Summary
Amazon’s smart home map interface that shows you where all your connected devices are has been overhauled with new graphics, features, and dynamic effects. The new Alexa Home Map is now an interactive 3D view of not just everything that’s inside your property, but outside of it too — using compatible Ring cameras to provide a 360-degree view that animates cars and people moving nearby.
Amazon’s Alexa Home Map is getting a smarter 3D redesign
It can animate an external view in real time, and makes it easier to manage your smart home devices from one interface.
It can animate an external view in real time, and makes it easier to manage your smart home devices from one interface.
Even just visually speaking, it’s a considerable upgrade from the 2D map that was introduced to the Alexa app in 2023. This new version looks similar to Samsung’s SmartThings Map View, and makes it easier to see exactly where all of your Echo devices, Ring and Blink cameras, Fire TV, lights, locks, thermostats, and other connected devices are located around your home.
You can control core device functions like adjusting speaker volume or checking security cameras from the map, and some features update dynamically in real time to provide an easy overview of what’s currently running — such as dancing music notes over active speakers, and a glow for any smart lights that are currently switched on that matches whatever color they’re set to.
For the exterior view, a small live preview will appear on the map when one of your cameras detects movement. An interactive timeline is also available that lets you rewind the last 24 hours across every camera at once, so you can stay informed with package delivery times and other movements while you’re away from home. There’s even animation effects that match what the weather is really like outside, and Amazon says it’s planning themed modes for Halloween and Christmas.
As this is a digital replica of your house specifically, there’s obviously some setup required. Amazon uses your address to automatically pull a 3D model of your house and neighborhood from Mapbox, and you’ll then have to walk through every room and scan it for an accurate interior layout. Scanning requires an iPhone that has a LiDAR/structured-light sensor, though Amazon said it’s currently testing a plain-video scanner for iOS and Android. Your existing Map View maps can’t be repurposed so you’ll have to follow this process, and an average home apparently takes between 15-20 minutes to scan.
When the map model is set up, you can drag your devices onto it from the app tray. It’ll show multiple floors and even where your furniture is located. There are a few viewing modes too, including light and dark modes, and the ability to filter for specific devices like lights.
The new Alexa Home Map will start to roll out in preview “later this year,” though Amazon hasn’t specified a date. It’ll be available on the iOS Alexa Home Map, Alexa, and Ring apps, the new Alexa Tablets, the Ember Artline Fire TV, and larger Echo Show devices — including the new Echo Show 16.
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