Amazon Alexa

What it is

Amazon Alexa is the companion app for Alexa-enabled devices, published by Amazon Mobile LLC and listed under Lifestyle. It is free, rated Teen, and has been on Google Play since November 2014. The last update was on 2026-10-19. The listing says the assistant learns your speech patterns and tastes over time.

What it does well

The scope is wide. The app sets up Alexa devices, and it can check on or operate compatible lights, door locks and thermostats from anywhere. Routines automate smart home devices. On the media side, it links with five music services: Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn and iHeartRadio, and speaker groups let you play music across compatible Echo devices. For daily organising, shopping and task lists can be read and changed on the move, and the app shows weather and headlines and handles timers and alarms. Drop In works like a two-way intercom with compatible Echo devices, and calling or messaging supported devices carries no additional cost, per the listing.

What the ratings say

The app has 4.06 stars across 5,815,548 ratings and 100,000,000+ installs. About 65.9% of ratings are five stars and 9.7% are four. At the other end, 15.7% are one star, 3.8% are two and 4.8% are three. A figure above 15% for one star is on the high side for an app of this size, and it is the clearest sign that a share of users run into trouble.

Where it falls short

The listing leans on compatible devices throughout, so the app is most useful if you already own Echo or other Alexa hardware. It does not say what any connected music service costs, or whether a paid Amazon plan changes what you can do. Feature recommendations are mentioned, but the listing gives no way to judge how personalised or intrusive they are.

It suits households that already run Alexa devices and want a single place to manage them. If you do not own any, the listing gives little reason to install it. Parents of younger children should note the Teen rating.

One more point from the data: the listing is written almost entirely in terms of what Alexa devices can do, so the app reads as an accessory more than a stand-alone product. That is not a flaw, but it matters for anyone who is only curious about Alexa and has not bought hardware yet.