Echo Spot (Germany) not having "VideoApp"/"Display" when checking System.device.supportedInterfaces?

Question

question

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io asked Jan 25, '18

Echo Spot (Germany) not having "VideoApp"/"Display" when checking System.device.supportedInterfaces?

Hello there, I'm running into a problem with the new Echo Spot device that has been released in Germany yesterday.

I'm having the problem, that the Echoo Spot is not using it's display to show video!

It seems that when checking "this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.VideoApp" the Echo Spot is not retuning that it has VideoApp OR Display enabled.

Instead the Echo Spot is returning audioPlayerPlay from the following last else {}.

if (this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.VideoApp && this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.Display) { 
// intented for echo show/echo spot 
// response with template 
// run video 
this.response.playVideo(URL, metadata);
} 
else if (this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.VideoApp) { 
// intented for future device without display capability 
// response without template 
// run video 
this.response.playVideo(URL, metadata); 
} 
else if (this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.Display) { 
// intented for future device without videoapp capability 
// response with template 
// run audio, as there is no videoapp support 
this.response.audioPlayerPlay("REPLACE_ALL", URL, "0", null, "0"); 
} 
else { // THIS IS WHERE THE ECHO SPOT IS RESPONSING TO
// intented for echo audio only 
// response without template and video as this has to be audio only 
this.response.audioPlayerPlay("REPLACE_ALL", URL, "0", null, "0"); 
}

Could you please look into it? Thanks! Daniel

alexa skills kit debugging echo spot

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Answer 1 · 2018-03-14T15:56:13Z

Jamie Grossman answered Mar 14, '18

Hey guys,

Thanks for your patience.

We have now updated our documentation regarding Alexa Skills potentially not working on Echo Spot devices after certification and how to get around these issues; please see the disclaimer below:

----

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/custom-skills/build-skills-for-echo-show.html

Important: Even if your Alexa skill has passed certification, screen-based interactions may not be enabled on Echo Spot. For help with commonly occurring issues, see Test for Screen-Based Interaction Issues in Your Alexa Skill.

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/custom-skills/certification-issues-screen.html

----

For now, I would suggest checking that your skill complies with the requirements mentioned above. If they do not, I would suggest fixing these issues and re-certifying at your earliest opportunity. If you're still having issues, please do not hesitate to get in touch once again.

Jamie

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Answer 2 · 2018-01-26T06:38:10Z

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io answered Jan 26, '18

Got it to work. It seems that a re-submission for certification is needed (or a new version). I'm resubmitting my Skill with the same lambda function behind it, and the new version is working while the old one is not.

So I assume it has to do something with Amazon adding to the Skill properties so that an Echo Spot responds with its correct supportedInterfaces.

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Answer 3 · 2018-01-26T18:10:07Z

Ferenc Hechler answered Jan 26, '18

I assume you got the same mail as I got from the Alexa Skill Team with subject "Important information about Your Alexa Skill "..." on Echo Spot"

Dear Ferenc,

Echo Spot, the newest addition to the Echo family, will be in the hands of 
customers soon. To ensure customers have a great experience when using 
your Alexa skill across all Echo devices, we have identified the 
following enhancements that you can make to the skill’s experience on Echo Spot.
...
Until you make the enhancements, your skill will operate in voice-only 
mode on Echo Spot. We suggest you incorporate the enhancements into your
 skill and resubmit for certification.

That means, the skill was set to "voice-only mode" until it is resubmit it for certification.

3

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Jan 26, 2018 at 07:00 PM

Would you mind telling me what Amazon suggested to change in your skill? Maybe I can edit my skill in regards to those suggested changes. My email is: alexaskill@damido.de Thanks in advance!

0 ·

Ferenc Hechler Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Jan 27, 2018 at 08:52 AM

Here are the suggestions from Amazon, but I think this is specific to my skill.

Enhancemen:

Spacing and Alignment: Your skill’s text is currently optimized specifically for Echo Show. As a result, the text misaligns when displayed on Echo Spot.

Steps:

Avoid formatting your text specifically for Echo Show’s GUI. Maintain one link per line. Keep text aligned using the template defaults or center-align using <div align = ‘center’> tag (Link).

Enhancemen:

Images within a Text Box: Your inline image within a rich text box is too large. As a result, it is being cropped when displayed on Echo Spot.

Steps:

Only use small images like emojis or star ratings for inline images. For larger images, we recommend using the new BodyTemplate7 (Link).

...

Learn more about the design guidelines for screen display for Echo Show and Echo Spot.

0 ·

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ Ferenc Hechler · Jan 31, 2018 at 03:03 PM

Good advice, but not totally sure this is related to the main issue mentioned in this thread.

0 ·

Answer 4 · 2018-01-26T18:50:24Z

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io answered Jan 26, '18

Thanks for your reply. No I have not gotten this email and right now my skill is still not working on Echo Spot with video. The current beta/developer version is working with Video on Echo Spot, but the live version is not working with video. And the live version has be certified TODAY...

