Amazon Echo speakers and their assistant Alexa have more and more useful features. However, in one of the latest updates, they have removed an ability that you probably did not know or use , but for others it could be very useful.
Alexa is becoming more and more capable of doing things. From following your orders on Amazon, to playing with you and, more recently, transferring your music from one speaker to another, if you have several in different corners of the house.
However, updates do not always add things and, in this case, Amazon has sent an email to the users of the Echo speakers communicating that Alexa will no longer do something that, until now, it could do: read your emails out loud.
Not only that, they have also obviously removed the ability to answer them using voice commands, dictating the response to Alexa, without having to turn on the computer or touch the mobile.
Why can’t Alexa read your emails anymore?
In the email that Amazon sent to its Echo users (and that you will no longer be able to hear aloud), Jeff Bezos’ company does not give a specific reason . What’s more, the disappearance of this feature is quite abrupt, because they barely gave a few days’ notice and the change came into effect on November 8.
As with the advisory email, Amazon has not specified an exact reason when asked by the media about this issue. In a response to TechHive , they simply said this:
“We regularly evaluate the features and experiences available to customers, prioritizing those that make life easier for users and allow them to get the most out of their Alexa experience.”
Translated, it goes on to say diplomatically that, apparently, not many customers used reading aloud emails with Alexa. For this reason, you probably haven’t even noticed that it has disappeared.
What you will no longer be able to do with Alexa when you stop reading your emails
It is undeniable that, in these times when online privacy is increasingly scarce, many users have received this news with relief. Few want Alexa to read what is intimate in their Gmail account, for that Google itself is already there.
The fact that you can no longer connect your email accounts to your Echo speaker will also make it impossible to trace the delivery and arrival of third-party packages other than Amazon.
From now on, Alexa will only report the orders you place in the Jeff Bezos store and nothing else.
However, this can have another unintended consequence. Older users with visual problems , or people with a disability that makes it difficult for them to handle email, will not be able to listen to or answer the email messages they receive.
When you do not understand well with a computer or mobile, or if you have problems in its use, features like this are missed.
So some breathe easy and the few who used it will be disappointed, but be that as it may, Alexa will no longer be able to take a look at your emails.
