Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Echo Technical Support => Topic started by: mudcamper on July 14, 2016, 11:58:34 pm

Title: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 14, 2016, 11:58:34 pm
Why does the Alexa app and also alexa.amazon.com take 10 or more minutes to start?

Right now it is taking even longer. I'd say it's locked up / unresponsive. But it is like this every time.

It just says "amazon alexa" and sits there with the spinning "hourglass" like icon.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 15, 2016, 12:13:31 am
alexa.amazon.com still unresponsive. Does it go down? And that causes the app on ALL PHONES to go down too? Is this usual?
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 15, 2016, 12:25:09 am
So I called the support number I got from this forum. (Thanks! I assume this site has nothing to do with actual amazon, and is kinda a fan type site?)

The woman on the phone says that their system is overloaded with all the new purchases from Prime day. She says try again later.

Really.

Super amateur move. I am quite surprised to hear this from Amazon. AWS (Amazon Web Services) powers half the servers on the internet. They can be set to auto-scale to handle ANY load. Yet Alexa/Echo can't do this? Really? Unbelievable.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on July 15, 2016, 01:46:47 am
It's working fine; I just checked it and it is never slow for me -- you are one of the first to make these sort of comments here.  Maybe it has more to do with your home network, e.g. poor/slow internet, modem, router, or too weak of a wireless signal at your Echo.

Do this: turn off your Echo (unplug it), turn off your modem and router, wait a few moments and turn them back on.  Once they are back on, turn your Echo back on. and most likely all will be well again.  If not, then try putting your Echo closer to your router.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 15, 2016, 03:52:52 am
It works now, at nearly 1 am my time.

Mike you must have missed my post where I said I spoke with Amazon CS. They told me the system was overloaded and to try later. And I'm talking about the app, or alexa.amazon.com, not the echo itself.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on July 15, 2016, 11:40:42 am
I was referring to the app as well.  I opened it, it did not hesitate. I selected one of my Favorite tunein stations from my list, and it starting playing immediately.  NO lagging or any of the other problems you mentioned.

People who buy new and unfamiliar products should RTFM and not start complaining until they are more familiar with the item.  All it does is indicate the user did NOT RTFM and is unprepared.

I too am on the west coast and saw your post late last night, and my immediate reaction was first, check to see that the app is working, and then thought "this guy doesn't know what he is talking about"!  I have had my Echo more than 24 hours.

BTW, the CS person obviously did not understand your complaint, and gave you a response regarding the Amazon CS phone system, not the app.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 15, 2016, 12:17:15 pm
Mike. Stop trolling me. Stop telling me that I do not know what I am saying. You are wrong. alexa.amazon.com was down. Amazon CS told me they were getting hundreds of calls about it. What is your problem? You are NOT helpful. If you want the help, help. But if you want to troll, stop. Go away.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on July 15, 2016, 01:14:06 pm
No one is trolling you, Pal.  I, like others here, am trying to help you (even though you are making it difficult for us all.) I read your response to everyone who commented in your other message; you appear to be one of those people who is always right and everyone else is wrong.  You need an attitude adjustment.

I'll concede to this: when I checked the Alexa app, it worked fine and was not slow.  In fact, for over a year and a half there has only been very few glitches with it -- mostly in the earlier days.  But, maybe for a moment it did not work for you.  Who knows, but it was short-lived, for sure.

Here's one last tip: since you don't seem to like your Echo, and balk at any help here, maybe you should just get a refund from Amazon; or get THEM to help you.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mudcamper on July 15, 2016, 01:53:22 pm
Mike your answers were just condescending.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on July 15, 2016, 02:25:09 pm
Prompted by your condescending entry into this forum, and behavior toward others (and me) Just chill, be polite, and it will be amazing how others respond!
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mcarpeneto on September 23, 2016, 05:16:00 am
I too am having problems with a slow Echo, and I have two of them. My wifi is fine with everything else. Amazon needs to get some more servers. :(
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on September 23, 2016, 07:16:53 pm
What exactly "is slow" about it?  Are the Echos brand new?  Is this a common problem for you, or "device is too new to tell"?

