Why Alexa Presentation Language might be the biggest news right now for voice apps?

For developers and anyone involved in the mobile revolution around 2010, anything that promises to work in different devices seamless is like a dream. That’s what Alexa Presentation Language is seducing us with: build interactive, multimodal Alexa skills and customize them for different Alexa-enabled devices. The language comes with tools for testing and a simulator. It’s like Amazon said we are going to do better this time. I have yet to try the feature but I’m already extremely excited about it. Optimized for Alexa-enabled devices, it also ensures that your skills can reach customers on Echo Spot, Echo Show, and Fire TV. You hear that, 3 devices with disparately screen sizes and shapes.

I love the reactions on Twitter too:

Alexa Presentation Language (APL) was released to public beta on Oct 30, 2018 and opens up a whole new level of possibilities when it comes to building https://t.co/CIsNzNhWm0 #alexapresentationlanguage #skilltemplates #alexadevs pic.twitter.com/0gVL9rCZNQ

— Dabble Lab (@dabblelab) November 3, 2018

Voice is not going away, and content strategy is at the heart of it. https://t.co/bSJFGKU7no

— Melanie Seibert (@melanie_seibert) October 25, 2018

The #Alexa Presentation Language is a huge change to how developers build for displays. With Christmas bringing more Echo Shows and Fire TVs, there's a lot to learn quickly.

I wrote a post for all the @alexadevs on the APL fundamental concepts: https://t.co/JdZgA8ojXg

— Dustin Coates (@dcoates) October 30, 2018

Now Available: Alexa Presentation Language (Public Beta) for Multimodal Experiences. I have been waiting for this…excited to see to what extend APL can be leveraged to enhance the UX on the Echo Show.#Amazon #Echo #Alexa #EchoShow #VoiceFirsthttps://t.co/kZ7ltjRN3j pic.twitter.com/AQMNA56j3C

— Cobus Greyling (@CobusGreylingZA) October 31, 2018

Still I don’t think a lot of devs are taking this as the huge step it represents for the future of voice applications. The finish line has been moved, is what devs will grow accustomed to and that’s a great thing. Building experiences powered by voice, visuals and touch is the true multimodal rich voice apps we all want.

This is what I love about Alexa and what Amazon is building: it’s a platform for others to build on, not as much a product. It is our product, what you build in it contributes to its base as much as the base itself.

If you are just hearing about Alexa Presentation Language, I sent in this week’s newsletter a guide about it that you need to check out.

I will come back to APL in a few months when the impact will have measured better and users report on their experiences.

Happy Saturday! My name is Mari, This is VoiceFirst Weekly flash briefing. You can find me on Twitter as voicefirstlabs or in Instagram as voicefirstweekly. Have a nice Friday and I’ll talk to you tomorrow!

Resources:

• Official documentation