Avatar Controls

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First of all, the device fails to include any attempt at clear instructions on how to set it up. The worst part is that it fails more than miserably to tell you what the name of the Skill you need is to control the IR blaster from Alexa. In fact in all of the questions posted about this device, not one person is asking this question that are claiming it works. How can it possibly work when there is no mention of the name anywhere on this Amazon page or in the description? But read on because Im going to share all of my hard work with you in figuring this terrible product out.Sure, it will connect fairly easily to Alexa, but thats where the problems start. The app itself has terrible user interface and very unclear instructions. Actually the video included in the description of the product shows how to use the IR function but it was created for a version long since dead as well as a much different version of Alexa. The app itself which you download from the store is not named AviCube, its named AviControls and you can find it easily by scanning the QR code.Next you will want to set up a scene to control various remote functions, the process is very unclear and makes no sense but eventually you will be able to likely get it if you try enough.The problem really starts when you realize that after connecting with Alexa, you still arent really connected to the Skill, the Skill is named something completely different and mentioned nowhere in the booklet (installation manual). Thanks to my great sleuthing ability, after many hours of doing searches on the web, I found a video which I have linked a screen capture to in my review. The video says Skyworth, but actually Skyworth is just another company associated with Tuya. And if you've installed many of these smart home apps you will be very familiar with Tuya Smart Home App. That is not the app that you want though, but it is the skill. If you search Skyworth Skill in Alexa you will actually find the real name of the skill which is completely different yet again. Why these people dont tell you this is amazing and beyond belief how they could possibly expect anyone to get this device working properly.The actual skill name is Swaiot, a name that no one will remember but it's what is going to make this broken and useless device work to some extent.So once you have that skill set up, you can go into your AviControls app and create a scene by clicking the add button, then scroll down to the bottom, click DIY, then pick a device type or if there is no device time scroll again to the very bottom and select DIY again. From there you can go in the learning mode.Im not going into the learning mode but in one mode you actually have to hold down the button of the remote on the app you want to learn and keep holding it. In other modes it doesnt work that way, the user experience is inconsistent and very, very bad.Once you get to a point where you have your remote function working, you can go back into Alexa now that the skill is enabled and set up a routine. The steps for that is + a new routine, select your trigger which is Alexa Says, type in what you want it to say like TV quiet, then Select your scene you want to run under the Add Action section in Alexa so Add action/Smart Home/Scenesfrom there you will see the scene you created.And you will be able to ask Alexa to complete the action by voice.Finally, my final big criticism about this device is that the learning part simply doesnt work, you have to add controls from the preset devices, forget trying to learn something new. I tried it on several devices and it always gives an error that it cant understand the IR code even though Im using the same devices they are in their videos.The main reason I bought this was so that I could Tell Alexa to mute my parents phone when we call them because they are old and we can never get them to turn down the TV. This way I can set up a routine.Problem is after adding mute button into a scene I found out that there is no unmute button. So the fix is that you just call the same skill again. Also clicking on the remote buttons twice doesnt work to unmute it in the app for this common Samsung remote but the Alexa voice skill will mute and unmute it if you simply call the same skill again.

Wanted to use Alexa Voice control to turn on/off older TV + Fire Stick. Installing and connecting to my Sharp TV was straightforward and the instructions adequate. Adding the Alexa skill was OK (no instructions about that), and the remote APP on the phone is also OK. The IR Blaster function works very well and controls the TV. The Alexa voice control isn't as good as the Echo dot in the same room. The Alexa part of this 'wakes up' on "Alexa" but then is inconsistent executing the Routine that (eg) turns on the TV and tunes Fire Stick to YouTubeTV. The older Echo dot sitting near by, gets it EVERY time. One nice thing is I can now turn on/off from anywhere in the house via other Alexas.

First the good:1) The remote control feature is awesome. It seems to work from anywhere in the room and doesn't need a direct line of sight. I was pleasantly surprised because I didnt have a great "line of site" place to put it. 2)Teaching it to learn the device was super easy too. I programmed each device button by button and it was so easy.3)Once calibrated the "Scenes" I created automatically showed up on the Alexa App. It is super easy to create routines and such.The Bad:1) Not much really. It was hard to get it connected to the wi-fi, but once I got it connected it stayed connected.2) It responds to the Alexa wake word and turning it off only lasts for about 30 minutes. Having my Echo in the same room means that I had to change the Echo's wake word so that the remote didn't accept the command first. I didnt want this device to replace my Echo. For someone that wants it to be their "Alexa", it will be great.

My initial efforts to setting this up failed. I then sought out assistance from YouTube and found the perfect video on this product. After a little trial and error, I was able to get my TV, that was not on the list, to work. It is very responsive and does exactly what it says, but looses 1 star due to the complications of setting it up.