Alexa outage foils hundreds worldwide, service now restored for many

If your Amazon Alexa voice assistant has problems today, it may not be you. Hundreds of users worldwide are reporting failures with Amazon Echo devices, according to Newsweek. The so-called “Alexa outage” is an ongoing event and we will keep you updated.

According to the website status tracking site Down Detector, the problems with Alexa began Tuesday, October 23. A running problem tracker on Down Detector listed server connections in 46 percent of the problems, log-in issues with 43 percent of the reports, and more specific skills issues with 10 percent of the problems.

One Twitter user asked, “Anyone else having trouble with their amazon echo/echo dots, etc. not responding to voice commands? ‘Sorry I am having trouble understanding right now.’ everything else working and I reset the router.”

Anyone else having trouble with their amazon echo/echo dots etc not responding to voice commands? "Sorry I am having trouble understanding right now." everything else working and I reset the router.

— Kerry Hoath (@khoath) October 23, 2018

As of 11:12 a.m. PT, there was no mention of Alexa issues on either Amazon’s Customer Service Twitter account, @AmazonHelp, or on the Amazon Alexa developer blog.

Reactions to the outage range from requests for tech support and inquiries about others with similar issues, to tongue-in-cheek suggestions about our overreliance on artificial assistants.

I don't know the weather outside. Lights are not working and I can't see to tie my shoes! How will I remote start my car? I need to re-order paper towels, and there's no one to play Jeopardy with! HELP! #amazon #alexa #outage #alexadown

— Alexander (@riceaw) October 23, 2018

A Down Detector reader named commented about mixed success with Echo devices, “My 2nd gen Dot works. My two Spots just say Sorry, something went wrong. Southeast USA.”

Another Down Detector comment also suggested the problem was with newer devices, “My echo show hasn’t worked all day! Started with “sorry something went wrong” but now it will not respond at all! All of my echo dots are working just fine, and my internet has no issues.”

In another comment about device differences on Down Detector, another reader wrote, “2nd generation Echo keep saying ‘sorry I am having trouble understanding right now; please try again later.’ I have tried unplugging and rebooting a few times but no change. I have an Echo Dot which is working fine, no issue.”

As of 11:26 a.m., comments on Down Detector from Washington D.C., New York City, Arizona, Texas, Ohio, Nebraska, Ontario, Canada, and the U.K. and many other reported their Alexa connections were up and running. We will loop back to update this story as new developments occur or when we learn about the cause of the worldwide Alexa issues.