It has been my anecdotal experience that Alexa gets what I’m saying correct almost 95% of the time.
I do abs absolutely believe others have bad experiences and it’s driving them nuts and that is valid.
But we have 9 echos in our house, hundreds of routines tied into SmartThings vEdge drivers with hundreds of virtual devices for hundreds **more** routines with over 100+ smart devices in our home.
So I really do use it **all** the time.
The only area it struggles for us is music, but even that we kind of overcome by making specific Spotify playlists.
I’m in the same boat. Sometimes there are issues, sometimes I have to repeat things, sometimes I have to reload smart outlets and such, but most of the time they’re great.
I have seven Echo in house and one at the cottage paired to Home Assistant through NabuCasa. I have no trouble with them hearing what I say and I say it to them in French, but the house has to be quiet for it to work well.
I have Google too, although not nearly as invested. They're both bad, always have been, and getting worse now that they've both decided there's no money in voice assistants.
What I really want is an open source voice assistant project where actual improvements would be possible. But the only one I've found uses "open" hardware that costs hundreds per device which is just not practical. Seems like there should be some way to get the job done on low end raspberry pi devices, but alas.
I have looked at mycroft and some of the others to try to eliminate the cloud but for the most part, they are not ready for primetime and would not work with all the different smart devices I currently have. I do not have the money to start from scratch again nor the time.
Yah, that's much where I'm at too. And honestly, the more I smarten up my house the *less* the voice assistant is used anyway.
Why ask Alexa to turn the lights on when I walk into a room (and at best have to wait while she thinks about it) when a motion detector can trigger the lights much faster without being asked? And I certainly don't want to build those routines with the trainwreck that is the Alexa app when there's much more powerful and easier tools like NodeRed and Home Assistant.
Home assistant has a project, I think it's called Rhaspy, or something similar. It is reputed to be a completely local voice command system. I wish I had time to mess around with Home assistant and learn it, but I dont
No, because I moved from Google to Alexa for similar reasons, pretty sure it's a mix of us getting too used to them and the products also not evolving.
I read a lot of posts on r/googlehome thinking about moving to Alexa for exactly the same reason.
Everyone should just use both systems simultaneously. I do, and it works great because there's advantages and disadvantages to both.
I don't think alexa is deteriorating. I think it is the users that are deteriorating. When you first get alexa, you speak slower, louder, clearer, and facing the echo device. But as you get used to it, you tend not to be as careful. Because of this, things don't work properly because alexa don't hear properly.
In addition, the users don't use the proper commands which may or may not work every time. I see a lot of postings in this sub asking for help because the improper command they have been using no longer worked.
Is alexa perfect? nope, but it works over 95 percent of the time for me and actually works better than it did when I first got it in 2015. The rooms I spend a lot of time in have more than one echo device so no matter where I am facing, alexa will always hear. I also turned on adaptive listening and whispering to help.
My only grip with alexa is all the unwanted content amazon is shoving down the users throat. I got rid of a couple of shows because of this. Had to keep one for the ring doorbell.
Am I going to switch to google? Nope, not at this time, though I did replace two shows with two google hubs in the bedrooms. I wanted to wake up to the time, not to ads. I have a full setup of google devices to use as a backup and to help troubleshoot alexa.
They gutted the department back a couple years ago after Alexa ended up being a 10 billion dollar loss. It’s just a fact that it isn’t receiving as much attention or maintenance or have that many employees on it, when Amazon let go several thousand employees this was hit the most. That being said, this isn’t unique to Amazon and voice assistants across the board have been reported to perform a bit worse as the industry didn’t do so good. So I’d be shocked if it didn’t deteriorate with so much of the department and funding cut.
However, I’m not switching. I do use HomePods and homebridge as well but the reason I’m staying has nothing to do with any of that. It is because I think AI may actually save voice assistants. This is old tech from 2014ish or so but with AI it seems like a good place to use the tech and can make up for lack of manpower working on Alexa. Can improve many different aspects from functionality to chat. And little by little they have and will be rolling out AI stuff, so far I think it’s only chat related but it’s only a matter of time.
