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Why do I need 2 Voice Apps, both an Alexa Skill and a Google Action?

Ideally, the same Voice App would be able to work with both Amazon Alexa devices as well as Google Assistant devices.  Unfortunately, Amazon and Google are not really cooperating these days.  They seem to be spending most of their time attempting to be the dominant Voice Platform.  This means that Amazon and Google voice apps have similarities with how they work, but must be created individually and maintained separately.   If you are considering putting all of your eggs into the Amazon or the Google basket, the following provides reasons to support each platform:

Amazon Alexa

  • Amazon Alexa currently has 70% of the Smart Speaker market.   Which means that 7 out of 10 homes with a smart speaker will be using an  Amazon Alexa device.  Amazon Alexa recently announced that they have sold over 100 million Smart Speakers.
  • Amazon Alexa currently has over 70,000 Skills and Amazon just made it easier to create and publish simple skills, so this number is expected to mushroom.  This will continue to make Amazon Alexa devices "smarter" as Amazon tries to keep their lead as a Voice Platform. 

Google Assistant

  • Google Assistant currently has 24% of the Smart Speaker market, but Google Assistant is available on more than just Smart Speakers.  Google Assistant is also available on phones and tablets as well. Google touts that Google Assistant is available on 1 billion devices.
  • Google Assistant currently has less than 5,000 Actions. 
  • Google does not allow multiple Voice Apps with the same name.  The Voice App Name (called an Invocation Name) is like a website name or domain name on the internet.  The Invocation Name is how you start a Voice App.  Since Invocation Names are unique, the first person to create a Google Voice App, owns the Invocation Name.  If you want to own an Invocation Name on this Voice Platform, you will want to create a Voice App before the Invocation Name is taken.

We can help you create an Amazon Alexa Skill and/or a Google Assistant Action.  Just visit our Products Page.