Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Alexa Tips & Tricks => Topic started by: Iamok2go on April 08, 2016, 01:40:05 pm

Title: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Iamok2go on April 08, 2016, 01:40:05 pm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rogertalk.roger

Alexa connect & control with great potential...

Dave
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 08, 2016, 01:44:32 pm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rogertalk.roger

Alexa connect & control with great potential...

Dave

Am I missing something?  That's a link to a "walkie-talkie" app for Android.  There is no integration with Alexa or any other service indicated.  So what are you referring to by "Alexa connect & control"?
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Iamok2go on April 08, 2016, 01:55:48 pm
That's what I thought...installed and was surprised to see the echo listed. Works well.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 08, 2016, 02:24:21 pm
That's what I thought...installed and was surprised to see the echo listed. Works well.

What is it that "works well"?  What does it do with the Echo?
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Iamok2go on April 08, 2016, 03:02:39 pm
Echo appears as a contact allowing you to talk remotely to your echo ftom a smsrrtphone...
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 08, 2016, 03:14:14 pm
Hmmmmm...interesting integration.  But I don't see any real practical value in being able to talk to my Echos when not at home, since there's nothing useful I can do that way that I can't do easily via the other mobile device apps I already have.  And certainly nothing that makes me want to expose my Echo account to some little shoestring app development group I've never heard of before.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Iamok2go on April 08, 2016, 03:37:49 pm
Permissions granted thru your Amazon account.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 08, 2016, 03:41:16 pm
Permissions granted thru your Amazon account.

Yeah, I got that.  You're still giving them potential access to your Echo (and by extension, parts of your Echo and Amazon account).
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: jratliff on April 10, 2016, 10:51:28 am
Thanks for sharing. I have made personal skills for the Echo and on the Amazon developer site there is another area that says "Alexa Voice Service" to "Bring voice capability to your connected device." I assume they used that to connect their app.

I can see that being useful if I didn't have all the same smart home stuff connected to Tasker and AutoVoice. I'd like to see a Tasker to Alexa Plugin then I wouldn't need duplicate device commands on Echo and my phone.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: dredigi0 on April 14, 2016, 09:06:00 am
I checked it out this is another great alternative to using a echo remote, slight lag but nothing unbearable...very useful app.

As for permissions, it works through your amazon account to talk to echo so you have to sign in to amazon through it...leaves you wondering about security
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 14, 2016, 03:33:37 pm

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rogertalk.roger

Alexa connect & control with great potential...

Dave

Very interesting, and a little research informed me that it was first built as an iOS app about a year ago.  And, to the skeptics here, just Google for confirmation it is not a app from unknown hackers who want access to your Echo.  Ever heard of Spotify? Same developers with a well funded base.  Just Google for: "Roger - Talk More Often" and you will be sure to get to the FAQs, etc.

Even if this is not so useful for Echo, it appears to have good potential for other uses.

I'm installing it on my iOS devices to check it out.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 14, 2016, 03:46:18 pm
And, to the skeptics here, just Google for confirmation it is not a app from unknown hackers who want access to your Echo.

Nobody said they were.  Speaking for myself I said they were a company I've never heard of.  That's 100% true.

Ever heard of Spotify? Same developers with a well funded base.

More accurately, it was founded by two guys who used to be engineers for Spotify, and consist of only 6 people total.  It's not like you're dealing with Spotify or its management.  They may well be as pure as the driven snow, but I still have reservations about providing that sort of access to any of my online accounts to such an unknown (to me) entity, especially for something that I find to be of little/no real value to me.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 15, 2016, 01:03:48 am
Yes, true, although at least we know more about the company than we did before, and they appear to be on the up and up.  Haven't had time to install the app yet, but did read the iOS reviews of the app.  One reviewer who said he is very blind said he liked the app a lot since typing was out of the picture for him.  I am quite vision impaired myself with one completely dark eye and the other quite gimpy from too many surgeries. So when I leave iMessages on phone, I dictate them, I don't type.  So, the guy's comment here got my attention.

