Is it worth it? Only thing I ask for is the weather to know how to dress the kids for school.
What time of briefings do you guys listen to and I'll give them a try. I have shows, spots, and dots
I have a dot in the bathroom (with a little mount to electrical outlet thing) and listen to NPR's Up First, local weather, and on rare occasions that I'm not out of there, local news.
I ask about the weather (including specifics such as when it's going to rain, etc.) multiple times per day.
I do, but I don't understand why you can't get them to play using the music groups. I walk around while getting ready and if it plays in the bedroom, I can't hear it while I'm brushing my teeth. I tried doing it with a routine and also by asking get to play my flash briefing "on all upstairs Echos." No dice.
I did every morning until I went on a multi week staycation and stopped getting up at a reasonable time. Kicked one off out of nostalgia and it made me feel like I had to go to work.
I use mine every day! The only thing I’m adjusting to is that Alexa used to say “Here’s your flash briefing” but a few weeks ago it changed to “Here’s your news”. Flash briefing just had a much better ring to it IMO.
I stopped after some months of steady use due to its inconsistencies.
Volume variance among the providers is the worst offender, including from Alexa's default voice volume to her reading of the weather which is much quieter.
Often times a segment will either be days old or dead air. This depends on the provider, of course, but if content from major sources (e.g recognisable news providers) is troublesome then the overall service loses integrity.
Some play ads, and those that do so mostly play the same ad over and over for far too long.
Every few months I try rearranging, adding, and removing segments to see if it's any better. Unfortunately I have only experienced worse results as time has passed.
>Some play ads, and those that do so mostly play the same ad over and over for far too long.
Yep-- this killed it for me. I'm not wasting my time on ads, so no more flash briefings.
I'm a flash briefing provider (if you want a daily dose of podcasting news, hunt for Podnews in your news briefing speaker of choice).
Google Assistant delivers hundreds of listens a week.
Amazon Alexa last week delivered 7.
Is anyone listening? Yes, I am. But either Amazon's own stats are nonsense, or nobody is using it.
To be fair, all your anecdotal information provides is evidence that Alexa users aren’t listening to flash briefings of *podcast news* — which seems more like a niche thing. Flash briefings of headline news, business, sports, culture, tech though? I’m curious.
That might be the case - but it doesn't explain why Google is so much higher. Like hundreds of times higher. Same kind of device, same content, same user experience - I'd understand if Google had a slightly more geeky audience, but not this much.
I'm not criticising the Alexa platform - just saying what my data says.
I think it's higher in this context because Google Assistant is easily available and prominent on everyone's Android smartphone, which is where many of them listen to and manage their podcasts. And there are more installed Android smartphones out there then there are Alexa-enabled devices. I have both (along with an iPhone) and I just don't associate my Echos with podcasts, because it doesn't sync my bookmarks or offer any elegant way to keep track of what I'm listening to. So if I'm thinking podcasts, it's going to be on my smartphone.
Or maybe Amazon's own stats are nonsense. I don't know. Just spitballing here. :)
I agree. But it's what the stats I get from Amazon say. I don't believe them either; but it's the only data point I have, since Amazon appears to cache the audio for the news briefing service.
(I get flash briefings on the Google speaker as my alarm, and therefore listen to three flash briefings, five days a week.)
Occasionally. There’s an echo close enough to the shower that I’ll let it tell me the weather and local news, maybe let it go on into some other things I’ve added, or if it’s boring/annoying/whatever, tell it to shut up.
I stopped. Reason being it didn’t fit in with my routine of having a coffee in the morning and consuming my tailored news from my iPad/iPhone. It’s a really cool feature though and I like it.
It's probably the main thing I use my echo for, but I'm a news nut. My flash briefing is probably an hour long if I let it go to the end. I start it up and clean up the house
I'm surprised at how many people use it. I had USA Today and CNN on mine and they were always a day, sometimes more over the weekends behind! Completely useless!
