Amazon Alexa App Redesigned With Focus On Personalized Experiences

Amazon has updated its Alexa mobile app, adding enhanced personalization while reducing the presence of certain third-party features. Notably, the app's home screen has been updated in a way that emphasizes the features that consumers most commonly use, helping them get straight to the tools they want without excessive tapping and searching. The Alexa icon has moved to the top of the app, as well.

Key to the redesigned app is the focus on personalization, which means users will see the aspects of the app they are most likely to use. If, for example, you often use the Reminders feature, this will be part of your personalized app home screen. As well, users will have direct access to things like the content they're still listening to, lists they've made, and similar things.

The redesigned app also informs users about how they can use the mobile app, expanding their awareness of its various features and functionalities. Beyond that, users who have a variety of Alexa-enabled hardware, such as the Echo Buds and Echo speakers, will see controls for those devices on the app's home screen, making it easier to adjust settings for the smart devices they use often.

Users will also find a new media playback button in the navigation bar, which better emphasizes the app and overall Alexa platform as an option for playing content. More noticeable is the large Alexa icon at the top of the screen, which users can tap if they don't want to speak the wake word; this replaces the weather info that used to be located in this part of the app.

Alexa skills are less visible in this redesign, something that isn't likely to bother users. This isn't a bad thing as most users would likely prefer access to the functions they use the most, as well as key Amazon features like messaging, rather than popular third-party skills. Ultimately, however, the new app design doesn't appear any less cluttered than the previous iteration (at least based on screenshots) — it just reduces how much hunting users will have to do for the features they most commonly use.

According to TechCrunch, Amazon will roll out the redesigned app globally over the next few weeks.