question

Rand M asked Dec 4, '15

Upgrading A Published Skill - What Happens When a New Version is Released?

What happens when a developer upgrades a published skill with new functionality? Do both versions stay in the "skill store" (i.e. list of skills in the Alexa app) and show up as separate entries - e.g. MySkill-v1 and MySkill-v2? Or does the new version overwrite the old version in the Skill List? If they are both displayed in the skill list, what if someone enabled the 1st version, but not the new one - is the first one expected to continue working? What if they enable both? Thanks

alexa skills kit submission testing certification

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Matt Kruse answered Dec 4, '15

There is no skill versioning, AFAIK, since there is nothing to "install". The instant a new version gets certified, all users will immediately be using it. I'm not positive, but I don't think there's even a lag between regions or anything. Everyone gets the update at once, because there is only one pointer to your skill endpoint.

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Rand M answered Dec 5, '15

Thanks, Matt. Why is there a box to enter the version in the Skill Information section (I'm assuming this could be relevant at some point)? And what if you wanted your existing users or potential users-to-be to know that there is new and cool functionality, including users who previously tried it and didn't like it, but might like it now? The description could be updated, I suppose, but I don't think someone who previously tried it would be interested in re-reading a description to a skill they disabled unless they knew there was an update and a reason to check it out again. And if the endpoint were changed, it would effectively be a new skill (and could be appended with a v2.0 or renamed entirely). The skill explosion potential with that model doesn't seem like a good idea for Amazon (Edgar-v1, Edgar-v2, etc). Unless the original/previous skill(s) were deleted, I suppose. Thanks again.

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jjaquinta answered Dec 5, '15

Making users aware of new functionality is my big problem too. I've got an update to Starlanes in the works with a bunch of stuff in it. But with 70+ skills in the marketplace, there's just no relying on someone stumbling over it. Especially if they have tried it before. And, unless your skill begins with "AA", no one is going to scroll down far enough. I put in a feature request for Amazon to be able to list a "featured skill" at the top of the skill list, and for us to be able to buy placement as a "sponsored skill". Then, at least, we have some control over people discovering new functionality. It's not perfect. Right now I don't think anyone has a decent revenue stream. So having to pay for people to notice your skill puts any of us further in the red. But we need something for people who are writing serious skills (rather than demo skills) to reach users.

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ciacco answered Dec 6, '15

I came here to ask this exact question. We intend to roll out upgraded features to skills, requiring updates to intents and utterances. Do we need to go through the entire submission process again? Will it just override our older version?

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Ross@Amazon answered Dec 11, '15

The new version of a skill overwrites the old version. Customers are only allowed to have the latest version of a skill enabled.

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Rand M answered Dec 11, '15

Thanks Ross, Will users that have already enabled or linked to the skill have to re-enable it and re-link to it? How will non-users or previous users who didn't like it know there is a new version so they can try it out and see if they like it now?

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Michael E. Strupp answered Dec 12, '15

Agreed - if you get a negative review for your skill and then fix the issue that caused the negative review, no one will know.

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Matt Kruse answered Dec 12, '15

Other app stores tie reviews to versions, and reduce the weight of reviews for older versions. The Amazon skill "store" doesn't seem to be that complete yet, but it might be at some point. Seems like a reasonable next step.

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Steve A answered Dec 12, '15

Yes. I hope they add this. I'd also like to see someway to respond to reviews, e.g., give help/guidance to folks having trouble, without having to leave a review myself. I don't really think it helps anything to have devs reviewing their own skills, but it would be nice to have some mechanism for devs to give support.

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J.S. answered Jan 25, '16

> Yes. I hope they add this. > > I'd also like to see someway to respond to reviews, > e.g., give help/guidance to folks having trouble, > without having to leave a review myself. I don't > really think it helps anything to have devs reviewing > their own skills, but it would be nice to have some > mechanism for devs to give support. I agree with this suggestion. I finally received a review for my skill, but it seems the reviewer gave it one star based on it not working the way this person thought it should, when it was never designed to work in that way.

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