Alexa has gone down. #AlexaDown
There are widespread reports of Alexa smart assistant currently down and out. Downdetector has also recorded the same with various Amazon Echo, Echo Show and third-party devices. In spite of multiple reboots, these devices are not working. Apart from Alexa, other services that have seen a spike in reported issues include Amazon and Amazon Web Services. The affected devices include a range of Echo speakers, Fire TV Stick and the Amazon Alexa app for smartphones.
Alexa service going down was reported just before 7am GMT(2am ET )on January 21, 2022, according to Down detector. Initial reports came from the UK region and later on Amazon services outages was reported to be widespread. Amazon outage reports are coming in from the U.K., Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy and other parts of Europe. As of now users from India have also confirmed the major outage. Reports from other parts of the world are yet to be confirmed.
The common reports coming in that Alexa is not responding to commands and neither it is activating on any previously configured commands. For some Alexa has gone silent.
The voice assistant repeatedly prompts “There was a problem” or somewhat configured sentences with the interaction ending here. Since the issue got reported early in the morning, there were usual reports of Alexa unable to switch off alarms, control smart home switches.
Check out some common issues being reported on Alexa and Echo devices. You can add yours to teh list if not reported:
- Devices Appearing ‘offline’
- Instead of normal blue ring a red light ring is visible
- Voice assitant repeating before going silent – “There was a problem”, “I’m having difficulty understanding right now” and “‘something has gone wrong”
- Requests if responded are not quick enough.
- Silent Alexa to most requests
In fact, some users are reporting that some Echo devices are working while others have gone down in their houses.
In the meantime to counter the downward slide of Alexa powered devices, Amazon asserted “growth is slowing is not correct. Families around the world are using the voice assistant like never before. Tens of millions of users use it, and today we are more optimistic than ever about the future of Alexa“.
Update as of 31st January 2022
Alexa has reportedly gone down again since morning. This is not a global outage while some are reporting that it is coming up again.
For the moment, Amazon’s official channels have not released any official communication. Till then stay tuned for any updates!
In the meantime, here is a ProTip when Alexa servers are back up and running. It is advised to unplug the devices for a couple of minutes and re-plug to refresh.