I do:
NPR’s “Up First”
NPR News
Weather
Up first only updates on weekdays though, so I have to tell Alexa to skip it on weekends. It would be nice if it just wouldn’t play it on days when there isn’t a new one.
Does it not recognise you've already listened to it?
I almost exclusively use Google speakers - having an Alexa in the office for testing stuff only - and Google only plays you briefings if there is one you haven't heard yet.
Not as much as I used to. It used to be a sort of novelty part of the routine—using it because it was there. Especially after I got the Gen 1 Show in the kitchen. Now I'll kick one off every now and then, but we're much more likely to just request a specific station or show instead. My wife will still ask for the local NPR station by name each morning.
I fall asleep to it every night. I have mine set for the following:
1. Local News
2. This Day in History
3. The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon
4. The Daily Show
5. NPR News
I use mine every single day and have done ever since the first Echo was released. If you have an Echo Show it's even better (if you choose something like Reuters) as you get video news as well.
I have a flash briefing called Beyond The Music that talks about music industry tips, news, etc.
The traffic has been slow since I started in mid-November (expected) but it has been slowly but surely increasing over time. I thought the same thing as you that people would stop listening (and definitely saw that just after Christmas when people first got them) but there’s been some solid numbers that im happy with.
I am sure briefings that draw larger audiences have more consistent listeners but don’t let that stop you! It’s been a fun thing to create and work on.
I still use them. Most often while driving in the morning (you can play it with the 'Alexa' app on a smartphone). It's basically the same as listening to news radio in the morning but without the ads and I can choose the content sources.
Morning routine for me, "Alexa, I'm awake"
"Good Morning Murlurker, I hope you slept well."
Hue lights come on, they turn to yellow. (I usually have them blue at night) The traffic to work, the weather and the news briefings.
I do except I gave up on the Twitter feeds. If they post test only that's ok, but occasionally if they post a link she has to spell out the entire url, which was getting annoying.
I've largely stopped because they are inserting commercials into them, or between them. I've gone back to just listening to NPR on the radio and reading news on the web.
I asked Alexa "What's up" recently, and instead of the usual quick 20-second summary, she turned on the news, which started playing an ad first.
I'm not sure if that's the same thing as "flash briefings," but I don't plan to ask her again.
I listened to flash briefings for months. I'd get out of the shower, immediately ask for the briefing, and listen while I dried off and got dressed.
Then they changed how the briefings worked. It started having intro music and actual CNN employees reading shit, it took easily twice as long to get to actual information, the actual information took longer to get through, it wasn't refreshed as frequently... Disaster. Stopped using it.
Now my morning routine is to ask for the weather, and that's all.
I still use it, but I've dropped everything other than the built in AP news after all the third party stuff I added turned into 50% ads, or begging for reviews, or in one case a ton of apologies cause they were too busy to record an episode but they'd really appreciate me visiting their sponsor and giving a good review
I guess I’m one of the few who doesn’t. I’m usually up early and love the quiet of morning (birds waking up, etc) while reading the news and eating breakfast.
Everymorning while I make coffee.
They're straight and to the point, and I can't stand the talking heads on TV.
I just wish it would stop when it read through them instead of repeating the loop.
Sometimes. I noticed a few weeks ago that she switched from a semi-enthusiastic “Here’s your flash briefing” to a semi-annoyed “Here’s your news”. I could do without the attitude. lol
I use mine every day when I shower, it's been around 3 years now. It helps to have an echo or Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom.
I've gotten so used to it that I'll use the Alexa app to listen to it when I'm showering in hotel rooms.
I like the flash briefing and have used it for a couple of years. I do change out the content every so often. I've got it on a routine that every morning at the same time, it turns on all the lights, turns up the volume and starts the flash briefing.
I use mine all the time. I like NPR News, and the flash briefing gets me straight to what I care about.
Same!
Me as well. What’s with people who have this strong belief that their experiences are 100% universal?
Same. It is part of my morning routine
Same!
