Less than a year after Amazon launched its Echo Show 8 Photos Edition, it has revealed it is pulling the PhotosPlus subscription service that led people to buy it in the first place.

Costing US$10 (A$14.70) more than the Echo Show 8, the Photos Edition allowed owners to use the device as a photo gallery via PhotosPlus. 

The extra money covered the first six months of subscription, with a $US2 (A$2.95) monthly fee charged thereafter.

It was the only thing that stood between a screen displaying your photos all the time, and your screen displaying photos for three hours before reverting to ads and promotions.

But the party is about to end, with Amazon contacting customers to say that on September 12 it will cancel all subscriptions, and on September 23 it will “end support for the PhotosPlug subscription”.

“After your subscription period ends photos will no longer be the primary home screen content on your Echo Show 8,” Amazon said. “However you can continue to use the 25GB of Amazon Photos storage.”

Some of those who paid US$160 (A$235) for the Photos Edition, instead of US$150 ($221) for the basic Echo Show 8, are none too pleased.

“I really have zero interest in keeping it if it’s going to show ads all day. Sadly, this is the end of my Echo Show 8,” said one Reddit poster. 

“It will now spend 100% of its time showing ads, mostly for stuff you already own, or have no interest in,” said another. 

“Alexa devices are losing tons of money, so let’s stop something that actually costs the user money,” commented a third.

Email from Amazon to Echo Show 8 PhotosPlus subscribers.

 

The Verge quoted an Amazon spokesperson as saying the company discontinued the Echo Show 8 Photos Edition in March.

“We regularly evaluate our products and services based on customer feedback,” they said. “Customers interested in turning their Echo Show devices into a digital photo display can continue to do so by visiting settings > Clock & Photo Display or by saying ‘Alexa, start Photo Frame’.”

Upon launch Amazon said the Photos Edition “enables customers to make personal photos the primary home screen content”.

“The Photos Edition experience makes customer-selected personal photos the primary rotating content on the ambient screen. Photos rotate every 30-seconds and customers receive 25GB of storage from Amazon Photos.”