Although the feature has been deleted from newer models, there was a time when Amazon’s Echo devices included a 3.5 mm “aux” input jack that let you connect other audio sources to the smart speaker. Alexa would even let you switch over to an external source with a voice command — or at least, it used to.
As first reported by Reddit user [n8-sd], Amazon has started informing users that voice control over the 3.5 mm jack is no longer supported. While the physical input will still function on models equipped with it, if you want to mute the audio coming from an external device you’ll have to wade through the Alexa smartphone application to do it.
In a statement to Ars Technica, an Amazon rep confirmed that voice control over the auxiliary input has been removed as of the latest software version, and that their analytics showed not many people were using the feature in the first place. They also pointed out that no changes have been made to voice control of Bluetooth devices. While we don’t doubt that the total number of users that were physically plugging an audio source into their Echos was probably low in the grand scheme of things, that doesn’t really explain why such a simple feature needed to be actively removed.
Some commenters have theorized that the real reason behind the change is the fact that Amazon has no way of monitoring what users are playing over the auxiliary input. Since cataloging and selling the media consumption habits of users is big business these days, that’s a problem. While they might prefer to disable the feature entirely, they know that would stir up some bad press, so they’re opting to simply make it more annoying to use. We’re not saying we entirely buy this explanation, but it’s not the craziest thing we’ve ever heard either.
Although the Echo devices have never been particularly hackable, they have enjoyed a certain amount of success with tech-savvy users, making it all the more disappointing to see the ecosystem seemingly becoming less capable over time.
I am thrilled to have never owned (possessed?) one of these devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKBKR1T4O0
Same, why people invite Amazon, et al to listen to them at all times of the day is beyond me.
In capitalist America, Alexa owns you!
Your missing on ultimate Amazon Alexa voice pack then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKBKR1T4O0
It’s legitimately e-waste if you don’t use them to listen to music. Turning on your living room light gets old fast. “Turn on the light at 5pm everyday”, if you’re feeling fancy. “Turn on the porch light 15 minutes before sunset everyday”, and it likely can’t do it.
I have homeassistant and quite a few DIY ESPHome devices and compared to that, every commercial IoT device, system and “skill” on alexa/google home is a joke. The customizations and integrations are pitiful. You can’t really do much with them compared to HA.
I interfaced my grandfathers fitness band with my HomeAssistant setup and now it starts blinking the lights in my room (ESP32 + relay board running ESPHome, installed in the walls) if his heart rate rises and stays high for 1 minute. You CANNOT get this level of automation with ANY commercial IoT system, or ANY “skill”
You can write your own alexa skills, you know?
I hae an Amazon Tap (Echo device). I LOVE it. But they now hate it. It’s portable, sits on a charger pad, I can take it to the patio while grilling out, etc. But they refuse to put AI on it (“too old, weak hardware”), which is BS because… all that stuff is online. And non-AI Echo devices are dumb as rocks and getting dumber by the day. But at least I can still say “Alexa, play music by George Strait” and that will work. (Unless George Strait is only on the subscription Amazon Music, can’t remember.). But when that device dies for good, I will probably NOT get another Echo or Amazon-based device.
Simple, money, duh… even the BOM, why build in parts that are not is use? sure some wont be happy, but shareholders etc are not investing to make anyone happy. Even the companies I work with, many times we pull something and lose a few customers, but those few customers are not paying the bills. Its like when a group of people dont patron a local store and complain when it goes out of business, those few didnt do anything to aid in the success of the local store.
As a musician and recording engineer I avoid smart devices. The notion that software will be robust and useful in a closed hardware ecosystem is false, the dev team in 10 years will be scattered far and wide and no new updates (korg sdk looking at you). In linux I can route audio in any imaginable manner via gui or text based software.
I have mostly liked the echo devices, within their limits. I have rooms with no physical light switch where being able to control the lights by voice is convenient, and be able to do things like shutting down all lights when I’m going to bed without having to haul out my phone is useful. I have written one skill, though I need to update it since one of the libraries it depends on has gone out of service. I appreciate touchless access to NPR news as well. What I happen to have a prime subscription, I have taken advantage of the additional features that enables to play recordings I don’t happen to own. And I occasionally do something like a dictionary look up which takes advantage of their wider vocabulary and provided back end functions.
Yes, local home automation is a better answer. But as a cheap low effort voice interface, it has done a lot of what I needed.
They did break some things when they introduced the Alexa Plus for-fee variant. Nothing major that I’ve noticed yet, but I had all of my Alexas using a male voice and their current build not only forced me back to the default but is not allowing me to select another voice anymore. Gratuitous breakage that I honestly don’t expect them to fix, but that’s about the level of support I expect from them.
I’m sure there are better solutions for voice interfaces, probably entirely local ones. But I have too many pending projects already, and building a set of those is just not a priority for me. If there is something commercially available and cheap that runs locally and still has the potential for customization, I’m not aware of it and would appreciate a pointer. Until that turns up, these do most of what I currently expect from them.
this line hurts: “though I need to update it since one of the libraries it depends on has gone out of service.” this is the status quo in so many fields of software. the library has disappeared, or its interface has radically changed, or on and on…just endless dependency hell in every project.
Maybe add physical light switches? Using them is pretty convenient too – they work “offline”, don’t require and don’t spy on anyone.
People have reasons for doing things the way that they do them. Maybe this person needs voice control because they’re handicapped.
I have bad joints, so voice control to turn the light off at night once I’ve made it to bed is a godsend.
Next time think before you open your mouth, or better yet keep it shut if all you have to offer is flippant negativity. People come here to learn.
when i installed x10 light switches 20 years ago, i learned that i hate them. my preference is (it turns out) just like yours. my house is small and my habits are very compatible with mechanical switches. if i was a different person in a different house with different remote switches, i might have had a different experience, in which case i might type something lke “able to do things like shutting down all lights … is useful.”
if someone is on the fence about whether to indulge in a gadget trial, maybe advice “i tried it and it was useless” is useful. but once someone has said “i have used it and i like it”, you can’t very well correct them. at most, “just wait, you’ll see the downsides someday.” ??
I haven’t seen somebody use an Alexa for about eight years. Seeing one in the wild (not a junk drawer) would be like seeing a Cybiko again. Except not as fun. What’s the demographic for these now? I’m curious.
We have 15 echo devices in our home. Use them to play music, order items, glean information of all sorts, turn lights off and on, you name it. We love them..
I never owned an Amazon Echo because I don’t trust Amazon to not data mine every sound it could receive, same reason I never set up a Facebook account, both Bezos & Zuckerberg are not trustworthy people, they did not get to be billionaires by being honest
I guess you don’t have a smart phone either?
https://xkcd.com/1807/
Ive been having fun with a Echo Show 5 after jailbreaking and loading lineageOS. Built my own Music and Video player served from a local server, interfacing with a LLM allows me to use voice commands to request artists, videos ec. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRlWNrB2dDI
Isn’t Bluetooth the new 3.5 mm input? If so I can kinda see why the aux input got left off. Besides the connector, they can drop a dual op amp and stereo a/d converters.
I actually have an (unused) Alexa device with a headphone/speaker jack. It’s not the same as aux but if you tell some people that they’ll argue the point.
Google feels like a better option than Alexa, no evidence.
We have three around our house for listening to music, local radio and general questions that come up and we really like them. There is one in the bathroom so when taking a shower I can get news and traffic updates which is helpful. The one thing that does annoy me is the ads when requesting it to play something. I can finish my shower before the ads are done, but there is a work around, by playing it on my phone first and then connecting to the Echo through Bluetooth it will skip the initial ads. Everyone brings up the eavesdropping, and I’m not a fan of it either, but almost everyone has a much more invasive tracking device on their person at most times during the day and by their side at night.
If the aux input is attached to an ADC, the device could easily know what you’re playing by analyzing the music feed.