You can use it alone or you can connect your Amazon Echo devices to your PC, too. Once you connect Alexa to computers in your home, you can use it to turn on a computer remotely, interact with your Alexa-enabled device from your computer, or even use your Echo as a computer speaker. Here's how you can start using Alexa with your PC in no time. Use the Amazon Alexa App to set up your Alexa-enabled devices, listen to music, create shopping lists, get news updates, and much more. When you enable Alexa hands-free you can talk to Alexa by simply saying 'Alexa' when the app is on your screen. The more you use Alexa, the more she adapts to your voice, vocabulary, and personal preferences. While there is one review on the app reporting that this version of Alexa can't install skills or access smart home features, the Amazon representative says that you can control devices if you set. By default, your Alexa device responds when you say the word 'Alexa,' but you can change the wake word to something else. This is an option that may be especially handy if you have more than one.
For those of us building a smart home, we all face the same problem: Which digital assistant to use? Between the vast libraries of skills and abilities of the two biggest players, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, it can be tough to choose. But the good news is that you actually don't have to. You can comfortably live with both assistants under one roof thanks to these helpful tips.
Use both at the same time
You've got a Google Home at one end of the living room and the best Echo speaker, Amazon's Echo (third-generation) at the other—which one is worth talking to all the time? The answer is both. Both Google Assistant and Alexa offer plenty of connected home prowess. For the most part, they're both capable of answering the same questions, executing the same smart home commands, and performing the same tricks. This is precisely why it's so hard to choose between the two.
You shouldn't have any trouble using a Google-enabled smart speaker placed next to one of Amazon's Echo speakers. I've used both at the same time to control the same connected smart home accounts and answer the same questions without any issue. However, if I find that I prefer one device for a set of voice-controlled tasks, I will mute the other so that there is no room for error. Granted, both assistants respond to different wakeup words ('OK/Hey Google' and 'Alexa').
If you want to use both Google Assistant and Alexa to control your smart home, you can pair both of their respective apps with your third-party devices with nary an issue so long as you plan on asking one assistant at a time for help. The only time this won't work is if you have a device like the Amazon Echo Plus (second-generation), which acts as a smart home hub. In this case, Zigbee-compatible devices paired through the Amazon Alexa app aren't configurable with Google Assistant.
Decide who belongs where
If you happen to be in a situation where you're currently living with Google Assistant and Alexa, take a second to survey which assistant's answers you prefer with oft-used commands and which device fits best into your particular usage scenario.
For instance, you might find the Nest Mini is a better smart speaker to have in the kitchen area because it's got great sound quality for a small speaker and faster response times from Google Assistant that's discernable over the sizzle of the stove.
Alternatively, the Amazon Echo Dot (third-generation) might perform better in the common areas where homework is done since the speaker delivers noticeably low-quality audio playback (though is much improved over previous generations of Echo Dot speakers).
A video-enabled smart display like Amazon's Echo Show 8 or Google's Nest Hub Max should be placed where it will get the most use and be accessible to anyone who wants to use the video calling feature, stream content from YouTube TV and Prime Video, watch recipe videos, and more. We think either smart display works best in the kitchen.
On the other hand, a larger speaker like the Google Home Max is better suited for big spaces like the living room or playroom where dancing and grooving take place, since it's got a big sound.
Keep it maintained
The best way to live peacefully with both Google Assistant and Alexa under one roof is to keep track of what you're setting up as you're doing it. IFTTT is great for setting up straightforward smart home automation, but they can complicate things further if you have too many formulas set up that effectively perform the same action.
As with any smart home, if you have a ton of connected stuff set up inside your dwellings, make sure to keep everything updated so that all of your assistants maintain a level playing field.
Learn more about everything that works with Amazon Alexa and everything that works with Google Assistant.
Is one better than the other at helping you bake?
Related content
feature
Which 'smart' assistant is actually smarter—Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant?feature
10 ways Alexa can help you make the most of your smart home
If you are a fan of smart devices, then you may already have an Echo device – Amazon's line of smart speakers that connect to other devices using Amazon's voice-controlled personal assistant Alexa.
