Amazon Alexa 4+

This app no longer works properly. For the past several weeks, I’ve gone to several different stores to shop. Before I leave home, I make a shopping list, but when I get to the store the app won’t open. I get the comment “No Network Available” “Please connect and try again”. I checked my settings and cellular data and cellular roaming is turned on, but I’m unable to open or sign in to Alexa. The next day it might or might not work. I have LTE cellular service and a fully charged iPhone 7 running IOS 11.4.1. I’m now leaving the second store today without completing my shopping because I depend on this list function. I guess I have to revert back to the olden ways of paper & pencil. I’m very dissatisfied, but hey it’s free you say. Well it’s turned into a huge time waster for me because now I’ll have to go home and scour through the sales ads and either recreate my lists or make a paper list. When I get home the app may actually open, but when I get to the store....nothing. Maybe you ought to fix the issues that exist now before you keep proudly adding and advertising more and more new functions and capabilities to the app, which evidently seem to be causing problems with its former user-friendly and basic functioning.

Our sons and our bedroom are close together. He has an echo kids. When we say good morning Routine it plays on our echo in our bedroom instead of his bedroom. We constantly miss listening to our morning news and weather. Other than changing Alexa’s name we wish you could make Alexa ignore a 2,3,and 4 year old. It was cute at first but now it totally annoying to the point where we just want to get rid of Alexa and the 4 units we bought. I like being able not to have to talk to Alexa and being able to type commands or to switch buttons. I don’t like the volume control as it blasted as it jumps several volume levels at a time and help destroy my new very expensive speaker system on my stereo which also is hooked to sound our TV. This is bad having Alexa listen to your 3 year old crank up the volume. A lot would have to change for me to ever give it 5 stars. There are some nice features but are outweighed by the bad. Alexa needs more and better Setting Controls and a way to ignore small children who like to change music every 5 seconds. I want to turn on my garage lights first and after I scrolled through every other light in the house I finally arrive to where I can turn the switch on; you should be able to arrange the switches the way you want. Still haven’t figured Kids Free time out. Hard to have other main adult family members use the app too; only one master.

We can’t get her to work as effectively as she did in the past 2 years we’ve purchased several products over the years and have incorporated Alexa around the home and in varies aspects of our lives. Especially once I was diagnosed with cancer back in 2018. She was a big help. Our family depends on her for many things including my medical treatment plans, helping with the kids stay on task, & the day to day functions.
These past few months she doesn’t understand task, she doesn’t announce every requested announcement. She sounds muffled on various devices around the home on drop ins. When one person is using her in a room near by, she’s in listing mode to where it’s interfering with the other room’s listening experience. There are too many things to list on this review and I’m trying to stay the course but I don’t know why the quality has declined, but I’m always singing her praise.
As we invest more and more into Alexa, it’s like we are punished for incorporating her around the house because the only way to stream music on separate devices at a time is to pay almost $20 for a service plan. That is insane! For example, if any of my 3 kids are in their individual rooms listening, only one can play music. Right now my 6 year old is listening to night time lullabies in his room, nobody else can play music.