Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

scamalert

mossie wrote: »

I've done that and he bulbs work fine in the Hue app but still don't all work in Alexa. It seems much slower in general in recent weeks and often takes two or three attempts to get it to do something. Changing tracks in Spotify takes ages.

could be simply weak wifi signal buy some wifi extension plugs maybe ? looked at video similar to your issue recently and guy used heat-map app for wifi to see all the black spots where wifi is lost or weak, it might seem placement plays major role. as i have kasa plugs and one sitting on my desk for light, alexa would often say couldn't find device, repeating same command again switches it on. the larger distance and floors in house require stronger wifi signal.

mossie

scamalert wrote: »

could be simply weak wifi signal buy some wifi extension plugs maybe ? looked at video similar to your issue recently and guy used heat-map app for wifi to see all the black spots where wifi is lost or weak, it might seem placement plays major role. as i have kasa plugs and one sitting on my desk for light, alexa would often say couldn't find device, repeating same command again switches it on. the larger distance and floors in house require stronger wifi signal.

I'll try moving my Echo to a different location maybe that'll help. I have a wifi extender plug midway between the router and my second echo but the first is a bit isolated so maybe that's an issue.

Buttros

I have a 7th gen fire hd 8. It's up to date but I can't use show mode with it. Has anyone got this to work? Tried it just charging as normal. Not sure the specific dock makes the difference.

I'd get the fire hd 10 with dock if it was nicely discounted this week but only if I was confident it would work in ireland.

Thanks

Luckycharms_74

Hey all

Just got an echo dot for kids birthday and set it up yesterday. Its paired with my smartphone and Spotify account.
I have ordered a few more dots on black Friday and plan to have them around the house.

I have come across one issue so far with regard to Spotify. when its played on the dot at home and I'm out and want to listen to Spotify in the car it disconnects the dot or vice versa.

I have read online its the issue with the setup and linking Spotify account.

The question is do I need a sperate email address and user for every Spotify linked to each Echo.

Sorry for the long-winded post

Edit: I do have a family subscription active for Spotify, so I guess I can link kids email account to his echo dot and the same for each other dot with each family member Spotify account ?

P.S. Now I just need to set up some more skills for Alexa and have just linked them to my Hue bulbs

jmBuildExt

Your spotify account only allows you to play music on one device at a time*. So this behaviour is expeted.
Im not aware of them having a similar thing to netflix where you can stream on multiple devices for extra subscription. Closest thing ive seen is an offer where they allow you to set up multiple accounts in same household (family bundle type of thing) - but yes, it would incvolve you using different accounts on different devices.


* a group of e.g. dots playing the same thing from one master dot, is counted as a single device. So you can poor music into multiple rooms at once.

clintondaly

With regards the spotify and Echo I have a family account set up and the kids etc. all have their own accounts within this so we can play several streams to several echos at the same time,no issues

Luckycharms_74

clintondaly wrote: »

With regards the spotify and Echo I have a family account set up and the kids etc. all have their own accounts within this so we can play several streams to several echos at the same time,no issues

That's exactly what I need. So I can link each email account on Spotify to each Echo dot.

According to this article, It's saying you can't, but the article is a few months old.

"Can you use multiple Spotify accounts?
If you want to use multiple Spotify accounts on your Amazon Echo speaker, things get complicated.

It’s not really possible to do this, but you can kind of fudge it. The Amazon Echo lets you switch between user profiles, so if you associate two Amazon accounts with different Spotify ones, you can get the desired effect.

To add additional accounts, you'll need to login to alexa.amazon.co.uk or alexa.amazon.com and head to Settings > Account > Household Profile. You can jump between them simply by saying "Alexa, switch profile"."


But what you are saying it works fine with multiple accounts.


Got any good skills that I should use or start off with. I assume Alexa learns new skills on her own as well from using it?

clintondaly

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

That's exactly what I need. So I can link each email account on Spotify to each Echo dot.

According to this article, It's saying you can't, but the article is a few months old.

"Can you use multiple Spotify accounts?
If you want to use multiple Spotify accounts on your Amazon Echo speaker, things get complicated.

