Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

limnam

Thanks all.

I deleted all previous attempts. Created a new group and set preferred speaker to that group

Seems to be doing the job

Shefwedfan

Raoul wrote: »

Similar question here. Hoping someone can answer. Looking to get some sensors but presume they don't work without the gateway hub.

My understanding....which is limited


Is if you get the Echo Plus (2nd Gen) which the hub integrated then you don't need the hub.



I am wondering why they haven't updated to the 3rd Gen with Hub.

368100

limnam wrote: »

Should the group not show up in spotify as a device that can be used?


I generally control spotify via the app

Yea, on the devices page down the bottom mine are shown. Specific speaker groups section

philboy

Hi Guys,
My aunt purchased an echo dot and a fire stick 4k. I setup both of them yesterday evening for her. Both work fine individually and are on the same wireless network.

I tried to ask the echo dot to play a certain movie on Netflix and it's asking me to setup the TV device. Both devices are setup and online. I went into the app and tried Settings > TV and Video bit this just brings up a blank screen. Software on both devices was fully updated. I rebooted them both and reinstalled the app but to no joy.

Amazon support eventually came back and said its not working as I am in Ireland. Has anyone any workaround to getting this working so my aunt can control the fire stick via the echo dot. Is it a matter of using a PM UK address on my account?

Thanks

clintondaly

Doesn't the stick have Alexa built in to the remote ?

Alternatively

https://www.pocket-lint.com/tv/news/amazon/141794-how-to-use-alexa-to-control-amazon-fire-tv-devices-without-a-remote

dabbler2004

philboy wrote: »

Hi Guys,
My aunt purchased an echo dot and a fire stick 4k.....
Both devices are setup and online. I went into the app and tried Settings > TV and Video bit this just brings up a blank screen...

Thanks

I'm having the same issue and I found this post which suggests changing your location to UK on the Amazon site, I did this but still no luck linking the Echo to the Fire Stick.
https://uk.amazonforum.com/forums/devices/fire-tv/494676-alexa-preferences-tv-video-firetv-then-blank

plhealy2000

Having an issue with tunein at the moment. When I ask it to play a station it responds as normal and then says the station is not available.
Any ideas how to fix this. Thanks

dabbler2004

philboy wrote: »

Hi Guys,
My aunt purchased an echo dot and a fire stick 4k. I setup both of them yesterday evening for her. Both work fine individually and are on the same wireless network.

Thanks

Philboy I finally managed to get this working; I changed my address to my Addresspal UK one on the Amazon site, changed the location of my Echo and Firestick devices in the Alexa app to the Addresspal UK address. I only realised this morning that while I had all devices set to the same time zone, Greenich Mean Time, the Echo was set to London while the Firestick was set to Dublin
Once I changed this I could link the Firestick to the Echo and have also linked the Blink XT cameras so that I can view on my TV.

Hope this helps if you're still having issues

OffalyMedic

How can I get hue Christmas to cast the music over Alexa? I've been a Google home user until now and can't figure it out

Curry Addict

philboy wrote: »

Hi Guys,
I went into the app and tried Settings > TV and Video bit this just brings up a blank screen. Software on both devices was fully updated. I rebooted them both and reinstalled the app but to no joy.

i had this issue on my phone so i tried my wifes phone and it worked. Maybe android s/w version is the issue(both phones were fully up to date and mine a more recent version of android).

limnam

Anyone have issues playing christms fm?

last few days says it cant find it

wally79

limnam wrote: »

Anyone have issues playing christms fm?

last few days says it cant find it

Just tried there and worked no problem

ethernet

limnam wrote: »

Anyone have issues playing christms fm?

last few days says it cant find it

Yes. Keeps picking the wrong station. Saying "Christmas FM Ireland" used to work for me until recently.

OffalyMedic

ethernet wrote:

Yes. Keeps picking the wrong station. Saying "Christmas FM Ireland" used to work for me until recently.

Worked for me there now

Davy

ethernet wrote: »

Yes. Keeps picking the wrong station. Saying "Christmas FM Ireland" used to work for me until recently.

Handy way to get around issues like this. Use the Tunein app itself to find the station.

You can then browse via the Alexa app and see recent history
Or
say, "Alexa, play Tunein" and she will play the last station - eg: Christmas fm.

limnam

play xmas fm ireland seems to work now

never had to say ireland before

just xmas fm gets no station found..odd!

grogi

limnam wrote: »

play xmas fm ireland seems to work now

never had to say ireland before

just xmas fm gets no station found..odd!

I said it yesterday without ireland - and it worked. Maybe it has something to do with the country the prime is in? Or the country of the echo?

McMurphy

So as a man with several Google home devices all throughout his home, I decided I would get an echo dot too, 1 because it was essentially free from Amazon (store credit) but also as I wanted to compare it with Google.

First impressions are that I'm fairly impressed:)

I like the layout of the app, and would have no problems saying that it's better laid out than Google, I found setting up group lamps/switches an absolute doddle, it took me no time to set it up, and have it working correctly.

I have an annual Deezer account, so synced that, and it's working fine.

One question though, how do I get it to play specific albums/playlists etc from my Deezer music?

Asking it to play Christmas songs is pretty hit and miss tbh, but I'm certain it's just because I'm going through the noob period.

But anyway, yeah I'm liking it a lot.

Grumpypants

McMurphy wrote: »

So as a man with several Google home devices all throughout his home, I decided I would get an echo dot too, 1 because it was essentially free from Amazon (store credit) but also as I wanted to compare it with Google.