I have had an Echo since it came out, and have added two Dots and two Taps along the way, and they are never slow in any interpretation of slow.  I am thinking you have Wi-Fi issues (even though you say it is fine.)  If you have relatively slow bandwidth and/or your Echo is too far from the router Wi-Fi signal, an Echo could get slow at times.  I have neither problem, because I have my Echo devices connected to the 2.4G signal, because it has the longest range, and I know the Wi-Fi signal where my devices are located is strong; I know, because I have measured it with an Android app called Wi-Fi Analyzer, and I have tweaked my router correctly so that it only uses the N signals and no others on the clearest channels I can use.  Bottom line is I know my Wi-Fi is great; I don't just think it is.  Most Wi-Fi device issues are caused by the above issues.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: johnkitchen on October 22, 2016, 07:03:36 pm
I too have had major issues with the Alexa app for quite a while. It is very very slow. This is not an issue with Wi-Fi or my network as 1) the many other devices and apps on my network don't have the same issue and 2) I have exactly the same problems with the Alexa app when away from home and using cellular data.

Usually, when the app opens, I'm shown the menu icon (three lines) and the title 'Home', but the content of the Home page takes around two minutes to load.

Apart from being slow, I find that I am able to open the menu, but then unable to select any menu items. Touching them does nothing. If I wait another 30 seconds or a minute, I can often then select an item, but this situation is unworkable.

If I am able to select a menu item, I'm often not able to perform actions in that section. For example, deleting items from the Shopping List.

Yes, I am very familiar with the Echo. I have an Echo, one Dot and one Tap and have RTFM, but thanks Mike for your stellar advice.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: jwlv on October 22, 2016, 08:11:01 pm
John, what kind of phone are you using? I've only used iPhones with the Alexa app, so there's very little variation with the hardware. If you're on Android, there is a great deal of variation between phones. Some Android phones are as cheap as $30 while others can be as much as $700. You can bet that the $30 phone won't perform nearly as well as the $700 phone.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: johnkitchen on October 26, 2016, 06:21:58 pm
Hi jwlv, I'm mainly using an iPhone 6+, but get a similar experience on my iPad Air (original).
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Drew on November 29, 2016, 08:53:41 am
The app is incredibly slow for me as well.

The problem is the app rather than the device, which works fine now it's connected to the wifi. I'm on an iPhone 6+ and it takes a very long time for the app to connect and then actions are very slow and often result in it reporting that the app is offline.

The wifi here is good and this issue is limited to the Alexa app (other apps, websites, video streaming etc. work quickly). This suggest to me that the problem is at the other end and the Amazon servers are overwhelmed by the new users from Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

It's very frustrating because it really limits some of the Echo's functionality - For example, I can add things to my shopping list but, because the app is so slow, it incredibly painful to view or edit my lists.

Every button tap in the app takes around a minute to respond and there's no indication that you've even pressed anything. This suggest that every interaction results in a call to the server. The app then waits for a response. Because there's no visible change users tap the button again, which results in another call to the server. The result of all of these calls coming in from all of the apps is the equivalent of a denial of service attack on the server. It's constantly being bombarded by requests.

The app developers need to look at this and find a way to limit the number of calls or this will keep happening. It's possible that the issue is regional, impacting servers in a specific region rather than globally. I'm in the UK and the app performance has been terrible every time I've tried since yesterday. I've tried at different times of day and through different wifi connections.

I think the only solution is to be patient and wait for the app to update to fix the issue or for Amazon to ramp up the servers to tackle the increased traffic.

Drew
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: steve59 on November 29, 2016, 06:32:28 pm
I am also having a problem with the painfully slow alexa app  I am hoping it is being caused by the thanksgiving sales causing a lot of people to setup their devices.   I hope this corrected within the next week or I will have return my unused dots and consider my options.  Being disabled, I am hoping the issues can be resolved quickly so I can benefit from system.

