released Alexa and Echo for India on October 4, and now the Amazon Alexa app is available in India on the Google Play Store. The timing of the release of the app in India is crucial as the Amazon Echo lineup of smart speakers will ship to consumers later this week, and the app is necessary for the service. Amazon has beaten Google here in terms of timing, as the Google Home lineup still isn’t available in India. The Amazon Echo and Echo Plus cost INR 9999 ($154) and INR 14999 ($230) respectively in the country, and the Echo Dot is available for INR 4499 ($70).
The Alexa app can be used to add new skills, change settings, create new routines, and much more. The app can also be used for going through to-do lists when users are out shopping.
Ahead of the Echo launch, Amazon has partnered with local companies and brands to create India-specific skills. This includes the likes of NDTV, Ola, Saavn, Sportskeeda, Syska, and Times of India among others. Amazon has said there are already 10,000 skills available for India.
In terms of music, users will be able to choose from Amazon Music, Saavn, and TuneIn. NDTV stated that they could not get the Amazon Music to work, with their requests either being pushed to Saavn or Alexa saying that it couldn’t find the requested song in their library. They also faced an error with TuneIn.
If users already own an Echo device and wish to access local skills such as the ability to ask for local weather and traffic, setting up the app from from scratch is the best way, according to NDTV. Users can then choose from English (India) out of the four language options during setup. Users will also need to switch their residence address to India to ensure that the app works properly.
The Alexa app also has an option to setup the Amazon Tap, which isn’t available in India yet. For now, this should benefit users who have imported it, although it is unknown whether Tap will be launched in India.