Anyone actually use Alexa?

Yeah, big brother is listening and tracking everything. I get it and don't really care. I'm open to discussing all of that, but that's not what brings me here today.

Does anyone actually use Alexa? Right now, I'm struggling to see if it's worth it. As far as I know, to use it I have to do the following:

1. Unlock my phone
2. Launch the Toyota app, and unlock it with fingerprint
3. Launch the Toyota-Alexa app on my phone (I think...not sure still)
4. Turn up the volume on my phone because it defaults to a fairly low volume for BT
5. Turn on Alexa on the T4R

I mean, if I have to manually do all of that first, it loses all convenience. Like, if I want to listen to music, why bother going thru Alexa?

I had high hopes that Alexa would be as seamless as my home Alexa, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Am I missing something?

 

If you're missing it, I am too. I like it at home, but have not figured out how to make it convenient in the car.

 

No. Would never use it. Amazo.n has enough of my money and privacy already. No need to give them the last 1%.

 

My mother uses it to change the radio station when she is gardening, set the stove/oven when she is driving, record reminders like alarm notes for later in the day. Stuff like that.

she has it integrated from her car to the dots at home and through her phone as well.

 

I'd actually like that. We have a lot of our house automated now and it's spoiled me.

 

Not in the car. At home it times my pizza cooking and tells me how old celebrities are when asked.

 

Yeah, I use it around the house too, and my kids enjoy having it as well. I was hoping for a high level of integration - like, "Alexa, navigate to Yellowstone" "Alexa, where can I get gas along the route?" "Alexa, what's the weather forecast?" Etc, without taking my hands off the wheel.

Im disappointed so far.

 

You won’t be navigating to Yellowstone any time soon.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/15/us/what-caused-yellowstone-flooding-climate/index.html

 

Goodness gracious. My dad was just up there like 2 weeks ago.

 

Nope I use Siri and it does just fine with Apple CarPlay. Just saying.

 

Yeah, it’s terrible. So much road damage that will take a long time to repair. Just when the area economy was starting recover after the covid shutdowns.
With the northern area damage the southern section visitation may have to be curtailed to keep from being overwhelmed by heavy demand this summer.

BTW, I also just use Siri on an iPhone through the head unit for navigation. No car play even needed.

 

When we bought our 4Runner the "tech wizard" at the dealership was not able to get Alexa to work in our 4Runner, he gave up and said "Alexa is obsolete anyway." My wife and I are not tech wizards, when we got it home we decided to try to get Alexa to work. It was working in about 15 mins.(via owners manual) While I agree with it being a bit more on the hassle side to make it work quickly when we are in the 4Runner, we enjoy Alexa. As far as someone tracking my every move...... they are going to get bored out of their minds watching us!

 

do you use it just for music or other reasons?

 

I don't get into those 'big brother, tracking, paranoia' type discussions. If someone always wants to live that way so be it but that is not how I roll. That being said, I tried to use it but it just isn't that useful for me and it ate up my phone battery way faster than android auto even with my wireless setup. I permanently use AAWireless now but my situation is a little different as my unit is transplanted into a 2016 Trail..

 

Is there some trick? I'd love it if it just worked like the ones at home do, "listening" all the time, but I could never get that to happen.

 

How do you get that to work. Like you I have a pre 2020 so Carplay isn't an option but I would like to use it for navigation.
I've gotten Alexa to work in the 4Runner but it's not as seamless as Carplay.

 

Naa....I know some people that use it. I imagine it makes some peoples life better, like paraplegics or people with other health issues. Tech companies want to make us pathetically dependent on them. One day we will pay the price for that. Why be so lazy? Can we not just press a button? lol Just saying...!!

 

Nope.

 

I actually used alexa all the time in my old pathfinder with an echo auto. I do not find the toyota alexa app to be user friendly enough and Google assistant doesn't have as much functionality for me. With echo auto I was able to pop open navigation on the fly, open my garage door, start and change my siriusxm radio. I like having android auto but I wish the alexa worked well with it. It doesn't

 

Samsies. Really need to use it more as it works pretty darn well calling songs off Spotify.

As for Alexa, while not stoked about the privacy implications, I generally reckon I am relatively boring these days.

 

Feels like Alexa just brings laziness to another level.

Am I really that lazy I can't get up to turn on the lights, change stations on Pandora, or type something into Google? Where does it end?

I understand for disabled and elderly people, it would be godsend though. Definitely some positives.

Alexa, take a dump for me.

 

I use a wireless charger and connect to the OEM head unit via Bluetooth. (Select Audio Source as Bluetooth). Then Select Device to Setup Bluetooth for your iPhone for a phone and a music player. Then you can use “Hey Siri” to navigate or play music.

 

Looks like Google can do about everything Alexa can do, and now that I got my android auto worked out, it's pretty seamless.

 

I use it. Seems like it was easier to use with Entune than it is now with the mandated "Toyota App". Yes, it is somewhat of a pita that's why I usually limit it's use to long trips or while waiting on the wife shopping while I stay in the car. I'm a rare case for sure as I'm not that much into the music scene, however I do enjoy listening to Audible's books and that's exactly what I do while the wife shops - in the past 2 years I've accumulated about 80 books counting a new one every month. Not for everyone but I like it.

 

I am prone to say "maybe a certain amount of luck is involved." My wife is a lot more computer savy than I. I read what the owners manual said to do and she downloaded the app on her phone, and it worked. Not sure if there is a trick, but we got it to work. I do recall the download being a bit querky though..

 

We will use it for music, travel questions, info on numerous subjects... all kinds of stuff. Kind of interesting to ask Alexa a question about a certain area we're in at the moment.

 

What’s Alexa?

 

It sounds like you've got some mixed feelings about using Alexa in your car. Technology should definitely make life easier, not more complicated, right? If you're looking for some insights and tips on how to make the most of Alexa, you might want to check out multitechverse.com. They often have articles that can help you streamline your tech experiences and make it more seamless. Hopefully, you'll find a way to make Alexa work smoothly for you on the road.

 

She doesn't provide much value to me that Siri or Google don't already provide. I have friends and colleagues who are using the Alexa ecosystem at home and would use it for sure. I'm just on a different platform is all.

 

Never, don't even have Siri enabled.