Amazon Home Automation Control Panel

Amazon Fire tablets are supposed to have a new menu that will allow you to easily control compatible smart home gadgets Alexa.

Amazon announced (via ZDNet y Engadget) the new menu on October 27, 2020. Called The Device Dashboard, the Fire tablet-exclusive feature will apparently roll out starting Tuesday and can be accessed via a new Smart Home button found to the left of the navigation bar.

Amazon reportedly said the new interface is designed for when “touch might be more convenient than voice.” Note that Fire tablets and other Alexa devices have been able to control smart home devices via spoken commands, so the Device Panel opens up more ways to control your smart home. Imagine mounting a Fire tablet to use as a touchscreen smart home hub.

According to Amazon, you won't have to close an app to access The Device Dashboard on your Fire tablet; just open it from the navigation bar. However, it is only available on newer Amazon tablets, such as the Fire HD 8 2018, 2019 Fire 7, 2019 Fire HD 10 y 2020 Fire HD 8.