Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

tweek84

Jayop wrote: »

I've tried and tried to get this to work but it fails every time both using the harmony skill and the Yonomi one./ I'm pretty decent with tech stuff but this has me beat so bad that I gave up.

Does the harmony skill show up when you search?on my app it doesn't

Jayop

tweek84 wrote: »

Does the harmony skill show up when you search?on my app it doesn't

Yep, just searched the word Harmony, 4 results, 2 from Logitech.

1) Harmony
2) Harmony - Secondary Hub

tweek84

Jayop wrote: »

Yep, just searched the word Harmony, 4 results, 2 from Logitech.

1) Harmony
2) Harmony - Secondary Hub

This is what I get when I search.
Are you registered in Ireland or the uk on the app?

TitianGerm

tweek84 wrote: »

This is what I get when I search.
Are you registered in Ireland or the uk on the app?

It's saying two results but only showing one? That looks like the website so have you tried using the app?

tweek84

I register my echo dot to a Northern Ireland address and rebooted the app and downloaded the harmony skills and it works perfectly now, changed back to my irish address and checked it still works correctly

Jayop

Possibly ni. Can't remember.

illdoit2morrow

faceman wrote: »

Has anyone managed to get Alexa to successfully control your Sonos?

My Dot arrives Thursday but when I searched for Sonos in Alexa skills on amazon.co.uk, its says Sonos not available for my region?

Yes i have.

The skill was there in the alexa app, try updating your alexa app, it is available on the irish playstore, i don't know. YOu also have to do something in the sonos app to allow connectivity to your alexa.

faceman

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Yes i have.

The skill was there in the alexa app, try updating your alexa app, it is available on the irish playstore, i don't know. YOu also have to do something in the sonos app to allow connectivity to your alexa.

Thanks. Did you originally download your app from the UK store?

illdoit2morrow

faceman wrote: »

Thanks. Did you originally download your app from the UK store?

When i got the alexa app originally, it was ftom apkmonk

scamalert

ok quick question that might been answered million times but does alexa dot app has all same functions as one in US/Canada
or should i be looking in advance to get alexa apk from online, since plan is to get whole house wired and want to have functions such as weather forecast etc for current location/country.

since got large bundle but until now havent done any research only seen couple vids online that people had to use third party download to get all functions so sorry again if this has been answered.

illdoit2morrow

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

When i got the alexa app originally, it was ftom apkmonk

Originally from apkmonk but it's on the Irish playstore now.

faceman

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

When i got the alexa app originally, it was ftom apkmonk

Ah ok. Explains why you have the app and I don’t. I got the app from the Irish App Store

paulbok

Not sure if this is the right place for this.
Amazon have bought Blink, so we can expect more security gadgets into the Alexa ecosystem.

Silverfluffs

paulbok wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right place for this.
Amazon have bought Blink, so we can expect more security gadgets into the Alexa ecosystem.

This is great info thanks. I was very close to buying an Arlo system, but I may well reconsider now.

jds0ur

Anyone have any joy with sonos and Alexa integration? I cant for the life of me get it to work, keeps telling me it s geo restricted

faceman

jds0ur wrote: »

Anyone have any joy with sonos and Alexa integration? I cant for the life of me get it to work, keeps telling me it s geo restricted

Yes I got it to work. Set up an amazon uk account using a uk address. (I use a dummy Belfast address with the BT11AA postcode and don’t set up a credit card). Log in with that amazon ID and you can install the Sonos skill. Don’t forget to change your address on your Echo device and other relevant skills back to your Irish address afterward.

It’s working perfectly for me.

scamalert

anyone know how to enable echo link in function is new address account necessary or do i need to get mobile app :cool: since currently all dots setup on tablet.

manutd83

Anyone any idea how to get my download free 250 songs to play through my echo,keeps telling me my Amazon music is not configured correctly for this device but done everything I can think of,I'm obviously missing something

scamalert

manutd83 wrote: »

Anyone any idea how to get my download free 250 songs to play through my echo,keeps telling me my Amazon music is not configured correctly for this device but done everything I can think of,I'm obviously missing something

yeah had same issue yesterday once you go into settings to enable purchase over voice you need to select card,once done with that go to music media setting select amazon music and complete account setup again,voila.

Also figured drop in function requires one cell phone with alexa app and after that you can configure dots with different names and leave messages or call in to chat like walkie talkie

jds0ur

faceman wrote: »

Yes I got it to work. Set up an amazon uk account using a uk address. (I use a dummy Belfast address with the BT11AA postcode and don’t set up a credit card). Log in with that amazon ID and you can install the Sonos skill. Don’t forget to change your address on your Echo device and other relevant skills back to your Irish address afterward.

It’s working perfectly for me.

Perfect thanks, I'll try it tomorrow after the festivities 😀

viperlogic

I have two echos where one is connected to a soundbar via bluetooth. When playing spotify to the echo with the Bluetooth speaker, the music plays out the bluetooth speaker as expected. But, when using multi-room music it wont play out the bluetooth speaker but only the inbuilt one. Anyone else experiencing this? Is it an issue/bug or echo doesn't have that functionality when using multi-room music?

