Where Is the Alexa Conversation Icon?

Where Is the Alexa Conversation Icon in the Alexa App?

It’s a very good question! If you own any of the Echo units that support calling you might well be asking that very question. So… where is the Alexa conversation icon in the Android Alexa app?

Amazon’s help pages simply say download the latest version of the app. I did. I also made sure my cell phone number was registered with Amazon – it was – and that I signed into the app with the phone number and not my email address – I did.

Once signed in there is supposed to be a conversation icon in the middle of the other two icons at the bottom. It was glaringly conspicuous by its absence.

Hmmmm…. I thought. That doesn’t seem right, so I emailed customer service. And got a very prompt reply asking me to contact them by phone or chat as they needed “certain information” from my end to “proceed further.”

Well, it turns out I am screwed. The reason I have no conversation icon is very simply that Amazon’s engineers only enabled that option in Android 5 or higher. I have 4.4.2 so I am S.O.L.

Their answer apparently, is to set it up through someone else’s phone. Or upgrade my phone. I can’t do family as my nearest family is 250 miles away. And why should I have to upgrade my phone to use a service Amazon has been bragging about?

I consider both options unacceptable and Amazon needs to rectify this forthwith. If not sooner.

Only for Android 5.0 (and apparently IOS 9) or higher? Really Amazon?