Wife wants Echo- but all we have is iOS/OSX in the house

[appstate]

So the wife has hinted (err- I mean told me) that she wants an Amazon Echo for the house.

I'm all about buying tech gadgets, but we have iPhones, iPads, and a couple Mac laptops and an iMac.... so we're in the iOS/OSX world.

Just last month I bought a new TV that has AndroidTV on it... which is the only non-Apple OS.

I've read some reviews on the Echo, but I'm curious to know why Apple has ignored this space and do they plan to release some type of competitor to the Echo or Google Home?

 

[comics addict]

Who knows when/if Apple moves into this space. I would worry more about getting my wife that gadget that she asked for than pondering when I would be able to get a apple branded competitor

 

[appstate]

I hear ya! But I wanted to make sure if we get something outside the ioS/OSX world, it will actually work (well) with iTunes.

She'll want to use her playlists, etc.

 

[caligurl]

You're screwed! Haven't you ever heard: Happy wife, happy life! ?????

You'll be buying an Echo!

(I don't understand the whole Echo or google home thingy.... I have Siri right on my wrist... why do I need some tower thingy in my house listening to everything? )

 

[rockyromero]

(I don't understand the whole Echo or google home thingy.... I have Siri right on my wrist... why do I need some tower thingy in my house listening to everything? )

You're correct.

Airpods are the answer to the Echo.

Airpods with an AW is a better combo for private listening and commands, everywhere.

Although, I get that occasionally there is a need for an external speaker.

I'm trying to figure out how to use idle iPads as remote speakers. There must be a way that someone cleverly makes this happen. We can airplay to a TV, so how do I airplay to an iPad?

Happy wife issue solved.

➰


Update: answered my own question.

There is a way to stream to an idle IOS device:

http://ios.wonderhowto.com/how-to/t...irplay-receiver-without-jailbreaking-0156869/

I'll experiment with this.

Happy husband issue solved.

➰

 

[bopajuice]

I have been experimenting with Amazon Prime for about a month or so now, and found their music offerings match just about everything in my iTunes library. The Echo will play Amazon Prime music natively. Might be worth a look.

 

[AlliFlowers]

I love my Dot. Every morning before I even open my eyes I am Alexa for the weather. It's more dependable than Siri. If I feel like music, Alexa takes care of that, too.

Get her what she wants.

 

[Weaselboy]

I hear ya! But I wanted to make sure if we get something outside the ioS/OSX world, it will actually work (well) with iTunes.

She'll want to use her playlists, etc.

It won't work directly with iTunes. You can use the Echo as a BT speaker then stream to it from iTunes though. Or you can upload your iTunes music to Amazon and the Echo will play that directly. I have an Echo in and all Apple stuff house and really like it. I just use Amazon Music and not iTunes though.

This might help you.

 

[gertruded]

Remember: Apple will continue to get further and further behind as the company is being harvested by Wall Street for short term profits and stock price. Getting out of the Mac business, raising prices to absurd levels, stopping development of airport express and monitors, falling behind on iPhone features, QC problems, as well as massive stock buybacks point directly to the bean counters having taken over the company.

We have all seen this with so many tech companies. It seems to be Apple's turn.

 

[Crazy Badger]

I live in a Apple house, with iOS, macOS and tvOS devices, but recently picked up a Amazon Echo and love it. Controls a number of plug sockets and Philips Hue lights much better than Siri, and I just need to talk rather than having my phone to hand and pressing buttons. It would be better if it searched Google rather than Bing, but that's pretty unlikely given Googles move into the space.

I'm trialing Amazon Music Unlimited (didn't keep Apple Music after trial) and think I'll keep it for a little longer as I like just been asking Alexa to play a track and have found we listen to more music in the house and watch less TV. Some of the less advertised stuff is good too, and I love th shopping list where you can just ask Alexa to add stuff as you use it. The app then lets you check stuff off as you stroll around the supermarket

 

[phrehdd]

Remember: Apple will continue to get further and further behind as the company is being harvested by Wall Street for short term profits and stock price. Getting out of the Mac business, raising prices to absurd levels, stopping development of airport express and monitors, falling behind on iPhone features, QC problems, as well as massive stock buybacks point directly to the bean counters having taken over the company.

We have all seen this with so many tech companies. It seems to be Apple's turn.

Yep, Apple is now 'just another company.'

