Twitter has added another feature for “lazy” twitter users who are reluctant to scroll and read their tweets. The app is called Amazon Alexa. What this means is that from today being the launch date, your tweets can be read out to you on any Alexa enabled device or through your Echo speaker. You can get to know what is trending and other information that is available on your twitter account with this new app.
To get started, you are required to first authenticate this app with your Twitter account as described in Amazon parlance on the description of its “Skills.” After completing that step, then by just saying “Alexa, open Twitter” you will be granted access to use the app.
For this virtual assistant app, such things as your Timeline, Retweets, Mentions and Likes contained in your home can be read out to you while you get busy with other things. This app works like other Alexa skills. It, therefore, means that you will have to learn to learn the ways to ask Alexa for your tweets, if anyone retweeted you, ask for mentions and also to ask what is trending, etc.
This app can also give you general information on Twitter’s service be it local or current trends. You are also at liberty to ask for issues concerning your particular location or country/city of residence.
Although this app will not ultimately consume all the information made available on twitter, which is at the speed of light, it, however, is considered very thoughtful of Twitter to add such feature and to show how important Amazon’s Alexa is becoming in peoples’ lives by helping out with voice computing. According to Amazon, by June this year, thousands of developers were working on Alexa particularly the Skills area which is why the app store is currently housing 1,400 of such add-ons.
In as much this is a welcome idea from Twitter, there are, however, some expectations that it will work towards creating an app that will allow people to edit their tweets that such not-so-important features like Read Receipts that is available for messages or how we can get to hear tweets read more loudly. Whatever be the case, Twitter must think Alexa is important for its users.
You can make use of the Alexa while on your Twitter account, on the web or on mobile, but you will need to first of all go to Alexa app and turn on Twitter Skill to be able to use it.
