How to link Apple Music to your Amazon Echo
Ditch Siri for Alexa.
Listen up, Apple Music subscribers—the Homepod ( go. macworld.com/hmpr) isn’t the only smart speaker that can handle your tunes anymore. Apple has teamed up with Amazon to allow streaming on Echo devices ( go.macworld. com/eshw), so all of your songs, albums, and playlists are good to go. Here’s how to set it all up:
1. Open the Alexa app on your iphone or Android phone.
2. Tap the menu icon in the top left corner.
3. Navigate to Settings.
4. Tap Music under Alexa Preferences.
5. Tap the plus symbol next to Link
New Service.
6. Select Apple Music.
7. Enter your username and password and two-factor authentication code.
8. Tap Enable to Use on the Alexa Skill page.
9. Tap Allow on the Apple authentication page.
And that’s it. Now you can say, “Alexa, play ‘Imagine’ by Ariana Grande on Apple Music” and it’ll start playing. You can also ask Alexa to stream playlists, charts, and Beats 1 radio. But saying “Apple Music” every time isn’t fun. Thankfully Amazon lets you set a default music service on your Echo (unlike on the Homepod), so here’s how to do that:
1. Go to Settings in the Alexa app.
2. Tap Music and scroll down to Default Services.
3. Choose Apple Music as the default music library and default station.
Now just ask Alexa to play something and it will search Apple Music rather than Amazon Music or Spotify. Depending on your Echo, the song may not sound as good as it would on the Homepod, but any Echo you buy will be a lot cheaper. And besides, you can always hook up a Bluetooth speaker to amplify the sound. ■