ISSUE WITH DOT & AMBIENT SOUNDS-HELP

[Armor LTC]

We have a variety of Alexa devices and really enjoy the and the technology.  Recently however a problem developed and have no found a solution.  Hope someone on the forum can assist.

We have a Dot in the master bedroom.  We also have the Ambient Sounds - Babbling Brook skill enabled.  For some time we have used this skill as we retired for the night and gave the “loop” command so the sound continued thru the night.  It has worked fine for months.

Within the last couple of weeks however, a problem has developed.  We start the skill, give the loop command however at some point during the night (we think it’s around 60 minutes after activation), the sound coming from the Dot, stops.  If you give the Dot another routine command (Alexa, what time is it?), after the response, the skill sound is reactivated.

I researched Amazon and the web site of the skill developer with little success in solving the issue.  On the developers site, he suggested to turn the skill on, give the loop command and then dice the command “stop in ‘x’ hours”.  Tried this scenario....no change; the skillsound still stopped overnight and reacticated as soon as I gave another command.

I have disabled the skill and reenabled it....no change....I have used a different Dot...same result.

My sense is that the problem may have something to do with the latest software update but that’s a guess.

If anyone out there has a fix for this issue or other recommendation, sure would appreciate you responding.

[malliekm]

Is it possible to contact the creator of the skill?
I remember when I had a problem with a skill, I left
a note where you can leave comments/feedback for
a skill and the author replied.

[scottrods]

Definitely sounds like a Skill Issue to me. However... I always start night time ambient sounds with a Sleep timer to shut them off after 45 minutes... so I never have the issue described here. But since it happens through all devices... I suspect Skill issues. They have been advertising a lot lately as well when asking for one of the ambient sound skills... I use a few of them and there is a 30second ad trying to get you to give the a 5 star review almost every time I open the skills they all fall under.

[renegade600]

They have been advertising a lot lately as well when asking for one of the ambient sound skills... I use a few of them and there is a 30second ad trying to get you to give the a 5 star review almost every time I open the skills they all fall under.

do what I do, when constantly getting nagged about giving review and stars, I will give only one star.  I hate nags...

anyway back to the original question...do you have any similar issues with other streaming sites and similar skills?

[ozonedan]

I have exactly the same problem with our Dot in the bedroom.  But there is an added problem.  I will start an ambient sound and go to bed, only to have the sound stop and a few seconds later start, again.  And this will repeat.

[jdeacon]

I ended up disliking the skill-based ambient sounds. I wanted access to my PC's mp3 files anyway, so I installed MyMedia For Alexa. I added some ambient sound mp3 files I found on the internet, one of which was an hour long, tagged them with an Ambient genre. Now I tell Alexa to ask MyMedia for Ambient music and it works fine. Loop mode works fine as well.

It won't work, however, if you switch your PC off at night, or if your PC goes into sleep or hibernate.

[Ron Chee]

Same issue here.

[Jeff]

The problem you are experiencing is a problem with the software on your Alexa device and not the skill itself.  I am the developer of the popular "Sleep Sounds" skills and the top rated "Sleep and Relaxation Sounds" skill and many of our users have been experiencing the issue as well.  It only affects some devices which makes the problem much more difficult to track down. We've been working with Amazon to resolve it and they are expected to release a fix for it in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, we've implemented a software fix for our skills that allows our sounds to play continuously throughout the night.  Please try out our flagship skill here:  http://amzn.to/2zl7uTP

[Rvgantt]

Jeff, I am having the same issue with your sound skill. I enabled your flagship skill as you suggested, but it still stops and restarts every hour. The 4 to 5 second pause makes it unusable. Believe it or not, the pause wakes us up. Any suggestions?

[Rojoyinc]

I have a ECHO in the bedroom.  It's been great for years - and NOW DOES THIS TOO.
Since the original post was 4 years ago? I dunno what to do.