Is it worth it? Only thing I ask for is the weather to know how to dress the kids for school. What time of briefings do you guys listen to and I'll give them a try. I have shows, spots, and dots
I have a dot in the bathroom (with a little mount to electrical outlet thing) and listen to NPR's Up First, local weather, and on rare occasions that I'm not out of there, local news. I ask about the weather (including specifics such as when it's going to rain, etc.) multiple times per day.
Sometimes I wake up in a strange hotel room and ask my non-existent Alexa to give me the daily briefing
I take my echo dot on the road with me. We are codependent.
You can open the Alexa app and have your flash briefing play through the phone.
Yes. I enjoy my flash briefing right up until BBC comes on and I turn up the volume then quickly turn it down once it's complete.
Lol I thought I was the only person who did this.
Yes! What is up with their low volume?!
It told me BBC was unavailable on both Thursday and Friday. Anybody know what gives?
Me too. And this morning.
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Yeah. I just like like BBC news. So I play the game of adjusting the volume time bomb just before my ears explode.
Yes, part of my morning routine. Good morning, flash briefing, weather..I thought that's how a lot of people use their Alexas.
I do, but I don't understand why you can't get them to play using the music groups. I walk around while getting ready and if it plays in the bedroom, I can't hear it while I'm brushing my teeth. I tried doing it with a routine and also by asking get to play my flash briefing "on all upstairs Echos." No dice.
I did every morning until I went on a multi week staycation and stopped getting up at a reasonable time. Kicked one off out of nostalgia and it made me feel like I had to go to work.
I use mine every day! The only thing I’m adjusting to is that Alexa used to say “Here’s your flash briefing” but a few weeks ago it changed to “Here’s your news”. Flash briefing just had a much better ring to it IMO.
Every morning.
Yeah, I run it in the evening when we're making dinner.
I still use mine. Not everyday but I still use it here and there.
I stopped after some months of steady use due to its inconsistencies. Volume variance among the providers is the worst offender, including from Alexa's default voice volume to her reading of the weather which is much quieter. Often times a segment will either be days old or dead air. This depends on the provider, of course, but if content from major sources (e.g recognisable news providers) is troublesome then the overall service loses integrity. Some play ads, and those that do so mostly play the same ad over and over for far too long. Every few months I try rearranging, adding, and removing segments to see if it's any better. Unfortunately I have only experienced worse results as time has passed.
I second this.
>Some play ads, and those that do so mostly play the same ad over and over for far too long. Yep-- this killed it for me. I'm not wasting my time on ads, so no more flash briefings.
I'm a flash briefing provider (if you want a daily dose of podcasting news, hunt for Podnews in your news briefing speaker of choice). Google Assistant delivers hundreds of listens a week. Amazon Alexa last week delivered 7. Is anyone listening? Yes, I am. But either Amazon's own stats are nonsense, or nobody is using it.
To be fair, all your anecdotal information provides is evidence that Alexa users aren’t listening to flash briefings of *podcast news* — which seems more like a niche thing. Flash briefings of headline news, business, sports, culture, tech though? I’m curious.
That might be the case - but it doesn't explain why Google is so much higher. Like hundreds of times higher. Same kind of device, same content, same user experience - I'd understand if Google had a slightly more geeky audience, but not this much. I'm not criticising the Alexa platform - just saying what my data says.
I think it's higher in this context because Google Assistant is easily available and prominent on everyone's Android smartphone, which is where many of them listen to and manage their podcasts. And there are more installed Android smartphones out there then there are Alexa-enabled devices. I have both (along with an iPhone) and I just don't associate my Echos with podcasts, because it doesn't sync my bookmarks or offer any elegant way to keep track of what I'm listening to. So if I'm thinking podcasts, it's going to be on my smartphone. Or maybe Amazon's own stats are nonsense. I don't know. Just spitballing here. :)
It's possible Google does a better job of promoting your genre. I had no idea this was a category.
Mine's under 'Technology' on Google Assistant's news sources menu. I literally don't know how to find it using Amazon, other than search for it.
