Amazon has decided that some of its older Echo smart speakers have been far too useful for too long and is removing Alexa voice controls for their auxiliary audio inputs.
According to Ars Technica, the online shopping giant has disabled commands that allow users to control audio coming through the 3.5mm AUX connections on selected Echo devices. Owners can no longer tell Alexa to play from the line-in connection or switch to the auxiliary input, even though the hardware remains perfectly functional.
The change affects the second-generation Echo Plus, released in 2018, the third-generation Echo and first-generation Echo Studio from 2019, and the fourth-generation Echo, which arrived in 2020. All four models included physical audio connections that allowed users to hook up external devices without relying on Bluetooth.
Customers began receiving emails saying voice commands for AUX input control would disappear from 5 October. Amazon confirmed the decision to Ars Technica but neglected to explain why an established feature needed to be quietly carted off to the corporate graveyard.
The good news is that Amazon has not disabled the physical connection itself. Owners can still plug televisions, computers or other audio equipment into their Echo speakers, while the Alexa app retains the ability to manage AUX settings on supported devices.
Bluetooth remains another option for connecting external equipment, although that offers little consolation to customers who bought their speakers specifically because they supported wired audio. After all, one attraction of a physical connection is that it generally keeps working without constant attention from the manufacturer.
Amazon spokesperson Claudia Chavira Velez said the company had notified the small number of customers who used voice commands to control AUX playback. The company has not disclosed precisely how many people are affected or offered a technical explanation for removing the feature.
The decision has annoyed owners on Reddit, where some questioned why Amazon would remove functionality from products that customers had already purchased. One user suggested that the company had simply decided to make its devices worse, apparently because leaving perfectly serviceable features alone would be too straightforward.
Amazon stopped introducing mainstream Echo speakers with 3.5mm auxiliary inputs after the fourth-generation model in 2020, increasingly favouring wireless connections. The latest change further reduces support for a feature that has already disappeared from newer hardware.
The move comes as Amazon concentrates development resources on Alexa+, its upgraded AI-powered assistant, which includes subscription-based services. Amazon has not connected the AUX decision to that programme, although maintaining older functions apparently no longer commands much enthusiasm.
This is hardly Amazon’s first attempt to retire features from equipment customers already paid for. In 2025, the company removed the ability to prevent certain Echo devices from sending Alexa voice recordings to its cloud servers, withdrawing a privacy option that had previously been available to users.
The latest decision leaves owners of affected Echo speakers with functioning audio hardware and fewer ways to control it. Amazon has not indicated that the missing voice commands will return, leaving customers to use the Alexa app or operate their connected equipment directly.
