Amazon Alexa Users Are Losing Access to Shopping and To-Do List Apps Soon
AMAZON Alexa customers are about to lose vital access to shopping and to-do list apps. Tech pros are warning the sudden shut-down will be disruptive to users.
Alexa Integrations Discontinued from July 1, 2024
Shopping and to-do list apps such as AnyList and Todoist will stop working with Alexa voice commands on July 1, reported The Verge. Amazon has told the developers that the only way they can continue providing the integrated service is to develop a new custom skill.
Amazon’s Decision to Kill List Skill API
Amazon’s decision to kill the list skill API has been criticized. Today, if you enable their Alexa skills, third-party apps can sync with lists in the Alexa app and show that data in their app. But, in just a month’s time, Alexa users will no longer be able to access these shopping list features.
Developers Must Build Custom Skills
Amazon highlighted the change on its Alexa developer documentation page and mentioned that developers can still integrate Alexa voice control of lists into their apps. However, they won’t have access to Alexa lists from July 1. Developers can integrate the custom voice interaction model into their skill to enable voice control and management of lists.
Disruption in User Experience
Jeff Hunter, CEO of AnyList, confirmed that a custom skill with a custom voice interaction would be built – hopefully by July 1. However, he expressed disappointment at Amazon’s decision to kill the list skill API on such short notice. This change will cause disruption to customers, making it less easy to use the tweaked third-party app from July 1.
Todoist Integration Sunset
A spokesman for Todoist said it wouldn’t make any changes as per Amazon’s request. “We’ve made the difficult decision to sunset our Alexa integration by July 1, 2024,” said Omar Samuels.