The application of Alexa for mobile gets dark mode. One of those improvements that, perhaps, will arouse little interest in some users, but it will be important for those who have certain vision problems by improving accessibility. If you want to know how to activate it and those advantages that it implies, we will show you below.
Alexa improves the accessibility of its mobile application
Alexa, despite being a voice assistant and being designed so that you can interact with it based on commands and not through a touch interface, It has an application that is essential. Because it is through it that all devices with assistant integration are configured, how groups are established, routines are created, different skills are activated, services such as Amazon Music are accessed, volume is adjusted, etc., among many other things. . And some of these actions, although they can be done with their respective voice command, are not always as fast and effective.
For all this, Amazon continues to attach great importance to the development of its app and that is why from time to time we see improvements in different aspects. Sometimes they only affect the organization of the different settings menus, other times they affect how the information is displayed to make it much more visual and easy to understand and on occasions like the current one, design changes are added that beyond what they may seem like to you. more or less static they seek other benefits such as improving accessibility.
With Alexa's dark mode in particular it's that. For some it will be a simple change that fits better with the aesthetics of the rest of the applications that they use daily and that, in addition, provides advantages such as a small energy saving when you use OLED screens with that black interface.
However, the use of dark mode goes further and brings accessibility benefits. Because there are users who have vision problems and having this mode allows them to see better in low light situations or gain legibility thanks to that greater contrast. What's more, it must also be said that not only is the dark mode improved in this new version of the application, the scaling of the text allows the size of the letters to be increased and makes them easier to read.
How to activate the dark mode in the Alexa app
Dark mode has arrived in the latest update of the Alexa app for iOS devices. Only iPhone and iPad users will be able to take advantage of this new way of viewing the content and other options it offers. For those who use devices with Android, Google's operating system, the update that enables this same mode is yet to come, but it will soon. So it's just a matter of time and give it some patience.
Regarding iOS, activating the dark mode of the Alexa app is as simple as activating it in the system settings. That is, this mode is automatically activated when we have configured the operating system to display its respective dark mode or Dark Mode.
So you don't have to do anything really new or different if you want to enjoy the improvements and benefits that dark mode brings. just go to Settings > Display and there activate the dark mode or the automatic option that what it does is go from one to another depending on the time of day that you can set to be when the sunset arrives or at a personalized time.
Regarding text scaling, this also depends on the setting you have established. It is not something that you only apply individually to the app, because if you need larger letters in it, the logical thing is that in the rest as well.
Alexa accessibility features
The dark mode that the Alexa app launches on iOS and iPadOS devices is not the only way that Amazon has to take care of the accessibility of its voice assistant. The company has long been striving to make it easy for all types of users to use. Hence, it offers improvements that affect vision, hearing, mobility and speech. Which are all collected on its website.
Vision
- Large text font can be set on both Android and iOS
- Audio instructions for various setup steps on Amazon Alexa devices
- Support for using screen readers in the Alexa app. So you can use those included in iOS 8 or higher via VoiceOver, also in macOS, on Android devices (5.0 and higher) with TalkBack and PCs with JAWS and NVDA
- Configuring the device to enable "wake up" and "request end" sounds
- Volume adjustable by voice or by pressing on Amazon Alexa devices
- High contrast in the Alexa app to improve visibility
Hearing
- Option to pair Echo devices to compatible Bluetooth speakers
- The volume of timers, alarms, and media playback on compatible Amazon Alexa devices can be adjusted to the user's needs
- Controls playback of your device's music (play, pause, next, previous) in the Alexa app
- Alexa Captions shows you the captions of compatible responses on compatible Echo devices with a display
- Color code to indicate different Alexa states and actions
- Alexa devices with screens provide visual feedback on actions
Mobility
- Support for keyboard navigation in the Alexa app and web browsers, even during the device setup process
- Far-field speech recognition with Echo devices
- Control compatible smart home devices with your voice
Speech
- Customize the wake word
- Add new items to lists with text input in the Alexa app
- Select the question icons or write your request with the Tap functionality and activate Alexa on Echo Show
- Use of skills to control third-party apps and devices
As you can see, there are many options that Amazon offers in order to improve the user experience of any user, regardless of their possibilities or limitations.