alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW

[Drew]

The app is incredibly slow for me as well.

The problem is the app rather than the device, which works fine now it's connected to the wifi. I'm on an iPhone 6+ and it takes a very long time for the app to connect and then actions are very slow and often result in it reporting that the app is offline.

The wifi here is good and this issue is limited to the Alexa app (other apps, websites, video streaming etc. work quickly). This suggest to me that the problem is at the other end and the Amazon servers are overwhelmed by the new users from Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

It's very frustrating because it really limits some of the Echo's functionality - For example, I can add things to my shopping list but, because the app is so slow, it incredibly painful to view or edit my lists.

Every button tap in the app takes around a minute to respond and there's no indication that you've even pressed anything. This suggest that every interaction results in a call to the server. The app then waits for a response. Because there's no visible change users tap the button again, which results in another call to the server. The result of all of these calls coming in from all of the apps is the equivalent of a denial of service attack on the server. It's constantly being bombarded by requests.

The app developers need to look at this and find a way to limit the number of calls or this will keep happening. It's possible that the issue is regional, impacting servers in a specific region rather than globally. I'm in the UK and the app performance has been terrible every time I've tried since yesterday. I've tried at different times of day and through different wifi connections.

I think the only solution is to be patient and wait for the app to update to fix the issue or for Amazon to ramp up the servers to tackle the increased traffic.

Drew

[steve59]

I am also having a problem with the painfully slow alexa app  I am hoping it is being caused by the thanksgiving sales causing a lot of people to setup their devices.   I hope this corrected within the next week or I will have return my unused dots and consider my options.  Being disabled, I am hoping the issues can be resolved quickly so I can benefit from system.

Steve

[Skippr]

YES, the Alexa app on a cell phone is U-G-L-Y.  I've owned my Echo since it first became available.  The Echo and Alexa on the Echo are fine.  The Alexa app on my cell phone has always been slow and jerky.  Until a week ago I was using a Moto cell with Android on Tracfone.  Beginning probably in mid-November Alexa on the Moto cell went from taking many minutes to start to just cycling.  Last week I switched cells to a Google Pixel; I've been able to install the Alexa App (and uninstall it and install it again!), but it has NEVER STARTED.  The current start attempt is somewhere in the 40 minutes range.

There is a severe problem with the Alexa app for cell phones and if Amazon is really serious about the Echo and Alexa, they need to fix it.

[DParker]

YES, the Alexa app on a cell phone is U-G-L-Y.  I've owned my Echo since it first became available.  The Echo and Alexa on the Echo are fine.  The Alexa app on my cell phone has always been slow and jerky.  Until a week ago I was using a Moto cell with Android on Tracfone.  Beginning probably in mid-November Alexa on the Moto cell went from taking many minutes to start to just cycling.  Last week I switched cells to a Google Pixel; I've been able to install the Alexa App (and uninstall it and install it again!), but it has NEVER STARTED.  The current start attempt is somewhere in the 40 minutes range.

There is a severe problem with the Alexa app for cell phones and if Amazon is really serious about the Echo and Alexa, they need to fix it.

Has it occurred to you that the problem might be with your device, the O/S and/or configuration thereof?  The Alexa app (which I agree needs some improvements) loads and runs just fine on my Galaxy S7 Edge, my wife's regular S7, my daughter's S6 Edge, my son's LG G3...as well as the S4s my wife and I used to have.

[ekmmosnar]

Alexa app fails to connect no matter how long I wait using iPad, Galaxy Note4, or desktop PC.  I've been trying to pair a blue tooth receiver, which will pair with iPod & iPad, but doesn't pair with Dot.  I've learned from this forum that I might need to "turn on" pairing using the Alexa App.  Seem like I'm in a Catch 22 situation. Anyone have some suggestions?

[DParker]

What exactly do you mean by, "Alexa app fails to connect"?  Fails to connect to what?  What exactly are the symptoms you're seeing?

[mike27oct]

I have paired a lot of Echo devices, most recently some more new Dots.  I used an iPad to do it on since screen is larger than the iPhone.

