how do i download the latest alexa app How do i download the latest alexa app. Dummies has always stood for taking on complex concepts and making them easy to understand. Dummies helps everyone be more knowledgeable and confident in applying what they know. Whether it’s to pass that big test, qualify for that big promotion or even master that cooking technique; people who rely on dummies, rely on it to learn the critical skills and relevant information necessary for success. Learning Made Easy. Copyright © 2021 & Trademark by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. How To Install on ANY Android Phone. Amazon has now made Alexa available to ALL Android phones via the official Amazon Alexa app, which you can now pick up inside the Google Play Store . Previously, the Amazon Alexa app could only be used to interact with /Dot products. A recent update had changed all that, however, making the Alexa app a fully-fledged personal assistant – just like Google Assistant. It works on ALL Android phones too, so even if you’re not using one from our Best Android Phone Guide you can still get in on the action! In order for the app to work properly, the app needs to be open. This is unfortunately just a reality of Alexa not being hard-wired into Android’s source code. It’s an app and it works like an app, which means when the app is closed Alexa will not respond. Alexa is slowly starting to appear inside a few non-Amazon products. Huawei’s Mate 9 phone was the first Android phone to ship with Alexa and I expect we’ll see plenty more phones ship with her in the future, as more and more brands strive to get away from Google’s grip. What Can Amazon Alexa Do? Glad you asked! here’s a breakdown of just a few of things Alexa can do: CONNECT WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS – With the Alexa App, you can call and message Amazon Echo device owners and anyone else with the Alexa App on their phones. When you’re away from home, use the app to make a quick call or send a message to your family’s Echo. Use Drop In to instantly connect with your devices for a call. For example, you can drop in to let the family know it’s time for dinner or check in on the baby’s nursery. ALWAYS READY, CONNECTED, AND FAST – For Alexa device owners, the free Amazon Alexa App is a companion to your Alexa device for setup, remote control, and enhanced features. Alexa is always ready to play your favorite music, provide weather and news updates, answer questions, create lists, and much more. Alexa’s brain is in the cloud, so she continually learns and adds more functionality over time. The more you use Alexa, the more she adapts to your speech patterns, vocabulary, and personal preferences. HOW IT WORKS – Interactions with devices with Alexa are automatically mirrored visually on your Amazon Alexa App, providing more information as you want it. The Amazon Alexa App lets you easily manage your alarms, music, shopping lists, and more — wherever you are. Obviously, if you want the full-fat Alexa experience in your home, you’re 100% better off getting one of Amazon’s dedicated Alexa devices – the Echo, the Dot, etc. These types of devices are getting increasingly more popular as more and more features and abilities are added. I have an Amazon Dot in my kitchen, and I use it pretty much every time I’m in there. It controls my lights, my music, it answers my questions, and it books me Ubers. And because I’ve been using it for years, Alexa now knows me pretty much inside out, so I can get super-personalized recommendations to my queries. I do think I prefer Amazon’s Alexa to both Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri – it just seems more useful for everyday things. It’s also far less buggy too. You Can Now Download the Amazon Alexa App on Windows 10. Tom Westrick has been writing about technology professionally since 2014, but he started poking and prodding at electronics as a teenager. His work has been published on Android Central, iMore, and Windows Central. When he's not writing, Tom is a Tier-1 Help Desk Technician, songwriter, and guitar player. Read more. Amazon Alexa has been available on a few Windows 10 laptops , but starting today, anyone with a Windows 10 PC can download the Alexa app from the Store . Alexa on your desktop or laptop works much the same way it does on your Echo smart speakers: you ask Alexa what the weather is, tell it to control your smart lights, and play some music from Amazon Music — if you subscribe to that. If your laptop or desk has support for waking up for commands, you can also use Alexa to wake your PC up for commands . Speaking of Cortana, Amazon and Microsoft collaborated on integrating the two smart assistants . Users could (and still can) launch Cortana, then ask Cortana to give Alexa a command. That’s not going away, but with Alexa available as an app that anyone could download on any laptop or desktop, it’s hard to imagine that feature will be used much going forward. The same integration let Alexa users ask to give Cortana a command, but it’s hard to imagine anyone actually doing that. Amazon notes that the experience of using Alexa on a PC isn’t too different compared to using it on other platforms, but it’s planning to add PC- specific capabilities to the voice assistant in early 2019. It’s anyone’s guess as to what those are, but we should find out soon enough. How to Use Alexa on a Fire Tablet. Amazon's digital assistant Alexa started out on its Echo speaker, and the mega-retailer added its personal aide to Fire tablets in 2016. The one catch, though, is that it's not as easy to summon Alexa from these slates as it is from the Echo. When we first tried to test it out, Alexa wouldn't summon to our touch (we wish it would respond to simply talking, but that might confuse your Alexa-based speakers) which is how we learned that you may need to change certain settings for your tablet to work with Alexa. Here's everything you need to know about using Alexa on a Fire tablet. 