Alexa Users Will Soon Be Able To Control Mobile Apps With Voice Commands

Amazon has announced a new preview called Alexa for Apps, a new feature that enables developers to add mobile app control to their Alexa skill. With this new option, users will be able to summon and control certain mobile apps using Alexa voice commands, making it easier to open and navigate within apps using something like the Echo Buds or other Alexa mobile accessories.

You have a number of apps on your phone, which is likely the primary personal gadget you use daily. Accessing these apps requires launching them and then tapping your way through them, but Amazon wants to change that. The company has introduced its Alexa for Apps preview, which enables certain developers to add mobile app control to their Alexa skills

With this, a consumer could, for example, use their Alexa built-in headphones or earbuds to launch an app and perform actions in it. This could include using voice commands to launch a podcast app and play a certain episode, order a car through a ride-hailing app, get info like items from restaurant menus, search for specific types of content, command an app like TikTok to start recording a video, and other things.

A number of services are already adding this new functionality, according to Amazon, including Uber, Sonic, TikTok, Yellow Pages, Zynga, and more. Developers can currently ask Amazon for access to the preview; it's unclear when Alexa for Apps will be widely available.

Alexa for Apps is made available to developers for free and can be used with any mobile app that supports deep links. The feature works on both Android and iOS devices and can be tested by developers using Alexa built-in phones, accessories, and the Alexa app for smartphones.