Amazon’s Alexa app is getting a much-needed revamp. Starting today, the Alexa app will have a whole new home screen with updated navigation that highlights Alexa-centric skills and a more personalized experience. Third-party skills have also been moved off the main screen in favor of more first-party features.
The redesigned Home screen in the Alexa app now features a more prominent Alexa button at the top. Users can tap this button or simply say “Alexa” to activate the voice assistant. Below this is a variety of suggested actions personalized to each user, such as setting alarms, controlling music playback, and more.
As TechCrunch explains, the Alexa app had previously focused on acting as a sort-of daily dashboard, highlighting weather details at the top, followed by a selection of “Popular Skills” below. In fact, the redesigned Alexa app drastically scales back the focus on Skills, moving them from the home screen to the “More” tab at the bottom.
The Alexa button is now on the top instead of the bottom, which Amazon says will make it easier to find. Additionally, you can also just say “Alexa” to activate it hands-free, which is a feature that was announced earlier this month.
Amazon is rolling out this feature over the next month, and expects everyone to have it by late August. The update is available for Android, iOS and the Fire OS.
