Discussion
Timothy Bucktu said:
Echo Auto's are now turning up on Facebook Marketplace cheaply enough. I bought a couple for £10 each recently and I've got them in both cars... they work great. They are different to home devices in that they're basically a bluetooth mic and speaker, and use the Alexa app on your phone for all the Alexa things.
It means I can listen to Greatest Hits radio premium without the adverts, which is the main purpose. But you can open Spotify playlists etc. Also good for a quick check on traffic conditions etc.
I've had Echo Auto in all of my cars for a few years now - it is definitely the easiest way to control what you listen to. It means I can listen to Greatest Hits radio premium without the adverts, which is the main purpose. But you can open Spotify playlists etc. Also good for a quick check on traffic conditions etc.
I think that's the same group as Planet Rock which I listen to quite a lot. I looked into the premium version about a year ago, but thought it said that it didn't work on Amazon devices so didn't bother. I guess that is resolved now - is it completely ad free? I'm thinking it might be worth the money to get rid of soooo many annoying ads!
clockworks said:
Lucas Ayde said:
Thanks ... the problem is that the Echo/Alexa links to your Amazon account rather than being its own thing. I get the impression it would be quite difficult to actually have two different accounts on Amazon - they seem to be pretty big on having one account with multiple delivery addresses ...
If you use a different email address for each account, how would they know?Amazon definitely know which device received the command, as you can have it reply from a specific device, or the one that received the voice command, I don't know if you can use that information in a condition on the routine though.
clockworks said:
If you use a different email address for each account, how would they know?
Credit card details will give it away. They seem to want you to have a single, verified, globally valid Amazon account per person (like with Google and Facebook). I was digging in the Alexa app (which is pretty un-intuitive IMO) and it seems you can set up 'groups' and drop known devices into them which seemed to be what I want ... However, there is no way to just bring in a Hue Hub to a group (I could swear that the hub used to appear as a device but certainly doesn't now) .. you just associate your Hue account with your Amazon account and then the lights on it show up as devices that Alexa knows about. Currently this means that I just have lights in my rented place showing up in the Alexa app because I did those first (many years ago) and much later added Hue lights in my own house on a new Hub. My Hue app has no difficulty understanding that there are two hubs in different locations each with its own set of lights but not the Alexa app which just sees the lights on my original hub.
I'm thinking I can maybe use different Hue accounts on the two hubs in the different locations and associate them both with Alexa thus bringing all my actual light bulbs into Alexa, then sort the lights into the appropriate group. Echo devices CAN be associated with groups so I'm hoping that it's smart enough to only control devices in the same group that the Echo that heard the command is in. It might complicate remote access if the app is using one account and the remote hub is using another, but I don't generally need to remotely access the lights that often.
Same goes for Harmony Remote Control hub .. you associate the Harmony account with Amazon. Again, I have multiple hubs but Alexa seems tied to the original hub I set up .. as with Hue the Harmony App is fine with different hubs in different physical locations, Alexa is not.
Lucas Ayde said:
Credit card details will give it away. They seem to want you to have a single, verified, globally valid Amazon account per person (like with Google and Facebook).
I was digging in the Alexa app (which is pretty un-intuitive IMO) and it seems you can set up 'groups' and drop known devices into them which seemed to be what I want ... However, there is no way to just bring in a Hue Hub to a group (I could swear that the hub used to appear as a device but certainly doesn't now) .. you just associate your Hue account with your Amazon account and then the lights on it show up as devices that Alexa knows about. Currently this means that I just have lights in my rented place showing up in the Alexa app because I did those first (many years ago) and much later added Hue lights in my own house on a new Hub. My Hue app has no difficulty understanding that there are two hubs in different locations each with its own set of lights but not the Alexa app which just sees the lights on my original hub.
I'm thinking I can maybe use different Hue accounts on the two hubs in the different locations and associate them both with Alexa thus bringing all my actual light bulbs into Alexa, then sort the lights into the appropriate group. Echo devices CAN be associated with groups so I'm hoping that it's smart enough to only control devices in the same group that the Echo that heard the command is in. It might complicate remote access if the app is using one account and the remote hub is using another, but I don't generally need to remotely access the lights that often.
Same goes for Harmony Remote Control hub .. you associate the Harmony account with Amazon. Again, I have multiple hubs but Alexa seems tied to the original hub I set up .. as with Hue the Harmony App is fine with different hubs in different physical locations, Alexa is not.
Use a different credit card ( or a debit card) as well?I was digging in the Alexa app (which is pretty un-intuitive IMO) and it seems you can set up 'groups' and drop known devices into them which seemed to be what I want ... However, there is no way to just bring in a Hue Hub to a group (I could swear that the hub used to appear as a device but certainly doesn't now) .. you just associate your Hue account with your Amazon account and then the lights on it show up as devices that Alexa knows about. Currently this means that I just have lights in my rented place showing up in the Alexa app because I did those first (many years ago) and much later added Hue lights in my own house on a new Hub. My Hue app has no difficulty understanding that there are two hubs in different locations each with its own set of lights but not the Alexa app which just sees the lights on my original hub.