Anyway, after installing it, I will be curious if this app is worth being a "keeper".
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 16, 2016, 11:47:18 am
Hi everyone, Roger co-founder here.

As some here mentioned before, Blixt (my co-founder) and I started Roger after 5 years of growing Spotify around the world, which meant we've long lived away from our friends and family and simply missed talking with them. So we started working on a voice platform that would make it actually enjoyable to talk despite our busy schedules, and that's how Roger came to be.

Since it's a platform, we have a number of integrations including Alexa, which we built first cause we wanted to use some of the skills on the go. We've been in touch with the good folks at Amazon and are working on a number of other things that will make this cooler specially if you own an Echo, but more on that soon!

Let me know if you have any questions.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 16, 2016, 05:45:55 pm
OK, Gang, I got Roger installed on both an iPad and an iPhone this morning, but I was having issues, and eventually tapped "chat with someone" in Roger app and lo and behold I was chatting via Roger with Ricardo -- the Roger founder who posted the message right above this one!  I told him one reason I wanted to use Roger was for the tie-in with Alexa.  I never mentioned this forum to him at all.  He is a sharp guy and came here on his own.

Anyway. thanks again for all the help, Ricardo!

Also, I came here today  to give a big Thumbs Up to the Roger app.  I have not used it for conversations yet, other than the ones I had with Ricardo, and the sound quality is great. 

What I have been exploring now is Roger and the Alexa app integration.  It works fine, too.  It does things that the Alexa app really ought to do, like I ask Alexa the time, the weather today, the 7-day forecast and Alexa responds in her voice to answer the questions within the Roger app.  It even told me the score of the Yankee-Mariner ball game right after the game ended.  It read me my shopping list and to-do list.

What it cannot do is play Prime music or TuneIn radio; (says not supported) but maybe someday it can do this, too.

After installing Roger, I have a few pointers.

1.  Install it first on the device you most often will use, and get it running well before you install it on another device (i.e. install on iPhone first, then the iPad.)

2. If you have any issues installing/using Roger, tap on "chat with someone" and don't uninstall app and try to re-install, as that caused me problems.

3.  Tap to chat with Ricardo; he has inadvertently volunteered to be this forum's default "Roger Guru" by posting his message here!   ;)

Ricardo, again thanks for helping me out today and stopping by this forum to introduce yourself.

OK, everyone, get Roger installed; you will like it.


Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Iamok2go on April 17, 2016, 04:22:24 am
I hope you guys don't mind, but I took the liberty of inviting Ricardo (I mailed their help line yesterday)...
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 17, 2016, 02:44:53 pm
A great idea, and why would anybody "mind"?  Well, guess we will find out soon enough who minds .
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 18, 2016, 01:57:38 am
Roger and ZIP codes:

Rodger still playing well with Alexa.  BTW, it doesn't matter how many Alexa devices we have, because Roger is like adding another Echo device to your collection.  So, when I could not figure out how to get the correct weather for my town instead of the nearby the big city, I found the answer why in the Alexa app.  After adding Roger app, two more devices got added to my Alexa Settings menu; Roger and 2nd Roger, which happens to be the iPhone and the iPad. So, I looked into the settings for each and both had the wrong zip code, so corrected Alexa app zip code for each Roger, and now I get the correct weather report, and anything else Alexa uses the zip code info for.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: renegade600 on April 18, 2016, 05:03:15 am
OK, Gang, I got Roger installed on both an iPad and an iPhone this morning, but I was having issues, and eventually tapped "chat with someone" in Roger app and lo and behold I was chatting via Roger with Ricardo -- the Roger founder who posted the message right above this one!  I told him one reason I wanted to use Roger was for the tie-in with Alexa.  I never mentioned this forum to him at all.  He is a sharp guy and came here on his own.

Anyway. thanks again for all the help, Ricardo!

Also, I came here today  to give a big Thumbs Up to the Roger app.  I have not used it for conversations yet, other than the ones I had with Ricardo, and the sound quality is great. 

