How To Update Amazon Echo

How To Update Amazon Echo

If you own an Amazon Echo, then you may already know that the beauty of the device lies in its updates.

With each update that Amazon releases, your Echo learns new skills. The device is ever-changing, allowing the user explore new features as time goes by. It’s kind of like getting a new device each time there is an update (ok, perhaps we're hyping it up a bit too much here!)

Given this situation, updates are integral to getting the full Echo experience. This brings us to the question “How do I update my Amazon Echo?”

Amazon Echo updates are automatic. As long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi, your device will automatically download and install any new updates available.

How Do I Manually Update My Echo Firmware? Is It Even Possible?

As of the moment, Echo does not allow its users to manually update their firmware. Only automatic updates are possible.

How do you know if your Echo is updated? Checking if the firmware of your Echo is quite easy—simply open the Alexa app on your phone. Navigate to the Settings menu then select your device. Scroll down and you will find out if your Echo’s firmware is up to date at the device software version portion.

If your Echo is updated then all well and good. However, if Amazon has rolled out a new software update and your Echo hasn’t updated itself yet, what do you do?

Getting your Echo to automatically update itself is a simple thing. Follow these steps to update your smart assistant.

Say you’re on your way out and you want your Echo to update while you’re gone:

1. Make sure that your device is connected to a Wi-Fi connection.

2. Press the mute button of your device. Leave it for half an hour and it will promptly go to idle mode.

When your device is on mute/idle mode, it will automatically download the latest firmware and will automatically install the firmware when the download is done.

In case something goes wrong with your update, you may also opt to restart your Echo and see if this sorts things out.

Or you can do this so Echo can reinitialize its system check for updates promptly:

Using Power Off/On Option

1. Locate the power adaptor at the back of your device.

2. Unplug it, wait for at least 20 seconds.

3. Plug the power adaptor back in your device.

4. Your device will start, and will automatically check for updates.

5. The light indicator on your device will turn blue if it has downloaded an update and is ready to install it.

Updates usually take around 15 minutes to complete, but this largely depends on your internet connection.

If you own an Amazon Tap, keep the Power button pressed for five seconds. The button will dim. You can then press the Power button again to turn it on.

In any case, make sure that your Echo is plugged in—it wouldn’t be good to have your device running out of batteries in the middle of an update.

Also, make sure you don’t say anything to your device while it’s updating to avoid any errors.

Conclusion

While there is no way to do manual updates for your Echo device for now, there are ways to prompt an automatic update.

Updating your Echo device is very important, to make sure that your device functions smoothly, and gain new features to maximize your Alexa experience.

Thanks for reading this article! Feel free to share this article if you liked it, and don’t forget to leave a comment in the appropriate section below!

2 Comments - Write a Comment

  1. Thanks so much for the helpful overview! For users with related questions, there’s another version of this tutorial here: https://alexa.bio/guide/update-the-software-on-your-echo-device/

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  2. Really helpful information to update Amazon Echo. Alexa device receives software updates automatically over Wi-Fi. These updates usually improve performance and add new Alexa features.

    Reply

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