Amazon has permanently removed the Sengled smart bulb skill from its Alexa store, a decisive move that took effect Thursday, July 31. The action follows months of unresolved service outages that left users unable to control their smart lighting products with voice commands. For countless Sengled customers, the removal means their voice-activated lights have suddenly gone dumb. The problem was so significant that earlier in the month, Amazon had emailed users about a “new” service outage. By setting a higher bar for third-party integrations, Amazon aims to make the entire Alexa experience more seamless, which is critical for justifying the Alexa+ subscription fee.