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Answer 5 · 2018-01-29T15:35:10Z

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io answered Jan 29, '18

Still looking into it. Did a re-certification for my Skill with no luck. It got certified but still voice-only. I explicitly askd to check for Echo Spot enabling but nothing happend from Amazon's side. Skill got certified but voice only on Echo Spot...

3

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Jan 29, 2018 at 03:43 PM

Thanks for reporting this. I can't seem to reproduce, at least in the UK, but let me look into this further from the DE side.

0 ·

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Jan 29, 2018 at 04:21 PM

Please check Skill ID amzn1.ask.skill.1b563de1-2045-41d7-9c6a-33afc29a195b Let me know what you find out.

0 ·

Mike-Michael-R Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Feb 03, 2018 at 10:57 AM

The same problem with my skill in DE. Working in Development, Certification successfull -> No Display.

skillID:

amzn1.ask.skill.dad0d784-3e02-4902-b995-608a1673384c

Seems to be a problem only in DE.

0 ·

Answer 6 · 2018-01-29T20:45:58Z

Daniel answered Jan 29, '18

@Jamie@Amazon

The same with my Skill in DE! Echo Spot returns Audioplayer instead VideoApp as supported interface. Can you also please check my skill? ID: amzn1.ask.skill.ee01b148-815c-4df8-a492-1dde2509f0fe

Echo Show is working as expected.

Thank you!

1

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Daniel · Feb 06, 2018 at 08:05 PM

@Jamie@Amazon

Any news about this or still investigating the issue?

0 ·

Answer 7 · 2018-01-30T09:48:13Z

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io answered Jan 30, '18

@Jamie@Amazon

did you already check? What did you find?

6

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Jan 31, 2018 at 03:03 PM

I think I just got back to your contact us case (as well as the others I think from this thread). Unfortunately, I can't repro from a DE skill either; regardless, as something is clearing causing issues, I've escalated and willl update as soon as I have more. Out of curiosity, how are you checking if the device supports video? Something like below?

function supportsVideo()
{
    var supportsVid = this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.VideoApp;
    return supportsVid;
}

0 ·

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Jan 31, 2018 at 04:14 PM

See first post. I'm checking in if-else via

 if (this.event.context.System.device.supportedInterfaces.VideoApp)

I'm only getting AudioPlayer on Echo Spot. Beta Skill is working fine for me and all other beta testers. Same Skill, same lambda function. Everything is identical, except that it is working in the beta version but not in the live skill.

1 ·

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Feb 01, 2018 at 01:32 AM

Ah yes. Thanks for confirming.

0 ·

Show more comments

Answer 8 · 2018-02-14T16:54:09Z

Jamie Grossman answered Feb 14, '18

This issue is currently under investigation and I will update the thread as soon as I have more on the matter.

4

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Feb 21, 2018 at 11:23 AM

Hello Jamie, it has been almost a week. Do you have an update on this matter? My skill still doesn't work on echo spot, others do. It used to work for 3 days vom February 10th till 12th, but stopped working on Feb. 13th. Other skills that didn't push an update are still working till this day.

0 ·

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io · Feb 23, 2018 at 02:18 PM

There is still an ongoing discussion regarding this issue. Trying hard to get an answer for you guys - apologies for the delay.

0 ·

Daniel M. | DigiVoice.io Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Feb 26, 2018 at 09:53 PM

Hello Jamie, just to let you know: a user just reported that my skill used to work with video on his Echo Spot device yesterday. And it stopped working today after the latest update got certified by the devs team.

This is really starting to freak me out. What am I supposed to tell my users? When will this issue be resolved for good? I know that you and the team are trying as hard as you can, and I'm very grateful for that, but there has to be a way to get this fixed for good. I've never heard about such a problem in the US market, so it has to work somehow.

0 ·

FuzzyLigic · Feb 22, 2018 at 09:51 PM

Can i also chase an update to this. I am still waiting for confirmation this is fixed as both my skills are affected

0 ·

Answer 9 · 2018-02-16T08:06:41Z

FuzzyLigic answered Feb 16, '18

This is not just an issue with German region. I have UK users complaining of the same with my logo quiz and flag trivia skills.

I have not been informed of issues directly from Amazon unlike Ferenc with my skills. And they do display very well on a spot.

This is a terrible situation especially for those skills optimised for the echo show and spot as the userbase is far smaller than the audio only skills I've lost a very big portion of my userbase who may not come back and retry even after this is fixed.

Is there any further updates? If you only present me audio capability in the request how can I see it as a device with a screen? And act accordingly.

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Answer 10 · 2018-03-10T15:43:13Z

FuzzyLigic answered Mar 10, '18

Any update on this issue, its been an issue for a long time. for a skill that relies heavily on a screen when available its really killing the popularity of the skill if a large chunk of my target audience cannot use it.

1

10 |5000

Attachments: Up to 2 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 512.0 KiB each and 1.0 MiB total.

Jamie Grossman ♦♦ · Mar 14, 2018 at 03:56 PM

Apologies for the delay - updated my answer above.

0 ·

question