Amazon Echo FAQ

alanhiggyno1

ok bit the bullet and ordered the echo.got the alexia app.do i need to do anything else before it arrives.id like to have everything done b4 it comes cheers

adox

BobPresto wrote: »

So you've got Spotify playlists working after changing your echo over to a US account?

No it's a UK account.

degsie

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

ok bit the bullet and ordered the echo.got the alexia app.do i need to do anything else before it arrives.id like to have everything done b4 it comes cheers

Consider subscribing to Amazon prime or spotify if you want to play music via voice control.

alanhiggyno1

degsie wrote: »

Consider subscribing to Amazon prime or spotify if you want to play music via voice control.

i have full spotify.anything else i need

donegal.

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

i have full spotify.anything else i need

I'd consider a space bar and maybe a shift key. :pac:

alanhiggyno1

donegal. wrote: »

I'd consider a space bar and maybe a shift key. :pac:

Oh ur soooo funny

degsie

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

i have full spotify.anything else i need

Move to the UK or US to get the full benefit

alanhiggyno1

degsie wrote: »

Move to the UK or US to get the full benefit

ya whatever:D:D

BobPresto

adox wrote: »

No it's a UK account.

I was talking about getting rte news to come on when you asked for a news briefing but to do that you have to make up the skill and then switch your account to US to get the skill to work. But in doing that it stops Spotify Playlists from working through voice commands :mad:

Eamon321

Hi Dr Dre
I got the Amazon Echo and set up an account on Amazon.Com but when I try to download the App it tells me you must switch to the Ireland store before purchasing and if I do that I get Item Not Available.

Can you advise buddy?

Eamon

cichlid child

There you go

loughrey2887 wrote: »

You can't download it directly from the stores as it's not available in Ireland. If you have Android you need to sideload it on for a website like Aptoide. If you have an iPhone you need to change the app store region to the UK. You can also use the desktop version at alexa. amazon. co. uk

uck51js9zml2yt

cichlid child wrote: »

There you go

Stoner gave me a link last week which let me download the apk .

mrcheez

mrcheez wrote: »

Yeah I found it suffered a lot when I used English US.. no problems when using English UK though

UPDATE ON Kodi CONTROL FROM ALEXA

It was quite a bit of work following many steps here:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=258165&pid=2272675#pid2272675

and

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=258165&pid=2388508#pid2388508

(there's a bloody long 200 character key you need to type in using the Fire TV remote as well... painful)

and I got it all setup, only to find that it only works (partially) with locally-stored video files, rather than streaming Add Ons like Exodus.

In Exodus I can now Pause / Resume / Stop movies via the Echo Dot, and that's it, which is kinda cool I guess if I need to pause it, but it's unfortunately not possible to request a movie using your voice.

I tested out some local video files stored on my network and said "Alexa tell Kodi to start Avatar" and Avatar began to play.. then I asked it the same question later on and it said it didn't understand. So not really great there.

So in summary, still a bit of work left to control Kodi from Alexa, although if you want to be able to pause movies using your voice instead of reaching for the remote it's worth it.

Just to follow-up on this.. I've managed to get Kodi working with streams on Kodi (on the Amazon Fire stick in my case).

You need to install the Quasar add-on.

So follow the instructions in the post I added earlier, then follow the instructions here: https://howtomediacenter.com/en/install-quasar-kodi-complete-guide-part-1/

I can now say "Alexa, tell Kodi to play Breaking Bad Season 2 Episode 3" and it starts streaming from the interwebs.

The usual "Alex, tell Kodi to pause/resume/stop" have always worked though.

Very handy... my 2nd favourite thing now after Spotify

torrevieja

is the microphone worth getting alexa doesnt pick up everything

Stoner

mrcheez wrote:

Very handy... my 2nd favourite thing now after Spotify

Well done mrcheez super work great additional value

degsie

torrevieja wrote: »

is the microphone worth getting alexa doesnt pick up everything

what microphone do you mean voice remote

degsie

Looks like Google Home does not have the same 'restrictions' as the echo when selecting Irish radio stations.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101574707&postcount=34

alanhiggyno1

my echo is currently delayed this morning.delivery attempted in newtownabbey gb at 12.14.does that mean parcel wizard dont work on sunday and will they still recieve my package in morning

Zackdickensdog

Eamon321 wrote: »

Hi Dr Dre
I got the Amazon Echo and set up an account on Amazon.Com but when I try to download the App it tells me you must switch to the Ireland store before purchasing and if I do that I get Item Not Available.

