How to control your TV with Alexa in a few steps

Amazon Alexa is one of the most comprehensive voice assistants ever to control home devices. It is a rather complex cloud-based artificial intelligence presented by Amazon as a voice assistant, through which it is possible to interact with a software, which interprets natural language, as if it were a real person. Concretely, its operation is based on the use of an electronic device, such as a smart speaker, which through several microphones is able to record our voice every time we say the word ‘Alexa’. With the command that comes from the pronunciation of the name, we are able to make the voice assistant execute various commands such as turning on the lights, playing music or reading a recipe. Before we continue with the Syrus guide, let’s quickly make a difference between Alexa and Amazon Echo. The former is merely the voice of the device, while the latter is the actual body, i.e. the device itself with WiFi.

Alexa and Smart TVs

Among the many skills and most successful features of Amazon Alexa, the ability to control our TV without a remote control is certainly the one that is becoming more popular. It is precisely for this reason that Syrus has decided to give you this guide that will teach you how to connect Alexa to the Smart TV and manage it via voice commands, so that we do not have to use the remote control every time we want to change the channel or turn up the volume. Also, we would add, for the simple pleasure of having a smart home.

How to connect Alexa to Smart TVs

As mentioned above, Amazon Alexa gives the possibility to control most functions of Smart TVs by integrating voice commands, even without a remote control. If you are wondering how you can add this function on your device, you are in the right place. First, start by opening the menu of your TV and search for the Amazon Alexa voice or app, which varies depending on the manufacturer you choose. Now log in with the manufacturer’s account, remember that if you do not have an account you will be asked to create one, and finally choose a name for the Smart TV. If you have an LG TV, simply hold down the Amazon Prime Video button, install the Alexa app and scan the QR code that appears on the screen. After registering your TV to the manufacturer’s account, open the Alexa app on your mobile device, now click on the top left menu (three horizontal lines) and select TV and video. Now type the specific manufacturer of your Smart TV into the magnifying glass at the top right. Once you have done this you will again have to enter the manufacturer’s account credentials, finally now you have enabled Alexa voice commands to control your TV.

The universal controller

The BroadLink SmartHome RM4

Easily purchased on Amazon, you can install the BroadLink app on your mobile device, create an account and setup the universal controller. You do this by granting access to the WiFi network and using one of the available profiles depending on the TV you are using. Once this is done, open the Amazon Alexa app on your device, go to the menu in the top left-hand corner and follow the same procedure as in the previous paragraph, but among the skills look for BroadLink. Enter the login credentials for the previously created BroadLink account and you can now control your TV with Alexa. Small tip: place the device close to the TV, possibly in view of the remote control sensor.