Amazon stopping support for Alexa on IFTTT

That's not very good, 6 days notice!

This is why I don't trust this cloud based stuff, at any point the manufacturer can decide they can't afford to/be bothered to support bits of it any more and make your device do less than when you bought it.

See also anything Google is involved in.

As you say, anything cloud based can go just like that and all functionality lost.

Not a user of Alexa but suspect ifttt usage has plummeted since ifttt started charging for more than 2 applets. I believe they also charge quite a lot for companies to integrate with them.

edit: this is a sign of the continued demise of ifttt but not sure if this is the demise of Alexa. Amazon haven’t finished integrating AI and voice in aws. But should imagine Alexa brings in a lot of data and insight there, and likely there are enough business applications for voice recognition services to keep it going.

I knew that Alexa hasn’t worked out for Amazon and is costing them $billions ….. Is this the start of its demise I wonder 🤔

It's fascinating to watch really - they've been talking for a while about withdrawing support. Google similarly is looking a bit shaky on continuing support for its voice/ automation products, but it at least has other applications (Android Auto requires voice, for example, so they need to keep that alive).
As you say it boils down to them being unable to monetise it; even Alexa speakers haven't turned into the advertising bonanza that Amazon and Google (but literally nobody else) thought they'd be. Which is awful because there are incredibly solid use cases for them - for example old and infirm folks who can't jab a screen very well but can say "Hey Google, I've fallen, please call my neighbour". To see them be shelved - which for Alexa may eventually happen - would be a huge pity.

To see them be shelved – which for Alexa may eventually happen – would be a huge pity.

My Alexa is only used as a radio as DAB reception is poor where I live. I imagine I'm not the only one using it solely for that purpose.

A bit like you Muffin Man, only ever use it for streaming with Spotify since the Gramofon stopped working (anyone know why the Gramofon stopped as soon as I installed a mesh?)

While I've got some fellow geeks on the line...is there an alternative to IFTT pro+ to get some basic coding for a DIY home system?

Basically I've got some Sonoff ZigBee thermometers and a Sonoff WiFi smart switch that are doing a job for me running the heating in a holiday let. It's a bit of a boring dull reason as to why so let's just assume this is the best method! Ewelink does not give enough control (you can get something to turn on at a specific time if a temperature is below X, but you can't get it to turn on if it goes below a specific temperature between two times). An IFTT pro+ would do this for me but it seem a bit overkill for a relatively easy (you'd have though) single need.

Ta

@convert never been a fan of Sonoff, Shelly devices are a lot more versatile IMO. The gen2 & Pro devices can run scripts so will do whatever you want. You might even be able to set all this up from within the Shelly app - don't know, never used it! (I use Home Assistant instead).

Alternatively, if your Sonoffs are ESP8266 based you can probably install alternatively firmware on them... Tasmota (never used it personally, quite popular though as it's GUI based, may do what you want) or ESPhome (needs to be scripted, bit more complex but will do whatever you need).

To actually answer your question of whether there's a free service that provides the functionality of paid IFTTT, not that I'm aware of.

you can’t get it to turn on if it goes below a specific temperature between two times

Do you need the logic features of the Pro+ account to achieve this?

Thanks for that. I'll take a look at those options. Two more weeks of guests them I can experiments without inconvenience paying guests!

edit: this is a sign of the continued demise of ifttt but not sure if this is the demise of Alexa. Amazon haven’t finished integrating AI and voice in aws.

Alexa was created to enable people to easily buy stuff from Amazon and this hasn't happened - everything else doesn't make them money.

Do you need the logic features of the Pro+ account to achieve this?

It appears so from my experimenting/research. I've just thought....with Ewelink on the paid account that I've already got you can make unlimited 'scenes' (if, thens basically) I could have a scene every hour hour in the required periods. Super clunky but a sort of work around.

You could use a Pi [Zero] or an ESP8266 with a temperature sensor attached to fire off a webhooks message to IFTTT which would then switch the heating on/off.

I'm using webhooks messages to IFTTT for a number of purposes and it works well.

I’m using webhooks messages to IFTTT for a number of purposes and it works well.

I pay $2/month for a Pro account which gives me 20 running applets.

ATM that's fine.

not really, both Alexa & the Google equivalent services are garbage, and exist purely for their benefit not yours!

Yep, in Amazon's case, Alexa hasn't increased sales of their other products / services, which was the main justification in the original business case to develop it all, so their future is far from certain.

What does this actually mean for the layperson who’d never heard of IFTTT? <br /><br />other than our the box Alexa functionality it’s only BBC sounds and Apple Music I’ve got linked. So does this mean voice activation of those services won’t work? But voice activation of Alexa and Amazon services still work?confused. 

What does this actually mean for the layperson who’d never heard of IFTTT?

however the implication is that Amazon might slowly/quietly start to make Alexa less functional over time…

What does this actually mean for the layperson who’d never heard of IFTTT

Nothing without abstracting the end of alexa.

If you've not heard of iftt then you're not using it.

Good read here:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/amazon-alexa-is-a-colossal-failure-on-pace-to-lose-10-billion-this-year/