We have seen, in another article, different ways to listen to free music via Amazon Echo, the wifi speaker that integrates the Alexa voice assistant and which has one of its main functions in music. Among these ways there is also that of hearing music from Youtube, which is not natively supported (because Google and Amazon do not like to collaborate much), but that can be done with some tricks.
Although with some annoying limitations, let's see how to listen to music from Youtube on Amazon Echo and how to see Youtube videos if you have an Echo Show, the Alexa device with the screen.
To do this, say to the Echo: " Alexa, pair Bluetooth " to put it in pairing mode. Next, open the Bluetooth pairing settings on the phone ( on Android, open the settings to find the bluetooth section; on iPhone go to Settings> Bluetooth ) or on the PC (with Windows 10 just go open the Settings menu from the Start menu and then go to the Devices> Bluetooth menu) and when the Echo is detected, associate it. The pairing should work even if Alexa says not to find any device, the important thing is that there is confirmation of the pairing on the phone or on the computer. In both cases, the Echo is indicated as an external speaker, with the icon of a speaker or headphones.
Once a device is associated, the following times it will be enough to say to Alexa: "connect bluetooth" to make sure that the smartphone or PC is directly connected without having to do the configuration again. Keep in mind, however, that the Echo connects to one device at a time, so if it is already connected to the PC, it cannot also connect to the smartphone and vice versa.
At this point, any audio from your smartphone or computer will come out of the Echo and you can open the Youtube site or the application and start a music video to listen to it on Echo .
To disconnect, say " Alexa, disconnect Bluetooth " or use the menus on smartphones to disconnect bluetooth and remove the Echo from connected devices.
All this can also be done with a TV, and listen to music from the Fire TV to the Echo from Youtube.
Also, when listening to music from Youtube on Echo via a smartphone, the screen must be turned on. If you turn off the phone screen, youtube playback stops. There are a few tricks for listening to YouTube music in the background, but the only really efficient solution is to pay for YouTube Premium.
One way to remove all the limitations would be to create a YouTube skill on Alexa (rather complicated) and it is possible to find different online guides like this in Italian.
To make Youtube work on the first generation Echo Show, it must also be updated by going to Settings> Device Options .
READ ALSO: Add Alexa to stereos and speakers with Echo Flex
Although with some annoying limitations, let's see how to listen to music from Youtube on Amazon Echo and how to see Youtube videos if you have an Echo Show, the Alexa device with the screen.
Hear music from YouTube on Amazon Echo via Bluetooth
For the moment, it's not possible to simply ask Alexa to play a YouTube video via Echo. The only way to use Youtube to listen to music from an Amazon Echo is to treat it as a simple speaker with Bluetooth connection . Using Bluetooth, you can listen to the audio output from your phone or PC on Echo .To do this, say to the Echo: " Alexa, pair Bluetooth " to put it in pairing mode. Next, open the Bluetooth pairing settings on the phone ( on Android, open the settings to find the bluetooth section; on iPhone go to Settings> Bluetooth ) or on the PC (with Windows 10 just go open the Settings menu from the Start menu and then go to the Devices> Bluetooth menu) and when the Echo is detected, associate it. The pairing should work even if Alexa says not to find any device, the important thing is that there is confirmation of the pairing on the phone or on the computer. In both cases, the Echo is indicated as an external speaker, with the icon of a speaker or headphones.
Once a device is associated, the following times it will be enough to say to Alexa: "connect bluetooth" to make sure that the smartphone or PC is directly connected without having to do the configuration again. Keep in mind, however, that the Echo connects to one device at a time, so if it is already connected to the PC, it cannot also connect to the smartphone and vice versa.
At this point, any audio from your smartphone or computer will come out of the Echo and you can open the Youtube site or the application and start a music video to listen to it on Echo .
To disconnect, say " Alexa, disconnect Bluetooth " or use the menus on smartphones to disconnect bluetooth and remove the Echo from connected devices.
All this can also be done with a TV, and listen to music from the Fire TV to the Echo from Youtube.
Limitations of the Echo as a Bluetooth speaker
Unfortunately, the Echo's Bluetooh speaker function is standard and you don't have many voice commands available. You can pause playback, you can go to the next or previous video and turn the volume up or down, but nothing more.Also, when listening to music from Youtube on Echo via a smartphone, the screen must be turned on. If you turn off the phone screen, youtube playback stops. There are a few tricks for listening to YouTube music in the background, but the only really efficient solution is to pay for YouTube Premium.
One way to remove all the limitations would be to create a YouTube skill on Alexa (rather complicated) and it is possible to find different online guides like this in Italian.
How to watch YouTube videos in an Echo Show
The previous steps are great for listening to YouTube audio on an Echo speaker, but if we had an Echo Show, then they wouldn't be useful since, thanks to the screen, it is possible to open Youtube videos directly from the device. You can simply say " Alexa, open YouTube " and, only the first time, choose the Silk or Firefox browser to view it. Once you open YouTube in your browser, you can choose which videos to watch and the music to listen to. As also happens on the Fire TV stick, Alexa's commands don't work, but you can say " Alexa, search for Diodato on Youtube " to do a search.To make Youtube work on the first generation Echo Show, it must also be updated by going to Settings> Device Options .
READ ALSO: Add Alexa to stereos and speakers with Echo Flex