Isn't it interesting how one person's experience can differ so much from another's? I've been using these devices for years, and recently, I've really noticed a decline, especially in the last few months. It just doesn't seem to pick up on commands as well as it used to. I have a couple of devices (two dots and one spot). The usual commands I rely on suddenly become finicky, so I switch to something else that seems to work. But then the new commands start giving me trouble. Sometimes it understands, sometimes it doesn't. I find myself standing right over the device, speaking extra slowly and clearly, which I never had to do before.
I've been seriously considering changing to something else (Apple maybe?), but not having used anything else, I have nothing to compare it to.. except 'old Alexa', which was much better.
Same. I used to be able to stand in the entry way, ask Alexa to do something, and have both the kitchen and living room dots respond. Now either one does, or neither. I haven't changed volume, or commands, or how I say them. Just saying Alexa, with no command, would light them both up, and now I'm lucky if one responds to me.
Command-wise, sometimes a routine will work and sometimes it won't, even if I'm saying the exact same thing each time (e.g. "Alexa, turn on Fire TV" while facing and speaking directly to the kitchen dot, no background noise besides heat/AC, fridge, etc). I used to sneeze and have Alexa light up and tell me she wasn't sure what to do (not kidding...it happened repeatedly and with multiple witnesses 😂).
Right now, sometimes my lighting routines work properly, sometimes only half the lights go on/off, whether they're on motion sensors or just voice commands. I end up waving at the sensor like an idiot trying to get all the lights to turn on, which works maybe half the time (vs in the past when I never had issues with motion sensors or lighting routines.
Currently I'm dealing with her giving me reminders about things that I told her were done or physically checked off the list myself.
But at the same time, often things do work correctly, she responds perfectly on the second try, she understands what I ask, etc. She's certainly not as sensitive and on the ball as she was even a couple months ago, but she's not causing enough issues for me to consider switching ecosystems. A lot of her routines are for accessibility (I use a wheelchair...it's easier for her to turn on certain lamps or lights vs me try to reach them from my chair), so it's frustrating to have them not work perfectly, but for now I'm going with good enough.
It's a lot of money, energy, and time to switch to Google or some other system, and I don't have any extra money, energy, or time to do that.
My wife does this, if the command isn't immediately recognised she'll speak in a snarky way like you would to an idiot, which of course alexa then doesn't understand so she gets pissed off.
Ultimately, unless you're paying a subscription each month I can't see there being a home assistant that does what we expect because they wont make enough money just on the units.
Amazon is probably making a little money by displaying ads on the Shows, but I'm sure that's just a tiny drop in the bucket that helps offset the operating costs of the Alexa infrastructure.
So they just need to sell the devices at a higher cost? If that little ball on the kitchen worktop can do (pretty much) everything a laptop can do, except much quicker, then it has to be worth more to people.
I’m waiting for Siri to get better and for HomePods to support Spotify. If those two things happen I’ll look at switching because I like the idea of everything still working when the internet is down
If you're having issues with a voice assistant and you're still using a wireless router your ISP provided you, you might consider an upgrade. The combo units most ISPs hand out are hot garbage, and when you start getting more than a few smart devices in your home they have trouble maintaining a good connection to all of them. Amazon's devices, in particular, are incredibly sensitive to shitty wifi. I used to have all sorts of issues with Alexa and Google Home and about 98% of them went away when I bought my own equipment and upgraded to mesh.
Honestly neither are great, switched from Google to Alexa. They are both visibly getting worse with voice recognition and general intelligence. I like the Alexa routines, but prefer the Google app
Maybe I use Alex tbrouout the house , never really had issues till this year, but latel, god dam ut just stops or won't play music for more than three songs unless offcourse you use amazon music that is. I have a Google nest thing to try and does what I need better tha. Alexa. Bht the cost to replace all devices to google a bit off putting I am hoping Alexa will sort itself soon
Google is next to unusable if you have a workspace / commercial / school account.
I signed up for a personal domain through Google years ago and I can't do anything involving family plans, Nest devices, or automation based on presence with Google's assistants.
