Yoursmart speakeris getting smarter — and part of that involves taking over what ’s on the big TV screen sat in the corner of your living room . you may buy Google Homes and Amazon Echos with screens built - in , but here ’s how to use them with a disjoined display , whether you require to watch picture or see the weather condition forecast .
These utterer ca n’t magically take over your tv lay out by themselves of course : In the case of Google Home , you ’re sound to necessitate a link up Chromecast for the speaker to communicate with . For an Amazon Echo , you want an Amazon Fire TV gadget of some verbal description plug away into your telly .
With all that hardware setup make forethought of , and all your twist cop up to the same Google or Amazon accounts and the same Wi - Fi internet , here ’s what to do next .
Photo: Adam Clark Estes (Gizmodo)
Google Home
Before you commence beaming contentedness to your television from your Google Home via your Chromecast , open up the Google Home app . unfold the app menu , tap Devices , and check that your Chromecast has a name that ’s easy to say ( like “ bedroom”)—if not , tap the three dots , then background , and give it one .
If you go into More context then Music and Videos and Photos , you may tie in your Google Home to your Spotify , Netflix , and Google Photos accounts . YouTube works automatically , no setup required ; Google Play Movies & TV is n’t yet enabled .
With all that done , you ’re ready to start up some cast . YouTube is a wide-eyed place to get going : try on “ OK Google , play R.E.M. on YouTube on sleeping accommodation ” , replacing the Athens circle with whoever you want to hear and “ bedroom ” with whatever your Chromecast is call .
Add the accounts you can before you get started.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
You ca n’t really be all that specific — we repeatedly tried and failed to get our own YouTube videos to show up — but just say any form of search terminal figure and you ’ll see a premix of clips . Bands , positron emission tomography , places in the human race , celebrities … Google Home can infer all these as search terms and will find fault a selection of YouTube clip for you .
If you ’ve got Netflix link , you may say the name of a show . So , “ OK Google , bring House of Cards on Netflix on bedroom ” will impart up the political thriller on your television , carrying on from wherever you left off . You do take to specify a show or a movie — you ca n’t just open up up Netflix and have a browse .
Commands like “ OK Google , next episode ” , “ OK Google , previous episode ” , “ OK Google , tight forward ” , and “ OK Google , rewind ” will work with Netflix . Back in YouTube , you’re able to say “ next clip ” and “ old clip ” to move through a mix , as well as “ loyal forwards ” and “ rewind ” to voyage through a television , always using the “ OK Google ” call first .
Google Home can load up Netflix episodes and control playback.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
Then there ’s music : you may call up playlists , bands , songs , even genres on either Spotify or Google Play Music . A typical command might be “ OK Google , play the Smashing Pumpkins on Spotify on bedroom ” , though you could of trend conform that in multiple ways — just verify you pick an app and a Chromecast .
Spotify is better when you want to be less specific : “ OK Google , play recommended music ” work on Spotify but not on Google Play Music . In both apps , you could say “ OK Google , next birdsong ” and “ OK Google , previous Sung ” to move around a playlist , while the same fast forward and rewind mastery that work for video body of work for strain too . In all of these video and music apps , “ OK Google , intermission ” and “ OK Google , drama ” work as well .
As for Google Photos , you may apply “ OK Google , show my picture on bedroom ” to get your pictures up on the large blind . The same instruction ferment if you tote up in the name of an record album , or a place you ’ve been to , or even a person in your exposure , with a simple slideshow cycling through all the matches .
Spotify can also be controlled on a Chromecast via Google Home.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
More functionality isrolling out , but Google has n’t made it official yet , and it is n’t available everywhere : hear “ OK Google , show me the weather on my telecasting ” and see if you ’re in circumstances . If you are , you ’ll see a forecast come out on the big CRT screen . More options , like casting calendars and search consequence to the big screen , are ostensibly on the way , but Google has n’t flicked whatever switch it take to yet to activate the functionality .
Amazon Echo
Over on the Amazon side of the fence , anyFire TVstick or box with a voice control push on its remote has Alexa on dining table itself , so you may simply hold the remote control up and talk into it . However , you may also send commands from any Amazon Echo , saving you the trouble of lifting a finger .
If everything is connect to the same Wi - Fi meshing and the same Amazon account , your devices should synchronise automatically . If you ’ve got more than one Fire TV in the house , you need to enjoin your Echo which one to work with through the Alexa mobile app on your sound : Choose Music & Books from the menu , then your Fire television , then oversee twist to nail the link .
Now you ’re ready to go . The alternative of Echo instruction is n’t as wide as the alternative on Google Home — you ca n’t meet music on a Fire TV through your Echo , for example — but there ’s still plenty you could do .
Your Echo can load up Netflix shows, but you need another command to play them.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
Try “ hey Alexa , play The Man in the High Castle on Fire TV”—it opens right up from where you left off inside the Amazon Prime Video app . you’re able to pick out any single show or movie in this way , though it does n’t work quite as well for Netflix , and Amazon and Google are havinga individual tiff over YouTube , so that ’s out too .
you’re able to say “ hey Alexa , play Stranger affair on Netflix on Fire TV ” , but you only get the title stretch up and ready to play — playback does n’t get immediately , so you still require to hit play on your remote or say “ hey Alexa , play ” , which to us seems to be a rather unnecessary extra measure .
Search is a bit more comprehensive : you may say “ hey Alexa , show me movies with Tom Hanks ” or “ show me clowning films ” , though you only get Prime Video and digital purchase choice — the search does n’t extend into your other apps . you’re able to get your Echo to open any app on your Fire television receiver ( “ hey Alexa , open Hulu ” ) but that ’s as far as it move .
Searching from an Amazon Echo works well, though Amazon’s services are prioritized.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
Some commands lick in every app , whether you ’re launch them via the Echo or not . Saying “ hey Alexa , interruption ” or “ hey Alexa , play ” works in all the medicine and video apps we tried , as do fast onward and rewind commands . Meanwhile other commands , including “ hey Alexa , take in from start ” and “ hey Alexa , go to the next instalment ” only work in Prime Video .
As with much on the Amazon Echo , it ’s all very ready to hand if you spend a lot of metre in Amazon ’s own apps , but less utilitarian for anything else — whether that ’s Amazon ’s faulting or the third - party app manufacturer is hard to say . Still , you may always control the basic of hunting and playback on whatever app you ’re using .
The Alexa restraint is more comprehensive if you have an Alexa - enabled remote control with your Fire TV : Holding down the Alexa button on the remote and saying “ play music from the Smashing Pumpkins ” will open up a mixture of tunes on your Fire telecasting , for example ( in Amazon Music Unlimited , of course ) . If you say the same command to an Echo , playback is bound to the Echo itself .
Your Echo can control music playback, but it needs to be launched from the Fire TV remote.Photo: David Nield (Gizmodo)
With more speaker system appearing from Google and Amazon , with and without integrated screens , it ’s in all likelihood this sort of functionality will get extended in the hereafter — but the more third - political party apps and services that can be integrate , the better , otherwise it ’s often just easier to contact for the remote .
AlexaAmazon EchoAmazon Fire TVConsumer TechGoogle Home
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