Make sure no other BT signals are ON in the vicinity, and both devices are ready to go, by turning off receiver for a minute and then back on.  Unplug Dot for at least 5 minutes (I had to do this for one troublesome Dot; as was suggested by the Amazon online help).

With both units back on, say to the Dot, "Alexa, pair bluetooth" after the reply, put the receiver into BT pairing mode. then in the Alexa app on iPad, find the Settings for the Dot, and go into the BT section.  If no other BT signals exist, look toward the bottom for new devices and you should only see the receiver signal; and select it to pair to.  This ought to do it and Dot will tell you it is paired.  Dot will tell you how you can easily reconnect to the receiver next time.

Good luck.

FYI, I just now turned on a portable BT speaker I had set up a few weeks ago to work with one of the new Dots.  I told the Dot to "connect to bluetooth" and in a moment the two were connected again and working together playing music on the BT speaker.  When I am finished listening, I will tell Dot, "disconnect bluetooth" and music will play from Dot speaker, and I can turn off BT speaker completely again.  Easy, peasy.

[ekmmosnar]

For a very brief time the Alexa app loaded on the iPad, and I was able to access bluetooth and the Dot paired.  Now the app once again does not load, and shows a notice that it is down.  I'm pretty sure it is an overload problem.  Thank you for your help.

[mike27oct]

Nice to know you got it paired with my help.  The app is working well right now, but like all apps, it can get bunged once in a while.

[lk99723]

I also cannot get the app to work. I have downloaded and re-downloaded the app on my iPhone, my iPad, attempted to access it by web browser on my macbook and my windows laptop at work. Not a single app or webpage gets past the 'amazon alexa' white page with a never ending gray rotating circle. No menu bar. Since i can't get the app to work, I can't set up device, so can't even use it as a bluetooth speaker. 

[DParker]

I also cannot get the app to work. I have downloaded and re-downloaded the app on my iPhone, my iPad, attempted to access it by web browser on my macbook and my windows laptop at work. Not a single app or webpage gets past the 'amazon alexa' white page with a never ending gray rotating circle. No menu bar. Since i can't get the app to work, I can't set up device, so can't even use it as a bluetooth speaker.

This is odd, because you're talking about two different things:

1) An iOS app, and...
2) A web site you access via one or more browsers.

It's even more odd since you say you're experiencing the issue not only with different interfaces, but also in different locations.   Since I and most others have no problem accessing the service I would suggest contacting Amazon support and asking if there's some issue with one or more of their servers that is preventing you from gaining access.

[lk99723]

This is odd, because you're talking about two different things:

1) An iOS app, and...
2) A web site you access via one or more browsers.

It's even more odd since you say you're experiencing the issue not only with different interfaces, but also in different locations.   Since I and most others have no problem accessing the service I would suggest contacting Amazon support and asking if there's some issue with one or more of their servers that is preventing you from gaining access.
[/quote]

I have called Alexa tech support. Guy wanted to walk me through troubleshooting from the alexa menu on the app. He did not understand that the app is not functional at all. He also had no knowledge of anyone else having this issue or there being any notice of this problem.

[twarnold]

I just got a new echo dot and I am having exactly the problem others have described here.  I installed the app on my Google Pixel phone, started it, and it sits forever with the spinning circle "busy" icon on a white screen that says "amazon alexa".  I then tried it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet, and exactly the same thing happened - I let it sit for over 45 minutes and it was still on that "busy" icon screen.  I uninstalled and reinstalled the app according to Amazon instructions, and that did not help.  Note that I'm an engineer who designs computer system products for a living - so please don't tell me that I am "stupid" like some people have been telling the other users who are reporting this problem.

[mike27oct]

Since the Pixel is brand new you are the first to report an issue, so I advise you contact Echo customer support phone (google for number) and let them give you a hand.

[Swordsm]

I have also experienced slowness on the Alexa app on an iPhone 6. However my iPad running same iOS and same Alexa software runs fine. As an example put the 2 side by side and the phone takes about 5 mins to get the Alexa app running and the Ipad about 10 seconds.. same wifi network so it's something specific to the phone or clash of apps on them.  Still working it through though