Steve
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Skippr on December 01, 2016, 03:38:54 pm
YES, the Alexa app on a cell phone is U-G-L-Y.  I've owned my Echo since it first became available.  The Echo and Alexa on the Echo are fine.  The Alexa app on my cell phone has always been slow and jerky.  Until a week ago I was using a Moto cell with Android on Tracfone.  Beginning probably in mid-November Alexa on the Moto cell went from taking many minutes to start to just cycling.  Last week I switched cells to a Google Pixel; I've been able to install the Alexa App (and uninstall it and install it again!), but it has NEVER STARTED.  The current start attempt is somewhere in the 40 minutes range.

There is a severe problem with the Alexa app for cell phones and if Amazon is really serious about the Echo and Alexa, they need to fix it.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: DParker on December 01, 2016, 05:02:24 pm
YES, the Alexa app on a cell phone is U-G-L-Y.  I've owned my Echo since it first became available.  The Echo and Alexa on the Echo are fine.  The Alexa app on my cell phone has always been slow and jerky.  Until a week ago I was using a Moto cell with Android on Tracfone.  Beginning probably in mid-November Alexa on the Moto cell went from taking many minutes to start to just cycling.  Last week I switched cells to a Google Pixel; I've been able to install the Alexa App (and uninstall it and install it again!), but it has NEVER STARTED.  The current start attempt is somewhere in the 40 minutes range.

There is a severe problem with the Alexa app for cell phones and if Amazon is really serious about the Echo and Alexa, they need to fix it.

Has it occurred to you that the problem might be with your device, the O/S and/or configuration thereof?  The Alexa app (which I agree needs some improvements) loads and runs just fine on my Galaxy S7 Edge, my wife's regular S7, my daughter's S6 Edge, my son's LG G3...as well as the S4s my wife and I used to have.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: ekmmosnar on December 08, 2016, 02:09:29 pm
Alexa app fails to connect no matter how long I wait using iPad, Galaxy Note4, or desktop PC.  I've been trying to pair a blue tooth receiver, which will pair with iPod & iPad, but doesn't pair with Dot.  I've learned from this forum that I might need to "turn on" pairing using the Alexa App.  Seem like I'm in a Catch 22 situation. Anyone have some suggestions?
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: DParker on December 08, 2016, 02:50:33 pm
What exactly do you mean by, "Alexa app fails to connect"?  Fails to connect to what?  What exactly are the symptoms you're seeing?
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 08, 2016, 03:23:02 pm
I have paired a lot of Echo devices, most recently some more new Dots.  I used an iPad to do it on since screen is larger than the iPhone.

Make sure no other BT signals are ON in the vicinity, and both devices are ready to go, by turning off receiver for a minute and then back on.  Unplug Dot for at least 5 minutes (I had to do this for one troublesome Dot; as was suggested by the Amazon online help).

With both units back on, say to the Dot, "Alexa, pair bluetooth" after the reply, put the receiver into BT pairing mode. then in the Alexa app on iPad, find the Settings for the Dot, and go into the BT section.  If no other BT signals exist, look toward the bottom for new devices and you should only see the receiver signal; and select it to pair to.  This ought to do it and Dot will tell you it is paired.  Dot will tell you how you can easily reconnect to the receiver next time.

Good luck.

FYI, I just now turned on a portable BT speaker I had set up a few weeks ago to work with one of the new Dots.  I told the Dot to "connect to bluetooth" and in a moment the two were connected again and working together playing music on the BT speaker.  When I am finished listening, I will tell Dot, "disconnect bluetooth" and music will play from Dot speaker, and I can turn off BT speaker completely again.  Easy, peasy.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: ekmmosnar on December 09, 2016, 07:39:18 pm
For a very brief time the Alexa app loaded on the iPad, and I was able to access bluetooth and the Dot paired.  Now the app once again does not load, and shows a notice that it is down.  I'm pretty sure it is an overload problem.  Thank you for your help.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 09, 2016, 10:53:47 pm
Nice to know you got it paired with my help.  The app is working well right now, but like all apps, it can get bunged once in a while.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: lk99723 on December 15, 2016, 02:57:06 pm
I also cannot get the app to work. I have downloaded and re-downloaded the app on my iPhone, my iPad, attempted to access it by web browser on my macbook and my windows laptop at work. Not a single app or webpage gets past the 'amazon alexa' white page with a never ending gray rotating circle. No menu bar. Since i can't get the app to work, I can't set up device, so can't even use it as a bluetooth speaker. 
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: DParker on December 15, 2016, 04:03:15 pm
I also cannot get the app to work. I have downloaded and re-downloaded the app on my iPhone, my iPad, attempted to access it by web browser on my macbook and my windows laptop at work. Not a single app or webpage gets past the 'amazon alexa' white page with a never ending gray rotating circle. No menu bar. Since i can't get the app to work, I can't set up device, so can't even use it as a bluetooth speaker.

