Platforms
Jovo is not only about the common denominator. In this section, you will learn more about how to access features that are specific to the platforms Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Introduction to Platform Specific Features
To learn more about how to make most out of the platform-specific features, it's helpful to understand how the Jovo cross-platform architecture works.
The Jovo app object (this inside app.js) figures out which platform the user is conversing with, and then uses this information to either call the functions of the alexaSkill or googleAction object.
As Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant both have platform specific features, you can access them directly by calling the alexaSkill or googleAction objects. By using those classes, keep in mind that, in the end, there needs to be a function call where an emit happens for the platforms you're using. For example, in the tell, ask, endSession, and raw JSON response calls.
These emit methods can also be accessed directly with the platform specific objects, so you don't have to use this.tell when developing only for one platform:
Get Platform Type
Want to see which platform your user is currently interacting with? With getType, you can get exactly this.
This is going to return a type that looks like this:
You can also use the following method calls:
Amazon Alexa
Find an introduction to how Amazon Alexa works here: Getting Started > Voice App Basics > Amazon Alexa.
You can access the alexaSkill object like this:
You can find the following Alexa specific features on the page Platform Specifics > Amazon Alexa:
- Alexa Audioplayer Skills
- Dialog Mode
- Render Templates for Echo Show
- Shopping and To Do Lists
- Account Linking
- User location
- Contact information
Google Assistant
Find an introduction to how Google Assistant works here: Getting Started > Voice App Basics > Google Assistant.
You can access the googleAction object like this:
You can find the following Google Assistant specific features on the page Platform Specifics > Google Assistant:
- Visual Output (Google Assistant Cards)
- Suggestion Chips
- User location
- Account Linking