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Step 10: Push Your App to Live App Testing (VSK Fire TV)

 VSK Cloudside Integration

STEP 1:
Create Your Video Skill and Set Up Devices
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STEP 2:
Set Up the Sample Fire TV App
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STEP 3:
Integrate Alexa Client Library
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STEP 4:
Integrate Amazon Device Messaging
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STEP 5:
Sign Your App and Configure Security Profile
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STEP 6:
Create and Deploy a Lambda Package
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STEP 7:
Update the Fire TV Skill Sections
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STEP 8:
Test Your Skill and Observe Logs
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STEP 9:
Interpret and React to Directives
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STEP 10:
Push Your App to Live App Testing
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STEP 11:
Test for Certification
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STEP 12:
Go Live!

The next step in testing your skill is to push it to Live App Testing (LAT). When you push your app to LAT, the list of beta users you select will see the app on their Fire TV. LAT helps ensure that your app is working as expected and lets you test for quality, stability, and other UX issues prior to pushing your app live.

Push Your Fire TV App to LAT

Now that you've customized your Lambda code, you're ready to push your app into Live App Testing (LAT). See Getting Started with Live App Testing for details. After you push your app to LAT, you (and any other beta users you specify) should see the app automatically appear in the list of apps on your Fire TV home screen.

Test Explicit Targeting of Your Skill

As you've been testing your app and skill, you had to start your app so that it was in the foreground when saying utterances. For example, you would start your app, and then say "Alexa, watch Big Buck Bunny."

Now that your app is in LAT, you can test explicit targeting of your skill while your app is in the background. This will allow you to leave your app in the background (or unlaunched) and say, "Alexa, watch Big Buck Bunny on <skill name> as long as you sent your skill name to be modeled for voice in Step 1: Create your video skill and set up devices.

Update Your Video Skill's Security Profile Selection

After you submit your app to LAT, you need to update the security profile of your application. This is because the Client ID used to sign your application pre-submission differs from the Client ID used to sign your application post-submission. You will be re-doing a step you did previously in Step 7: Update the Fire TV Skill Sections.

To update your video skill's security profile selection:

  1. Return to your video skill in the Alexa Console.
  2. Click Edit next to your video skill.
  3. Re-select your Fire TV application from the Client ID for Fire TV Application drop-down selector in "4. Fire TV Support". The Client ID field will refresh with the Client ID used by Amazon to sign your application after submission.
  4. Click Save.

Test Your LAT-delivered Video Skill for the First Time Using Your Remote

With your app in LAT, you need to test how your app responds to various utterances. Do the following:

  1. Download the LAT app.
  2. If your app is already launched, force quit the app.
  3. On your Fire TV, go to Settings > Applications > Managed Installed Applications.
  4. Select your app, and then go to Clear data and also Clear cache.
  5. Relaunch your app.
  6. And try giving voice commands such as "Watch Iron Man One."

Test Your LAT-delivered Video Skill Using Your Echo

To test the above phrases using your Echo instead of your Fire TV remote, do the following:

  1. Open the Alexa app on your smartphone. From the app's home screen, click the menu button Menu button in Alexa app (upper-left corner) and go to Settings > Device Settings.

  2. Scroll to the bottom of the list of devices and disable the TV and VSK devices.

    Disabling devices
    Disabling devices

    You can also disable these devices by going to http://alexa.amazon.com and selecting Smart Home -> Devices -> Forget All.

  3. From the app's home screen, click the menu button (upper-left corner) and go to Settings > TV & Video. Then click Fire TV.
  4. Click Link Your Alexa Device. Then select your Fire TV to pair your Echo with your Fire TV.
  5. Go to the Alexa Skills Developer Console.
  6. If a beta test is currently running for your video skill, end the beta test.
  7. Begin a new beta test, and add new testers.
  8. Ensure that all beta testers accept the new beta test invite that arrives via email.
  9. Try using the phrases in the previous section, prefixed with "Alexa," to control your Fire TV app through the Echo.

Next Steps

Continue on to the next step: Step 11: Test for Certification.

(If you run into any issues that prevent you from continuing, see Troubleshooting for Cloudside Integrations.)

Last updated: Oct 13, 2021