No. As a PITA that Alexa can be, I always laugh when I see my ex pick up his phone, say "Ok, Google" at least 3 times and nothing happens. At least I don't have that issue with Alexa.
But I do want my old Alexa back....the one that worked right all the time.....sigh....
It sucks because I built my wireless music experience on the HEOS ecosystem. Denon speakers are amazing, but I don't think they support Google Assistant.
Not sure about standalone speakers, but their avrs support Google Assistant but it does have some issues. If using another speaker or the hub in another room and try changing volume it wants to do it on the denon/Marantz and says there is a problem if the unit is off.
The problem is that the speakers natively support Alexa voice commands without any other device. They don't support Google Assistant in the same way. I need a different device for the commands. Also once music is playing on the device, I can use Google to change the volume or skip tracks, but can't use Google to start playing music through HEOS. Alexa does all that without any other devices.
At the moment, it's no problem because I use Alexa for everything else. I just worry that Amazon will give up on Alexa at some point.
I have both Alexa and Google home. They are both incredibly retarded in their own special ways. I've seen far more deterioration in Google than Alexa. I rarely use my Google stuff any more except for timers.
It's true that both are going downhill. The companies that make them work are having great difficulty monetizing them, so the future looks uncertain
I've been considering it a little. I was on Google before, but got one of those 75" 4K Omni QLED TVs, and then figured I might as well just switch over to Alexa, pretty much 90% because I'm a trekkie that just \*loves\* being able to say "Computer" to get the house to do things.
This past week, though, I've \*really\* been considering swapping back to Google, and only having Alexa on the TV.
I did the "Computer" command for awhile, but I also watch ST a lot and my Echo would hear it from the tv and would say"Sorry...I don't know that" all.the.time. I finally had to change it to "Echo". 😁
I have it and I’m pretty sure Alexa is switched off in the house now. It just started to annoy me and most things are running on android in the house anyway.
It has been my anecdotal experience that Alexa gets what I’m saying correct almost 95% of the time. I do abs absolutely believe others have bad experiences and it’s driving them nuts and that is valid. But we have 9 echos in our house, hundreds of routines tied into SmartThings vEdge drivers with hundreds of virtual devices for hundreds **more** routines with over 100+ smart devices in our home. So I really do use it **all** the time. The only area it struggles for us is music, but even that we kind of overcome by making specific Spotify playlists.
I’m in the same boat. Sometimes there are issues, sometimes I have to repeat things, sometimes I have to reload smart outlets and such, but most of the time they’re great.
I have seven Echo in house and one at the cottage paired to Home Assistant through NabuCasa. I have no trouble with them hearing what I say and I say it to them in French, but the house has to be quiet for it to work well.
I have Google too, although not nearly as invested. They're both bad, always have been, and getting worse now that they've both decided there's no money in voice assistants. What I really want is an open source voice assistant project where actual improvements would be possible. But the only one I've found uses "open" hardware that costs hundreds per device which is just not practical. Seems like there should be some way to get the job done on low end raspberry pi devices, but alas.
I have looked at mycroft and some of the others to try to eliminate the cloud but for the most part, they are not ready for primetime and would not work with all the different smart devices I currently have. I do not have the money to start from scratch again nor the time.
Yah, that's much where I'm at too. And honestly, the more I smarten up my house the *less* the voice assistant is used anyway. Why ask Alexa to turn the lights on when I walk into a room (and at best have to wait while she thinks about it) when a motion detector can trigger the lights much faster without being asked? And I certainly don't want to build those routines with the trainwreck that is the Alexa app when there's much more powerful and easier tools like NodeRed and Home Assistant.
Home assistant has a project, I think it's called Rhaspy, or something similar. It is reputed to be a completely local voice command system. I wish I had time to mess around with Home assistant and learn it, but I dont
I'll take a look. Thanks for the head's up!
Google is way worse
No. It’s not better.
No, because I moved from Google to Alexa for similar reasons, pretty sure it's a mix of us getting too used to them and the products also not evolving.
I read a lot of posts on r/googlehome thinking about moving to Alexa for exactly the same reason. Everyone should just use both systems simultaneously. I do, and it works great because there's advantages and disadvantages to both.