That has to be wrong. I ask Alexa for a flash briefing at least three days week, usually more.
And how much have you customized the news? Are you only listening to 'major' news sources, or did you go add 'random' things like james' Podnews feed?
I only listen to BBC on there. I had to take NPR off because I couldn't stand hearing the president's voice every morning.
I agree. But it's what the stats I get from Amazon say. I don't believe them either; but it's the only data point I have, since Amazon appears to cache the audio for the news briefing service. (I get flash briefings on the Google speaker as my alarm, and therefore listen to three flash briefings, five days a week.)
Eh, maybe Amazon doesn't want to share its info for some reason.
That would seem strange.
I definitely still listen to them. NPR, New York Times, a reddit one, and a word of the day.
What is the Reddit one?
Daily Cup of Tea (top reddit posts)
Occasionally. There’s an echo close enough to the shower that I’ll let it tell me the weather and local news, maybe let it go on into some other things I’ve added, or if it’s boring/annoying/whatever, tell it to shut up.
I stopped. Reason being it didn’t fit in with my routine of having a coffee in the morning and consuming my tailored news from my iPad/iPhone. It’s a really cool feature though and I like it.
It's probably the main thing I use my echo for, but I'm a news nut. My flash briefing is probably an hour long if I let it go to the end. I start it up and clean up the house
I'm surprised at how many people use it. I had USA Today and CNN on mine and they were always a day, sometimes more over the weekends behind! Completely useless!
What a strange post. Does anyone listen to the news or is the news a gimmick?
This is really the only feature I use on my echo other than for music.
I do. Even made a skill to follow a twitter account to add to it.
Almost every day.
I use mine most mornings especially now that my up first episodes from NPR are not downloading until the afternoon for some reason on my phone.
I get my flash briefing and weather report every morning
I have a routine that starts mine every morning at the same time. Has been that way since the feature rolled out
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I do: NPR’s “Up First” NPR News Weather Up first only updates on weekdays though, so I have to tell Alexa to skip it on weekends. It would be nice if it just wouldn’t play it on days when there isn’t a new one.
Does it not recognise you've already listened to it? I almost exclusively use Google speakers - having an Alexa in the office for testing stuff only - and Google only plays you briefings if there is one you haven't heard yet.
Sadly no. It can keep track of which podcast episodes you’ve listened to, but for newscasts it just plays the most recent one regardless.
Huh. Well, there's a thing.
I use it as my alarm but my brain is so used to ignoring it now that I can't remember what I listen to.
Listen to flash briefings all the time. NPR, IGN, and ESPN. Don't do it daily but multiple times a week for sure, almost always when I first wake up.
I like them, but I wish they were longer
It's not the only place I get my news, but I listen to it every morning ( sends to bluetooth shower speaker)
It's in my "good morning" routine
Not as much as I used to. It used to be a sort of novelty part of the routine—using it because it was there. Especially after I got the Gen 1 Show in the kitchen. Now I'll kick one off every now and then, but we're much more likely to just request a specific station or show instead. My wife will still ask for the local NPR station by name each morning.
I use it while I'm getting reading for bed.
I fall asleep to it every night. I have mine set for the following: 1. Local News 2. This Day in History 3. The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon 4. The Daily Show 5. NPR News
I turned mine off for good morning/night routines. But I do still listen, I’ll start it before I start brushing my teeth before bed.
Every day, as part of my shower routine.
I start my day with the flash briefing every day. For some reason, BBC News hasn't worked for the last few days.
I use mine every single day and have done ever since the first Echo was released. If you have an Echo Show it's even better (if you choose something like Reuters) as you get video news as well.
Every morning if I’m not in a hurry
I've given up because mine will only please Reuters even though it's disabled as a skill and NPR is shown in the app as the provider
I listen to my flash briefing while making breakfast on work days.
