Amazon’s Alexa App Got So Clunky I Switched to Siri

Amazon just ruined something that actually worked.

For years, I relied on Alexa for my shopping list. Voice commands anywhere in the house. Quick access on Echo Shows in the kitchen. The list synced perfectly to my phone. Simple. Effective. Done.

Then Amazon decided to “improve” everything. Now the Alexa app is such a mess that I’ve reluctantly switched to Apple’s Reminders and Siri. Yes, Siri—the assistant I’ve spent years complaining about.

The Shopping List Became an Obstacle Course

Opening the Alexa app used to be straightforward. Now it’s a six-tap journey through ads and AI prompts just to add butter to my list.

First, the app opens to an Alexa Plus chatbot card. So I have to swipe past that to reach my Favorites. Then I tap the shopping list. But instead of a clean list, I get another Alexa Plus prompt at the bottom—right where my brain expects to type new items.

Typing “butter” into that box? Big mistake. Alexa Plus gives me a guide to butter. Not helpful when I just need to remember to buy it.

To actually add something, I tap “Add Item” at the top. That takes me to a second screen filled with Whole Foods product ads. Only then do I see a tiny text box where I can finally type what I want.

Six taps total. For butter.

Apple’s Reminders Just Works

Apple’s Reminders app isn’t fancy. But it does exactly what I need with minimal friction.

Open the app. See my list. Tap the plus sign. Type item. Done. One tap from opening to adding. No ads. No chatbot trying to show off. Just a clean, functional list.

Sure, Siri annoys me by using my name every time I add something: “Okay, Jennifer, apples are on your list.” But at least when I check the list on my iPhone, it’s actually just a list. Not a shopping catalog. Not an AI conversation starter.

Siri stays in its lane. That’s all I wanted from Alexa.

Alexa Plus Talks Too Much

Voice commands used to be the fastest way to update my list. Now even that’s become frustrating.

Me: “Alexa, add sour cream to my shopping list.”

Alexa Plus: “Looks like you’re already stocked up on that creamy goodness! Sour cream is already chilling in your cart.”

Stop. Please. Just confirm you added it and move on.

I’ve asked Alexa to be less verbose multiple times. It hasn’t listened. The sour cream monologue was my breaking point. I don’t need commentary about “creamy goodness” when I’m trying to make dinner.

Amazon Prioritizes AI Over Basic Functions

This redesign serves Amazon’s goals, not mine. The company wants Alexa Plus front and center across every surface—the app, the website, Echo devices for paying customers.

Amazon announced that Alexa Plus moved out of early access this week. Now it’s free for everyone in the US via the app and Alexa.com. Prime members and those paying $20 monthly can access it on Echo devices too.

Daniel Rausch, vice president of Alexa and Echo, explained the app changes aim to “bring Alexa to the front” with “direct access to Alexa more simply in voice and in typed chat.” He claims the chatbot can handle most tasks you’d want to accomplish in the app.

Except it can’t add butter to my shopping list when I type “butter” into the chatbot on the shopping list page. That’s a pretty fundamental failure.

When Simplicity Beats Smart Features

Amazon is trying to position Alexa Plus as a competitor to ChatGPT and Gemini. A generalist AI assistant that goes beyond basic smart home tasks.

Maybe that strategy works for some people. But in the process, Amazon broke something that already functioned well. The shopping list feature was genuinely useful. Now it’s cluttered with product recommendations and AI prompts I never asked for.

An Amazon spokesperson told me the Whole Foods product images were part of a short-term test. When I checked again today, those large images were replaced with a longer list of smaller thumbnails. Still cluttered. Still in the way.

The spokesperson also said the app should remember which card I was on and open to Favorites by default. That used to work. Now it doesn’t consistently.

The Real Cost of Feature Bloat

I have Echo devices throughout my house. Only a couple HomePods. Switching to Siri means giving up the convenience of updating my list from any room.

But that convenience isn’t worth the frustration anymore. I’d rather deal with Siri’s quirks than fight through six taps and product ads just to add milk.

Apple’s Reminders proves that simple tools often beat feature-rich alternatives. No AI trying to impress me with butter guides. No ads for groceries I didn’t ask about. Just a functional list that respects my time.

Amazon had something that worked. Then it decided to fix what wasn’t broken. That’s how you lose users to competitors with less sophisticated features but better execution.

My shopping list is back to being just a list. And honestly? That’s all it ever needed to be.