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alexa-skills-kit

Adding a simple alexa skill, doable in time? getting started with alexa

I have some devices I want to give my clients. E.g. they take it home.

basically I want them to be able to ask the device like an echo dot:

Ask MYAPP, what song is Number One

Ask MYAPP, what song is Number Two

.. etc

and then it reads the name of a song.

My question is: I have never worked with alexa or amazon service.

How long will it take to get it certified?

Do i need to get it certified?

is there an issue with playing a song?

I don't own a device, can I test it well enough without owning one?

is the alexa skill api easy and I get this done rather quickly or is it difficult to get started?

what's a good place to help get me started? i quickly looked at creating a skill set and the procedure seems heavy weight. Is there maybe a forum or some chat where the gurus hang out?

Solution

    • How long will it take to get it certified? - Once you submit the app it will take max 7 business day to get certified (Most of my apps certified in 2 days) - Please read here for certification checklist

    • Do I need to get it certified? - Yes, it should get certified for your app to be available on Amazon Alexa skill store. If it is not in skill store then other people cannot download to their device and will be available only in your account. To test app you don't need certification as you can try it from your Amazon account

    • is there an issue with playing a song? - You can play any audio files but current limit of audio file is 90 seconds. Please read more here
    • I don't own a device, can I test it well enough without owning one?- You don't need a device to test it. You can use echosim - https://echosim.io/ to test your app. Alternatively you can use Raspberry PI as you can enable Raspberry PI as an Alexa enabled device

    • is the alexa skill api easy and I get this done rather quickly or is it difficult to get started? - It is very easy to do. trust me I have learned and created an app in a week or so

    • what's a good place to help get me started?- First you need an Amazon account ( I believe you already have). Please find below links for simple end to end samples,

    https://developer.amazon.com/alexa-skills-kit/alexa-skill-quick-start-tutorial

    https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/post/Tx3DVGG0K0TPUGQ/New-Alexa-Skills-Kit-Template:-Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Build-a-Fact-Skill

    There are couple of courses available in Udemy as well