How to find your live skill

After going through the list above, please follow the steps outlined below

1. Open the Alexa App in your mobile device. Go to the “More” option on the bottom right of your device screen and then click on “Settings.”

2. Scroll down and click on “About”.

3. “Host Name” shows you the page to which you associated your Alexa App.

4. To check the Alexa App language settings, go back to “Settings” and click on “Device Settings.”

5. You’ll see a list of Alexa-enabled devices. The “Alexa on This Phone” listing indicates you have downloaded the Alexa App to your phone and it’s set up. Click on “Alexa On This Phone.”

6. After clicking on “Alexa on This Phone”, you’ll see the language in which the Alexa App is set up.

The steps above outline actions you can take when the language settings between the Alexa App and a live Alexa Skill don’t match. Now, let’s explore another scenario that might account for why your can’t find your live skill.

2. Your Echo device might be set up for a different country

Issue:
Another reason you can't find your skill could be due to the way your Alexa device is set up. Sometimes, developers or users can’t find a live skill because their Alexa device is set up in a different language as compared to the skill they want to use.

Here’s what you can do to solve this issue.

Scenario:
You’re a Germany-based Alexa Skill developer, and you’ve announced to your users you’ve developed a new Alexa Skill. One of your skill’s users has reached out to you and told you they can’t find your skill in the Alexa Skill Store. They are based on Germany, too. However, they've set up their Alexa device in English. You only developed your skill in the German language, though.

Solution:
You and your skill’s users should set up your Echo device in the language your skill is deployed in order to find it within the Alexa Skill Store. This means that if your skill is live in the German marketplace as in the scenario above, then the Echo device should be set up in that language as well.

To set up an Echo device in the proper language, please see below:

1. Open the mobile version of your Alexa App and go to “More” — in the bottom right of the screen. Go to “Settings” (as described in the section above). In “Settings” select “Device Settings.”

2. A list of enabled devices will appear. Click on the Echo device for which you'd like to change the language. Note that the device should be online.

3. Click on the online device. Under “General”, when scrolling down you’ll find the language in which your Echo device is set up. In the example below, the Echo device is setup in English.

4. Given that the English language has several locales (en-US, en-GB, en-IN, en-AU, and en-CA), you may want to very the locale for your Echo device in which locale your Echo device is setup. To see the language for your Echo device, click on “Language."

Hopefully, the two steps outlined above have solved your skill discoverability problem. If not, then you might find a solution in the section below. 

3. Your live skill has been developed for other locales.

Issue:
An issue found in relation to live skills is that they are developed in certain locales, but users from other countries and marketplaces want to use the skill. 

Scenario 1:
“I have developed a skill which has passed the certification process and now is live. But my Mexican users keep telling me they can’t find my skill. Why?”

Solution:
Skills can only be made available in a particular region if that region’s local language corresponds to one of the language models of a skill. To make available a live skill for other users in other marketplaces, then you should add the related language models for any additional regions.

First:

1. If you don’t remember which language models support your live skill, then you can check this within the Developer Console under “Skills.”

2. Go to the live version of your skill and click on it.

3. In the “Build” tab, you can see a drop down menu which displays the language in which your skill is currently live. In the image below, the skill is for English (US).

Then:

4. If you want to add a new language model, go to your skill and click on the “In Dev” version.

5. Go to the “Build” tab and click on “Language Settings.”

6. Click on “+ Add new language”

7. You will find a list of available languages displayed. It is important to note that locales cannot be removed after they have been published.

Hopefully, following one of the steps above has helped you find your live skill. As an additional resource, you can learn about skill availability along with the features that Echo Devices support according to each country.

Be sure to review the checklist above to make sure that your skill is available and usable. If for any reason you (or your skill’s users) still have problems finding your skill, you can always Contact Us.