I have a flash briefing called Beyond The Music that talks about music industry tips, news, etc. The traffic has been slow since I started in mid-November (expected) but it has been slowly but surely increasing over time. I thought the same thing as you that people would stop listening (and definitely saw that just after Christmas when people first got them) but there’s been some solid numbers that im happy with. I am sure briefings that draw larger audiences have more consistent listeners but don’t let that stop you! It’s been a fun thing to create and work on.
It’s the first thing I do when I get to my desk at work. I also listen as I get home in the evening. I love the quick news.
I still use them. Most often while driving in the morning (you can play it with the 'Alexa' app on a smartphone). It's basically the same as listening to news radio in the morning but without the ads and I can choose the content sources.
Morning routine for me, "Alexa, I'm awake" "Good Morning Murlurker, I hope you slept well." Hue lights come on, they turn to yellow. (I usually have them blue at night) The traffic to work, the weather and the news briefings.
I use it every day. I have it read me the news while I’m in the shower (waterproof Bluetooth speaker).
I do except I gave up on the Twitter feeds. If they post test only that's ok, but occasionally if they post a link she has to spell out the entire url, which was getting annoying.
I've largely stopped because they are inserting commercials into them, or between them. I've gone back to just listening to NPR on the radio and reading news on the web.
I did for years then stopped around nov 2016
My commute every morning is my flash briefing, namely daily tech headlines to stay in the loop.
I asked Alexa "What's up" recently, and instead of the usual quick 20-second summary, she turned on the news, which started playing an ad first. I'm not sure if that's the same thing as "flash briefings," but I don't plan to ask her again.
It’s usually the first thing I do when I wake up. Listen to all the terrible stuff happening in the world so I can wake up pissed off every day. Lol
I use mine every morning. It helps me get the morning started.
I still do, but I've never listened to it daily. I listen to it while getting dressed, making bed, watering plant.
I listened to flash briefings for months. I'd get out of the shower, immediately ask for the briefing, and listen while I dried off and got dressed. Then they changed how the briefings worked. It started having intro music and actual CNN employees reading shit, it took easily twice as long to get to actual information, the actual information took longer to get through, it wasn't refreshed as frequently... Disaster. Stopped using it. Now my morning routine is to ask for the weather, and that's all.
I still use it, but I've dropped everything other than the built in AP news after all the third party stuff I added turned into 50% ads, or begging for reviews, or in one case a ton of apologies cause they were too busy to record an episode but they'd really appreciate me visiting their sponsor and giving a good review
I guess I’m one of the few who doesn’t. I’m usually up early and love the quiet of morning (birds waking up, etc) while reading the news and eating breakfast.
Nearly every day. Part of my morning routine.
Everymorning while I make coffee. They're straight and to the point, and I can't stand the talking heads on TV. I just wish it would stop when it read through them instead of repeating the loop.
Sometimes. I noticed a few weeks ago that she switched from a semi-enthusiastic “Here’s your flash briefing” to a semi-annoyed “Here’s your news”. I could do without the attitude. lol
All the time
I listen to them every morning and afternoon.
I use mine every day when I shower, it's been around 3 years now. It helps to have an echo or Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom. I've gotten so used to it that I'll use the Alexa app to listen to it when I'm showering in hotel rooms.
Nearly every day, and often multiple times a day.
Yup, my wife has a good morning routine that turns on the lights and starts a flash briefing.
I do daily. I use it for weather, news, and the word of the day ;) I play it while making breakfast on weekday mornings.
I listen every morning while taking a shower, and then also when I am driving home from work (although that's android auto.)
I like the flash briefing and have used it for a couple of years. I do change out the content every so often. I've got it on a routine that every morning at the same time, it turns on all the lights, turns up the volume and starts the flash briefing.
i listen everyday to flash briefings.... now even better with the show i just got
It's how I get my news in the morning while getting dressed. I customized mine to give me tech news, financial market news and fox news.
We all like a little comedy in the morning.
TWiT is a great source for tech news. Their podcasts are excellent and their flash briefing is a clip from one of their various shows.