Thursday, March 28, 2024

How to connect Alexa to your TV

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When we first met Alexa, she pretty much lived exclusively within Amazon’s Echo lineup of devices. Now, the virtual assistant is everywhere, including inside your TV. Amazon Alexa lets you take command of your living room, den, or media center, controlling TVs and more with a simple voice command.

If you want to connect Alexa to your TV, you will need either a smart device, such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick, or a TV that includes Alexa built in. We’ll explore the ways to connect Alexa to your TV.

Just getting started with Amazon Alexa? Follow our setup guide to ensure your Echo device is ready to connect to your TV.

Is your TV smart enough?

Riley Young/Digital Trends

The first step in connecting Alexa to your TV is finding out how Alexa can work with your existing home setup. If you have a smart TV — such as one made by LG, Sony, Vizio, or Samsung — setup is as easy as flipping a few virtual switches. Otherwise, you can use an Amazon Fire TV Stick or a Roku device to control your media.

Additionally, some TV boxes offer levels of smart control built in, such as Verizon Fios’ VMS 1100 and IPC 1100, DirecTV’s Genie and Genie Mini, and many of Dish Network’s Hopper set-top boxes.

Connecting your TV to Alexa

With a wide variety of methods for controlling your TV with Alexa, we’ll need to get a bit more specific with your hardware to help you set up. Below, we’ve outlined setting up Alexa with both smart TVs and various media streaming boxes — pick the option that best resembles your current setup.

Connecting a Fire TV or Roku stick:

Step 1: Open the Alexa app on your iOS or Android device.

Step 2: Choose the More tab at the bottom of the screen.

Step 3: Tap the Settings option.

Step 4: Scroll down and choose TV & Video.

Step 5: Select either Fire TV or Roku, whichever matches your streaming device.

Step 6: For Fire TV users, select Link Your Alexa Device. For Roku users, select Enable to Use.

Step 7: Provide Alexa with any required login information to complete the process.

Riley Young/Digital Trends

Connecting a smart TV:

Step 1: Open the Alexa app on your iOS or Android device.

Step 2: Tap the Devices tab at the bottom of your screen.

Step 3: Choose the (+) button in the upper-right corner, then select Add Device.

Step 4: Scroll down and select TV.

Step 5: Choose your smart TV brand.

Step 6: Follow the Alexa app’s specific instructions for completing the setup process.

Connecting a set-top box:

Step 1: Open the Alexa app on your iOS or Android device.

Step 2: Tap the More tab at the bottom of your screen.

Step 3: Select the Skills & Games option.

Step 4: In the search bar, search for your cable provider (e.g., DirecTV, Fios, Frontier, Dish Network).

Step 5: If available, select your provider from the given list.

Step 6: Tap Enable to Use, then log in with your provider’s details.

Commanding your TV with Alexa

Once you have connected your TV, set-top box, or media streaming device to Alexa, you can begin controlling your media center with the sound of your voice. Not all TVs and set-top devices use the same commands, so you should check your manufacturer’s support website for the most up-to-date information; however, here are a few commands you may wish to try with your media setup:

  • “Alexa, turn [on/off] the [TV name].”
  • “Alexa, turn the volume [up/down] on the [TV name].”
  • “Alexa, mute the [TV name].”
  • “Alexa, switch input to HDMI 1 on [TV name].”
  • “Alexa, [play/pause] on [TV name].”
  • “Alexa, watch Stranger Things on Netflix.”
  • “Alexa, show [comedy/drama/romance] movies.”

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