It’s not really possible to do this, but you can kind of fudge it. The Amazon Echo lets you switch between user profiles, so if you associate two Amazon accounts with different Spotify ones, you can get the desired effect.

To add additional accounts, you'll need to login to alexa.amazon.co.uk or alexa.amazon.com and head to Settings > Account > Household Profile. You can jump between them simply by saying "Alexa, switch profile"."


But what you are saying it works fine with multiple accounts.


Got any good skills that I should use or start off with. I assume Alexa learns new skills on her own as well from using it?

When I say multiple accounts I mean the accounts off the main account,With the family account you send an invite to kids etc. get them to set up under the main account etc. this allows each person to play spotify as they wish on whatever device but all devices are still linked to the top level account within the family plan.
If you go down the road of completely separate individual accounts the echos will only play from the account associated with that particular device.

Hope that makes sense

Luckycharms_74

clintondaly wrote: »

When I say multiple accounts I mean the accounts off the main account,With the family account you send an invite to kids etc. get them to set up under the main account etc. this allows each person to play spotify as they wish on whatever device but all devices are still linked to the top level account within the family plan.
If you go down the road of completely separate individual accounts the echos will only play from the account associated with that particular device.

Hope that makes sense

Yeah. If I'm understanding it correctly then each user will be able to play their own stream as the same time on their own echo in different rooms.

Example-

Mother echo - chart music (mothers Spotify account from family membership)


Father echo - rock music (fathers Spotify account from family membership)

etc

Sorry If I'm coming across as dumb, but just not exactly sure on the music accounts on each dot

clintondaly

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

Yeah. If I'm understanding it correctly then each user will be able to play their own stream as the same time on their own echo in different rooms.

Example-

Mother echo - chart music (mothers Spotify account from family membership)


Father echo - rock music (fathers Spotify account from family membership)

etc

Sorry If I'm coming across as dumb, but just not exactly sure on the music accounts on each dot

Hey,

You are correct in your example.

Luckycharms_74

clintondaly wrote: »

With regards the spotify and Echo I have a family account set up and the kids etc. all have their own accounts within this so we can play several streams to several echos at the same time,no issues

clintondaly wrote: »

When I say multiple accounts I mean the accounts off the main account,With the family account you send an invite to kids etc. get them to set up under the main account etc. this allows each person to play spotify as they wish on whatever device but all devices are still linked to the top level account within the family plan.
If you go down the road of completely separate individual accounts the echos will only play from the account associated with that particular device.

Hope that makes sense

clintondaly wrote: »

Hey,

You are correct in your example.

Hey guys

I'm sorry to be back again with another question regarding the multiple users on Spotify and echo.
I have created a new Spotify user on my family members and linked them to my Alexa app account as shown here.





When I get my extra dots this week and add them to my Alexa account will I be able to add the different spotify users to each echo and play different streams at the same time?

I have read about asking Alexa to "Spotify connect" but that only seems a workaround and not exactly what I need.


I have also been told the following by amazon chat.

amazon chat wrote:

Me: do i need to create new amazon accounts for each user. i though it could all be under my amazon account as family users

Seethalakshmi: I could see that, only one Echo dot is registered under this account.
May I know if you have registered the remaining Echo devices on different account?

Me: no i didnt receive the other echos yet. i will have them this week
can i register those to my amazon account

Seethalakshmi: Yes.
You can register multiple Echo devices on your account and access them without any issues.

Me: ok and with regard to spotify on each dot
for example
son bedroom echo - plays pop music on spotify
i want to play a different music on spotify in the kitchen on my echo
can i do that at the same time
at present it disconects one

Seethalakshmi: Let me check this for you.

Thanks for waiting.
I have checked and see that, you will be able to play same songs at the same time only on your Echo devices using multi-room feature.
You will not be able to play different music at the same time on your Echo devices.

Me: will amazon music allow this feature ?

Seethalakshmi: I would like to inform you that, you will be able to play different music at the same time if you have Amazon Music Unlimited family plan.

Me: ok so if i sign up to amazon unlimited i can play different music on each echo dot for each user

Seethalakshmi: Yes, however please ensure that you are signing up Amazon Music Unlimited family subscription.

