Alexa, on a button.
Alexa Control is a free Touch Portal plugin that turns your Touch Portal buttons into Alexa commands. Switch smart plugs, step your Roku TV's volume, and send any phrase to an Echo with one tap from your phone or tablet. It's an early release, so this page says plainly what has been tested on real hardware and what hasn't.
Your smart home, one tap away
Any device Alexa can switch by voice can go on a button. The plugin asks Alexa through one of your Echos, the same as if you'd said it, so it works with plugs, switches and lights from any brand set up in the Alexa app.
- Separate On and Off buttons, tested on real smart plugs
- Device lists fill in automatically from your Alexa account
- Toggle is in the plugin but doesn't work yet: see the status section below
# Touch Portal action Smart home device lower On Ask through Bedroom Dot # what Alexa hears "turn on lower"
Volume arrows for your Roku TV
Roku TVs added to Alexa can't be reached by the normal Echo volume controls, so the plugin has its own action for them. Put it on an up arrow and a down arrow. Each tap is one Roku step.
- Tested on Roku TVs: each tap moves the volume 5
- Quick taps line up and go out 2 seconds apart, so Amazon doesn't block them
- Some taps Amazon accepted never reached the TV. That looks like a Roku-side problem and isn't solved yet
# Up arrow Volume Up on smart home device Living Room Roku Ask through Bedroom Dot # Down arrow Volume Down on smart home device Living Room Roku
Everything else an Echo can do
The plugin also has actions for the Echo itself: speak or announce text, "Tell Alexa" any phrase, play/pause/next, Echo volume (buttons and a slider), Do Not Disturb, routines and timers. There's also an optional Voice Monkey backend, Voice Monkey being the official, paid service, for announcements and routines.
- "Tell Alexa (any phrase)" has worked on real hardware
- The rest of this list only has automated tests so far
- States for buttons: connection, now playing, volume, last error
# actions in the plugin
Speak or announce text
Tell Alexa (any phrase)
Media: play / pause / next / previous
Set volume · Volume up or down · slider
Do Not Disturb · Run routine
Start timer · Cancel timers
Smart home on / off · Smart home volume
What works, and what hasn't been tested
Tested on one setup so far: Windows, Touch Portal 4.4.3, Node 20, a US Amazon account, one Echo Dot, Roku TVs and smart plugs.
Works on real hardware
- Install, pairing with Touch Portal, Amazon login, and the saved login surviving restarts and updates
- Echo, routine and smart home device lists
- Smart home On and Off, and Roku TV volume up and down
Known problems
- Smart home Toggle can't read whether a device is on, so it doesn't work yet
- Sending through a speaker group (like "Everywhere") does nothing; pick a real Echo
- Amazon blocks commands sent about a second apart
- The settings page can show "Connecting..." until Touch Portal restarts
Not tested on real hardware yet
- Speak and announce, media controls, Echo volume and the slider
- Do Not Disturb, routines, timers, and the Voice Monkey backend
- Amazon regions outside the US
# honest scorecard, version 1.4.1 ✓ login, lists, pairing ✓ smart home On / Off ✓ Roku TV volume (one step per tap) ✗ smart home Toggle ? speak, media, Echo volume ? DND, routines, timers ? Voice Monkey, non-US regions # ✓ tested ✗ broken ? automated tests only
Import one file
You need Windows with Touch Portal 4.3 or newer and Node.js 20.15 or newer. Download the .tpp file above, import it in Touch Portal, then sign in to Amazon once on the login page the plugin opens.
- Your Amazon login stays on your PC and survives plugin updates
- Uses the unofficial alexa-remote2 library: Amazon can change things and break features at any time
- Free and open source (MIT)
# in Touch Portal Settings > Plug-ins > Import plug-in → AlexaControl-1.4.1.tpp → Trust Always # then Run "Open Amazon login page" and sign in Settings > Plug-ins > Alexa Control → Connected