These Alexa-powered speakers from Amazon hit the market first before the likes of Google, Lenovo, and Apple followed suit with their own smart personal assistants. The top products in this space include:
- Google Home Smart Assistant
- Lenovo's Smart Assistant
- Apple's HomePod
- The Echo from Amazon
These products are taking the market by storm through Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo, the pioneer in this world of smart speakers, remains in command of the largest market share.
Amazon Alexa supports a large number of streaming services – both free and subscription-based on Amazon devices. The voice-controlled app lets you customize practically all the voice commands you use with your speakers and intelligently keeps track of these commands for you.
You can use it alone or you can connect your Amazon Echo devices to your PC, too. Once you connect Alexa to computers in your home, you can use it to turn on a computer remotely, interact with your Alexa-enabled device from your computer, or even use your Echo as a computer speaker. Here's how you can start using Alexa with your PC in no time. Use the Amazon Alexa App to set up your Alexa-enabled devices, listen to music, create shopping lists, get news updates, and much more. When you enable Alexa hands-free you can talk to Alexa by simply saying 'Alexa' when the app is on your screen. The more you use Alexa, the more she adapts to your voice, vocabulary, and personal preferences. While there is one review on the app reporting that this version of Alexa can't install skills or access smart home features, the Amazon representative says that you can control devices if you set. By default, your Alexa device responds when you say the word 'Alexa,' but you can change the wake word to something else. This is an option that may be especially handy if you have more than one.
For those of us building a smart home, we all face the same problem: Which digital assistant to use? Between the vast libraries of skills and abilities of the two biggest players, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, it can be tough to choose. But the good news is that you actually don't have to. You can comfortably live with both assistants under one roof thanks to these helpful tips.
Use both at the same time
You've got a Google Home at one end of the living room and the best Echo speaker, Amazon's Echo (third-generation) at the other—which one is worth talking to all the time? The answer is both. Both Google Assistant and Alexa offer plenty of connected home prowess. For the most part, they're both capable of answering the same questions, executing the same smart home commands, and performing the same tricks. This is precisely why it's so hard to choose between the two.
You shouldn't have any trouble using a Google-enabled smart speaker placed next to one of Amazon's Echo speakers. I've used both at the same time to control the same connected smart home accounts and answer the same questions without any issue. However, if I find that I prefer one device for a set of voice-controlled tasks, I will mute the other so that there is no room for error. Granted, both assistants respond to different wakeup words ('OK/Hey Google' and 'Alexa').
If you want to use both Google Assistant and Alexa to control your smart home, you can pair both of their respective apps with your third-party devices with nary an issue so long as you plan on asking one assistant at a time for help. The only time this won't work is if you have a device like the Amazon Echo Plus (second-generation), which acts as a smart home hub. In this case, Zigbee-compatible devices paired through the Amazon Alexa app aren't configurable with Google Assistant.
Decide who belongs where
If you happen to be in a situation where you're currently living with Google Assistant and Alexa, take a second to survey which assistant's answers you prefer with oft-used commands and which device fits best into your particular usage scenario.
For instance, you might find the Nest Mini is a better smart speaker to have in the kitchen area because it's got great sound quality for a small speaker and faster response times from Google Assistant that's discernable over the sizzle of the stove.
Alternatively, the Amazon Echo Dot (third-generation) might perform better in the common areas where homework is done since the speaker delivers noticeably low-quality audio playback (though is much improved over previous generations of Echo Dot speakers).
A video-enabled smart display like Amazon's Echo Show 8 or Google's Nest Hub Max should be placed where it will get the most use and be accessible to anyone who wants to use the video calling feature, stream content from YouTube TV and Prime Video, watch recipe videos, and more. We think either smart display works best in the kitchen.
On the other hand, a larger speaker like the Google Home Max is better suited for big spaces like the living room or playroom where dancing and grooving take place, since it's got a big sound.
Keep it maintained
The best way to live peacefully with both Google Assistant and Alexa under one roof is to keep track of what you're setting up as you're doing it. IFTTT is great for setting up straightforward smart home automation, but they can complicate things further if you have too many formulas set up that effectively perform the same action.
As with any smart home, if you have a ton of connected stuff set up inside your dwellings, make sure to keep everything updated so that all of your assistants maintain a level playing field.
Learn more about everything that works with Amazon Alexa and everything that works with Google Assistant.
Is one better than the other at helping you bake?