Other people have said on spotify forums how to fix this issue is the following

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Premium-for-Family-Student/Spotify-Connect-Multiple-Speakers-Devices/td-p/1663362/page/2

spotify forums wrote:

Create a new Amazon account, deregister the Echo from one amazon account, add it to his and then bind new Spotify account to the new Amazon account.

Sorry for the lengthy post.

paulbok

Great sound from the 3rd gen echo dot compared to the older dots.

scamalert

to be fair it should be easy, once you get your dots sign them under same amazon account you have then, you go into your spotify assign new accounts for family members which will promt you with additional costs per acc, and it will ask to which dots you want to assign them, thats it, besides your wallet hurting it should be straightforward.


thou im not sure of costs of spotify but if you got more then 3 members would be good idea to look into spotify family to save some cash, https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=108658173&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=notification#post108658173 link if your interested from BA where people take or offer places to minimize cost.

paulbok wrote: »

Great sound from the 3rd gen echo dot compared to the older dots.

ive gotten mine yesterday but didnt hook up as might be a present, is there any real advantage thou besides just the sound ? had my 2ng gens for a year and sound is great as is, for whatever its meant to be, for serious sound my 5.1 system shakes all house, i get its good timing to get it for new people but dont see actual reason for people that already own older gens to fork out, and with amazon keeping same skills on all of them seems main selling point everyone is down to is about sound.

Luckycharms_74

scamalert wrote: »

to be fair it should be easy, once you get your dots sign them under same amazon account you have then, you go into your spotify assign new accounts for family members which will promt you with additional costs per acc, and it will ask to which dots you want to assign them, thats it, besides your wallet hurting it should be straightforward.


thou im not sure of costs of spotify but if you got more then 3 members would be good idea to look into spotify family to save some cash,.

Sorry I should have stated that I already have Spotify family set up on my account

paulbok

Follow up mode now available too on the app.

niallb

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

...
When I get my extra dots this week and add them to my Alexa account will I be able to add the different spotify users to each echo and play different streams at the same time?

I have read about asking Alexa to "Spotify connect" but that only seems a workaround and not exactly what I need.
...

Spotify Connect isn't really a workaround - it's a different service and is very handy for what it is.

You can't play music from the same spotify account in two locations at the same time.
This is why you see your Echo stop playing in one room when you start another.
Multi Room mode should count as one destination speaker.

As you have different Spotify accounts under family, each one of those can independently play music.
The problem is that your echos are all logged in as you, and all default to the same Spotify account.
Ask Alexa "Who am I?" and it will tell you.

You can add users from the alexa webpage under Household Profile.
You can then switch between them on request.
I set ours up before voice match became available, so we do it manually by asking Alexa. Have you tried voice match for different users yet?

In our case, my wife switches to her account to continue her audible book after she gets home from work.
This also makes her spotify account the active one on that device and I think will sort out your problem without purchasing another subscription service!

Luckycharms_74

niallb wrote: »

Spotify Connect isn't really a workaround - it's a different service and is very handy for what it is.

You can't play music from the same spotify account in two locations at the same time.
This is why you see your Echo stop playing in one room when you start another.
Multi Room mode should count as one destination speaker.

As you have different Spotify accounts under family, each one of those can independently play music.
The problem is that your echos are all logged in as you, and all default to the same Spotify account.
Ask Alexa "Who am I?" and it will tell you.

You can add users from the alexa webpage under Household Profile.
You can then switch between them on request.
I set ours up before voice match became available, so we do it manually by asking Alexa. Have you tried voice match for different users yet?

In our case, my wife switches to her account to continue her audible book after she gets home from work.
This also makes her spotify account the active one on that device and I think will sort out your problem without purchasing another subscription service!

Ahhh thanks for the help and info. I received my dots today so I will try setting them up.

I haven't tried voice matching yet but I will set it up today hopefully.

I just logged in to my Alexa account on the webpage and on the app and can't see an option to add extra household users.
I have set up a child member as part of my family membership on Amazon but still nothing showing on Alexa webpage or app.









