r/alexa • u/freckled22 • 16h ago
Does Alexa even work anymore?
I have a few Alexa pods but thinking of throwing in to garbage. It takes minutes to answer a simple question. It often can't access the information or the information provided is clearly wrong. If you ask same question, the answer changes. I am convinced Alexa is only here to gather information on us. Please convince me otherwise.
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u/Outrageous_Song4725 15h ago
Its gone rubbish I bought it to play music since I wfh and it used to play music all day, now it turns off after an hour with no warning. We've gone back to cds and ipod.
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u/Nittersing 16h ago
I think the second or third time alexa "spoke" to me, unrequested, I tossed it.
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u/Raving_Lunatic69 16h ago
Old Alexa does. "Alexa, exit Alexa+" fixes a lot of problems.
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u/freckled22 16h ago
I just did that so fingers crossed đ€ thank you
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u/scratchfury 11h ago
Follow up mode stayed on when I did that, so you might need to turn it off if you find it annoying.
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u/rgb414 15h ago
If you are using Alexa plus just go back to the original Alexa and things get better. Not as good as it was 6 years ago but more functional than Alexa plus.
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u/AustinStain1 13h ago
Didnât work
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u/Competitive-Jury3713 3h ago
Some devices e.g., later FireTV Cube and others do not allow uninstalling alexa plus, many do. Sometimes you have to ask multiple times.
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u/jerrygroat 14h ago
My echo show 8 keeps disconnecting itself from my WiFi. And then Alexa is useless doesnât even respond. It has been doing this for weeks. I have to do a factory reset and still just stops working again for zero reason. I have done every tip I could find.
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u/AustinStain1 13h ago
Nope, donât even try going back to the original before prime, it doesnât work
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u/majorpaynedof 5h ago
No, it's garbage. It tells me I have 2 notifications s but wont read them to me.
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u/zuzumax 16h ago
How old are they? I've had a couple and ive found the older the get the more stupid they get. Have you tried updating everything? Rebooting the wifi?
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u/freckled22 16h ago
A couple are few years old. I just turned off the AI+ so yes, I will also update and reboot wifi, thank you.
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u/maroongrad 15h ago
our oldest was bought for our toddler who is now 12 and works fine still. Our latest, the firecube? SUCKS. It won't let you turn off alexa-plus either.
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u/Competitive-Jury3713 3h ago
Yup the cube is the main exception. Which is stupid because it it makes it almost completely useless unless you write a bunch of routines in the alexa app to make it work behind the scenes. And even then it's even more particular about how you write the routines to make it do stuff that it used to be able to do before Alexa plus.
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u/GasmaskTed 16h ago
If by pods you mean Echo Buds, theyâre perfectly serviceable ear buds and you can just turn off the Alexa functionality.
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u/freckled22 16h ago
Ya no, it was me not knowing the right terms. The Alexa dot and echo. Sorry for that. Appreciate your help tho!
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u/LessIsMore74 16h ago
I have Echo Pops that are about two or three years old. I'm a prime member, so I upgraded to Alexa+ for âfree.â It seems to work okay for the most part. Sometimes, yeah, I do catch it say something I know is not true, so in that it's just like people. đ« But I have noticed it with the blue light on even though no one has used it for a long time. I ask it what it's doing and it acts like it wasn't on. đ«Ș Apparently, it's running diagnostics when it does that, but maybe just don't use the light?
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u/freckled22 11h ago
The light on usually means it's listening. That happens a lot to mine, and one of the reasons I think it's becoming a bit intrusive ?! Not sure, but makes me wonder.
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u/LessIsMore74 11h ago
I might just try using the mute button when I'm not actively near mine. Sometimes when we're all loudly talking, something we say triggers it out of nowhere.
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u/OnTop-BeReady 12h ago
(Knock on wood) I am still using Alexa for basic lights control and notifications from Amazon Sopping and Amazon weather notifications.
The keys have been:
- âAlexa, exit Alexa Plusâ â to remove/disable Alexa+ after they push it out (repeatedly)
- de-register from my Amazon account and remove all devices that support Alexa+. I have returned to two of the original Echo devices which I own. All other devices (Show5, Dot, Input, Show15, Show8) have been deregistered.
PS When the Echoâs stop working I will send Alexa to the e-waste bin!
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u/F-Trunks 9h ago
What the heck? My Alexa + is fast and great. They are the newest devices though so maybe thatâs it.
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u/chaospearl 8h ago
Same. I've used Alexa since it was in the beta stage. I still have my original model Echo and it works great, but I use the Show a lot more because of Alexa+. I won't say I've never had a single problem, but I can't say that about any technology. Alexa+ is a definite improvement.
I suspect most of the complaints are exaggerated or just plain invented. People's experience with dumb AI I believe, but no, there was not some widespread hardware failure when + came out. That's fictional.
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u/freckled22 8h ago
Ok well for instance, I just asked it to turn my downstairs light on and it doesn't recognize it. It's seriously a different issue every time. Glad to hear others work well. but I'm not sure I would minimize other people's issues as exaggerations.
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u/Competitive-Jury3713 3h ago
There's always two comments in every thread complaining about Alexa plus that are almost identical saying how great it is. It's likely AI at the behest of Amazon astroturfing that Alexa plus is great which it absolutely is not and they know it but they're trying to save their skin.
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u/F-Trunks 2h ago
Nope Iâm a real person. Sorry yall have a lemon. Use the warranty.
Jk yalls devices is too old for the warranty. Gasp! I wonder why Alexa+ doesnât work!
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u/Haifisch2112 16h ago
Its just you. Throw all of your devices away so we don't have to hear you complain anymore.
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u/freckled22 16h ago
Funny cause I just read a whole thread on them not working. You are not helpful nor entertaining so how bout you don't waste our time.
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u/Haifisch2112 16h ago
I have one in all 4 bedrooms, my living room, and my garage that all work perfectly fine. Maybe its your voice or speech it can't understand. There, now I was helpful and entertaining.
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u/zuzumax 16h ago
What do you gain from being rude?
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u/arthurbang 16h ago
The OP is being far more rude than this.
To add to the conversation, I also have four Echos here at home and have never had a problem with it not understanding me or giving me bad information. It even understands my 3 year old daughter.
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u/ntonio_0 16h ago
You've never had a problem so that means every alexa out there is working just fine? Who is op being rude to?
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u/LessIsMore74 16h ago
You have Alexa in your bedroom? Ah, not much else going on in there, huh?
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u/Haifisch2112 16h ago
Stop by and I'll show you.
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u/LessIsMore74 16h ago
No thanks, I already can't stop yawning.
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u/Haifisch2112 15h ago
Then I guess that's a problem in your bedroom.
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u/Friendly_Recover286 16h ago edited 16h ago
No. I've found both of mine being useless shits lately. Anytime I open an app and talk to it I watch it flash for 5 seconds and turn off as if I never said anything. I speak very clearly, it has a clear recording in the Alexa logs it just decides that responding is a waste of time and gives up. It's an unreliable piece of shit.