Amazon PhotosPlus Discontinuation

Amazon PhotosPlus was a subscription-based service that offered users the ability to display their chosen photos on their devices as the "primary content". Additionally, it provided 25 GB of Amazon Photos storage, and cost $2 per month. Announced in October 2023, Amazon sent an email informing its users that it was discontinuing the service, cancelling it on September 12, 2024. This event has been described as having features which match the definition of a retroactively amended purchase.

Product History

The Amazon Echo Show 8 was a Digital Frame, which launched at $149.99. For $10 more, customers could get the Amazon Echo Show 8 Photos Edition, which included 6 months of PhotosPlus and the ability to display photos as the "primary" content. Amazon spokesperson Courtney Ramirez confirmed that "Occasionally, Alexa will provide content suggestions based on a customer's interest. However, photos will remain the primary content."

Features

The Photos Edition with a PhotosPlus subscription offered several specific features that made it stand out:

• Photos would rotate every 30 seconds indefinitely
• Photos remained primary content without switching to advertisements
• 25 GB of Amazon Photos storage included with the subscription
• The ability to remotely add new photos to the device

Discontinuation

In March 2024, Amazon discontinued the sale of the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition hardware. Five months later, in August 2024, Amazon announced the end of the PhotosPlus subscription service. After Amazon cancelled the PhotosPlus service, the Amazon Echo Show 8 Photos Edition became functionally identical to the standard Amazon Echo Show 8, with users forced to view advertisements and promotional content after three hours of photo display.

Impact

Customer Response

The discontinuation caused substantial customer backlash, particularly because:

• Customers had paid a premium ($10) for hardware that would lose its primary distinguishing feature of avoiding ads
• The product lifecycle had lasted less than one year
• No refunds or compensation were offered for the hardware premium
• No alternative was provided for viewers wanting to avoid ads on their photo display

Workarounds

After discontinuation, Amazon suggested two alternatives for photo display, neither of which replicated the original functionality:

• Using the standard photo frame feature by saying, "Alexa, start Photo Frame"
• Accessing photos through Settings > Clock & Photo Display

While users kept access to their 25 GB of Amazon Photos storage, the devices defaulted to showing ads and promotions after three hours of photo display, which removed the primary reason customers had chosen the Photos Edition variant.