Voice Assistant & Smart Speaker Watch

Why this is recommended

A new $20 a month tier, a privacy setting that started saving recordings by default, a feature removal that breaks the morning routine, a device that stops getting updates, or an Echo at 60 percent off are each worth the membership, and the notices arrive as a banner on a screen in the kitchen.

What the Tab covers

Who it is for

The 100 million US households with a smart speaker or display, and the ones about to pay a subscription for the assistant that used to be free.

When it runs

Amazon, Google and Apple ship assistant changes mid-week and subscription notices land with 30 days of notice

Scope

Amazon Alexa and Alexa+, Echo and Fire devices; Google Assistant, Gemini, Nest speakers and displays; Apple Siri, HomePod and Apple Intelligence; Samsung Bixby; Sonos voice; feature launches and removals, subscription tiers and prices, voice recording, privacy and always-on settings, skill and action shutdowns, end-of-support, kids and family profiles, drop-in, calling and intercom, price drops of 30 percent or more, outages over two hours, FTC and state privacy actions

Suggested task

The objective your Tab starts with. You can edit every line of it once the Tab is yours.

Alexa, Google Assistant and Gemini, Siri and Bixby feature launches, removals and subscription tier changes, smart speaker and display price drops and discontinuations, voice recording, privacy and always-on setting changes with the exact opt-out steps, skill and action shutdowns, older device end-of-support, kids and family voice profile changes, drop-in, calling and intercom feature changes and outages, with the assistant or device first and what to change in settings.

Track voice assistants and smart speakers for US households. Report only confirmed, source-backed items from the last 7 days: feature launches, removals and subscription tier or price changes for Amazon Alexa and Alexa+, Google Assistant and Gemini on Nest, Apple Siri and HomePod, Samsung Bixby and Sonos voice; smart speaker and display price drops of 30 percent or more and discontinuations; voice recording, privacy, data retention and always-on setting changes with the exact opt-out steps; skill and action shutdowns; end-of-support dates for older devices; kids and family voice profile changes; drop-in, calling, intercom and emergency feature changes; outages over two hours; and FTC and state privacy actions with settlements. Prefer Amazon, Google, Apple, Samsung and Sonos announcements and help pages, the FTC and established tech reporting; ignore rumors and unverified user reports. Put the assistant or device first in the title and state what to change in settings. Use high severity for a subscription change affecting most users, a privacy default change, or a feature removal that breaks routines. Return no more than 6 findings. Push each as a finding with a title, a two-sentence summary, sections for what changed, who it affects, what to do, the date, and the source link. If nothing qualifies, push nothing and submit the run receipt.