Amazon is rebuilding the Alexa Home Map as a 3D model of your house and yard, with Ring cameras showing people and cars moving outside.
Amazon is turning the map in its Alexa app into a 3D model of your home and the area around it. Ring cameras can show animated people and cars moving outside, so you can see what is happening at a glance. It rolls out in preview "later this year," and Amazon has not given a date.
Alexa has had a flat, 2D map of your connected devices since 2023. The new version is an interactive 3D view of the inside and outside of your property. It shows where your Echo speakers, Ring and Blink cameras, Fire TV, lights, locks and thermostats sit. It handles multiple floors and shows where your furniture is. The Verge says it looks similar to Samsung's SmartThings Map View.
The map also shows animations that match the real weather. Amazon says it plans themed modes for Halloween and Christmas. There are light and dark modes, and you can filter the view to show only certain devices, such as lights.
Amazon uses your address to pull a 3D model of your house and neighborhood from Mapbox. Then you walk through every room and scan it so the inside layout is accurate. An average home takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Your old Map View maps cannot be reused, so everyone starts over.
Scanning needs an iPhone with a LiDAR or structured-light sensor. Amazon says it is testing a plain-video scanner for iOS and Android, but that is not available yet.
The map will be available in the Alexa and Ring apps, on the new Alexa Tablets, on the Ember Artline Fire TV, and on larger Echo Show devices, including the new Echo Show 16. The Verge's report does not say what it will cost.
One view for cameras, locks and lights could save time. It also puts footage of your property on a map that you may share a screen with family or guests. Anyone using it should note that it needs a full scan of the home and works best with compatible Ring cameras.
Alexa's new 3D map promises one view of your cameras, locks and lights, but it needs a 15 to 20 minute room-by-room scan and has no firm date.
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