Today I got a message from our Alexa: we could update to the new Alexa+ service, with a new voice, new features, new capabilities. Indeed, it does seem “smarter” than the low-IQ original Alexa.
However, my wife said “Alexa, close the dining room blinds.” This is for the set of IKEA motorized blinds we have in, surprise, the dining room. We’ve done this hundreds of times, and has no issue. Until tonight.
Alexa: “I’m sorry, there is no device named dining room blinds.”
Funny, there IS and this worked up until the point when we upgraded her. We tried more times, and she still couldn’t do it, still claiming that devices doesn’t exist. We have Alexa integration through our Nabu Casa account, which handles the Zigbee messages to the blinds in order to close them. Try as we might, Alexa had a severe case of amnesia after her “upgrade.”
We’re not interested in troublshooting this, so in the end, I fired the new Alexa, and had her revert to the old version. A few seconds after that, I asked Alexa (back to her old self) to close those blinds, and she dutifully managed it on the first try.
The new Alexa+ might have some good features, but if she can’t manage to be a reliable interface with the smart home, it is 100% a deal-breaker.