Can you advise buddy?

Eamon

You can use the desktop version of the app if you have a laptop.

cichlid child

I have two blue tooth speakers and my echo wont pair with either. In fairness they are only cheap one. Can you advise me on what cheap if possible blue tooth speaker they know works.

Stoner

cichlid child wrote:

I have two blue tooth speakers and my echo wont pair with either. In fairness they are only cheap one. Can you advise me on what cheap if possible blue tooth speaker they know works.

Just a quick check are you sure the correct PSU is being used. I paired a speaker using a 6v supply all the pairing worked but no sound came out , turns out it was a 12V unit so enough voltage for the paring circuit but not for the amp

cichlid child

I have the right mains etc as I bought a €20 blue tooth speaker in power city just to see would it connect. So straight out of the box. The speaker is not showing on the app so its not seeing it at all. Alexa just says
" in paring go to the settings on your blue tooth device and connect"
which obviously you cant as its a speaker. Tried clearing list and plugin out the echo and restarting but no joy. Its not a big deal just if someone knows a speaker that is defo working with the echo id buy it.

Stoner

cichlid child wrote:

says " in paring go to the settings on your blue tooth device and connect" which obviously you cant as its a speaker. Tried clearing list and plugin out the echo and restarting but no joy. Its not a big deal just if someone knows a speaker that is defo working with the echo id buy it.

I'm using a blaupunkt and even one if those 10

Euro cheap ones that stick to the window

Just a quick thing are you putting the speakers into paring mode, usually you hold in a button and a light on the speaker starts to blink and it becomes visible to pairing devices.

I know you are most likely going this but that's what the instructions mean when it says go into the settings on your Bluetooth device.

alanhiggyno1

Hey guys great thread just received my echo.have the Alexa app but can't change location to my address or Ireland.wjat do I need to change to get it right.have Spotify working and TuneIn perfect thanks

Stoner

alanhiggyno1 wrote:

Hey guys great thread just received my echo.have the Alexa app but can't change location to my address or Ireland.wjat do I need to change to get it right.have Spotify working and TuneIn perfect thanks

Hi into the app
Open settings
Under Alexa devices tap where it says Echo Dot
It will open a window, device home location is there set it what you want.

The language is another setting English uk or English USA

2012paddy2012

Dr. Dre wrote: »

Controlling all my sockets and light switches (lightwaverf/wemo/smartthings)
You get a feature called 'Flash briefing' which you can get news roundups from various news sources (I tend to just use BBC) - so I'll ask for the news in the morning.
You can also get weather reports if you wish.
Listening to radio or my podcasts on Tunein
Listening to my music collections on Spotify
Spotify/Tunein I find great at night to doze off to a podcast or music, you can set a sleep timer so it'll stop after a half hour, or whatever.
Setting reminders/calendar appointments/alarms/to-do list
I actually use the shopping list feature too, I'll add to it whenever it think of anything and then I'll get it to email to me when I want it - eg "Alexa, put another amazon echo on my shopping list"

There are new features being added almost every week by Amazon, then there are also 'skills' (apps) being created by a growing dev community - albeit most of the skills at the moment are crap, IMO.

Biggest surprise to me with the Echo is the quality of the speech recognition, I'd put it far ahead of Google/Apple, it's quite amazing.

It actually took a bit of thought to put this list together tbh, it's just such a seamless part of my life now

Hi I am just wondering does this work without any issues in Ireland

Paddy

alanhiggyno1

Stoner wrote: »

Hi into the app
Open settings
Under Alexa devices tap where it says Echo Dot
It will open a window, device home location is there set it what you want.

The language is another setting English uk or English USA

I tried that it don't work.any of u guys get it to work

Stoner

alanhiggyno1 wrote:

I tried that it don't work.any of u guys get it to work

Yes me lol.

2012paddy2012

Stoner wrote: »

Yes me lol.

Hi getting this as a Christmas present for teenager.do all the features work here on it do you know.
Thanks

Paddy

Stoner

2012paddy2012 wrote:

Hi getting this as a Christmas present for teenager.do all the features work here on it do you know. Thanks

No they don't it's a mix and match . You can read back over the thread , people are changing over and back.

If you lived in the states with Amazon prime this would be a better unit for you than living here

But it's good fun