Confirming this from real-world testing: I have 11 Alexa devices integrated (Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Flex x2, Echo Studio/Show, Fire TV, etc.) via the native Alexa Devices integration. Tried every angle I could think of to get any of them to actually speak an arbitrary TTS message from HA:
- alexa_devices.send_sound works fine (predefined sound library, bells/chimes/etc.) - confirms the media_player entities and command path are alive and well.
-
- No service exists yet to send free-text TTS or announce a custom message - matches what’s reported above.
-
- As a fallback, tried reinstalling the unofficial Alexa Media Player (HACS) purely for its TTS notify service, but got permanently stonewalled by Amazon’s CVF phone-verification challenge on that login proxy - nothing to do with credentials or 2FA, just Amazon quietly showing the door to anyone using a “non-approved” client.
Bit of an irony, really: this community is full of people who’ll happily reverse-engineer a vacuum’s cloud API or write a Jinja template to shame their own smart plugs into saving electricity, and yet Amazon still won’t let us, of all people, put words in Alexa’s mouth. You’d think the “sophisticated home-automation nerd” demographic would be exactly who they’d want talking to their devices - apparently not. So for now, my 11 Echos remain excellent at making chime noises and utterly silent on everything else.
- As a fallback, tried reinstalling the unofficial Alexa Media Player (HACS) purely for its TTS notify service, but got permanently stonewalled by Amazon’s CVF phone-verification challenge on that login proxy - nothing to do with credentials or 2FA, just Amazon quietly showing the door to anyone using a “non-approved” client.
That said, credit where it’s due: between this thread and the wider HA community I got further in an afternoon than I would have in a week on my own - the diagnostics, workarounds, and even the “yeah, Amazon does that to us too” reassurance here are genuinely what make this ecosystem worth sticking with. Native TTS/announce support in this integration would be the cherry on top whenever it’s feasible - no rush, you’ve already given us plenty to be grateful for.