BlueOfTheNight you need to consider your posts more carefully.
It is no longert possible to command a BBC station to play on a Sonos in the manner we're used to. Whether this is an issue with the Sonos skill or the built-in TuneIn skill I'm not sure.
To play bbc stations locally on the echo requires the bbc skill, and this works just by saying "alexa play bbc radio 2" - prefixing "ask bbc to" isnt necessary.
If you say "alexa play bbc radio 2 in kitchen" then either some other tunein station called radio 2 (not BBC) plays or you get an error. Try "alexa play bbc radio 5 live in kitchen" if you still doubt us.
you hit the very big nail disguised as an elephant that skills can’t be used in routines which, as you say, is firmly in Amazon’s court but...you can listen to the bbc in a Echo. So the beeb haven’t changed anything except greatly expand what you can listen to. It’s great wandering about the place listening to some podcasts or a serial or a book without having to sit by the “radio” waiting for it to come on on a day I’d rather be doing something else.
my position is not so much a beeb fan and anything they do is right but why is the beeb being attacked for something they have no control over just because a third party will not do something for their paying customers. And consider that skills, as well as the beeb, are in the same boat.
I understand the point you are trying to make but I have to disagree. The BBC have changed the way content is delivered. Had the status quo been maintained then all features will still work. The BBC are rightly being attacked because the BBC made the changes. It is unreasonable to for the BBC to expect other organisations to dance to their tune, regardless of how commendable their intentions might be.
The O/P very neatly summarised the situation, and apart from adding additional things that dont work, some of the replies haven't really helped. There aren't any work-arounds for people to share. Our devices wont benefit by people excusing what the BBC have done or how little Amazon/Sonos have done to mitigate the problem
BlueOfTheNight you need to consider your posts more carefully.
It is no longert possible to command a BBC station to play on a Sonos in the manner we're used to. Whether this is an issue with the Sonos skill or the built-in TuneIn skill I'm not sure.
To play bbc stations locally on the echo requires the bbc skill, and this works just by saying "alexa play bbc radio 2" - prefixing "ask bbc to" isnt necessary.
If you say "alexa play bbc radio 2 in kitchen" then either some other tunein station called radio 2 (not BBC) plays or you get an error. Try "alexa play bbc radio 5 live in kitchen" if you still doubt us.
My access to the BBC radio stations work just fine. Both in direct request in Alexa and routine and direct request in Google. ( EDIT: Sonos works fine from Alexa routine)
I am puzzled as to why the routine is fine in google but not alexa.
sonos, as per the BBC statement linked to in the first post of this thread, states that for services like Sonos TuneIn will continue to work. The reason why is also explained. For Sonos you don’t need to do anything - maybe rephrase the request or include more detail.
set up a routine and see if that works. TuneIn lately has been flaky at times, as is its way.
The O/P very neatly summarised the situation, and apart from adding additional things that dont work, some of the replies haven't really helped. There aren't any work-arounds for people to share. Our devices wont benefit by people excusing what the BBC have done or how little Amazon/Sonos have done to mitigate the problem
I understand the point you are trying to make but I have to disagree. The BBC have changed the way content is delivered. Had the status quo been maintained then all features will still work. The BBC are rightly being attacked because the BBC made the changes. It is unreasonable to for the BBC to expect other organisations to dance to their tune, regardless of how commendable their intentions might be.
it is stagnation of the status of the beeb services that has lead to the changes. From other platforms there has been a great support for podcasts and “catch up” which predate Alexa. These change requests were aimed to a certain degree to provide the same functionality that iPlayer provides. As it stood there are two services called iPlayer but only one had any functionality to compete with other services.
That the Beeb have responded to these requests for vastly improved functionality is to be commended in my opinion. IPlayer has undergone major refurbishment to no comment at all.
i can also place a bit of context to my mind that this changes only affect “some” who want to use it as an alarm or in a routine. You can still listen to the beeb.
BlueOfTheNight: The problems stated in O/P are correct and the issue that in UK you can no longer command BBC tunein stations on Sonos from Alexa is correct.
it is stagnation of the status of the beeb services that has lead to the changes. From other platforms there has been a great support for podcasts and “catch up” which predate Alexa. These change requests were aimed to a certain degree to provide the same functionality that iPlayer provides. As it stood there are two services called iPlayer but only one had any functionality to compete with other services.
That the Beeb have responded to these requests for vastly improved functionality is to be commended in my opinion. IPlayer has undergone major refurbishment to no comment at all.
i can also place a bit of context to my mind that this changes only affect “some” who want to use it as an alarm or in a routine. You can still listen to the beeb.
Still not convinced.... the beeb broke it, the beeb can fix it.
BlueOfTheNight: The problems stated in O/P are correct and the issue that in UK you can no longer command BBC tunein stations on Sonos from Alexa is correct.
Ah...all is clear. You left out an important bit. you are only talking about the “Alexa” enabled Sonos speakers. The “normal” Sonos speakers that use Alexa (my case) are not affected.
edit: as a workaround if you have another alexa device e.g. a dot you should be able to control the “alexa” sonos speaker directly? I.e. don’t use alexa built into the speaker. Or try a routine (to test/experiment) to play radio using tunein.
Ah...all is clear. You left out an important bit. you are only talking about the “Alexa” enabled Sonos speakers. The “normal” Sonos speakers that use Alexa (my case) are not affected.
No, I have a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
You cannot command a BBC station from an echo device to a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
It would interesting to know what happens with an Alexa enabled Sonos One model. If this doesnt work then its owners would rightly be particularly annoyed.
No, I have a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
You cannot command a BBC station from an echo device to a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
It would interesting to know what happens with an Alexa enabled Sonos One model. If this doesnt work then its owners would rightly be particularly annoyed.
The Beeb fell off TuneIn radio on September 30th. The BBC skill is utterly useless. It cannot even respond to "play radio 2", never mind play BBC stations on other speaker systems. This is a game changer for me, it effectively means I can no longer play BBC stations on any of the Sonos speakers I have dotted about the house. Looks like I will be binning my echo dots and cancelling my Amazon Prime subscription.
Cannot believe the backward step this represents. It's a total loss for the BBC and Amazon. Utterly, utterly hopeless.
All my Sonos speakers work just fine just fine asking alexa and a routine. Have you tried a routine?
say
alexa play <beebstation> from tunein on <name of sonos speaker>
for example
does the speaker play ok selecting the station from the Sonos app?
even with a Sonos One you can still listen to the beeb.
I accept that you are happy with the functionality you have. In return please accept that in every other post on the internet, including the BBC themselves, state, as simple fact, that BBC is not supported on tunein on Echo. You are not helping us get this resolved.
Big backward step in terms of lost functionality and as far as I can tell by reading the BBC blog all done because they couldnt get 'meaningful data'. Well, they're getting a lot less data now! I just wish they'd stop throwing their toys around and put it back as it was. Replace TuneIn with a BBC skill by all means but at least make sure the skill provides the right level of functionality BEFORE replacing it. That this only impacts the UK licence payer makes it even more galling - the BBC still support TuneIn if accessed outside the UK. Bizarre!!
I first posted here last week when Amazon changed the Show/Spot to not display the fullscreen clock as a home page. There were a few posts here, but after loads more on the US forum which got picked up it was fixed in a couple of days. For this issue we're on our own.
Fair enough the BBC caused it, and Alexa devices are just one of the many things affected, e,g, with Sonos speakers. No progress even with many people posting on the BBC blog, and it's just as tricky to get Sonos etc to speak to Amazon to get something working again. They all like to advertise those great features when trying to sell you stuff though.
I accept that you are happy with the functionality you have. In return please accept that in every other post on the internet, including the BBC themselves, state, as simple fact, that BBC is not supported on tunein on Echo. You are not helping us get this resolved.
As you know I was responding about Sonos speakers stating that they work as normal despite some comments that they didn’t. If Echo were the only speakers in the world that used the BBC service your comment is well founded, but adding some context and relevance to the point does help to understand the general overall problem being faced by those who do not use Echo to use this service and set alarms/routines.
however the actual “problem” is “some” can no longer use the beeb as an alarm (which the beeb has explained because they had no idea how many people actually use an echo for that purpose and neither do we or anybody else other than those affected - but which still work perfectly on Sonos by the way) and can’t use it in a routine (again, how many people do this?)
it is a problem for added functionality only as nobody’s access to the bbc service has been cut off.
i understand that this added functionality is and inconvenience and is important for “some” but they have not been stranded without an alarm. I use my phone/tablet as one very often. Works perfectly.
unfortunately this “problem” highlights the inherent fragility of critically using anything that is dependent upon a third party continuing to provide the status quo - and for some to just stop trading altogether. Unfortunately, or fortunately, third parties do not follow this business plan and will continue to improve and innovate (e.g. new Hue hub and app and now they do bluetooth lights too)
Erm...the beeb has not removed tunein radio streams from the UK. It has ONLY removed tunein for devices that can sign in e.g. Echo et al. It has been in the pipeline for 11 months.
Big backward step in terms of lost functionality and as far as I can tell by reading the BBC blog all done because they couldnt get 'meaningful data'. Well, they're getting a lot less data now! I just wish they'd stop throwing their toys around and put it back as it was. Replace TuneIn with a BBC skill by all means but at least make sure the skill provides the right level of functionality BEFORE replacing it. That this only impacts the UK licence payer makes it even more galling - the BBC still support TuneIn if accessed outside the UK. Bizarre!!
The functionality is what Amazon provide. How is the BBC responsible for you wanting to set an alarm? None of the BBC sites offer set an alarm.
I first posted here last week when Amazon changed the Show/Spot to not display the fullscreen clock as a home page. There were a few posts here, but after loads more on the US forum which got picked up it was fixed in a couple of days. For this issue we're on our own.
Fair enough the BBC caused it, and Alexa devices are just one of the many things affected, e,g, with Sonos speakers. No progress even with many people posting on the BBC blog, and it's just as tricky to get Sonos etc to speak to Amazon to get something working again. They all like to advertise those great features when trying to sell you stuff though.
Sorry but I take issue with you about Sonos. It still uses TuneIn. What problems do you have. I have absolutely none.
and the sheer amount of outrage being vented on the US site about the clock not being shown full screen...
The functionality is what Amazon provide. How is the BBC responsible for you wanting to set an alarm? None of the BBC sites offer set an alarm.
Hi BlueOfTheNight, you do seem determined to grab the wrong end of every stick...... Please see the BBC blogs that others have mentioned. Of course the BBC arent responsible for me wanting to set an alarm, but they are responsible for taking away the functionality that allowed me (and countless others) to set an alarm, use multiroom, listen in stereo to BBC radio stations on their Amazon echo's and various other smart speakers via TuneIn. And yes, you are right, the BBC sites do not offer an alarm - the old iPlayer radio did but as far as I can see Sounds doesn't. TuneIn still support loads of other radio stations so the Echo functionality itself has not been 'degraded' - but this particular forum is about people wanting to listen to BBC using the 'smart' functions over and above basic streaming, and the BBC Sounds Skill cant do this for reasons already discussed.
Hi BlueOfTheNight, you do seem determined to grab the wrong end of every stick...... Please see the BBC blogs that others have mentioned. Of course the BBC arent responsible for me wanting to set an alarm, but they are responsible for taking away the functionality that allowed me (and countless others) to set an alarm, use multiroom, listen in stereo to BBC radio stations on their Amazon echo's and various other smart speakers via TuneIn. And yes, you are right, the BBC sites do not offer an alarm - the old iPlayer radio did but as far as I can see Sounds doesn't. TuneIn still support loads of other radio stations so the Echo functionality itself has not been 'degraded' - but this particular forum is about people wanting to listen to BBC using the 'smart' functions over and above basic streaming, and the BBC Sounds Skill cant do this for reasons already discussed.
Maybe just a different end of the stick. From the other end then. You can not use a skill in a routine.
The BBC has become a skill.
Amazon have full and exclusive control of all skills and their functionality.
It is up to Amazon to provide proper functionality for skills.
The BBC is NOT the only thing affected by this lack of attention to skills which has been going on since forever. It is only part of a much more extensive problem - consider all those fellow customers who are unable to properly use “alexa enabled” or alexa compliant devices because of this.
Here’s hoping that the BBC problem will encourage Amazon to address the inherent original problems in their software for their devices. If you want Amazon “software” fun you needed to look on the US forum at the Fire Cube (Amazon pulled ALL the reviews of the product as it was so dire), the current fun over their implementation of the HD/UHD music service, et al.
Customer pressure, aka money, will force them to do something. It ain’t gonna be happening anytime now though.
this is a perfect opportunity for Amazon’s competitors to capitalise
only Amazon can change things.
complain, complain, complain to Amazon. The beeb can do nothing. Do you really think they are going to change their minds?
edit: just did a quick test. alarms work OK on Google. And Christmas is coming up.
Do you really think amazon are going to anything about this? They are too just big to give a damm.
People are annoyed and suggesting people ditch the echos and go out and buy a google device is not helping. I don't want to shell out more hard earned cash on on another system - especially as I have only had my 5 echo devices less than a year.
Do you really think amazon are going to anything about this? They are too just big to give a damm.
People are annoyed and suggesting people ditch the echos and go out and buy a google device is not helping. I don't want to shell out more hard earned cash on on another system - especially as I have only had my 5 echo devices less than a year.
using your argument, do you think the BBC, considering how much of licence payers money has been spent dramatically expanding services and paying for and running dual services. For “advanced” functionality on a third party device over which they have zero, zero, zero control for setting an alarm...or in a routine...?
moan, moan, moan at Amazon. Alternatives my not be “helpful” for you, but money talks.
Choosing a system that only works at the whim of third party providers is always a personal choice. That one third party provider has improved their services which had to be ported to a skill which the system does not recognise as something that needs to be worked with only means that the system needs to provide the functionality which is desired by that system’s customers. The skill has no effect whatsoever on the functionality of simple listening to the provided service on the chosen system. Customers money counts.
as I said, Christmas is coming. Why would anyone want to buy a Echo device that does not perform a basic desired function either for themselves or for others. Spread the word and stop blaming the beeb. Google works. Buy google instead. The choice is yours. Your money decides things (albeit with the software storm for newly introduced Amazon services going on - direct services for which money has been directly paid - and new gadgets I doubt that a “few” people in the UK will have any effect at all) but then again...maybe it will.
moan, moan, moan at Amazon. Constantly.
and...does anyone know if this skill is Echo global as the beeb provide a global service. Does the US still get the beeb from tunein? When will that change?
You made your point, but I and many many others do not agree! And I can see you cannot see the merit in our argument.
Tune in still available for non UK listeners - so those that don't pay the licence fee get the full benefit. So why can't the BBC give the UK licence payer the choice of using the skill or tunein. And tune-in is still provided for other platforms.
Yes it would be great if Amazon made the software more feature rich - but they are not going to. Amazon's support/customer service is woeful, I really doubt any of the problems that get reported ever get seen by anybody with decision making responsibility. Amazon move at their own pace - I have come to accept the the product is not finished (and probably never will be), but hope it will improve over time with the functionality I want. There are so many things that are poor it will take years....
I am not asking the BBC to make any changes just provide what the non UK listeners have OR provide what they provided last month. They are already keeping the tune-in platform running for some so give it to the people that pay the license fee as well.
This has been a feature missing for a long time, it is nothing new. I can see you are trying to get the BBC to "force" Amazon to move on this by getting the Amazon customers to complain. I think that is overly optimistic. People here with a interest in this problem have already spent their money and Amazon have it, the money talks argument does not really apply.
They precipitated the problem by going ahead without the ability to replicate what the Alexa/Tunein integration did before and I doubt they have the capability to work with Amazon to get the BBC skill where it needs to be,
We've now highlighted the problem with posts to explain to any visitors why they've lost service. Whereas posts on that BBC link are all of one mind, accurate and helpful,, on device forums the debate is possibly running out of steam.
BlueOfTheNight you need to consider your posts more carefully.
It is no longert possible to command a BBC station to play on a Sonos in the manner we're used to. Whether this is an issue with the Sonos skill or the built-in TuneIn skill I'm not sure.
To play bbc stations locally on the echo requires the bbc skill, and this works just by saying "alexa play bbc radio 2" - prefixing "ask bbc to" isnt necessary.
If you say "alexa play bbc radio 2 in kitchen" then either some other tunein station called radio 2 (not BBC) plays or you get an error. Try "alexa play bbc radio 5 live in kitchen" if you still doubt us.
Places to comment
https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/37e4e3f6-fbd2-4c14-8d72-7f7139641582
https://en.community.sonos.com/music-services-and-sources-228994/bbc-tunein-6828704
https://www.amazon.co.uk/BBC-MEDIA-APPLICATIONS-TECHNOLOGIES-LIMITED/product-reviews/B077P7TNF2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_viewopt_srt?ie=UTF8&reviewerType=all_reviews&sortBy=recent&pageNumber=1
I understand the point you are trying to make but I have to disagree. The BBC have changed the way content is delivered. Had the status quo been maintained then all features will still work. The BBC are rightly being attacked because the BBC made the changes. It is unreasonable to for the BBC to expect other organisations to dance to their tune, regardless of how commendable their intentions might be.
The O/P very neatly summarised the situation, and apart from adding additional things that dont work, some of the replies haven't really helped. There aren't any work-arounds for people to share. Our devices wont benefit by people excusing what the BBC have done or how little Amazon/Sonos have done to mitigate the problem
My access to the BBC radio stations work just fine. Both in direct request in Alexa and routine and direct request in Google. ( EDIT: Sonos works fine from Alexa routine)
I am puzzled as to why the routine is fine in google but not alexa.
sonos, as per the BBC statement linked to in the first post of this thread, states that for services like Sonos TuneIn will continue to work. The reason why is also explained. For Sonos you don’t need to do anything - maybe rephrase the request or include more detail.
set up a routine and see if that works. TuneIn lately has been flaky at times, as is its way.
My experience is that Sonos is unaffected.
it is stagnation of the status of the beeb services that has lead to the changes. From other platforms there has been a great support for podcasts and “catch up” which predate Alexa. These change requests were aimed to a certain degree to provide the same functionality that iPlayer provides. As it stood there are two services called iPlayer but only one had any functionality to compete with other services.
That the Beeb have responded to these requests for vastly improved functionality is to be commended in my opinion. IPlayer has undergone major refurbishment to no comment at all.
i can also place a bit of context to my mind that this changes only affect “some” who want to use it as an alarm or in a routine. You can still listen to the beeb.
BlueOfTheNight: The problems stated in O/P are correct and the issue that in UK you can no longer command BBC tunein stations on Sonos from Alexa is correct.
I suggest you read the comments section of https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/37e4e3f6-fbd2-4c14-8d72-7f7139641582 and the list of affected items in https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/tunein-changes
Still not convinced.... the beeb broke it, the beeb can fix it.
Ah...all is clear. You left out an important bit. you are only talking about the “Alexa” enabled Sonos speakers. The “normal” Sonos speakers that use Alexa (my case) are not affected.
edit: as a workaround if you have another alexa device e.g. a dot you should be able to control the “alexa” sonos speaker directly? I.e. don’t use alexa built into the speaker. Or try a routine (to test/experiment) to play radio using tunein.
Aye. The beeb AND Amazon can fix it. The sooner the better.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Amazon to do anything other than flog us more stuff.
No, I have a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
You cannot command a BBC station from an echo device to a physically separate, perfectly "normal", not Alexa enabled, Sonos Play:1 speaker.
It would interesting to know what happens with an Alexa enabled Sonos One model. If this doesnt work then its owners would rightly be particularly annoyed.
There is a new BBC blog on the matter https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/45fa0731-189c-43eb-8e4f-3071b8384895
All my Sonos speakers work just fine just fine asking alexa and a routine. Have you tried a routine?
say
alexa play <beebstation> from tunein on <name of sonos speaker>
for example
does the speaker play ok selecting the station from the Sonos app?
even with a Sonos One you can still listen to the beeb.
The Beeb fell off TuneIn radio on September 30th. The BBC skill is utterly useless. It cannot even respond to "play radio 2", never mind play BBC stations on other speaker systems. This is a game changer for me, it effectively means I can no longer play BBC stations on any of the Sonos speakers I have dotted about the house. Looks like I will be binning my echo dots and cancelling my Amazon Prime subscription.
Cannot believe the backward step this represents. It's a total loss for the BBC and Amazon. Utterly, utterly hopeless.
I accept that you are happy with the functionality you have. In return please accept that in every other post on the internet, including the BBC themselves, state, as simple fact, that BBC is not supported on tunein on Echo. You are not helping us get this resolved.
I've created a petition at Change.org about the BBC removing TuneIn radio streams – please sign and share.
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-restore-bbc-radio-streams-to-tunein
To JulesP - signed and shared.
Big backward step in terms of lost functionality and as far as I can tell by reading the BBC blog all done because they couldnt get 'meaningful data'. Well, they're getting a lot less data now! I just wish they'd stop throwing their toys around and put it back as it was. Replace TuneIn with a BBC skill by all means but at least make sure the skill provides the right level of functionality BEFORE replacing it. That this only impacts the UK licence payer makes it even more galling - the BBC still support TuneIn if accessed outside the UK. Bizarre!!
I first posted here last week when Amazon changed the Show/Spot to not display the fullscreen clock as a home page. There were a few posts here, but after loads more on the US forum which got picked up it was fixed in a couple of days. For this issue we're on our own.
Fair enough the BBC caused it, and Alexa devices are just one of the many things affected, e,g, with Sonos speakers. No progress even with many people posting on the BBC blog, and it's just as tricky to get Sonos etc to speak to Amazon to get something working again. They all like to advertise those great features when trying to sell you stuff though.
As you know I was responding about Sonos speakers stating that they work as normal despite some comments that they didn’t. If Echo were the only speakers in the world that used the BBC service your comment is well founded, but adding some context and relevance to the point does help to understand the general overall problem being faced by those who do not use Echo to use this service and set alarms/routines.
however the actual “problem” is “some” can no longer use the beeb as an alarm (which the beeb has explained because they had no idea how many people actually use an echo for that purpose and neither do we or anybody else other than those affected - but which still work perfectly on Sonos by the way) and can’t use it in a routine (again, how many people do this?)
it is a problem for added functionality only as nobody’s access to the bbc service has been cut off.
i understand that this added functionality is and inconvenience and is important for “some” but they have not been stranded without an alarm. I use my phone/tablet as one very often. Works perfectly.
unfortunately this “problem” highlights the inherent fragility of critically using anything that is dependent upon a third party continuing to provide the status quo - and for some to just stop trading altogether. Unfortunately, or fortunately, third parties do not follow this business plan and will continue to improve and innovate (e.g. new Hue hub and app and now they do bluetooth lights too)
Erm...the beeb has not removed tunein radio streams from the UK. It has ONLY removed tunein for devices that can sign in e.g. Echo et al. It has been in the pipeline for 11 months.
The functionality is what Amazon provide. How is the BBC responsible for you wanting to set an alarm? None of the BBC sites offer set an alarm.
Sorry but I take issue with you about Sonos. It still uses TuneIn. What problems do you have. I have absolutely none.
and the sheer amount of outrage being vented on the US site about the clock not being shown full screen...
Hi BlueOfTheNight, you do seem determined to grab the wrong end of every stick...... Please see the BBC blogs that others have mentioned. Of course the BBC arent responsible for me wanting to set an alarm, but they are responsible for taking away the functionality that allowed me (and countless others) to set an alarm, use multiroom, listen in stereo to BBC radio stations on their Amazon echo's and various other smart speakers via TuneIn. And yes, you are right, the BBC sites do not offer an alarm - the old iPlayer radio did but as far as I can see Sounds doesn't. TuneIn still support loads of other radio stations so the Echo functionality itself has not been 'degraded' - but this particular forum is about people wanting to listen to BBC using the 'smart' functions over and above basic streaming, and the BBC Sounds Skill cant do this for reasons already discussed.
Maybe just a different end of the stick. From the other end then.
You can not use a skill in a routine.
The BBC has become a skill.
Amazon have full and exclusive control of all skills and their functionality.
It is up to Amazon to provide proper functionality for skills.
The BBC is NOT the only thing affected by this lack of attention to skills which has been going on since forever. It is only part of a much more extensive problem - consider all those fellow customers who are unable to properly use “alexa enabled” or alexa compliant devices because of this.
Here’s hoping that the BBC problem will encourage Amazon to address the inherent original problems in their software for their devices. If you want Amazon “software” fun you needed to look on the US forum at the Fire Cube (Amazon pulled ALL the reviews of the product as it was so dire), the current fun over their implementation of the HD/UHD music service, et al.
Customer pressure, aka money, will force them to do something. It ain’t gonna be happening anytime now though.
this is a perfect opportunity for Amazon’s competitors to capitalise
only Amazon can change things.
complain, complain, complain to Amazon. The beeb can do nothing. Do you really think they are going to change their minds?
edit: just did a quick test. alarms work OK on Google. And Christmas is coming up.
Complain complain complain to the BBC, they broke it they should fix it! http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/
Do you really think amazon are going to anything about this? They are too just big to give a damm.
People are annoyed and suggesting people ditch the echos and go out and buy a google device is not helping. I don't want to shell out more hard earned cash on on another system - especially as I have only had my 5 echo devices less than a year.
. Some proper perspective. a example of how people are affected by Amazon not allowing skills in routines.
https://uk.amazonforum.com/forums/devices/echo-alexa/525162-routine-to-tune-to-cnn-on-hulu
using your argument, do you think the BBC, considering how much of licence payers money has been spent dramatically expanding services and paying for and running dual services. For “advanced” functionality on a third party device over which they have zero, zero, zero control for setting an alarm...or in a routine...?
moan, moan, moan at Amazon. Alternatives my not be “helpful” for you, but money talks.
Choosing a system that only works at the whim of third party providers is always a personal choice. That one third party provider has improved their services which had to be ported to a skill which the system does not recognise as something that needs to be worked with only means that the system needs to provide the functionality which is desired by that system’s customers. The skill has no effect whatsoever on the functionality of simple listening to the provided service on the chosen system. Customers money counts.
as I said, Christmas is coming. Why would anyone want to buy a Echo device that does not perform a basic desired function either for themselves or for others. Spread the word and stop blaming the beeb. Google works. Buy google instead. The choice is yours. Your money decides things (albeit with the software storm for newly introduced Amazon services going on - direct services for which money has been directly paid - and new gadgets I doubt that a “few” people in the UK will have any effect at all) but then again...maybe it will.
moan, moan, moan at Amazon. Constantly.
and...does anyone know if this skill is Echo global as the beeb provide a global service. Does the US still get the beeb from tunein? When will that change?
just spread the word. A lot.
You made your point, but I and many many others do not agree! And I can see you cannot see the merit in our argument.
Tune in still available for non UK listeners - so those that don't pay the licence fee get the full benefit. So why can't the BBC give the UK licence payer the choice of using the skill or tunein. And tune-in is still provided for other platforms.
Yes it would be great if Amazon made the software more feature rich - but they are not going to. Amazon's support/customer service is woeful, I really doubt any of the problems that get reported ever get seen by anybody with decision making responsibility. Amazon move at their own pace - I have come to accept the the product is not finished (and probably never will be), but hope it will improve over time with the functionality I want. There are so many things that are poor it will take years....
I am not asking the BBC to make any changes just provide what the non UK listeners have OR provide what they provided last month. They are already keeping the tune-in platform running for some so give it to the people that pay the license fee as well.
This has been a feature missing for a long time, it is nothing new. I can see you are trying to get the BBC to "force" Amazon to move on this by getting the Amazon customers to complain. I think that is overly optimistic. People here with a interest in this problem have already spent their money and Amazon have it, the money talks argument does not really apply.
Ive come to the same conclusion here as on other device forums that we're better off now to focus on getting the BBC to reverse its decision using one of the complaint channels people mention on https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/45fa0731-189c-43eb-8e4f-3071b8384895
They precipitated the problem by going ahead without the ability to replicate what the Alexa/Tunein integration did before and I doubt they have the capability to work with Amazon to get the BBC skill where it needs to be,
We've now highlighted the problem with posts to explain to any visitors why they've lost service. Whereas posts on that BBC link are all of one mind, accurate and helpful,, on device forums the debate is possibly running out of steam.