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Ask HN: Where is a local (no cloud audio) voice assistant useful?
We're exploring a fully local voice assistant (wake word -> ASR -> LLM -> TTS, all on-device). No audio or transcripts ever leave the device.
Context: Alexa ended a niche "Do Not Send Voice Recordings" (local-processing) option on Mar 28, 2025; it had long processed most requests in the cloud, and that continues. You can still choose not to save recordings after processing.
To be clear: our device may periodically fetch non-voice data (e.g., weather/traffic). And on user command (e.g., send an email), it may call user-selected APIs/tools, sending only the necessary structured fields, not audio or transcripts.
No sales and no public link. I'm trying to learn if there's real demand and where.
Short, blunt answers welcome:
1. Experience: In the last 12 months, did you disable, avoid, or remove a voice assistant? (yes/no)
If yes, one line reason (e.g., privacy, company policy/compliance, recognition/answer accuracy, false wakes, latency).
2. Context & scale: Where did you use or plan to use it (e.g., home, meeting rooms/offices, hotels, cars, healthcare, government/police), and roughly at what scale (# rooms, devices, or users)?
3. Alternative & outcome: What did you use instead (e.g., tablet, app, local-only assistant, manual), and did it meet the need? (yes/mostly/no)
4. Comments: Any other relevant detail (even one line) is welcome.
- takuya_h 1y agoWhy I'm asking: not to debate the news. Just gauging where (if anywhere) a no cloud audio assistant is actually useful. I'll post a brief takeaways summary in 24 - 48h. Sources about Alexa - AP: Alexa ended the optional local‑processing setting on Mar 28, 2025; affected 3 US‑English Echo models; <0.03% usage; cloud processing since then; "don't save" still available. [https://apnews.com/article/amazon-privacy-echo-7fb3c19fa7f664bde5c5be259f8b23ee https://apnews.com/article/amazon-privacy-echo-7fb3c19fa7f66...] - The Verge (with Amazon comment). [https://www.theverge.com/news/630049/amazon-echo-discontinues-do-not-send-voice-recording-setting https://www.theverge.com/news/630049/amazon-echo-discontinue...] - TechCrunch summary. [https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/15/amazons-echo-will-send-all-voice-recordings-to-the-cloud-starting-march-28/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/15/amazons-echo-will-send-all...] (Optional) Quick reply template: - Experience: Disable/avoid/remove (12m): [yes/no] - reason - Context & scale: [home/offices/hotels/cars/healthcare/gov]; [~# rooms/devices/users] - Alternative & outcome: [tablet/app/local-only/manual]; met need? [yes/mostly/no] - Comments:
- yummy125 1y agoTo 1., no but let me put comments. I have been using Alexa for over five years, but I don't think the experience is particularly good. Compared to the latest generative AI, the responses are not very intelligent, and if possible, I would prefer to avoid sending all the audio from my room to the cloud.
- takuya_h 1y agoThanks! Current Situation: 5+ years on Alexa; not great vs current LLMs, and you'd prefer no cloud audio (but haven't stopped using it). Hypothesis: a few core habits keep it on. What are your top 3 most frequent tasks on Alexa right now?