Edit: just found an article that it’s a limitation. Wonder why technically though

scamalert

viperlogic wrote: »

I have two echos where one is connected to a soundbar via bluetooth. When playing spotify to the echo with the Bluetooth speaker, the music plays out the bluetooth speaker as expected. But, when using multi-room music it wont play out the bluetooth speaker but only the inbuilt one. Anyone else experiencing this? Is it an issue/bug or echo doesn't have that functionality when using multi-room music?

Edit: just found an article that it’s a limitation. Wonder why technically though

its all business and cash when you think about it, they would expect you to get more echos in each room= more profit.
Echo has a lot of features going for it but amazon dont like people skipping or using free services thus result is that you need to pay for most skills when in reality they could make it free and prob triple their sales on any competition.

Sinc in your example you could have say sony speakers in few rooms, sound bar and that would blast the house,but downside is all of em are from separate companies and amazon dont get any cash from it, unless in the future they decide to loosen up to use third party hardware and providers.

faceman

scamalert wrote: »

its all business and cash when you think about it, they would expect you to get more echos in each room= more profit.
Echo has a lot of features going for it but amazon dont like people skipping or using free services thus result is that you need to pay for most skills when in reality they could make it free and prob triple their sales on any competition.

They’re working on the multi room speaker thing. That will improve.

At this point it’s about market dominance at present for all providers. If you get an Echo you won’t get a google home or AirPod etc.

Amazon’s move to reduce prices of the Echo the few weeks running up to Christmas was genius. I bought 2!

scamalert

faceman wrote: »

They’re working on the multi room speaker thing. That will improve.

At this point it’s about market dominance at present for all providers. If you get an Echo you won’t get a google home or AirPod etc.

Amazon’s move to reduce prices of the Echo the few weeks running up to Christmas was genius. I bought 2!

bought 3 for price of 2 in NI in argos, funny enough needed tp link switches and decided on two here in ire but last minute said will take 3 and they did 3 for two,no advertising of any sort, on such deals here running to xmas by argos real shame as they did philips bulbs and other stuff related to smart homes which worked out quite cheap but almost no stock.

example of google has already been developed to adapt same search functions to echo same with youtube music streaming but alas amazon keeps blocking such attempts, so yeah a bit like any other competition intel or AMD google or amazon/apple.

iamtony

scamalert wrote: »

its all business and cash when you think about it, they would expect you to get more echos in each room= more profit.
Echo has a lot of features going for it but amazon dont like people skipping or using free services thus result is that you need to pay for most skills when in reality they could make it free and prob triple their sales on any competition.

Sinc in your example you could have say sony speakers in few rooms, sound bar and that would blast the house,but downside is all of em are from separate companies and amazon dont get any cash from it, unless in the future they decide to loosen up to use third party hardware and providers.

I honestly think it's only because they music wouldn't be in sync in the two rooms as there's a delay with Bluetooth. If you connect your echo dot using aux cable it will work with a third party speaker no problem because they no there won't be a delay on one speaker.

Silverfluffs

Amazon's Lump of Coal for Music Uploaders (and Ways Around It):

https://www.pcmag.com/article/358144/amazons-lump-of-coal-for-music-uploaders-and-ways-around-i?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=dailynews&utm_medium=title

cletus

I've had an echo dot for the last couple of days, have it integrated with my hue hub, listening to Newstalk (not the Jamaican one) and in the middle of setting up Plex for my local music library.

The one issue I had was with the calling aspect. I was under the impression that I could use Alexa to call other cell phones, but I couldn't get my contacts to sync. Emailed Amazon, and just to clarify for anybody else labouring under the same misapprehension as myself, you can only call contacts who either have an echo product, or the Alexa app installed.

I understand this may not be news to many on the thread, but I'm sure there are at least a couple of others like me

faceman

cletus wrote: »

I've had an echo dot for the last couple of days, have it integrated with my hue hub, listening to Newstalk (not the Jamaican one) and in the middle of setting up Plex for my local music library.

The one issue I had was with the calling aspect. I was under the impression that I could use Alexa to call other cell phones, but I couldn't get my contacts to sync. Emailed Amazon, and just to clarify for anybody else labouring under the same misapprehension as myself, you can only call contacts who either have an echo product, or the Alexa app installed.

I understand this may not be news to many on the thread, but I'm sure there are at least a couple of others like me

Our US and Canadian friends can call other phones via Alexa but sadly the rest of us can’t.

cletus

faceman wrote: »

Our US and Canadian friends can call other phones via Alexa but sadly the rest of us can’t.

I suppose that means that there's hope it will be introduced

Alanstrainor

So I've been enjoying my Echo 2nd gen speaker since I got it a couple of weeks back. But I've been having a never ending problem with 2 kasa smart plugs not responding. Alexa will randomly just not be able to turn on/off my Christmas tree for example. "TP-link not responding" is the error. And to resolve I have to either open the app on my phone, or restart the Echo (power cycle). It will then work for a time, and eventually just not respond.

Both my TP-Link Kasa plugs are the same and are on up to date firmwares as far as the app is concerned. Anyone else having the same issue? I've read other complaints online but not firm solution...