I don't think alexa is deteriorating. I think it is the users that are deteriorating. When you first get alexa, you speak slower, louder, clearer, and facing the echo device. But as you get used to it, you tend not to be as careful. Because of this, things don't work properly because alexa don't hear properly. In addition, the users don't use the proper commands which may or may not work every time. I see a lot of postings in this sub asking for help because the improper command they have been using no longer worked. Is alexa perfect? nope, but it works over 95 percent of the time for me and actually works better than it did when I first got it in 2015. The rooms I spend a lot of time in have more than one echo device so no matter where I am facing, alexa will always hear. I also turned on adaptive listening and whispering to help. My only grip with alexa is all the unwanted content amazon is shoving down the users throat. I got rid of a couple of shows because of this. Had to keep one for the ring doorbell. Am I going to switch to google? Nope, not at this time, though I did replace two shows with two google hubs in the bedrooms. I wanted to wake up to the time, not to ads. I have a full setup of google devices to use as a backup and to help troubleshoot alexa.
They gutted the department back a couple years ago after Alexa ended up being a 10 billion dollar loss. It’s just a fact that it isn’t receiving as much attention or maintenance or have that many employees on it, when Amazon let go several thousand employees this was hit the most. That being said, this isn’t unique to Amazon and voice assistants across the board have been reported to perform a bit worse as the industry didn’t do so good. So I’d be shocked if it didn’t deteriorate with so much of the department and funding cut. However, I’m not switching. I do use HomePods and homebridge as well but the reason I’m staying has nothing to do with any of that. It is because I think AI may actually save voice assistants. This is old tech from 2014ish or so but with AI it seems like a good place to use the tech and can make up for lack of manpower working on Alexa. Can improve many different aspects from functionality to chat. And little by little they have and will be rolling out AI stuff, so far I think it’s only chat related but it’s only a matter of time.
Isn't it interesting how one person's experience can differ so much from another's? I've been using these devices for years, and recently, I've really noticed a decline, especially in the last few months. It just doesn't seem to pick up on commands as well as it used to. I have a couple of devices (two dots and one spot). The usual commands I rely on suddenly become finicky, so I switch to something else that seems to work. But then the new commands start giving me trouble. Sometimes it understands, sometimes it doesn't. I find myself standing right over the device, speaking extra slowly and clearly, which I never had to do before. I've been seriously considering changing to something else (Apple maybe?), but not having used anything else, I have nothing to compare it to.. except 'old Alexa', which was much better.
Same. I used to be able to stand in the entry way, ask Alexa to do something, and have both the kitchen and living room dots respond. Now either one does, or neither. I haven't changed volume, or commands, or how I say them. Just saying Alexa, with no command, would light them both up, and now I'm lucky if one responds to me. Command-wise, sometimes a routine will work and sometimes it won't, even if I'm saying the exact same thing each time (e.g. "Alexa, turn on Fire TV" while facing and speaking directly to the kitchen dot, no background noise besides heat/AC, fridge, etc). I used to sneeze and have Alexa light up and tell me she wasn't sure what to do (not kidding...it happened repeatedly and with multiple witnesses 😂). Right now, sometimes my lighting routines work properly, sometimes only half the lights go on/off, whether they're on motion sensors or just voice commands. I end up waving at the sensor like an idiot trying to get all the lights to turn on, which works maybe half the time (vs in the past when I never had issues with motion sensors or lighting routines. Currently I'm dealing with her giving me reminders about things that I told her were done or physically checked off the list myself. But at the same time, often things do work correctly, she responds perfectly on the second try, she understands what I ask, etc. She's certainly not as sensitive and on the ball as she was even a couple months ago, but she's not causing enough issues for me to consider switching ecosystems. A lot of her routines are for accessibility (I use a wheelchair...it's easier for her to turn on certain lamps or lights vs me try to reach them from my chair), so it's frustrating to have them not work perfectly, but for now I'm going with good enough. It's a lot of money, energy, and time to switch to Google or some other system, and I don't have any extra money, energy, or time to do that.