Related content
feature
Which 'smart' assistant is actually smarter—Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant?feature
10 ways Alexa can help you make the most of your smart home
If you are a fan of smart devices, then you may already have an Echo device – Amazon's line of smart speakers that connect to other devices using Amazon's voice-controlled personal assistant Alexa.
These Alexa-powered speakers from Amazon hit the market first before the likes of Google, Lenovo, and Apple followed suit with their own smart personal assistants. The top products in this space include:
- Google Home Smart Assistant
- Lenovo's Smart Assistant
- Apple's HomePod
- The Echo from Amazon
These products are taking the market by storm through Amazon's Alexa-powered Echo, the pioneer in this world of smart speakers, remains in command of the largest market share.
Amazon Alexa supports a large number of streaming services – both free and subscription-based on Amazon devices. The voice-controlled app lets you customize practically all the voice commands you use with your speakers and intelligently keeps track of these commands for you.
With Alexa, you can enjoy convenient playback control in your home as you stream music and other media through any number of your Alexa devices. Registering your Alexa device to an Amazon account also allows you to access your Audible library and Amazon Music library automatically, taking your home entertainment to another level of convenience.
What if you have an iPhone home?
Can I Control Alexa From My Mac Catalina
Apple devices and services are extremely selective when it comes to pairing and connecting to non-Apple services or devices. So, you may realize that Apple iTunes and Amazon Alexa do not play well together, which begs the question: is my iPhone able to connect with an Amazon Echo device?
The answer is a big YES! So pull up a chair, sit down and we'll show you how it's done.
Echo devices are Bluetooth enabled, which means you can control the audio playback on your device by speaking to Alexa. This is to say that you will be able to play and control your Apple music service on Amazon's smart speakers if iPhone is what you use for your home entertainment.
Using Bluetooth to connect your iPhone to Alexa
You can connect an iPhone to the Amazon product via Bluetooth, giving you the ability to start streaming and control the audio with the following products:
- 1st or 2nd generation Amazon Echo
- 2nd gen Echo Dot
- Echo Spot
- Echo Show
- Echo Plus
Initial pairing
The first thing you'll have to do is get the two devices (your iPhone and the Amazon Echo device) connected.
This entails pairing the iPhone with your Echo device via Bluetooth. To do this, take your iPhone near the Alexa device that you want to pair. On your iPhone, open the Settings app. Navigate to Bluetooth and open it.
Say, 'Alexa, pair' to put the Amazon Echo device in Bluetooth Pairing mode. With that command, Alexa should give you an audible acknowledgment that it is searching and confirm when your Echo device is in pairing mode.
Next, you'll get a notification on your iPhone screen asking if you want to pair or giving you the ability to cancel the pairing request. Tap 'Pair' to connect the two devices via Bluetooth.
Alexa should also give you an audible confirmation that it has just connected to [name of your iPhone], adding that now that you're paired, you should just say 'connect my phone' next time you want to reestablish the pairing.
On your Bluetooth screen, the Echo will now show as connected. You can see this by scrolling to Other Devices at the bottom where the particular Echo device appears.
Streaming music and more
Once you have paired your iPhone with Alexa, you can open the Apple Music app and select the specific song or playlist that you want to stream. You should then hear this selection play through your Echo speaker.
You can stream audio from iTunes, Apple Music, Podcasts, and even the Apple TV. You also have the option to play music from any third-party app that has audio, such as AudioBox or Pandora.
Google file stream mac. Controlling playback and more
Alexa is a voice-controlled app so you will be able to control your playback by simply speaking to it once it is playing.
You can tell the intelligent personal assistant to play, pause, raise and lower the volume, resume, and even skip ahead and back to the contents on that playlist.
You won't be able, however, to ask Alexa to identify a song for you, nor can you make it play specific songs or other content from your iPhone. If you try asking your Alexa to play specific songs, it will simply break the connection to your iPhone and instead play music from the Amazon music source that you have set as your default choice, such as Amazon Music.
For that kind of command, Apple prefers that you use its own personal assistant Siri, so you'll need to say 'Hey Siri' for that.
Wrap Up
Can I Control Alexa From My Macbook Air
If you're an iPhone owner and an Echo diehard at the same time, Bluetooth pairing is a great way to start using these amazing devices together. Though it does have its limitations, it still makes listening to your favorite music fun and easy.
