Amazon has confirmed that Alexa voice commands for controlling the aux input on certain Echo speakers are no longer available. The change was communicated to users via email this week, and affects the Echo Plus 2nd Gen, Echo 3rd Gen, Echo Studio 1st Gen, and Echo 4th Gen.
The physical aux port still works, and users can enable or disable the aux input through the Alexa app or connect devices via Bluetooth. Amazon says few people used voice commands for this function, but it did not provide a reason for the removal.
The decision is part of a pattern of Amazon trimming features from purchased devices, including last year's removal of a privacy control that blocked voice recording uploads. As Amazon invests in its subscription-based Alexa+, it may be simplifying older functionality to reduce maintenance costs, though the company did not confirm this.