So you just unwrapped an AmazonAlexa, Echo, or EchoDot—maybe someone who really gets you gifted one, or perhaps the holidays inspired you to treat yo’ self. Don’t start the new year with the smart speaker still sitting in its box. Setting it up to play classic, pop, and everything else is a done deal in three steps.
Spotify is now free on mobile and tablet. Listen to the right music, wherever you are. With Spotify, you have access to a world of music. You can listen to artists and albums, or create your own. You can access your Spotify account from within the Amazon Fire TV Stick. Pandora, YouTube, Tidal, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio and TuneIn also have apps for the Stick too. Depending on what apps are being preloaded at the time, some will already be installed. Otherwise, access the App Store on your Fire TV Stick, install the relevant app, log into your account and begin streaming.
What you’ll need: your new device, the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone or tablet, and your Spotify login info. Here’s how to connect Amazon Alexa to Spotify:
Spotify App For Fire Tablet
- First, download the Amazon Alexa app from the Google Play or App store, and follow the prompts to set up your new Amazon Echo or Echo Dot.
- Once connected, go to “Settings,” select “Music,” click “Link New Service,” and then tap “Spotify” to input your Spotify username and password.
- Select “Default Services” to set Spotify as your default music service—et voilà.
Bonus hack: Once Alexa is up and running, you can even listen to another user’s Spotify account. Just ask Alexa to “Spotify Connect,” and the device will search for another one on the same Wi-Fi network. Stealing your holiday houseguests’ excellent playlists is encouraged.
Ready? Try asking Alexa to play the very best of your library, or help you discover something new, by saying:
“Alexa…”
- “Play Spotify.”
- “Play my Discover Weekly.”
- “Play hip-hop music.”
- “Pause.”
- “Resume Spotify.”
- “Like this song.”
- “Play the next song.”
- “What’s playing?”
- “What’s this album?”
The Spotify app for the Fire TV has been disappointing ever since it was released in September 2014. That’s because it was nothing more than a companion app to their smartphone apps which acted as a receiver for your music stream. That changes this week because the Fire TV Spotify app has been updated to a full featured stand alone app. Even better is the app no longer requires a premium paid Spotify subscription.
Once you login to the app, you’ll be able to stream music from numerous playlists and categories directly through the Fire TV. Front and center in the app is a list of popular playlists. Scrolling right is an area for genres and moods. All the way on the far right lives a list of new releases. The app also has a “Your Music” section as well as search. The search feature breaks down results into songs, albums, and playlists. If you don’t have a premium account, you will hear the occasional commercial, but the free music selection is impressive. Exiting the app while music is playing will keep the music playing, even when you enter other apps, like games. Unfortunately, Spotify through Alexa on the Fire TV is still not available.
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ShareTweetShare+1kadafisays:March 5, 2016 at 1:41 pmSeems pretty buggy. The interface is really laggy for me, I rebooted and then re-launched the app and it only displayed on the top half of my tv.
ReplyRaysays:March 5, 2016 at 1:46 pm Same for me. Kinda thinking maybe it’s only FireOS 5.0.5 compatible
Replykadafisays:March 5, 2016 at 1:57 pm Maybe, I’m on a ftv1 51.1.5.0
ReplyJoão Deirósays:March 5, 2016 at 5:41 pm Worked just fine for me with Fire OS 5.0.5.
I feel sorry for the Emma developer, because his app is dead.
ReplyJohnsays:March 6, 2016 at 6:18 am The update works on my old Fire Stick with 5.0.5. But the user interface is horrible. I am a premium subscriber and have hundreds of playlists, primarily organized in playlist folders and subfolders for easy organization. Using the updated app on my Fire Stick, playlist folder(s) are ignored and my playlists are all in one horizontal scrolling line. Think of the Amazon Prime Video Watchlist scrolling line. To get to a playlist near the end of this line, I’d have to hold down the scrolling button on my remote for a long time. On my phone, or computer, I can access any playlist in no more than 4 taps.
I find it’s easier to just select a playlist from my computer or phone and “play through” my Fire Stick, with the audio coming through my home audio system.
Also, there’s no option to scrobble my tracks to my Last.fm account, as there is when I play through my computer or phone.
Finally (for now), I can’t access my account settings via the updated app.
This update is very disappointing. I hope they work on a fix soon.
ReplyRgnKjnVAsays:March 6, 2016 at 1:39 pm It’s now the app we wanted originally. Nice [FTVv1 OSv5.0.5]
ReplyBriansays:March 7, 2016 at 9:41 pm I have to agree … why not have content available similar to app. I’m a Premium user and to find anything is a chore. Also I can not find my saved albums or Artists. This appears to be watered down version of the Spotify app.
Replyjohnnysays:Spotify App Amazon Fire Stick Tv
November 19, 2016 at 1:03 amNoticing that Spotify now scrobbles to Last.fm via the Spotify app on Amazon Fire TV. Must have just happened recently because I know even a few weeks ago this wasn’t the case.
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