 

[rockyromero]

Apple will continue to get further and further behind as the company is being harvested by Wall Street for short term profits and stock price. Getting out of the Mac business, raising prices to absurd levels, stopping development of airport express and monitors, falling behind on iPhone features, QC problems, as well as massive stock buybacks point directly to the bean counters having taken over the company.

Okay.

Besides you, does anyone else know about this?

Hold on.

For a few years more.

➰

 

[BWhaler]

We are an all Apple house—which is getting harder and harder given Apple's buggy software and tepid innovation—but we have the Echo Dot and it's amazing. Better than Siri in speed and recognition, and the always listening is powerful.

 

[talmy]

We also are an Apple house (2 iPhones, 2 iPads, 2 iMacs, 2 MacBook Pro/Air, AEBS) but bought a Echo. It's very convenient to use but does not integrate with iTunes, Calendar, or Reminders (it uses Amazon Prime for music and Google for calendar and reminders). Not a big problem -- to add to the reminders list it's just "Hey Siri" with an iPad in the room and "Alexa" for most everything else. The Echo is a great product. (Amazon also makes the best readers.)

 

[MacManTexas56]

So the wife has hinted (err- I mean told me) that she wants an Amazon Echo for the house.

I'm all about buying tech gadgets, but we have iPhones, iPads, and a couple Mac laptops and an iMac.... so we're in the iOS/OSX world.

Just last month I bought a new TV that has AndroidTV on it... which is the only non-Apple OS.

I've read some reviews on the Echo, but I'm curious to know why Apple has ignored this space and do they plan to release some type of competitor to the Echo or Google Home?

We are an all Apple house until recently. We've got a mac mini, MacBook air, 2 iPhones, 2 iPads, time capsule, 3 airport express, 3 apple tv's, apple watch.

I'm really tired of waiting on Apple when there is awesome technology out there right now. Apple is so restrictive on everything they do. So even if they do come out with something, you have to do it all on their terms. Just think of homekit....

i've been starting to convert the house a little bit with home automation so i have an echo dot and several google homes. Actually had a big echo, but returned it bc we kept having connectivity issues. Still have those issues with the echo dot as well...has a hard time staying connected to the internet. IMO, the echo is really just "dumb" in my opinion. You have to directly ask it a question in a specific format or it has no clue what you are saying. Google home is smarter IMO and understands what you are saying....more like a conversation. Where with echo, it's literally like talking to a robot.

Each device has it's benefits, but i honestly prefer the google home. I also have a smart things hub an harmony hub so am able to control my tv setup with the google home as well. The echo has the upper hand with the harmony hub as it's natively supported and can set favorites to change your channels etc. but with the internet issues it's not worth using it.

Again, it'll probably be a couple years before Apple comes out with a competitor. I hope that's not the case, but look at the Apple TV among other products. I'd love a Siri version, but then again, it will only be able to do a few things for me, not anything what i can do with google home. I don't think there's a problem with trying another company if they make great products. Why not?? Right now, we have 3 google homes, 2 chromecasts hooked up to tv's and 1 chrome cast audio hooked up to our stereo.

 

[jljue]

I've been looking at this some, since I'm spec'ing out my family's new house that we plan to build (or buy, if we get close enough) based my wife and my wishes. Since my current automation (ISY-994i for Insteon devices and Ecobee3 pre-HomeKit) is not HomeKit based, I can't fully vet it. However, I downloaded an app called Roger for my iOS devices, so that I can try out Alexa without buying an Echo devices yet. I'm slowly learning the commands and see that I may have to rename some light switches to be easier to recall, but Alexa does a pretty good job, as long as I use specific commands and call devices exactly as named. I'm sure that Siri is in the same boat.

Like many people, I have pretty much Apple devices at home, so deviation from HomeKit is a concern. However, I'm not seeing everything 100% that I want (with outdoor motion sensors, cameras, etc.) with one platform, so I might have to have a mix of Alexa and HomeKit. However, some hubs, such as Lutron Caseta and Hue, work with both platforms.

I know that Alexa is more open, so if your wife wants an Echo, it is probably a good idea to get one. If Amazon's Alexa site does not have the skill on their skills store, there might be an IFTTT recipe that help you do what you want.

 

[MistrSynistr]

I have an all iOS house, Apple TV4, 2 ATV3's, Apple Extreme Router, 5K iMac, iPhone, iPad mini and still have an Echo and it's awesome. I use it to turn on my lights around the home and tons of other things. It's great.

 

[Gueeds]

As an Apple user with an Echo: get an Echo.

