Portable Home Speaker - Alexa

[SteveLoh]

Bose product name

Portable Home Speaker

Country

UK

Firmware Version

8.0.16

App Version

4.5.4

What devices were you using that were affected and what version are they on

OnePlus5T Android V10

Detailed description of the issue:

I have had the Bose Portable Home (Smart) Speaker for just over a year now and am quite happy with the audio quality & the Alexa Voice Assistant built-in facility. The firmware has recently been updated to the latest version 8.0.16 and the Bose Music App that I have on my Android Smartphone is Version 4.5.4.
Recently, I have noticed that the Alexa Voice Assistant does not activate automatically when the speaker is powered on. The only way for Alexa to be activated is by pressing the middle (Play & Pause) button for 10 seconds, in order for the speaker to be reset. I wonder has anyone else experienced the same problem with their Bose Portable Home Speaker? Any advice or suggestion to help resolve this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. 

[Charlotte_G]

Hey @SteveLoh, welcome to the Bose Community!

I am glad to hear that you've been enjoying the audio quality and Alexa features on your Portable Home Speaker. Sorry that you're now facing some issues with Alexa.

I recommend that you remove and re-add Alexa to your speaker. Here are the steps on how to do this - Adding or removing the Amazon Alexa voice assistant.

Let me know the outcome of this.

[SteveLoh]

Hello Charlotte, many thanks for your prompt response. Much appreciated.
I have deleted and added Alexa back via the Bose Music app, as you recommended, but that has not resolved the problem.
I noticed that the instructions refer to signing in to both my Amazon and Bose accounts, respectively. I only managed to sign in to my Amazon account on the Bose App but did not find an option to sign in with my Bose account. Can you please advise me as to how I can do that? Thanks.

[Jeff_G]

Hi Steve, 

Thanks for getting back in touch. You mentioned you were signed into the Bose Music app, but not your Bose Account. What/where is the account are you referring to?

There should only be a single place on the Bose app to sign in, you shouldn't need to sign in elsewhere besides making sure the Alexa app has Bose Music connected as a skill. This should set up automatically when signing into Alexa on the Bose Music app, but you can also add the skill through the Alexa app. To do this open the Alexa app, navigate to Skills, then search for Bose (Not for SoundTouch). 

Be sure to let us know how you get on! 😊 

[SteveLoh]

Hi Jeff, thanks for coming back to me so quickly. I was trying to follow the instructions as given by Bose in the following link that Charlotte recommended for removing and adding Alexa on my Bose app. https://www.bose.com/en_us/support/articles/HC2417/productCodes/bose_portable_home_speaker/article.h...

Having first removed Alexa, I then followed through the instructions in step 1 & 2 of the above link for adding Alexa Voice Assistant. However, I was a bit stuck with step 3 (see exact instruction from the Bose website below).

3. Follow the app instructions to link your Alexa account.

• During setup, signing in to your Amazon account links your Alexa voice assistant to your Bose account for Alexa features (e.g. "Alexa, what's the weather?" or "Alexa, set a timer for 10 minutes")

• During setup, signing in to your Bose account links your Bose products to your Alexa voice assistant so it can control your products (i.e "Alexa, play jazz on [Bose product name]" or "Alexa, mute [Bose product name]")

• In the Amazon Alexa app, your Bose product appears twice under Alexa Devices. Do not remove either entry: One entry is for Alexa functionality and the other is for Bose product functionality. Additionally, if your product is renamed after initial setup, both entries will have different names in the Alexa app.

I have checked the number of devices registered in my Alexa app on my phone but there is only ONE entry for my Bose product, not two. Could this be the reason why my Bose Portable Home Speaker is not operating properly in this instance?

Have you got any further advice which would help me to ensure that the Alexa Voice Assistant is activated automatically whenever my Bose Portable Home Speaker is switched on?

Many thanks once again for looking into this matter for me. Much appreciated.

[Marvin_B]

Hi Steve.

Thank you for getting back to us. Sorry to hear that you still have the issue.

I would suggest factory resetting the speaker and then set it up again on the app. From there you can re-set up Alexa and all your presets.

I would advise that you make sure you are near your WiFi router when you do this, to avoid signal interruption.

To restore the factory default Portable Home Speaker:
Note: This reset erases all settings and returns your product to its default out-of-box state. Once reset, open the Bose Music app to reconfigure your product.
Remove the product from your Bose account. 
Sign out of your account in the Bose Music app.
Connect the speaker to power. If pulsing white lights appear in the light ring, wait for the pulsing to stop before proceeding
Simultaneously press and hold the Bluetooth® and Volume + buttons for ten seconds until the light ring is filled with white light. The speaker will reboot. It will have a solid amber light when it is ready.
Once you have the amber light, sign in back to your account in the app and add the speaker.

From here you can set up Alexa again. 

[RamR]

I am facing this issues on my portable speaker recently, exact same issues.

Alexa is not working when speaker is restarted. I have to press play/pause buttton to connect. 

I have done factory re-set 6 times minimum no luck. 

when i start speaker and press action button, it message "open bose music app to configure this button", however there is no configuration available in the app for this button.

Please help , i bought this product this month only

[SteveLoh]

Hi Marvin,

Thanks for your advice for me to restore my Bose Portable Home Speaker to the factory default state. I have followed your instructions exactly to reset the speaker. However, this has not resolved the problem; Alexa still does not activate automatically whenever the speaker is powered on from the off state. I tend to switch off my Bose Portable Home Speaker before I go to sleep at night and power it on when I wake up in the morning. I have always managed to power on the speaker and Alexa used to be activated instantly without any problem, during the past 12 month of my use. Recently, I can only activate Alexa manually by pressing the middle Play & Pause button, in order for the speaker to be reset, whenever I switch on the speaker.  I wonder could the latest updates (both released in June 2021) for Bose Portable Home Speaker to firmware version 8.0.16 and / or the Bose Music app to version 4.5.4 would have caused the speaker's settings for Alexa to be disrupted?

I would be grateful to anyone for your views if you have similar experience with your Bose Portable Home Speaker & the Alexa Voice Assistant, or if you have any advice that would help resolve this particular issue. Thanks.

[Marvin_B]

Hi SteveLoh.

Thank you for getting back to us.

Since you have reset the speaker already, please reboot your router.

Unplug it from power for 3 minutes and then plug it back again. Once the router has fully restarted, test the speaker again.

[SteveLoh]

Hi Marvin,
Thanks for your suggestion to reboot and disconnect my WiFi router for 3 minutes. I have done that but that does not resolve the problem with Alexa. I still have to manually reset the Bose Portable Home Speaker by pressing on the middle Play & Pause button in order for Alexa to be re-activated.
Have you got any other advice for me to resolve this problem? Thanks.