# Alexa is coming to the Fire



## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I just read that Amazon has released a new firmware update for the newest Fire tablets that supports Alexa, the lady who lives inside the Amazon Echo.  I've tried to download and install that in my Fire 7 but I haven't found it yet.  According to the article I read Amazon says it's released and a lot of people wills start getting it this week.

I'm real interested in this.  I got one of the very early Echos and I have a Fire 7" about 3 months old.  I have a lot of fun with the Echo but it's a pain to bring it over to our recreation area in my retirement home and this will let me do that.

If anyone gets it please let us know.

Barry


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

I downloaded the Alexa app to my HD8 so I could set up the Echo Dot, but I don't think that's what they are talking about.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

My HD8 is at 5.3.1.0 -- Kindle support page says the latest is 5.3.1.1

It doesn't say anything about that version except 'general improvements and performance enhancements'.

No idea when it came out . . . I may do it manually since my HD8 is pretty sluggish -- but it's been always on WiFi and usually well-charged so I'm not sure why it's not come on its own.

I suspect an update that adds Alexa will be more major . . . 5.3.2 or even 5.4 . . . . . which, if that's the case: the update is not yet on the site for manual download.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm pretty sure I read the new update will be 5.4.  According to The Verge they've started sending it out and most people should have it within a week or two.

It's not exactly the same as the Echo app although I think it might involve a new version of that app.  As I understand it, and the article wasn't very clear, you'll load an app to use it.  The current Echo app is just for setting it up.  The way they described it that app will be for actually using it.

Again that article wasn't real clear.  Or maybe I was just too tired to get it.  Not sure.

Barry


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

It's not anything I'm particularly interested in . . . I suspect this is one I'll just wait for.


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

I just got my Alexa App yesterday.  I have the Echo device.  Does this app make the Fire 8 into an Echo device.  Can I talk to it on my Fire? It doesn't seem to be able to do anything and doesn't answer to voice commands. Sorry I don't want to plow through the directions it came with.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I just got mine a little while ago.  The thing to do is load the Alexa app and do the setup.  Once you do that you can talk to Alexa by first holding down the Home button and then ask Alexa for something.  Try asking for the weather, the news, a joke, music by Elvis, a winning lottery number, just anything you like.  She'll do that real well.

Jokes are especially fun.  Alexa, in the 2 years I've had the Echo, has never repeated a joke.  I think that's a worthy accomplishment and it almost makes up for the fact that they're almost never funny.  

The other day I got my first real laugh when I asked Alexa to tell me a joke and she said "What do you get when you cross a rhetorical question with a joke?".  I still laugh when I think of it.  I hope someday to figure it out. 

The Alexa app gives you a lot of control.  You can tell it your zip code or address for weather and other purposes.  If you order something from Amazon Alexa can track it for you.  You can even use Alexa to order things from Amazon.  I just did that once to try it and it worked just as I hoped it would.

She'll let you add to your shopping list and if you keep your shopping list on your phone she'll update that for you.  Just ask her to add silly putty to your shopping list and you'll remember to get it when you get to the store.

Yes at the present time Alexa is far more trouble than it's worth if you ignore the fun value.  But then, aren't all women more trouble than they're worth if you ignore the fun value? 

I've had a lot of fun with mine.  I've never attempted to do anything serious like have it turn on my lights or adjust the thermostat but who knows.  Maybe someday I will.

Oh yeah, you can also use it for sports scores if you're one of those kind of people. 

Barry


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

Mine doesn't seem to allow me to set up my Fire HD8.  Should I uninstall the app and see what happens. Maybe there is another one that operates my HD8.


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

You mentioned setting up your app.  Where is the HOME button that needs to be pressed.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

After my Fire 7 updated to 5.3.2.0 I found an Alexa app on the Home screen.  In the past, because I have an Echo, I had an Echo app.  This is the Alexa app and when you tap it it gives you a very short, not really adequate introduction.  Then when you go to set it up you get another kind of clumsy tutorial.  After you've set it up you can read in the app some things to try but while that app is running it's pretty clumsy.

The fun starts when you leave the app and go to the home screen.  On the bottom of the Fire's home screen are three buttons, the Back button (a triangle), the Home button (a circle) and the apps button (a square).  When you press the Home button it takes you to the home screen.  After the update is installed and you run the Alexa app you can hold down the Home button, the round one, from any screen and talk and Alexa hears you.  Actually I just tried it from the Settings screen and it tried to work but didn't quite make it.  From most screens it works fine.

On my Echo I have to say "Alexa" followed by some request or command.  On the Fire I hold down the Home button.

Because the Fire has a screen it can either reply verbally or by putting something on the screen.  Usually it does both.

