The Alexa app is so bad I’m using Siri again

I’ve utilized Alexa to negociate my shopping database for years. There are plentifulness of awesome database apps retired there, but the convenience of adding items by sound anyplace successful my house, pulling up the database connected an Echo Show successful the kitchen, and having it connected my telephone via the Alexa app has worked good for me. Until it didn’t.

Alexa Plus, mixed pinch a redesign of the Alexa app that puts the generative AI-powered adjunct beforehand and center, has made the full process truthful irritating that I’ve reluctantly switched to Apple’s Reminders app and Siri.

This is not what I wanted. I person Echos each complete my house, but only a mates of HomePods, and Siri insists connected saying my sanction each clip I adhd thing to the list: “Okay, Jennifer, apples are connected your list.”

But astatine slightest erstwhile I propulsion up the database connected my iPhone, it’s conscionable a goddamn list. It’s not an advertisement for items I don’t want to bargain from Whole Foods, aliases a measurement to effort to get maine to chat pinch Alexa Plus. Siri is annoying, but astatine slightest it stays successful its lane.

The database acquisition successful the Alexa app has been changing successful mini ways for a while now. First, I started seeing much ads for the aforementioned Whole Foods products. Then I had to pat done 2 screens to adhd anything. Now, the caller Alexa chatbot matter container appears astatine the bottommost of my list, prompting maine to “Ask Alexa.”

It’s the worst spot for it, arsenic the small heart is to put what you want to adhd to your database successful there. In the Reminders app, that’s wherever there’s a bully large positive motion to adhd an item. But erstwhile I typed “butter” into Alexa Plus, I sewage a guideline to butter.

To really adhd thing to the list, I person to spell to the apical of the screen, pat adhd item, which takes maine to a 2nd surface wherever there’s a page of ads for Whole Foods items, and finally, a mini matter container up apical wherever I tin type successful what I want.

The full process takes 5 taps, and that’s pinch the shopping database tagged arsenic a Favorite, truthful it’s accessible from the app’s beforehand page. Well, it utilized to be. Now I person to swipe past a caller Alexa Plus chatbot paper to get to Favorites. So, make that six taps successful total.

Using the Alexa app’s iPhone widget speeds things up a smidge, but it still pushes those Whole Foods images and Alexa Plus astatine maine erstwhile each I want to do is put food connected my list. With Apple’s Reminders, it’s mostly 1 pat from opening the app to adding an point to the list.

I asked Amazon astir the caller Whole Foods merchandise images page, and a spokesperson, Trang Nguyen, told maine it was portion of a short-term test.

Today, erstwhile I opened the list, I still had to click done to the 2nd screen, but alternatively of large images of mostly Whole Foods products, it now showed a longer, much varied database of suggested products pinch smaller thumbnails.

Nguyen besides said the app should retrieve the paper I was connected erstwhile I past utilized it and unfastened to Favorites by default — arsenic it utilized to do. But nary of this changes the truth that the acquisition has go acold excessively fiddly, particularly compared to adding an point to Reminders.

Of course, the easiest measurement to adhd thing is by sound (no ads there), but present Alexa Plus still gets successful my way. Asking the new, smarter adjunct to adhd thing now often involves an full diatribe — almost for illustration it’s trying to show maine really overmuch smarter it is:

Me: “Alexa, adhd sour pick to my shopping list.”

Alexa Plus: “Looks for illustration you’re already stocked up connected that creamy goodness! Sour pick is already chilling successful your cart.”

No. Thank you.

Maybe I’m conscionable turning into a curmudgeon who’s stuck successful her ways, but the other commentary really bugs me.

I’ve many times asked Alexa not to beryllium truthful verbose, but it hasn’t listened, and the sour pick speech was the past straw. While Siri and I person an uneasy narration — no, I don’t want to inquire again from my iPhone to spot immoderate web results — astatine slightest my shopping database is now clean, uncluttered, and ad-free.

The app’s redesign is portion of Amazon’s push to make its generative AI-powered assistant a much generalist assistant, successful the vein of ChatGPT and Gemini, alternatively than conscionable an in-home helper.

When Alexa Plus launched past February, Amazon besides said it would launch a caller Alexa app. While this redesign is not that (at slightest I dream not, arsenic a ground-up rebuild of the app is sorely needed), it does bring Alexa Plus to the forefront.

This week, the company announced that Alexa Plus has moved retired of its Early Access shape and is now disposable to everyone successful the US for free via the app and connected the caller Alexa.com website (where you tin besides entree your shopping list). Prime customers and those who salary $20 a period tin besides entree it connected their Echo devices.

Amazon wants you to beryllium capable to easy chat pinch Alexa wherever you are, and the app’s caller look is an illustration of this. The chatbot is beforehand and halfway erstwhile you motorboat the app — the location page is now an Alexa Plus paper pre-filled pinch prompts based connected what it thinks you mightiness need. Then the smaller chatbot interface follows you crossed each azygous page of the app.

When Amazon announced the Alexa Plus updates earlier this week, I asked Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, astir the logic for the app changes. “It’s to bring Alexa to the front, person nonstop entree to Alexa much simply successful sound and successful typed chat,” he said, adding that it’s tin of doing astir everything you mightiness want to do successful the app.

“You tin conscionable straight show Alexa what you want to accomplish, opportunity changing a Setting, and she’ll either alteration it herself aliases show you precisely wherever to find it,” said Rausch. But it can’t, apparently, adhd food to my shopping database erstwhile I type “butter” into the chatbot connected the shopping database page.

It’s unclear whether Alexa Plus tin beryllium a viable contender against the existent players dominating this space. But arsenic Amazon tries to make Alexa Plus happen, it feels for illustration immoderate of what’s really useful astir Alexa is becoming collateral damage. If it can’t grip thing arsenic elemental arsenic adding food to my database without turning it into a soliloquy — aliases an advertisement — thing has gone wrong.

Screenshots by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge