Amazon’s Echo and (little sister) Dot smartspeakers must be the runaway technology success of recent years. In a littleless than four years, the virtual home assistant has gone from something we neverknew we needed to a must-have device.
Alexa – the smart speaker's smooth-talkingoperating system has become a familiar sound in homes around the world. Despitethis huge success, according to pressreports, app developers have yet to hit pay dirt on the platform.
GotSkills
There are currently around 80,000 apps (or“skills” as Amazon prefers to call them) available for Amazon’s smart speakerand, like the smartphone app eco-system before it, developers aren’t lettingtheir imaginations limit what you can do with the device.
The problem is, while developers’imaginations are running wild, Alexa users just don’t appear to be that imaginative.
The vast majority of smart speaker users’, employtheir devices to listen to music, set alarms and, at a push, turn their bedroomlights off. Alexa might be capable of doing many different things but at theend of the day, it’s a glorified radio/alarm without the benefit of a visibleclock.
Even Amazon’s dominance in eCommercecircles isn’t driving vast numbers of people to do their shopping via voice.Sure, you can order a pizza or an audiobook very easily via your smart speaker– but how many people are ordering fast fashion or booking flights via thedevice?
This isn't to say the smart speaker isn'tuseful – but much like Amazon's previous runaway tech success — the Kindle — itimpacts will only be seen across certain niches. For everything else, it seems,people will continue to rely on their smartphones.
Note: I have little doubt the smart speaker has helped increase thepopularity of audiobooks, online radio and fuelled the resurgence of thepodcast. All of which, by the way, is also available on your smartphone.
TheSmartphone Success Story
By the time the smartphone app store hadreached four-years of age, both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Storehad more than half-a-million apps. These have continued to grow at a phenomenalrate with the Play Store now boasting of more than 2.6 million apps.
The reason for this is quite simple. The smartphone just solves so many more problems than a voice-powered device. Think about the way you can engage with a smartphone (voice, touch, vision) and it completely eclipses the smart speaker. While voice might appear to be a more natural way of communicating with a device (and it’s certainly incredibly useful on a smartphone) — when it’s the only option available it has its limitations.
In many ways, the smart speaker (as a device) when compared to the smartphone represents a bit of a regression in terms of technology.
"In many ways, the smart speaker (as a device) when compared to the smartphone represents a bit of a regression in terms of technology."
Learn more about how voice enabled technology is doing in the app eco-system:
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TheOld New
Voice might be winning all the headlines asthe latest must-have technology — and as a vital tool in the smartphoneeco-system — we won't argue with that. However, it's worth remembering thatjust because something is shiny and new doesn't mean it will replace tried andtested systems.
Note: Speak to anyone involved in email marketing and they will tell youabout numerous technologies that have popped up over the years and weresupposedly going to replace email. Most of these so-called killer applicationshave been lost to the mists of time. The ones that have survived (for examplesocial media) have somehow strengthened the email eco-system. The moral of thestory is perhaps, what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. In many ways,voice is to smartphones as social media was to email. It makes the smartphone'sproposition even stronger.
ShouldYou Develop a Voice-Enabled App?
Sure, why not?
If you have the time and resources to addto your portfolio of apps, and no expectations of a quick return – it’s alwaysa good idea to extend the range of your apps and Amazon’s virtual assistantsmight be a great place to explore.
But if time and resources are limited –don't let the smooth-talking virtual assistant fool you. Your smartphone apphas to be your number one priority.
Talkto Digital Turbine
Talk to the app marketing experts at DigitalTurbine to learn how we can help you reach a more engaged audience via theirsmartphones.
