Amazon now lets you text Alexa to ask questions, only on iOS

(Pocket-lint) – Amazon is testing a new Alexa feature in the US that will allow you to type out Alexa commands – rather than ask them aloud.

The Ambient spotted the new feature, called Type with Alexa, which now being trialed in the Alexa app for iOS users. An Amazon spokesperson has also confirmed the feature is available, but only as a “public preview”. Amazon said the iOS Alexa app will allow customers to “interact with Alexa without using voice, meaning everything you can currently say to Alexa can now also be typed using your Alexa mobile app.”

To access and use Type with Alexa, open the latest version of the Amazon Alexa app on your iOS device and then tap the new keyboard icon that now appears on the top left of the main menu of the app. From there, type-out your commands; they should work exactly like audible ones.

While Type with Alexa seems like a cool new way to use Alexa when you don’t want to be loud, it’s also an accessibility feature, as those without a voice will finally be able to type out their requests to the digital assistant. Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri have long offered such functionality. 

It’s great to see Amazon thinking about all its users. But, because this is a public preview that’s just for iOS users, Alexa might not always work 100 per cent every time, and it’s still excluded from Android users. Amazon didn’t say when a final version for all platforms would be available.

Writing by Maggie Tillman.