HomeKit is horribly behind the times and an Echo is a good centralized smart home hub for just about everything. Combine it with a SmartThings hub and you'll forget all about using Siri.

 

[Hermes Monster]

Perhaps a Sonos Play:1 is a better option, unless you really want the Alexa stuff

 

[jljue]

I agree that HomeKit has been behind the times, but one area that is heading it in the right direction is the Home app that unifies all compatible devices in one location for programming and status information. All other methods for unifying home devices still require going to the device's app for status, unless you have everything setup with HomeSeer, ISY-994i/MobiLinc, etc, but that's no fun, is it? Developing home automation for the masses still has a way to go, but if you are interested in only voice controlling devices and not worried about a central dashboard system for control, Echo seems to be a good place to start.

 

[rockyromero]

(I don't understand the whole Echo or google home thingy.... I have Siri right on my wrist... why do I need some tower thingy in my house listening to everything? )

Experiencing the Airpods (for a full day), there is no need for AW on the wrist either.

One pod or both in the ears controls any device with voice commands...with great voice & musical sounds. No Watch, no iPhone, no iPad, no ATV needed close by to listen or give a command.

This is the Echo answer in an Apple ecosystem...for each person. This eliminates the biggest drawback to a communal system, which is the need to adapt to each person's dialect & preferences.

No need for a speaker in each room of the house, the Airpods wearable goes with you with longer reaches throughout the home.

I think that I've just unglued the iPhone from my hands.

I'm staying with the Apple vision, inside and outside the home.

For now.

➰

 

[dasmb]

We're an exclusively Apple hardware house.

Our Echo works fine. You just use it as a Bluetooth device when you want your Apple stuff. Some voice controls, such as play/pause and next/previous, work perfectly fine for podcasts & playlists.

For looking up and playing songs, you'd have to use Siri or an Echo integrated service. Spotify is awesome here.

BTW received the Echo as a gift. It's good, wouldn't have paid for it but now use it daily. Put it in the kitchen.

 

[cue003]

Experiencing the Airpods (for a full day), there is no need for AW on the wrist either.

One pod or both in the ears controls any device with voice commands...with great voice & musical sounds. No Watch, no iPhone, no iPad, no ATV needed close by to listen or give a command.

This is the Echo answer in an Apple ecosystem...for each person. This eliminates the biggest drawback to a communal system, which is the need to adapt to each person's dialect & preferences.

No need for a speaker in each room of the house, the Airpods wearable goes with you with longer reaches throughout the home.

I think that I've just unglued the iPhone from my hands.

I'm staying with the Apple vision, inside and outside the home.

For now.

➰

This means you constantly have to have the AirPods in your ears... everyone in the house will have to have a set of AirPods in their ears CONSTANTLY.... that doesn't seem like a viable solution not to mention they only last 5 hours on a charge so hopefully you don't need anything when they die and are charging.

 

[rockyromero]

This means you constantly have to have the AirPods in your ears... everyone in the house will have to have a set of AirPods in their ears CONSTANTLY.... that doesn't seem like a viable solution not to mention they only last 5 hours on a charge so hopefully you don't need anything when they die and are charging.

Yes, mostly correct.

Did I mention that it's a viable solution for me?

Welcome to the new shift, gradual as it may be for some.

Did I mention that the Pod is the new wearable? Indoors and outdoors? Wherever?

For 24 hours of charging, longer than most humans stay awake?

This new wearable will shrink in size & increase in performance even more in the AI future.

As you know, we've been on a long journey of the individual empowerment with the smartphone.

The Airpods further extends the individual technology freedom & capabilities.

Of course, you could always bring the Amazon Echo or Google Home and plug it into your car or get a battery pack to put in one pocket & device in the other. Oh wait, you have a smartphone for that, maybe.

OK, do it your way for you.

Siri, close this post.

➰

 

[scottlitch]

So the wife has hinted (err- I mean told me) that she wants an Amazon Echo for the house.

I'm all about buying tech gadgets, but we have iPhones, iPads, and a couple Mac laptops and an iMac.... so we're in the iOS/OSX world.

Just last month I bought a new TV that has AndroidTV on it... which is the only non-Apple OS.

I've read some reviews on the Echo, but I'm curious to know why Apple has ignored this space and do they plan to release some type of competitor to the Echo or Google Home?

They haven't ignored it, you already have a way to talk to Siri ... iPhone or Apple Watch. Google and Amazon (likely) aren't making your watch or phone so this is their way into the marketplace. Apple is a few steps ahead of them.