Amazon brings its Alexa voice assistant to the iPhone

Amazon is bringing Alexa to iOS devices as part of the company's main shopping app. This isn't the first time Alexa has been on a smartphone -- third-party apps on both iOS and Android have integrated the digital assistant -- but it's the first time that it's coming directly from Amazon. Following the update, which will be rolling out over the next few weeks in the US, users will see a microphone icon next to the search bar that they can press to call up Alexa. The voice assistant can help you shop and track packages, but it can also do most of the things Alexa can do on the Echo. This includes playing music, looking up facts, controlling smart home products, whether information and more.