compatible devices adds household controls and communication through their speakers and screens.
Managing smart home devices from the Alexa App
The Devices area brings connected equipment into one inventory. When adding a device, you choose its type and brand so Alexa can present the relevant connection options. Supported targets include smart bulbs, plugs, thermostats, locks and cameras. Compatibility with Alexa determines which equipment the app can manage.
Once connected, you can check a device’s status or change supported settings from your phone, including while away from home. That can mean adjusting a light, changing a thermostat setting or checking a lock. Alexa App also provides access to compatible cameras and smart home alerts, alongside management of the Echo devices associated with your account.
Routines
An Alexa routine connects a starting event to one or more actions. In Alexa App, you select what starts the routine, then add the operations it should perform. A single routine can combine smart home commands, music playback and a weather update.
Routines can include conditions and a chosen device for their actions. They can apply to the household or an individual Alexa profile, allowing a personalized action such as a playlist to follow that person’s alarm. Voice commands can also start routines, so an established sequence remains available through an Echo as well as the app’s controls.
Lists, reminders and alarms
Shopping and to-do lists remain accessible on your phone after you create or update them through Alexa. You can edit their contents while away from an Echo and mark off work as it is completed. The app’s home feed provides a route back to lists and other recent activity.
Alexa App also lets you keep track of reminders, active timers and alarms. A reminder or task set through an Echo can produce a notification on your phone, carrying the prompt beyond the room where it was created. Weather and news requests provide spoken information alongside these organizational functions.
Music services and speaker groups
Linking a supported music service gives Alexa access to its available content. Providers include Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. You can choose a song or playlist and send playback to an Alexa-enabled device; the content available depends on the connected service and its subscription.
For music across several rooms, the app can combine compatible Echo devices into speaker groups. Selecting a group makes those speakers a shared playback target. Alexa also supports audiobooks and podcasts, with recent music and books accessible from the home feed.
Drop In
Drop In turns supported Echo devices into intercom endpoints that the phone app can reach. Unlike a call that waits to be answered, a Drop In connection begins automatically and opens a two-way audio or video conversation on supported equipment.
The feature is optional. It can connect devices within your household or connect with an Alexa contact; contact connections require both people to grant Drop In permission. Separate calling and messaging functions let the app communicate with supported Alexa-enabled devices.
Alexa+ conversations and access
Alexa+ adds conversations for questions, research, comparisons and planning. You can speak or type a request, build on an earlier exchange and continue a conversation between the app, a browser and compatible Echo devices. Connected third-party services can extend requests into actions such as restaurant reservations or ride bookings.
A limited Alexa+ experience is available free in Alexa App. Full Alexa+ access is included with Prime or available through a separate subscription for non-Prime customers, while some connected services require their own subscriptions. Alexa+ availability depends on supported language and account location, and it requires a personal Amazon account.
Alexa Privacy
Alexa processes spoken requests in Amazon’s cloud and creates text transcripts to interpret them. The app’s Alexa Privacy area lets you review and delete voice recordings, transcripts and typed requests, and manage automatic deletion. These controls concern request history; deleting it does not erase every related action record or information retained by third-party skills.
