There are now more than one million registered developers, brands, and device makers building with Alexa, and in 2022, many of them visited developer.amazon.com to find useful resources to help them build voice and multi-modal skills.
Here are the top ten posts from 2022 ranked by page views.
1. Explore the latest features from Alexa Live 2022
At Alexa Live 2022, we unveiled a host of features to help you craft deep conversational experiences and grow your business. With APIs that help you innovate for smart homes, an updated Alexa Voice Service SDK, and new ways to generate incremental revenue, our annual conference brought features curated to help you tap into the fastest-growing areas of Alexa.
Check out our full list of announcements from Alexa Live 2022.
2. Dabble Lab lets you build advanced voice experiences without code
When Dabble Lab founder Steve Tingris first encountered an Alexa-enabled device, he realized the huge potential of voice technology. But he also knew it took serious time and technical expertise to build Alexa skills on your own. That’s why he began creating open-source templates, providing the code needed for actions ranging from audio streaming to in-skill monetization.
Read about all the ways Dabble Labs is empowering developers to build new Alexa skills.
3. See how Elokence reached millions of users by bringing its hit game Akinator to voice
Elokence created the breakaway success Akinator, a game that uses AI to guess a character on users’ minds with a few questions. Although it began as a desktop and mobile game, Akinator is now played by millions of users on Alexa—becoming a viral sensation along the way.
So what drives this type of engagement through voice-first experiences? According to Elokence founder and CEO Arnaud Megret, the answer is simple: “Playing with Alexa is more fun.” Meet the team behind Akinator.
4. Learn user engagement strategies from Matchbox.io
The Alexa skill Question of the Day has attracted tens of millions of users since its release in 2017 while picking up major awards and media features. Matchbox.io, the game’s parent company, prioritizes user engagement and retention above all else—and for Question of the Day’s developers, that focus translates to a meaningful source of income.
See Matchbox.io’s five top strategies for high user engagement in our interview.
5. Endel is shaping the future of sound wellness
Endel pairs Alexa with patented AI technology to generate personalized soundscapes based on users’ movements, time of day, weather, heart rate, and more. This helps people relax, get a better night’s sleep, and focus more effectively.
As Endel co-founder and CEO Oleg Stavitsky described, Alexa has the power to enhance daily experiences and promote wellness using ambient sounds. “Our goal is for Endel’s soundscapes to follow you and be accessible across all activities… It can be as simple as saying Alexa, I want to go to sleep now.”
See Endel in action.
6. The engineering student who turned down a full-time job to develop Alexa skills for the world’s leading brands
Ashish Jha began publishing Alexa skills as a student in his free time. After winning voice hackathons organized by Amazon India, however, he realized that brands with a global reach were interested in crafting voice experiences—and Jha was uniquely positioned to help them do it. Now, he has the freedom to pursue projects across the Alexa development ecosystem on his own terms.
Read Ashish Jha’s story and learn how you can turn your skills into a sustainable source of revenue.
7. Add a new dimension to your skills with Alexa Presentation Language (APL)
Alexa Presentation Language (APL) helps you build rich and engaging multimodal Alexa skills to connect with your users, including graphics, images, slide shows, and video. In 2022, newly-announced features make building multimodal skill building easier and more efficient with guided walkthroughs, auto-generated code snippets, and more.
Explore what’s new in APL.
8. Introducing the Skill Quality Coach
Ready to take your skill to the next level and keep customers coming back? The new Skill Quality Coach has you covered, drawing from thousands of Alexa skills to give you personalized recommendations designed to boost retention and engagement. You can also see how your skill stacks up against other successful skills in a score from 0-5, with criteria based on design features and customer experience.
Learn more about the Skill Quality Coach in our announcement blog.
9. The Alexa Shopping Kit makes monetizing simple
The Alexa Shopping Kit lets you engage customers at every stage of the shopping journey—all the way from product discovery to purchase. By surfacing your own products or earning a commission of up to 10% on other qualifying Amazon products featured in your skill, there are more opportunities than ever to generate revenue.
Read about the Alexa Shopping Kit.
10. Alexa goes to space
In 2022, Alexa went where no voice assistant has gone before. After launching aboard Orion for the Artemis I mission on November 16th, Alexa is now in orbit to help the uncrewed mission chart out the possibilities for future explorations to the moon and other deep space destinations.
Alexa isn’t just along for the ride, though. Technical innovations like a new audio communications network—officially adopted by Lockheed and NASA—and advancements in acoustics are set to improve space travel in the years to come.
Discover how Alexa made it to space.
5 inspiring facts about Alexa and NASA’s Artemis I mission
The incredible technical innovations that took Alexa into space