I'm thinking I can maybe use different Hue accounts on the two hubs in the different locations and associate them both with Alexa thus bringing all my actual light bulbs into Alexa, then sort the lights into the appropriate group. Echo devices CAN be associated with groups so I'm hoping that it's smart enough to only control devices in the same group that the Echo that heard the command is in. It might complicate remote access if the app is using one account and the remote hub is using another, but I don't generally need to remotely access the lights that often.
Same goes for Harmony Remote Control hub .. you associate the Harmony account with Amazon. Again, I have multiple hubs but Alexa seems tied to the original hub I set up .. as with Hue the Harmony App is fine with different hubs in different physical locations, Alexa is not.
From what I can make out, only lights (or things that can be defined as lights) can be tied to a single group so that they only respond to the Echo device in that group.
It also looks like Alexa can only handle one Harmony hub. I've got 4 Harmony hubs. I did have one of them set up with Alexa (very fiddly process!). Worked for a couple of months, then stopped responding to voice commands.
I've given up trying to get Harmony to work. I now just use a few Switchbot hubs to provide basic switching functions for the TVs, and the Harmony remotes for everything else. I needed the Switchbot hubs to run curtain rail motors anyway, and the IR blaster function is a useful bonus.
Alexa is quite happy to control multiple Switchbot hubs, but the "native" support for IR functions is limited, and using Switchbot scenes via Alexa is very laggy.
Baron Greenback said:
Origin Unknown said:
Been there, my mental clock has improved since getting echo. So many times I ask for timer left and I get you have 8 seconds left of your 20 mins timer I also have an Amazon clock paired with the main echo in the kitchen so I get a visual confirmation of 90% of the timers I set. It eats batteries though, use rechargeables.
I'm not sure when it updated, but I noticed this morning that my Echo Show 5 had some extra icons in the top right, one of them was for widgets. I tried to add one and the screen message said I'd reached the maximum number of widgets and to remove widgets to add another. Apparently the maximum number of widgets on a Show 5 is zero 
. Looked it up and even though the icon and the widgets are there in the menus, Show 5 doesn't support widgets. Weird, but ah well.
. Looked it up and even though the icon and the widgets are there in the menus, Show 5 doesn't support widgets. Weird, but ah well.davek_964 said:
Timothy Bucktu said:
Echo Auto's are now turning up on Facebook Marketplace cheaply enough. I bought a couple for £10 each recently and I've got them in both cars... they work great. They are different to home devices in that they're basically a bluetooth mic and speaker, and use the Alexa app on your phone for all the Alexa things.
It means I can listen to Greatest Hits radio premium without the adverts, which is the main purpose. But you can open Spotify playlists etc. Also good for a quick check on traffic conditions etc.
I've had Echo Auto in all of my cars for a few years now - it is definitely the easiest way to control what you listen to. It means I can listen to Greatest Hits radio premium without the adverts, which is the main purpose. But you can open Spotify playlists etc. Also good for a quick check on traffic conditions etc.
I think that's the same group as Planet Rock which I listen to quite a lot. I looked into the premium version about a year ago, but thought it said that it didn't work on Amazon devices so didn't bother. I guess that is resolved now - is it completely ad free? I'm thinking it might be worth the money to get rid of soooo many annoying ads!
clockworks said:
Lucas Ayde said:
Credit card details will give it away. They seem to want you to have a single, verified, globally valid Amazon account per person (like with Google and Facebook).
I was digging in the Alexa app (which is pretty un-intuitive IMO) and it seems you can set up 'groups' and drop known devices into them which seemed to be what I want ... However, there is no way to just bring in a Hue Hub to a group (I could swear that the hub used to appear as a device but certainly doesn't now) .. you just associate your Hue account with your Amazon account and then the lights on it show up as devices that Alexa knows about. Currently this means that I just have lights in my rented place showing up in the Alexa app because I did those first (many years ago) and much later added Hue lights in my own house on a new Hub. My Hue app has no difficulty understanding that there are two hubs in different locations each with its own set of lights but not the Alexa app which just sees the lights on my original hub.
I'm thinking I can maybe use different Hue accounts on the two hubs in the different locations and associate them both with Alexa thus bringing all my actual light bulbs into Alexa, then sort the lights into the appropriate group. Echo devices CAN be associated with groups so I'm hoping that it's smart enough to only control devices in the same group that the Echo that heard the command is in. It might complicate remote access if the app is using one account and the remote hub is using another, but I don't generally need to remotely access the lights that often.
