Skill Review: Western River Flows

Western River Flows is an interactive voice skill developed by Rgeorge to aid users to fetch useful data concerning the river flows for a select list of popular rivers. The skill particularly focuses on the rivers in the Rocky Mountain West and delivers the necessary river flow information surrounding this location. With this app, users can inquire about river flow on the Snake River or the Green River below Flaming Gorge from among the many rivers the skill is updated on.

At the outset of this voice skill, users can head straight for the information they’re looking for and instantly receive the essential details regarding river flow by specifying the name of the river. One of the outstanding highlights of this skill is that it contains a substantial list of rivers in the stretch of Rocky Mountain West. The facts, figures, and particulars imparted by means of this skill are based on active USGS stream gage stations. To add to that the data rendered by the USGS riverflow gage station is live, thereby letting users have immediate access to real-time or near real-time data on their fingertips right when they need it. The skill has been carefully designed to benefit the community of ardent rafters and river float fishermen for whom the aforementioned structured data becomes actionable information that holds tangible value. As a result, the dissemination of the skill’s content is capable of heightening the river rafting experience for several of its users. Well, that being said, there seem to be a few downsides that could let down its users at times. One of the downsides the skill poses is the absence of a ‘Repeat’ option which mildly tones down the user experience. Another equivalent letdown is that the list of rivers is not displayed and coupled with that the ‘Help’ section is not sufficiently backed by useful voice cues to help the user navigate the skill with ease. Moreover, the ‘Help’ segment alone lists the rivers, therefore the skill might not seem quite beneficial unless the users are aware of the exact names of the rivers they’re inquiring of. To top it up, at random instances the skill abruptly stops in between the conversation before receiving the user’s spoken request or after delivering the vital river flow data. On the whole, the voice app seems to less effectively manage the conversation, especially in circumstances wherein the user’s request lacks clarity or seems incomprehensible.

The VOGO Voice team scores this skill 3.4 out of 5 stars based on our rating system.Though the voice app provides river rafters with real-time info on river flow, users will have to see for themselves if it is a truly dependable and rafter-friendly voice app that will aid in navigation as well as help make informed decisions before setting out to any of the rivers listed in the voice app. So why not try out the ‘Western River Flows’ Alexa skill and see if it offers the enriching experience you had anticipated.