There’s a new app that puts Amazon Alexa in your pocket, and it’s called Lexa. Available for Android, the Lexa app uses Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service to let mobile users interact with Alexa and get a response…the same way they would with an Amazon Echo device. The company bids its app as a way for developers and manufacturers to play around with Alex and test it for their own products; anyone with an Android device can use it, though, making it a low-barrier way to use Amazon’s personal assistant.
After installing the app, you have to log into your Amazon account to get access to Alexa Voice Service. Once you do, using the app is as simple as tapping a button and talking. The app supports all sorts of requests and commands, including things as simple as asking what the weather is in a certain city.
While it doesn’t offer all of the features you’d get with an Amazon Echo, it does support more things than many competing unofficial Alexa app. Most notably, Lexa allows users to control home automation devices using their phone – making it a pretty robust app for those who want Alexa in their pocket or who don’t want a physical Echo sitting around.
At this time at least, Lexa does not support shopping, timers, nor music playback/control. It does, however, support Alexa Skills. Per the Google Play listing, you’ll need to be running at least Android 4.4 to use the app, which is pretty lightweight at only 12MB.