This is odd, because you're talking about two different things:

1) An iOS app, and...
2) A web site you access via one or more browsers.

It's even more odd since you say you're experiencing the issue not only with different interfaces, but also in different locations.   Since I and most others have no problem accessing the service I would suggest contacting Amazon support and asking if there's some issue with one or more of their servers that is preventing you from gaining access.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: lk99723 on December 16, 2016, 02:58:06 pm


This is odd, because you're talking about two different things:

1) An iOS app, and...
2) A web site you access via one or more browsers.

It's even more odd since you say you're experiencing the issue not only with different interfaces, but also in different locations.   Since I and most others have no problem accessing the service I would suggest contacting Amazon support and asking if there's some issue with one or more of their servers that is preventing you from gaining access.
[/quote]

I have called Alexa tech support. Guy wanted to walk me through troubleshooting from the alexa menu on the app. He did not understand that the app is not functional at all. He also had no knowledge of anyone else having this issue or there being any notice of this problem.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: twarnold on December 16, 2016, 07:16:18 pm
I just got a new echo dot and I am having exactly the problem others have described here.  I installed the app on my Google Pixel phone, started it, and it sits forever with the spinning circle "busy" icon on a white screen that says "amazon alexa".  I then tried it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet, and exactly the same thing happened - I let it sit for over 45 minutes and it was still on that "busy" icon screen.  I uninstalled and reinstalled the app according to Amazon instructions, and that did not help.  Note that I'm an engineer who designs computer system products for a living - so please don't tell me that I am "stupid" like some people have been telling the other users who are reporting this problem.

Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 16, 2016, 10:29:19 pm
Since the Pixel is brand new you are the first to report an issue, so I advise you contact Echo customer support phone (google for number) and let them give you a hand.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Swordsm on December 18, 2016, 05:52:01 am
I have also experienced slowness on the Alexa app on an iPhone 6. However my iPad running same iOS and same Alexa software runs fine. As an example put the 2 side by side and the phone takes about 5 mins to get the Alexa app running and the Ipad about 10 seconds.. same wifi network so it's something specific to the phone or clash of apps on them.  Still working it through though
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: scargill on December 18, 2016, 11:34:41 am
I am not a beginner, I don't have a slow system and I don't have a slow phone. I have an HTC ONE M8 with 64GB FLASH. It works very quickly.

The Amazon Alexa app is BY A LONG WAY the slowest APP on the phone - slow to start up that is. 12 seconds at least to come to life.

Worse, when you in a supermarket and you want your shopping list- you can't do anything without a connection and if you put your phone in your pocket and pull it out some time later you have to wait all over again -  whoever designed this clearly NEVER goes shopping.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 18, 2016, 03:01:09 pm
@scargill

You have a unique problem, because I just opened the Alexa app from scratch on my iPhone, and it took 5 seconds to get to the home menu. We have iphones and iPads and Kindle Fire tablet and all access the app just fine.  And, when shopping our phones access the shopping list via our ATT cellular access and work fine, too.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Mantis on December 27, 2016, 08:36:23 am
Wow. I really hope most of this forum's users aren't condescending sods like Mike or I imagine I'll end up going elsewhere to discuss the Echo quite soon. I got my Echo only a few days ago, and YES, the app is extremely slow for me.

