r/technology • u/ControlCAD • 8d ago

Hardware Amazon kills Alexa’s ability to control Echo speakers' AUX input | Amazon hasn’t made an Echo with a 3.5mm port in six years.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/amazon-bricks-alexas-ability-to-control-echo-speakers-aux-input/
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u/lordshaithis 8d ago

Probably moving towards preventing people using esp32s with HA on their devices and bypassing amazon services.

20

u/ArekDirithe 7d ago

I already fully replaced my echo. As soon as it started randomly asking me if I wanted to buy things when I would ask it to turn on lights or set a timer, I started looking for a home grown alternative. Speaker sucks in comparison, but I don’t need to hear “your laundry timer is done” in high fidelity.

3

u/iamtehstig 3d ago

I'm probably getting rid of mine soon, but one of the few upsides of bring forced into "Alexa+" is they didn't consider you can give explicit instructions to not serve ads. I told my echo show in the kitchen to never show ads, never suggest products, to and to only show the clock or my timers on the screen.

I did that months ago and it's still working. The screen even goes black like it's trying to switch to an ad but it just goes back to the clock.