What I have been exploring now is Roger and the Alexa app integration.  It works fine, too.  It does things that the Alexa app really ought to do, like I ask Alexa the time, the weather today, the 7-day forecast and Alexa responds in her voice to answer the questions within the Roger app.  It even told me the score of the Yankee-Mariner ball game right after the game ended.  It read me my shopping list and to-do list.

What it cannot do is play Prime music or TuneIn radio; (says not supported) but maybe someday it can do this, too.

After installing Roger, I have a few pointers.

1.  Install it first on the device you most often will use, and get it running well before you install it on another device (i.e. install on iPhone first, then the iPad.)

2. If you have any issues installing/using Roger, tap on "chat with someone" and don't uninstall app and try to re-install, as that caused me problems.

3.  Tap to chat with Ricardo; he has inadvertently volunteered to be this forum's default "Roger Guru" by posting his message here!   ;)

Ricardo, again thanks for helping me out today and stopping by this forum to introduce yourself.

OK, everyone, get Roger installed; you will like it.

for clarificaion, are you says Roger is doing that  over your phone when you are not home?  If so, is alexa also speaking at home at the same time?
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 18, 2016, 11:45:47 am
It does it on a iPhone or iPad, both of which have Roger installed.  Since it is an over the internet kind of connection, yes, it will do it when not on the home network, like on cell data, a hotspot, another Wi-Fi network,etc.

The Echos at home say/do nothing.  It is like having another Alexa in my mobile devices.  My phone IS a stripped down Alexa device with Roger installed.  It's basically the speaking features of Alexa, like news, sports, weather, traffic, etc.  I was told by Ricardo they are working with Amazon to add more features.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Hgmobile on April 18, 2016, 01:51:54 pm
I just added Roger to an iPhone and was able to use it to control Lutron Caseta installation .
I can control individual lights, off/on and brightness level
I can do the same with groups (created in the Allexa settings- not groups in Lutron App)
Off/on and brightness.

Interesting that I can say light/group name brightness xx% and the lights will come on at that %'age instead of the default full percentage.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Floridadomer on April 20, 2016, 01:13:21 pm
I tried Roger and it just wasn't for me. My question is this:
In my Alexa app it shows Roger as one of my devices and I can't figure out how to delete it out of the list. Does anyone know how to do this?
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 20, 2016, 01:29:26 pm
I would imagine you would just completely uninstall the app from your mobile device.  If you ever decide to re-install it you would respond (when asked to create an account )that you already have one so you are not assigned one again.

Anyway, I am not the guru for this app, so in the Roger app settings, tap your user name; there is a choice to "talk to us", tap it and see the folks that can help, select one and call and leave a Roger message, and someone will get back to you.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ScottinPollock on April 20, 2016, 01:36:26 pm
Does anyone know how to do this?

IIRC, you have to go to your profile under amazon.com. In your devices section you can then delete the Roger device.

I also think it should be clear on Roger's web site how to delete your account with them. At this point the only alternative is to email them with a request.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Floridadomer on April 20, 2016, 01:50:59 pm
THANK YOU!
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 20, 2016, 02:29:11 pm
Does anyone know how to do this?

IIRC, you have to go to your profile under amazon.com. In your devices section you can then delete the Roger device.

I also think it should be clear on Roger's web site how to delete your account with them. At this point the only alternative is to email them with a request.

Roger behaves like another Echo device (in fact it allows you to use Alexa and its skills even without owning an Echo to begin with) so if you want to disable it, you have to do so on your Amazon account here https://www.amazon.com/ap/adam

Everything you talk on Roger gets expired and deleted after 48h, hence we don't get many requests to delete accounts. If you'd like to do so anyway, please email us at hello@rogertalk.com and we'd be happy to assist.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Floridadomer on April 22, 2016, 01:54:57 pm
I guess I didn't explain this very well. In the Alexa app and go Settings-it has a list of Alexa devices, In that list it says Deans Roger (offline)
I am wanting to try to get that off of that list. I did use the link that you provided and deleted the device but it still is showing on my list in the app.
Thanks again for everyones help.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 22, 2016, 05:40:12 pm
I guess I didn't explain this very well. In the Alexa app and go Settings-it has a list of Alexa devices, In that list it says Deans Roger (offline)
I am wanting to try to get that off of that list. I did use the link that you provided and deleted the device but it still is showing on my list in the app.
Thanks again for everyones help.