I've RTFM (as Mike politely suggests) many times to find a solution, but it absolutely is not my connection that's the problem. It's capable of over 200Mbps and I'm usually downloading at over fifteen megabytes a second. I can do everything web-related flawlessly.

Furthermore, I think it's actually the mobile website and its compatibility with Safari that's the problem here. Perhaps some of you have a more recent version of Safari installed but I generally avoid updates as my iPhone is jailbroken. I have a 5S. So why Safari and not the app? The app is just a wrapper for the website. In other words, there's nothing special about the app and it just opens the website for you in its own interface.

With that in mind, we can assume that the Echo website might work properly in another browser, rather than Safari. Yes, I've had success myself. My own workaround is to install the Puffin browser and open the website that way. It's a bit of a cumbersome method that we shouldn't have to go through, but for me it works. In the meantime though I hope Amazon sorts this out.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: jwlv on December 27, 2016, 02:01:04 pm
In my opinion, Mantis, if you're using a jailbroken iPhone, then it might be something that Amazon doesn't want to support.

Look at it this way. If you go to YouTube with an old computer, running Internet Explorer 8 with an old version of Flash Player, YouTube will prominently display a message saying it's not supported and that you should update to a more recent browser.  YouTube won't fix that because it's your equipment or software that creates the problem.

I know that it's not confirmed, but if using an old version of Safari is causing the Alexa app to run extremely slow, then you already know what to do.

Just out of curiosity, what IOS version are you using on your jailbroken iPhone 5s?
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 27, 2016, 02:04:22 pm
@Mantis

>>>  and YES, the app is extremely slow for me.

If Alexa app is slow for you, but not for the vast majority of us forum users, then troubleshooting logic suggests the problem is on the user's side, not Amazon's.  Why use the Safari browser if you have an iPhone, (with app) anyway??

Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Mantis on December 27, 2016, 04:22:03 pm
In my opinion, Mantis, if you're using a jailbroken iPhone, then it might be something that Amazon doesn't want to support.

I don't think this is intentional. It would be a sweeping generalisation to conclude that all iPhone users using an outdated browser have jailbroken their iPhones, and thus must suffer consequences for doing so. (As a side note, contrary to popular belief a lot of people don't jailbreak their phones for illegal software. One example is that I can use the very handy Flux on my iPhone thanks to it being jailbroken. That wouldn't have been possible otherwise.) The truth is that a lot of people choose to avoid updates anyway, regardless of whether they've flashed their phone or not. This goes for Android too.

Look at it this way. If you go to YouTube with an old computer, running Internet Explorer 8 with an old version of Flash Player, YouTube will prominently display a message saying it's not supported and that you should update to a more recent browser.  YouTube won't fix that because it's your equipment or software that creates the problem.

Again, this is simply a bad argument. IE8 was released nearly eight years ago. To answer your question about the OS version I'm running, it's one of the 8.4 versions released at the end of June last year. That's only a year and a half. The change from Flash to HTML5 changed the web entirely, which is why it's a bad analogy since we're just talking about minor changes in Safari here. If my theory is correct, a year and a half is all it takes for a bunch of customers to be stuck in a web because of sloppy programming. Amazon could fix this and I hope that they will. But this isn't the customers' faults.

I know that it's not confirmed, but if using an old version of Safari is causing the Alexa app to run extremely slow, then you already know what to do.

Correct. I'll continue using my workarounds until Amazon produces their own solution to a problem that is likely affecting hundreds of customers, if not more.

If Alexa app is slow for you, but not for the vast majority of us forum users, then troubleshooting logic suggests the problem is on the user's side, not Amazon's.  Why use the Safari browser if you have an iPhone, (with app) anyway??

Sorry, but your question isn't clear. Are you asking why I'm using the Safari browser in general? It's a very functional browser, and even with a jailbroken iPhone it still (to me at least) remains as the most accessible and efficient one. That's why I have a problem with it not working in Safari for some of us. Most don't even know a workaround like the one I came up with and they're stuck not being able to use the app since like I said, it probably relies on the Safari APIs as a wrapper. I do hope some find my "Puffin" (or try other browsers too) suggestion useful, but I don't think this is an isolated incident.

