How to Use Alexa to Control Amazon Fire TV

Link Your Fire TV With Alexa

Amazon's Alexa-enabled devices, such as the Echo and Tap smart speakers, allow you to control several devices with just the sound of your voice, including the Fire TV line of products. All you need to control your Fire TV device in this manner is a supported Alexa-enabled device and a shared Wi-Fi connection.

To control your Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, or Fire TV Edition television through your Alexa-enabled device, you first need to link them together. You cannot use certain Alexa-enabled apps and devices to control your Fire TV, such as the Alexa app, the Amazon Shopping app, and Amazon Fire tablets.

1. Open the Alexa app on your Android or iOS device.
2. Select the menu button, represented by three horizontal lines located in the upper left-hand corner of the screen.
3. When the drop-down menu appears, select Music, Video & Books.
4. Choose the fireTV option, found within the Video section.
5. Select Link Your Alexa Device.
6. Select the device that you want to link with Alexa in the list of your available Fire TV devices and choose Continue.
7. Select one or more devices that you'd like to use to control the Fire TV and choose Link Devices.
8. An updated list of your linked devices will appear within the app. From this screen, you can unlink a device or link another Fire TV to Alexa if you wish.

Find and Watch Movies and TV Shows

Alexa understands many useful voice commands to control your Fire TV, including the following group, which allows you to search for and play movies and TV shows by title, actor, or genre.

If your Alexa-enabled device has a video screen, such as the Echo Show, then you should quantify the commands below by adding the words "on Fire TV" to the end of each. If not, the movie or TV show may wind up playing on your device instead of your television.

• Watch [movie or TV show title]: Launches a particular movie or show from Amazon Video or another supported app.
• Play [movie or TV show title] on [app name]: Launches a movie or show from the app of your choice.
• Play [genre] on [app name]: Shows a list of movies and TV shows from a particular genre within the app of your choice (i.e., Play comedy on Amazon Video).
• Search for [movie or TV show title] or Search for [movie or TV show title] on [app name]: Lets you find movies or shows from one or more apps on your Fire TV device, based on the title.
• Show me titles with [actor/actress name]: Returns a list of movies and shows featuring a specific actor or actress.
• Find [actor/actress name] movies on [app name]: Performs the same function as the previous command, but only displays titles available within a specific app.

Controlling Video Playback With Alexa

After you've found the show or movie you'd like to watch, you can also control its playback by speaking the following commands in the direction of your smart speaker or another Alexa-enabled device. In the case of Fire TV Edition televisions, this would be the TV itself.

• Play
• Stop
• Pause
• Resume
• Rewind [specific timeframe]
• Fast Forward [specific timeframe]
• Watch from beginning
• Next Episode

Miscellaneous Commands

You can also use the following Alexa commands to control your Fire TV.

• Watch [channel or network name]: This command only works when running an app that supports live TV access
• Open [app name]: Loads the introductory details screen for any app currently installed on your Fire TV
• Go Home: Returns to the main Fire TV Home screen