Amazon have said :

Amazon Chat wrote:

Magadalin:I'm sorry in an household only 2 adults can be added currently. One is you and the other person you wish to add.
At this time, there is no option to add more than 2 adults.

Me: So whats the point of more than 2 echos in the same household

Magadalin:I can understand your situation. You can access number of devices under 2 different accounts, but adding it in household only 2 adult can be added.

Me: so I can have 2 devices per account on the household. Can they be different user profiles on the dots.
Its a bit stupid if they can't have their own profile on each dot

Magadalin: You can switch profiles under household also you can access your own profile.

Magadalin: You can link it but only 2 adults can be added and accessed in household.

Me: so basically only 2 adults can use their dots at the same time listeining to different radio/ music
the 3rd dot is unable to use their profiles then ?

Magadalin: Please be on hold for a moment.
Thanks for waiting.
If you wish to stream Multiple Music in Multiple Echo devices, then we recommend you to subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited Family plan.
Amazon Music Unlimited Family – Six family members (subscriber, plus 5 invitees age 13 and older) can listen on any of their compatible Amazon Music devices (computers, Android, iOS, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Echo, Echo Dot, and supported third-party sound systems). They can also download songs on mobile devices for offline playback.

Me: and what about radio that still the same issue with over 2 users

Magadalin: I'm sorry radio are default and there is no option to change it.

Me: what about kids under 13 , can they not use it ?
Magadalin: I'm sorry at this time kids don't have access to Music

niallb

The Amazon household set up is really suspicious.
When I first got the Echo, I tried changing the address to a UK one so that I could use more skills.
It immediately and without confirmation told me that I had left the household I shared with my wife and kids.
It then said that they would lose all access to our purchases in 48 hours!
It took an awful lot of support calls to make it stop and they said they would never permit another address change for us without losing membership of the family.
I was told it would be 180 days before I could rejoin ours or any other family, but I think these days it's a bit more forgiving if you're rejoining a group you've already been part of.

I think I was wrong when I said it was the Alexa web page that I used to add the account. We had them set up before we got the Echo,
so it must have been in the account page under the Amazon account. It's probably possible in more than one place.

You'll need the other person to install the Alexa app on their own device and set it up with their spotify/audible whatever accounts.
Settings -> Alexa Account -> Amazon Household will show you the people involved in your Family.
I had already set up the other accounts in the ordinary Amazon site to share books with the kids so didn't have to do it specifically for Alexa,
but if the names don't show up there I doubt if you'll be able to switch.

Alternatively, if one of your kids want to play spotify on an echo, they could use the "Spotify Connect" command rather than just asking for music.
They then use the Spotify app on their phone to connect to that particular echo and it will use their account with basic controls for skip pause etc,
but searching for music will need to be done on the phone or it will switch to your spotify account.

I'm a little rusty on this stuff as we switched to using Google home and chromecast audios for sound last year.
It feels much more flexible. We do keep the Echo dot around because Audible doesn't work on the Google platform.

niallb

Have you just asked it to
"Switch to (partner's name) account!" ?

80s Synth Pop

For the spotify issue you could up-vote this:

https://community.spotify.com/t5/Closed-Ideas/All-Platforms-Subscription-A-new-license-model-is-needed-to/idc-p/4465657#M78864

Luckycharms_74

niallb wrote: »

The Amazon household set up is really suspicious.
When I first got the Echo, I tried changing the address to a UK one so that I could use more skills.
It immediately and without confirmation told me that I had left the household I shared with my wife and kids.
It then said that they would lose all access to our purchases in 48 hours!
It took an awful lot of support calls to make it stop and they said they would never permit another address change for us without losing membership of the family.
I was told it would be 180 days before I could rejoin ours or any other family, but I think these days it's a bit more forgiving if you're rejoining a group you've already been part of.

I think I was wrong when I said it was the Alexa web page that I used to add the account. We had them set up before we got the Echo,
so it must have been in the account page under the Amazon account. It's probably possible in more than one place.