1. Hold down on the Home button. If the navigation bar is not visible, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to reveal it. 2. A glowing blue line should appear, (if it doesn't, skip to How to Enable Alexa), signifying Alexa is ready to hear you. 3. Ask Alexa for something , here I asked about about the weather. 4. For more Alexa controls, open the Alexa app from the home screen. Here, you can manage Siri's settings, connected skills and edit reminders and alarms. How to Enable Alexa. There's a chance your system needs to be updated to get the Alexa feature. Here's how to perform a system update. 1. Swipe down from the top of the screen. 2. Select Settings. 3. Tap Device Options. 4. Make sure the Alexa switch is turned on. 5. If there is no Alexa switch, tap System Updates. 6. Tap Check Now, and follow the instructions. If you still don't see the blue line when you hold down the Home button, you might need to disable parental controls. How to Disable Parental Controls. 1. Swipe down from the top of the screen. 2. Tap the settings icon. 3. Under Personal, tap Parental Controls. 4. Enter your password. 5. Disable the Parental Controls setting. You must disable parental controls for if you want Alexa, as there's no granular setting to make it available. How to Connect Alexa to Your Computer. This article explains how to use Alexa with either your Windows 10 PC or Mac. If you have a Windows 10 PC, you probably already have the Alexa app for Windows 10. You can use it alone or you can connect your Amazon Echo devices to your PC or Mac, too. How to Set Up Alexa for PC. If you do have the Alexa app for Windows 10 (or obtain it down the road), you must set it up yourself to begin using it. Select Start, then select the Alexa on Windows app. Select Set up Amazon Alexa when the setup screen appears. Select Continue on the Terms and Conditions screen. Select the settings you want, then select Finish Setup . If you’re not sure which settings you should choose, don’t worry, as you can change these later. Select Sign In to sign in to your Amazon account, or Create a New Amazon Account if you don’t have an account yet. After the initial login, Alexa is always ready on your computer. To use Alexa for PC, start by saying the wake word ( “ Alexa , ” "Ziggy," "Computer," "Echo," or "Amazon") followed by a command. Alternatively, select the Alexa on Windows icon to start the app. Some features available on Echo devices are not supported by Alexa for PC. For example, you might be able to see your shopping list on your PC but you can't edit the list there. Instead, you must make changes through the Alexa app. Use Alexa as Your Computer Speaker. If you have an Echo device and your computer is Bluetooth-enabled, you can pair them and use your Alexa device as a speaker for your computer. How to Pair a Windows PC With an Echo. Log in to your Alexa account by going to alexa.amazon.com. Select Settings in the left pane. Choose your Echo in the list of devices. Select Bluetooth. Select Pair a New Device ; Alexa will search for available devices. Go to your computer’s Search box, which may be in the Start menu. Type Bluetooth and go to the Bluetooth Settings in System Settings. Make sure Bluetooth is on and your computer is discoverable. Select Add Bluetooth or Other Device ; choose Bluetooth under Device Type. Select your Echo in the list of devices and select Done . Your computer is now connected to your Echo as a speaker. How to Pair an Echo With a Mac. Log in to your Alexa account by going to alexa.amazon.com. Select Settings in the left pane. Choose your Echo in the list of devices. Select Bluetooth . Select Pair a New Device ; Alexa will search for available devices. Select the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar. Choose Connect and follow the onscreen instructions to set up the device. Choose Apple menu , select System Preferences , then Select Sound . Select Output , then choose your Echo in the list of devices. Turn on Your PC Using Alexa. While you cannot turn on a powered-down computer with an Alexa-enabled device, you can wake your sleeping or hibernating PC. To do so, you need to enable Wake on LAN, set up an IFTTT recipe, and connect with IFTTT through an SMS, your Android device, and computer. Enable Wake on LAN. Type Device Manager in the Start search box and press Enter . Double-click Network Adapters . Double-click the device name, go to the Power Management tab, then select all the check boxes. Go to the Advanced tab, select Wait for Link , then select On in the drop-down menu. Select Wake on Magic Packet , then select Enabled in the drop-down menu. Select OK . Create an IFTTT Recipe. You need to use IFTTT to connect Amazon Alexa to Android SMS. Select Search , then enter Alexa trigger pc . Select the Alexa, Trigger PC On applet and enable it. Enter the phrase you want to say to turn on your PC; type in your phone number and select Save . Connect Tasker and IFTTT. Install the Wake on LAN app and the Tasker app (currently $2.99) onto your Android device. Connect your Android phone to the same network as your PC. Open the Wake on LAN app and click the + in the lower right corner. Choose your computer from the list of devices. Open Tasker and go to the Tasks panel. Tap the + to add a new task and enter a name for the task. Tap the + again and choose Plugin . Tap Wake on LAN . Tap Edit and select your computer from the list of devices. Go to the Profiles panel, tap the + , then choose Event . Tap Phone , then Received Text . Tap Search to the right of Sender. Find and select your own contact info. Go back to the Profiles panel and tap PC On (Or WoL) from the drop-down list. Make sure the profile is toggled on and exit Tasker. Once you have it all set up, you can say, “Alexa, trigger PC on" to wake your sleeping or hibernating computer.