Same goes for Harmony Remote Control hub .. you associate the Harmony account with Amazon. Again, I have multiple hubs but Alexa seems tied to the original hub I set up .. as with Hue the Harmony App is fine with different hubs in different physical locations, Alexa is not.
Use a different credit card ( or a debit card) as well?I was digging in the Alexa app (which is pretty un-intuitive IMO) and it seems you can set up 'groups' and drop known devices into them which seemed to be what I want ... However, there is no way to just bring in a Hue Hub to a group (I could swear that the hub used to appear as a device but certainly doesn't now) .. you just associate your Hue account with your Amazon account and then the lights on it show up as devices that Alexa knows about. Currently this means that I just have lights in my rented place showing up in the Alexa app because I did those first (many years ago) and much later added Hue lights in my own house on a new Hub. My Hue app has no difficulty understanding that there are two hubs in different locations each with its own set of lights but not the Alexa app which just sees the lights on my original hub.
I'm thinking I can maybe use different Hue accounts on the two hubs in the different locations and associate them both with Alexa thus bringing all my actual light bulbs into Alexa, then sort the lights into the appropriate group. Echo devices CAN be associated with groups so I'm hoping that it's smart enough to only control devices in the same group that the Echo that heard the command is in. It might complicate remote access if the app is using one account and the remote hub is using another, but I don't generally need to remotely access the lights that often.
Same goes for Harmony Remote Control hub .. you associate the Harmony account with Amazon. Again, I have multiple hubs but Alexa seems tied to the original hub I set up .. as with Hue the Harmony App is fine with different hubs in different physical locations, Alexa is not.
From what I can make out, only lights (or things that can be defined as lights) can be tied to a single group so that they only respond to the Echo device in that group.
It also looks like Alexa can only handle one Harmony hub. I've got 4 Harmony hubs. I did have one of them set up with Alexa (very fiddly process!). Worked for a couple of months, then stopped responding to voice commands.
I've given up trying to get Harmony to work. I now just use a few Switchbot hubs to provide basic switching functions for the TVs, and the Harmony remotes for everything else. I needed the Switchbot hubs to run curtain rail motors anyway, and the IR blaster function is a useful bonus.
Alexa is quite happy to control multiple Switchbot hubs, but the "native" support for IR functions is limited, and using Switchbot scenes via Alexa is very laggy.
Yeah, I also have Harmony Hubs. In my case, three of them with two at my own house and one at my rented place. Currently it's again the rented place that has the associated Hub. I do remember it being very fiddly to get going with Alexa (as well as it 'breaking' a couple of times) and to be honest, I just never found it convenient to use voice control with it anyway. The most useful thing was a 'going to bed' Alexa routine that had the Harmony switch everything A/V off in conjunction with Hue turning off the lights in my living room and turning on a lamp in the bedroom.
Echo/Alexa is very good when it meshes properly with gadgets and early on they made great strides and improvements in using it as a home automation 'gateway'. Then they seemed to drop the ball in terms of making it talk to third party products.
CallMeLegend said:
The Echo Auto 2 is 50% off on amazon at the moment. Just bought one for the camoer van, the amount of times we've gone "Alexa....ALEXA....oh
s
tsticks"
Seemed daft not too, given 2nd hand ones on EBAY are more than that
Would an Echo Auto do anything I can't do in the car with Android Auto connected on my phone?s
tsticks"Seemed daft not too, given 2nd hand ones on EBAY are more than that
Edited by CallMeLegend on Thursday 14th December 14:57
Timothy Bucktu said:
Yes, you just link the Greatest Hits skill to Alexa and hey presto...no more ads. There's loads of radio stations under that brand now...Absolute, Planet Rock, Kiss, Magic etc, all ad free with premium.
Cheers - signed up yesterday. Should have done it ages ago - it's bliss!davek_964 said:
Timothy Bucktu said:
Yes, you just link the Greatest Hits skill to Alexa and hey presto...no more ads. There's loads of radio stations under that brand now...Absolute, Planet Rock, Kiss, Magic etc, all ad free with premium.
Cheers - signed up yesterday. Should have done it ages ago - it's bliss!CallMeLegend said:
The Echo Auto 2 is 50% off on amazon at the moment. Just bought one for the camoer van, the amount of times we've gone "Alexa....ALEXA....oh
ststicks"
Seemed daft not too, given 2nd hand ones on EBAY are more than that
I bought one at that prices
tsticks"Seemed daft not too, given 2nd hand ones on EBAY are more than that
Edited by CallMeLegend on Thursday 14th December 14:57
No idea what I can do with it yet!, 2014 Skoda / bluetooth connected & iphone
Spotify/Waze/LBC radio catchup/Hive
I guess I can do all that, with a bit of setup?
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