You'll need the other person to install the Alexa app on their own device and set it up with their spotify/audible whatever accounts.
Settings -> Alexa Account -> Amazon Household will show you the people involved in your Family.
I had already set up the other accounts in the ordinary Amazon site to share books with the kids so didn't have to do it specifically for Alexa,
but if the names don't show up there I doubt if you'll be able to switch.

Alternatively, if one of your kids want to play spotify on an echo, they could use the "Spotify Connect" command rather than just asking for music.
They then use the Spotify app on their phone to connect to that particular echo and it will use their account with basic controls for skip pause etc,
but searching for music will need to be done on the phone or it will switch to your spotify account.

I'm a little rusty on this stuff as we switched to using Google home and chromecast audios for sound last year.
It feels much more flexible. We do keep the Echo dot around because Audible doesn't work on the Google platform.

I set up a new Amazon account for the kids echo and used those log in details on the Alexa app. The Spotify works etc and I set up all skills, etc.

The problem is now I can't use "drop-in" to tell dinner ready etc because Alexa says that I don't have any other dots on my own profile.


I'm sure I will eventually figure how to get it all working but I think for the time being I will just leave his dot on a sperate account. At least he can play music etc in his room

niallb wrote: »

Have you just asked it to
"Switch to (partner's name) account!" ?

Not yet. I did notice now that If I log out and back into my Alexa account on the app shows the following screen.





Is that what profiles are?

scamalert

i dont get it theres bargains group that constantly adds new people to their spotify family, meaning every user gets to listen to their own stream, even thou most would be under different addresses/ accounts, as i thought whole spotify setup goes directly trough spotify setup on amazon app ? since i used it briefly i remember setting it up getting asked which device do i want to use to stream, very odd. That they would make it easy for people to connect to different stream yet so difficult under same account ?

Isnt spotify family is the main reason that people would be able to get separate streams under same account holder for simplicity and service, as 180e isnt cheap for a year, which reading above seems lots of hassle involved, if its right way of doing it.

CHealy

Does anyone have an issue with 2nd Gen Dot and Spotify 'crackling' on certain songs? I think its confined to just Spotify but I havnt really tested other services much yet such as the radio. Iv restarted the device but no luck, my other one seems to be fine.

mossie

Hi,

I have run into a problem with my 2 echo's one 1st gen and one 2nd gen. I changed my router this evening because I switched internet providers, changed the SSID of the router to match my old one by now the echos won't connect. I have followed the instructions to change network but when I get to the stage "go to you wifi setting on this phone and select the Amazon-XXX network ... after connecting return to the Amazon Alexa app to continue setup". I do this and return to the app but nothing happens. I've followed various guides but can't get beyond this point. Any ideas how I can get past this?

Many thanks.

scamalert

most likely echos have saved mac address of the old router, just do reset on dots, and then connect to your new router.

try this as well :


In the Alexa app, open the left navigation panel and then select Settings.
Select your device and then select Update Wi-Fi. ...
On your Echo device, press and hold the Action button until the light ring changes to orange.

mossie

scamalert wrote: »

most likely echos have saved mac address of the old router, just do reset on dots, and then connect to your new router.

I've tried this on one but I still can't get past the stage of connecting to Amaxon-xxx

scamalert

mossie wrote: »

I've tried this on one but I still can't get past the stage of connecting to Amaxon-xxx

can you split your wifi or change its band from 2.4ghz to 5ghz then try connecting.

also no harm in powering router dots off for few minutes and powering back on, theory is to get devices broadcasting and router to pick them up.

mossie

scamalert wrote: »

can you split your wifi or change its band from 2.4ghz to 5ghz then try connecting.

also no harm in powering router dots off for few minutes and powering back on, theory is to get devices broadcasting and router to pick them up.

I've only got 2.4ghz on this router, it's the one I got from pure telecom and isn't great. I've a new one coming from Amazon so I might just wait for that.

judeboy101

How do u actually "chat" with amazon. Is it by phone or online? I can't find online option

Davy

judeboy101 wrote: »

How do u actually "chat" with amazon. Is it by phone or online? I can't find online option

You can chat by phone call or online chat.

Click Help, need more help, contact us:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/contact-us/ref=hp_gt_comp_cu?nodeId=471044