First impressions are that I'm fairly impressed:)

I like the layout of the app, and would have no problems saying that it's better laid out than Google, I found setting up group lamps/switches an absolute doddle, it took me no time to set it up, and have it working correctly.

I have an annual Deezer account, so synced that, and it's working fine.

One question though, how do I get it to play specific albums/playlists etc from my Deezer music?

Asking it to play Christmas songs is pretty hit and miss tbh, but I'm certain it's just because I'm going through the noob period.

But anyway, yeah I'm liking it a lot.

In the app hit three lines in the top left and choose settings. Scroll to find music. Then in account setting you will see set default service.

Once Deezer is set then you just ask Alexa play the playlist.

For example if the playlist is Murphy's songs.

Alexa, play Murphy's songs.

If that is a bit off you can also set a routine through the three lines, and have alexa play deezer and type in the song or playlist name. You can add other smart bits into the routines too.

My morning routine is on a timer. At 7.30 the lights go through a sunrise for 30 mins to wake up gently. At 7.45 Alexa reads the news headlines, sports headlines, weather, traffic and my calender. Then it plays my playlist.

McMurphy

Grumpypants wrote: »

In the app hit three lines in the top left and choose settings. Scroll to find music. Then in account setting you will see set default service.

Once Deezer is set then you just ask Alexa play the playlist.

For example if the playlist is Murphy's songs.

Alexa, play Murphy's songs.

If that is a bit off you can also set a routine through the three lines, and have alexa play deezer and type in the song or playlist name. You can add other smart bits into the routines too.

My morning routine is on a timer. At 7.30 the lights go through a sunrise for 30 mins to wake up gently. At 7.45 Alexa reads the news headlines, sports headlines, weather, traffic and my calender. Then it plays my playlist.

Cheers grumpy, I'll have a mess around with it when I get back later.

wally79

Does anyone else find that when asking Alexa to play an older song from Spotify she plays the most obscure cover possible?

When you go in and search in Spotify the original will be top of the list but Alexa seems to use some other search criteria

Grumpypants

Yeah she can be a bit mental somedays. If you ask for the sony by artist she usually finds it and then learns that is the right one for future requests.

Shefwedfan

wally79 wrote: »

Does anyone else find that when asking Alexa to play an older song from Spotify she plays the most obscure cover possible?

When you go in and search in Spotify the original will be top of the list but Alexa seems to use some other search criteria

Spotify is an app within Alexa, I find the same but took it was using Spotify own search, the difference is the way we asked compared to the way we type

368100

wally79 wrote: »

Does anyone else find that when asking Alexa to play an older song from Spotify she plays the most obscure cover possible?

When you go in and search in Spotify the original will be top of the list but Alexa seems to use some other search criteria

Yea......very annoying

grogi

wally79 wrote: »

Does anyone else find that when asking Alexa to play an older song from Spotify she plays the most obscure cover possible?

When you go in and search in Spotify the original will be top of the list but Alexa seems to use some other search criteria

Yes. Even the most classic classics will be skipped in favour of acapella version or whatever...

368100

Has anyone else got the Echo Connect?

I got it a few weeks ago but it's very buggy......call quality is not great at all and regularly causes the Echo to freeze and not respond, unusable really.
I've made VOIP calls through the internet connection with a phone and nothing wrong with call quality on that so has to be the Amazon network, whatever is wrong with it :-S

Deise boii

Hey ya I got the echo dot today.

I do not have any premium subscriptions just wondering is there anyway of streaming music without signing up to one.

Thanks

Shefwedfan

Deise boii wrote: »

Hey ya I got the echo dot today.

I do not have any premium subscriptions just wondering is there anyway of streaming music without signing up to one.

Thanks

Amazon music is like 90 cent for 3 months

Tidal I think works and is running an offer for a few quid for 5 months

Spotify, use the thread on bargains and sign up family member, I am 3 years now and it costs me 28 quid per year

Seaben

loughrey2887 wrote: »

I have the Echo Auto here in Ireland. I love it. It operates the Irish Amazon Music and Spotify perfectly. Google Maps and Waze works great too. It is a game changer for me. It isn't available even for the general American public yet so it won't be available here in Europe for at least a year. It's by invition only.

The speed at which it boots up is amaazing, it's literally instant as soon as the car is turned on. It's only sent to a select number of people right now for beta testing. For me it's definitely not a gimmick. I find it better than any automation product i ever owned. It makes driving safer and more enjoyable. Just ask it to take you to the nearest Costa Coffee or the cheapest petrol station and it takes you, plus of course having the freedom to change music and adjusting the car speak volume with voice is amazing. you can use a phone to operate Google Assistant but the phone's limited microphones makes it hard to hear you with load music on and it also means you need to have your phone on the dash all the time for that, you can't just keep it in your bag. The Echo Auto is an essential, especially for anyone who doesn't have built-in Carplay or Android Auto, which is not in most new cars today.
the funny thing is that using it here in Ireland she uses the British accent, not the US accent, even with US english.

i guess I'm the only one who has it here in Europe, I don't see anyone in the European forums talking about it. But at least I can confirm it works great and will even work with an Irish Amazon Music account if you're on the fence about compatibility issues.

Hi can you tell me how you got your echo auto hooked up to your car. I have one but it won't pair with my car I'm using the AUX cable. I can't find it on the Alexa app either

plhealy2000

Seaben wrote: »

Hi can you tell me how you got your echo auto hooked up to your car. I have one but it won't pair with my car I'm using the AUX cable. I can't find it on the Alexa app either

You need to change your location on amazon.com to a US address. Can change it back once set up.