Amazon's Alexa can now play Apple Podcasts on Echo devices
William Gallagher
The whole of Apple's Podcasts library is now available on Amazon Echo devices and can be played by asking Alexa for particular shows or episodes.
In a similar move to how Apple Music became available on Amazon Echo earlier this year, now Podcasts have come too.
Once set up, users can simply ask Alexa to play a podcast, and then also have more specific controls such as pausing, or skipping back and forth through episodes.
It works with Amazon Echo or Amazon Fire TV, and requires the latest versions of both iOS and the Alexa app. Currently it also only works within the US.
In the Amazon Alexa app on iOS, users need to first add a skill called Apple Podcasts.
From then on, it will work and respond to requests to play shows such as the weekly AppleInsider podcast. However, each request has to include the words "on Apple Podcasts".
To change that, users need to make Apple Podcasts be the default player. In the iOS Amazon Alexa app, a New Service has to be added under the Music & Podcasts, Services section.
When signed in with a US Apple ID, there is the option to Select Default Service and set it to Apple Podcasts.
Wesley Hilliard
Amber Neely
Malcolm Owen