Oh, unsure why that is, but will let Amazon know!

Either way, if you did remove from the Amazon account, then Roger does no longer have any access to your Alexa account, so I'm assuming it's just a caching issue.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Floridadomer on April 22, 2016, 05:51:19 pm
Thank you but I would rather lay in a bed of fire ants than own any apple devices. That's why my email is Allandroid247@gmail.com. I own a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, a much superior phone than any iphone.
Anyways, thank you again for your help.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 22, 2016, 05:56:19 pm
Thank you but I would rather lay in a bed of fire ants than own any apple devices. That's why my email is Allandroid247@gmail.com. I own a Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, a much superior phone than any iphone.
Anyways, thank you again for your help.

My bad I actually meant Amazon :)

PS just fixed the post above
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 22, 2016, 08:06:00 pm
Oh, I got confused with all the talk about apple, and then saw the correction made.  Whew; thought I was losing it!

Speaking of Apple, I would rather lay on a bed of ants than own an Apple computer (over priced, and all the other reasons).  Actually, they invented the smart phone and tablet for the most part, and although I am not an Apple fanboy at all, I do have the iPhone and iPad, and I believe the apps for them are better presented than ones for Android.  I also have Kindle tablets, and since it is android-based, I find many same apps made for either platform are just better in iOS version.

But, when it comes to beds of ants, I would agree to owning an Apple computer than a Windows phone.  Why?  It seems nobody wants to make apps for the things.  Apps are mostly made for iOS and Android platforms.  Since the Windows phone still only has about 4% share of the smartphone market, app makers avoid it.  Why would anyone in their right mind want to make apps for such a poorly adopted phone?  The answer: Nobody!  At major company forums for major products, Windows phone users whine about why no app for their Windows phone?  Well, because these companies are not stupid; why make an app for a product that hardly sells; even after over two years since introduction. 

BTW, Ricardo, when will there be a Roger app for the AMAZON Kindle tablets?
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 25, 2016, 05:38:07 pm
Good question Mike

We're not working on it at the moment so hard to tell, but will investigate/discuss with the team. Thanks for suggesting!
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 25, 2016, 07:29:57 pm
Glad I thoughtta that!  Especially since Echos and Kindles have the same parentage at Amazon.  Remind your team that since you have already created an Android app, and the Kindle uses an Amazon-version of Android, they can create the Kindle app in the same time it takes for their lunch breaks.  ;)
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: DParker on April 25, 2016, 08:28:04 pm
Remind your team that since you have already created an Android app, and the Kindle uses an Amazon-version of Android, they can create the Kindle app in the same time it takes for their lunch breaks.  ;)

(http://i.imgur.com/CDqD1KV.jpg)
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 25, 2016, 10:57:50 pm
hehe

True, that's not how it works :)
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: mike27oct on April 26, 2016, 12:31:53 am
I guess I did not get the memo.  Thanks for letting me know.  :'(
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: Ultramanv on April 26, 2016, 09:41:17 am
Roger or Ricardo.. Great app ! Going to be very useful and will be great to see what other functions you incorp into it .. One question or suggestion..  Being the watches are becoming more popular do you you have any plans on making the app work on the either android or Apple watches.. ? Maybe in the future :). Thanks again ! :)
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ricardovice on April 26, 2016, 11:49:22 am
Yes, at some point soon :)
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: marcwohler on April 29, 2016, 09:29:09 pm

Roger has joined my household along with Alexa. Trying to figure out how to charge them rent.
Title: Re: Take a look at "Roger - Next Level Voice" (Android)
Post by: ScottinPollock on May 13, 2016, 09:58:43 am


Hi everyone, Roger co-founder here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

@Ricardo

Any plans for Android Auto support? Seems like the current messaging APIs could be used. This would be the first app in Google Play that could support some form of home control/reporting from within Android Auto!