Amazon To Unveil New Alexa App With Custom Home Screen

Amazon is launching a revamped Alexa app that will now include a customized homescreen based on what each individual user does the most on the app, CNBC reported.

The update is intended to roll out by the end of August on Apple‘s iPhone and tablets as well as other devices running Google‘s Android. Amazon’s own Fire tablets will also run the program, CNBC reported.

The reason for the change, according to CNBC, is the current Alexa app’s often difficult template, which offers random and superfluous prompts from the homescreen and makes users sift through various menus to access some settings. The update from Amazon, by contrast, promises to put users’ most-used features at the easiest place to access, meaning someone who primarily uses Spotify will have a different homescreen from someone who uses an Audible book alarm or a shopping list.

In addition, the button to open Alexa will now be located at the top of the screen as opposed to the bottom, CNBC reported, which will also relocate reminders, routines, skills, settings and other features to an easier-to-find place on the screen.

Alexa has been the most popular Apple app download, according to a PYMNTS report from December. The holiday season spurred use of the popular app used to help set up a device.

Amazon has worked to update Alexa as of late, with another PYMNTS report from December noting that the popularity of such apps has necessitated updates to make them more natural and lifelike. Alexa was modified to respond in more of a happy or sad tone based on what a user asks.

And according to PYMNTS statistics, the number of people who have made purchases with voice-activated technology reached around 75 percent in December. Thirty-one percent reported owning a voice-activated device, and 30 percent said their overall satisfaction of the app increased when Alexa responded with emotions.