So far I've had it play music (by Earl Wild) and tell me jokes and give me the weather and the news.  There's a lot more exploring to do but probably it'll wait till tomorrow.  I suspect I can set this up in different ways than my Echo but maybe not.  For example I've set up the Echo to get news from NPR and i'll probably try to tell the Fire's Alexa to use a different source, just to see what happens.

My impression so far is that this is a rather clumsy first attempt in a lot of ways, but it does seem to work pretty well.  I'm glad to have it and I'm going to have so me fun with it.  In the morning I'm going to take it over to the recreation area of the retirement home I live in and show it off.  I'm in rural Arkansas where there's not a lot of elderly technology lovers and they're easy and fun to wow!  To most of them high tech means satellite TV. 

I just asked my Fire to tell me a joke.  It said "What do you call a dog who's been out in the snow too long?  --- A chili dog!".  As I said, a clumsy first attempt. 

I don't have an 8" Fire.  I have some older Fires but from what I read only the recent Fires are going to get this update.  The information I read on The Verge has been wrong in a lot of ways so maybe that's wrong too.

I strongly suggest that anyone who has a Fire of the past year or so try to get this update and go through the setup.  It is a bit confusing at first but there's not much of any way to go wrong.  Put up with the confusion, get out of the app and try it.  It works pretty well.  This is too good to pass on.

Barry


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

I still can't get my Alexa app to speak to me.  It follows what I want to do with manual screen controls but can't get the settings to do anything.  I have pressed and held the HOME button without any response.  It seems to shut off the app and return me to the main menu of my Fire.  I also deleted the app, reordered it, shut down my Fire and tried it without effect.


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## SVD (Jan 15, 2013)

Wonder if the HD 6 is going to get it.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

From what I read only the current Fires are going to get it.  But the article had a lot of mistakes so maybe that was a mistake too.

I just tried using Alexa from within the Alexa app for the first time and it worked just fine.  I've tried it while in a few different apps and it usually works in them but it sometimes fails.  When it fails it keeps failing till I leave the app.

I'd get out of all the apps and try it from the Fire's home screen.  That hasn't failed on me yet.

Barry


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

I called Mayday on my HDX.  They said the Alexa App that speaks isn't out yet. The "Amazon Alexa" only controls my Echo device. I'll wait for it to appear on my HD8.


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## barryem (Oct 19, 2010)

I'm doing this on my Fire 7, latest model.  It does speak but it's not the app that speaks, as far as I know.  I'm not sure about this.

I can be in the app and ask Alexa something and it will speak but I don't have to be in the app.  I can do it from the home screen and also from within other apps as long as I can get to the Home button.  It does seem to fail sometimes within other apps but mostly it works.

It does speak out loud to me as well as showing me information on the screen.  When I ask it to tell me a joke, for example, it puts the joke on the screen at the same time that it says it.

It seems like Alexa is built into the OS and the Alexa app is really for setup purposes.  I just now tested that by turning the Fire off and back on and holding down the Home button without running the Alexa app. Sure enough, it worked.  This came as a firmware update so I think much of it is probably built into the OS.

Barry


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

Did anyone with an HD 8 get this figured out?  

I can see the tablet in my Alexa settings like it is set up, but holding the home button doesn't get her to talk.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

My HD8 hadn't updated yet, last I checked. Also, when looking at the software update page at Amazon, it shows that 5.3.1.1 is the latest version. The 5th gen HD8 is at 5.3.1. I'm not exactly sure how to tell the difference. 

No . . . . wait . . . . when I go to the main 'device support page' (while logged in), there's an actual picture of _my_ HD8 using the name I've given it . . . when I click on it it says I have the 5th Gen. How weird. I thought I had the most recent one but, I guess not.


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## NightReader (Apr 25, 2010)

Alexa showed up on the HD8 last night. It was very noticeable, since she had a little tutorial. 

So,  I guess the update must be rolling out in batches.


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

I just got my Alexa update yesterday afternoon.  It will be fun to play with.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

For those of you who have gotten the update, what's the OS version number? My Fire is not quite a year old and is up to date based on the help page at Amazon. I've not seen hide nor hair of Alexa -- I gather I'd notice if it came. Wondering if my device is too old to qualify . . . . there is a 6th generation listed to my 5th gen device. I'm not that worried about it one way or the other. . . . just curious. I can't, honestly, ever seem myself using it.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Mine says version 5.3.2.0.
It updated last night.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Looks like mine updated since yesterday morning . . . also at 5.3.2

When i woke it from sleep just now it talked to me.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Mine showed up this afternoon. I updated my shopping and to-do lists and checked the weather right away.


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## joangolfing (Sep 12, 2010)

My weather on the HD8 with Alexa is very wrong by about 35 degrees.  It shows the city I live in but must be misinformed.  My Alexa Echo gets it perfectly correct. Anybody else have this problem.


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