One thing I can't figure out is why the two of you seem pretty defensive when it comes to criticism of Amazon and their part in this issue. Customer buys expensive device. Customer can't connect to the control panel of said device even though their connection is fine. Now using your logic, customer is at fault for not being to connect despite indeed "reading the fucking manual". Company gets off scot-free, because company did nothing wrong and has no obligation to help the customer out.

Seems legit.  :D
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: jwlv on December 27, 2016, 04:52:31 pm
I did not intend to be defensive of Amazon or Echo. If I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize. I'm fairly neutral when it comes to that. I was stating what I thought to be correct, although it was only my opinion.

At one time I also wanted to jailbreak my iPhone because there was a certain app that I wanted to run. But I decided against it due to the problems that may arise later on. When I was on Android, every Android device I owned was rooted. I had good reason for it because there were legitimate things I wanted to do that the stock Android did not allow.

Anyway, I did check on the IOS Alexa app and found out that Amazon states it supports IOS 8+. Since you are running IOS 8.4, there should be no problems. So there must be something else that's causing it to run slowly.

Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 27, 2016, 05:37:44 pm
To clarify my question for you, I asked why do you use the browser instead of the Alexa app on the phone?

To respond to this comment:  "One thing I can't figure out is why the two of you seem pretty defensive when it comes to criticism of Amazon and their part in this issue." 

Nobody is defending Amazon; it's just that you are being such a PITA that you are right and others (including Amazon) are wrong.

And, since we are on acronyms for expressions again, I never told you to RTFM, although I have told some others being insistive PITAs, for sure; here, and elsewhere.   People who come in new to forums with both guns ablazing kind of PMO.

Suggestion: why not get a refund for your new Echo device?  Amazon is real good about returns.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Mantis on December 28, 2016, 07:29:29 am
I did not intend to be defensive of Amazon or Echo. If I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize. I'm fairly neutral when it comes to that. I was stating what I thought to be correct, although it was only my opinion.

I also apologise if I jumped to conclusions about you.

At one time I also wanted to jailbreak my iPhone because there was a certain app that I wanted to run. But I decided against it due to the problems that may arise later on. When I was on Android, every Android device I owned was rooted. I had good reason for it because there were legitimate things I wanted to do that the stock Android did not allow.

Jailbreaking is certainly something that shouldn't be done on a whim. With that being said, it should be possible for somebody who has jailbroken their iPhone or iPad to upgrade the OS or even remove traces that it was even jailbroken in the first place. The problem is that doing so will undo anything you had previously installed from rooting. Since I've had a much better iPhone experience from doing this I hope you can understand that taking that action just because one control panel isn't loading nearly at all and might not even work after the upgrade is something I'm hesitant about.

Previously I was an Android user but as I got my iPhone free for my software development work I've been using it ever since. This is just unfortunate and I'd like to know from others who face this issue their version of iOS, or even if they're getting it with an Android device.

Anyway, I did check on the IOS Alexa app and found out that Amazon states it supports IOS 8+. Since you are running IOS 8.4, there should be no problems. So there must be something else that's causing it to run slowly.

You're right that it does say this in their documentation. I'll try getting through to Amazon's technical teams (not an easy thing despite them having good customer service overall) and tell them my findings (including mentioning others who face the same problem), also asking if they have any possible workarounds of their own.

To clarify my question for you, I asked why do you use the browser instead of the Alexa app on the phone?

I must have said at least three times that the app is just a wrapper and loads the page through Safari, but is presented as an app. The reason why going to the site through the browser tells you to download the app is because (I believe at least) it detects the user agent of the browser, which then directs you to the app store to get the app. The app uses a different user agent so it is able to bypass that. However, if you're able to change your user agent (probably restricted to jailbroken users) you'll find that the browser and app are exactly the same. So it's a bit of a moot question really.

