There have been ways to get Alexa on your iPhone before, but now we have an official solution from Amazon to enjoy. If you’re not a fan of Siri or even if you’re just curious about how Siri stacks up against the competition, you can now see what all of the hype is about from the online retailer’s main iOS app.
The feature will reportedly begin rolling out to users today and can be accessed from within the Amazon shopping app by tapping on the microphone icon located alongside the search bar – as pictured above. If you don’t see the microphone just yet, Fast Company notes that it may take a few days before the update rolls out to all users.
Much like Siri, users can use Alexa to ask any number of questions about historical figures, events, music, sports and more. Further, Alexa can also provide pertinent information about current news, weather, and traffic.
On the entertainment front, Alexa voice commands can be used to stream audio.
Alexa can stream books from your Kindle library or music from Amazon Music Unlimited, Prime Music, or purchased music.
Amazon Prime members can stream playlists, stations, and over two million songs for free.
Not stopping there, users can also use Alexa to shop for items on Amazon.com and keep tabs on existing orders. Amazon highlights just a few of the many basic commands Alexa can handle with respect to online shopping.
You can say things like:
• “Search for paper towels”
• “Reorder batteries”
• “Track my last order”
• “Add shampoo to my cart”
• “Best-selling camera”
It’s worth noting that Alexa cannot be used as a full-on replacement for Siri as it can only be accessed from within the Amazon app itself. Nonetheless, it’s still an interesting development as the battle between competing intelligent personal assistants intensifies.
If you don’t already have it, you can download the official Amazon App over here.
