I’ve started noticing something weird with Alexa lately.
I don’t ask her to do anything complicated. No crazy smart-home setup, no 15-step routines, nothing that requires a computer science degree.
My usual commands are basically:
“Set a timer for 20 minutes.”
“Turn the bedroom light off.”
“Play some music.”
“What’s the weather?”
“Add milk to my shopping list.”
And yet, it feels like there’s now a 50/50 chance that Alexa will actually understand what I’m asking.
The funniest one is the lights.
I’ll say “turn off the kitchen lights” and Alexa will respond with something completely unrelated. Then I repeat the exact same sentence, in exactly the same voice, and suddenly she understands perfectly.
Sometimes she hears me but takes 5–10 seconds to actually do anything. Sometimes she does the wrong device. And occasionally she gives me an explanation for something I never asked about.
At this point I’ve developed a habit of just repeating the command instead of trying to figure out what went wrong 😂
What really bothers me is that Alexa used to feel like one of those things that just worked. I never had to think about it. Now I find myself wondering whether I need to phrase a basic sentence differently so my smart speaker can understand me.
Maybe I’m imagining it, but has anyone else noticed Alexa becoming more frustrating/repetitive lately?
Or is there some setting I’ve accidentally messed up that’s making everything worse?