Though, if you were talking about Puffin, this again brings us to the user agent point. Puffin is designed to be like a desktop browser on your phone. (One of its best features is that it runs Flash too.) Therefore it could load the Alexa site as the desktop version or you can change it to pretend to be any other mobile browser. In any case, Puffin works.

Nobody is defending Amazon; it's just that you are being such a PITA that you are right and others (including Amazon) are wrong.

That's just your interpretation. How could I logically disprove someone when I've never been provided with an alternative solution anyway? I do appreciate replies to my posts but I haven't been given any surefire solutions to work from, other than jwlv's suggestion to upgrade based on my own suggestion that it might be due to an old iOS version. It seems he acknowledges that my theory about this being version-related might not be conclusive and if it isn't, upgrading might not solve this at all. Amazon might be able to clear this up so I'll try to get through to them when I have the chance.

And, since we are on acronyms for expressions again, I never told you to RTFM, although I have told some others being insistive PITAs, for sure; here, and elsewhere.

Everybody is a PITA to a cynic.

Suggestion: why not get a refund for your new Echo device?  Amazon is real good about returns.

Why would I do that with a device I otherwise love? I do agree about Amazon being good though. I've ordered from them for over a decade, placing hundreds of orders. I have a better idea though. Before saying something that would lower myself to your level, it's probably better to simply forget that you exist. I think everyone here would be better off if they followed suit. So... activate.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: miked on December 31, 2016, 02:58:27 pm
mudcamper, and others that have run into this issue - have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling?  I was having the same problem and came across this thread in my search.

when I didn't find the answer I tried clear everything off and re-install - it worked.

I went to Settings-General-Storage&ICloud-Storage/Manage Storage and deleted the Alexa app and associated data, after a re-install everything came back up just fine.

Hope it helps.

Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: marples on December 31, 2016, 06:06:52 pm
Thank You MikeD for the solution that worked for me!  Uninstall and reinstall the App.  Huge difference!  We sometimes forget the simple solution.  Hope it works for everybody else as well.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: mike27oct on December 31, 2016, 07:50:36 pm
This was probably the 1000th time in these forums that uninstall/re-install the app, and to turn the Echo device off and back on have been suggested. 
No matter what the gadgets are, these two steps should be taken first with any equipment or app that has issues.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: craigdbl on February 14, 2017, 01:57:59 pm
Try powering off your phone and then power it back on again. It's been working for me ,although it's a hassle,especially if I'm at the grocery store.I have a Motorola moto g 1st phone.
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: clew37 on August 15, 2017, 08:25:48 pm
I've had the same slow loading problems, and it's always at peak internet hours too. I've also contacted Amazon and they really do say what the other guy erote. Wait until traffic winds down, is what they told me... I could make a connection, but not hold it. All my other internet stuff works fine. I had to stop using Echo because only Dot seems to connect now...if at all. Made makeup somewhere. I didn't have this much trouble from Windows Vista...
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: malliekm on August 15, 2017, 11:45:09 pm
>>I didn't have this much trouble from Windows Vista...<<

 ;D ;D ;D
Poor Windows Vista.  Will it go down as MS' worst OS ever!?
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: Skyemail on September 09, 2018, 11:51:15 am
I had this same problem using the iPad amazon alexa app.  I finally switched to the Android app to do setup for an echo dot.  These software problems are not necessarily simple to replicate, diagnose and resolve.  It helps if the problem is reported along with app version, platform, and environment such as single device or multiple alexa devices.  In many cases, individual experiences vary depending on configuration setup and existing device settings.  One person may report a failure and another reports that there is no problem.  Both postings may be correct, but that does not mean there is no problem if the right set of conditions are in place.  Software is more complicated to debug than say a non working light bulb. 
Title: Re: alexa app and alexa.amazon.com SO SO SLOW
Post by: galdemboss on August 05, 2023, 11:19:18 pm
I had the same problem.

I got the Solution.

If your phone book is too large, giving permission to access it, Creates this problem.

Remove/Deny permission of Alexa app to access contacts.... and Voila, everything is superfast.