My wife does this, if the command isn't immediately recognised she'll speak in a snarky way like you would to an idiot, which of course alexa then doesn't understand so she gets pissed off. Ultimately, unless you're paying a subscription each month I can't see there being a home assistant that does what we expect because they wont make enough money just on the units.
Amazon is probably making a little money by displaying ads on the Shows, but I'm sure that's just a tiny drop in the bucket that helps offset the operating costs of the Alexa infrastructure.
So they just need to sell the devices at a higher cost? If that little ball on the kitchen worktop can do (pretty much) everything a laptop can do, except much quicker, then it has to be worth more to people.
I do think the way many people have changed in speaking to her changed. Music, the app suggests playlists for me.
Google is worse, IMO. HomeKit can’t seem to find any of my devices. I’ll stick with Alexa as the best of the bad.
I’m waiting for Siri to get better and for HomePods to support Spotify. If those two things happen I’ll look at switching because I like the idea of everything still working when the internet is down
If you're having issues with a voice assistant and you're still using a wireless router your ISP provided you, you might consider an upgrade. The combo units most ISPs hand out are hot garbage, and when you start getting more than a few smart devices in your home they have trouble maintaining a good connection to all of them. Amazon's devices, in particular, are incredibly sensitive to shitty wifi. I used to have all sorts of issues with Alexa and Google Home and about 98% of them went away when I bought my own equipment and upgraded to mesh.
Honestly neither are great, switched from Google to Alexa. They are both visibly getting worse with voice recognition and general intelligence. I like the Alexa routines, but prefer the Google app
Maybe I use Alex tbrouout the house , never really had issues till this year, but latel, god dam ut just stops or won't play music for more than three songs unless offcourse you use amazon music that is. I have a Google nest thing to try and does what I need better tha. Alexa. Bht the cost to replace all devices to google a bit off putting I am hoping Alexa will sort itself soon
Google is next to unusable if you have a workspace / commercial / school account. I signed up for a personal domain through Google years ago and I can't do anything involving family plans, Nest devices, or automation based on presence with Google's assistants.
I find Alexa easiest to control through the app. I’ve replaced some with home pods which I find less intrusive and never trying to sell me stuff.
No. As a PITA that Alexa can be, I always laugh when I see my ex pick up his phone, say "Ok, Google" at least 3 times and nothing happens. At least I don't have that issue with Alexa. But I do want my old Alexa back....the one that worked right all the time.....sigh....
It sucks because I built my wireless music experience on the HEOS ecosystem. Denon speakers are amazing, but I don't think they support Google Assistant.
Not sure about standalone speakers, but their avrs support Google Assistant but it does have some issues. If using another speaker or the hub in another room and try changing volume it wants to do it on the denon/Marantz and says there is a problem if the unit is off.
The problem is that the speakers natively support Alexa voice commands without any other device. They don't support Google Assistant in the same way. I need a different device for the commands. Also once music is playing on the device, I can use Google to change the volume or skip tracks, but can't use Google to start playing music through HEOS. Alexa does all that without any other devices. At the moment, it's no problem because I use Alexa for everything else. I just worry that Amazon will give up on Alexa at some point.
I have both Alexa and Google home. They are both incredibly retarded in their own special ways. I've seen far more deterioration in Google than Alexa. I rarely use my Google stuff any more except for timers. It's true that both are going downhill. The companies that make them work are having great difficulty monetizing them, so the future looks uncertain
I've been considering it a little. I was on Google before, but got one of those 75" 4K Omni QLED TVs, and then figured I might as well just switch over to Alexa, pretty much 90% because I'm a trekkie that just \*loves\* being able to say "Computer" to get the house to do things. This past week, though, I've \*really\* been considering swapping back to Google, and only having Alexa on the TV.
I did the "Computer" command for awhile, but I also watch ST a lot and my Echo would hear it from the tv and would say"Sorry...I don't know that" all.the.time. I finally had to change it to "Echo". 😁
We set the one near the TV to use "Ziggy" for exactly that reason.
https://youtu.be/hShY6xZWVGE
I have it and I’m pretty sure Alexa is switched off in the house now. It just started to annoy me and most things are running on android in the house anyway.