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Developing for the Amazon Echo
- wyldfire 10y agoAside: > NextTrain {FromStation} to {ToStation} Does Echo have some concept of scoping for these skills? Or do you have to opt-in to the skill?
- Linell 10y agoYou have to opt into the skill by enabling it via the app that was mentioned in the post.
- willu 10y agoI'm actually impressed by the level of detail provided in the rejections. There's nothing worse than getting a rejection that does not clearly state the reason for the rejection and a path to resolution. Apple and especially Google are notoriously bad about this.
- genadyo 10y agoYeah, it was half QA process.
- altryne1 10y agoNice write up! I can't wait to start developing for my Echo!
- genadyo 10y agoJust do it!
- mikeflynn 10y agoYou definitely can get an Alexa skill off the ground without using Lambda, but there are a lot of little details with their authentication to work out. I'd highly recommend one of the libraries that are out there: Go - https://github.com/mikeflynn/go-alexa/tree/master/skillserver https://github.com/mikeflynn/go-alexa/tree/master/skillserve... (full disclosure: I created this one) Offical Java SDK - https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/using-the-alexa-skills-kit-samples https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-sk... Node - https://www.npmjs.com/package/alexa-app https://www.npmjs.com/package/alexa-app ...to name a few.
- genadyo 10y agoThanks
- nickclaw 10y agoShameless plug for my node skills framework[1] if you want something a little more flexible than alexa-app. Has express support as well[2]. [1] https://www.github.com/nickclaw/alexa-ability https://www.github.com/nickclaw/alexa-ability [2] https://www.github.com/nickclaw/alexa-ability-express-handler https://www.github.com/nickclaw/alexa-ability-express-handle...
- blandflakes 10y agoClojure examples also: https://github.com/blandflakes/echo-stopwatch https://github.com/blandflakes/echo-stopwatch using: https://github.com/blandflakes/echo-chamber-template https://github.com/blandflakes/echo-chamber-template
- gariany 10y agodamn, this changes a lot. I was scared of Amazon Echo (or any other retailer's product) listening to me 24/7, but I guess it can't be avoided
- stronglikedan 10y agoWhy would you be scared? The keyword(s) is processed locally, and it only sends the request following the keyword over the wire. If they tried anything fishy, such as sending everything it hears over the wire, then they would be outed within a day.
- azinman2 10y agoIt also makes a sound (tho not by default) and lights up whenever it's listening.
- jackcarter 10y agoI built a similar app for Chicago's CTA trains, called CTA Tracker. There seem to be train tracker apps for most major cities, since they're easy to implement and legitimately useful.
- dkopi 10y agoGreat write up. I wonder how developers can actually profit from developing apps for echo
- bonobo_34 10y agoThis article sums up my recent experience trying to get a skill published. It was slightly frustrating to receive multiple rejection emails, but at least the responses were detailed and helpful. While building some skills for fun, I also made some gulp tasks for locally testing skills and deploying the code to your lambda. https://github.com/tmcleroy/alexa-skills https://github.com/tmcleroy/alexa-skills