The audiobooks They came to stay. This strange format that at first did not seem to fit with many, has ended up catching on among a good part of the public and more and more people are using this type of format to be able to "read" books while doing other things - or just for the sake of it. pleasure of listening to them instead of reading them themselves. If this is your case and you also have Alexa At home, you may be wondering how to play them through your smart speaker. We explain it to you.
What do you need
We will appeal to Captain Obvious to indicate that to listen to an audiobook you need the title in question that you are interested in listening to and, in this case, an Echo or speaker compatible with the Alexa smart assistant. This is not enough for you. You will also need to have access to a audiobooks that Alexa can turn to when you ask her to read to you.
In that sense, the best service to find audiobooks and play them is audible, a subscription platform (such as Spotify or Netflix) in which there is an immense catalog with thousands of audiobooks and podcasts to listen. You can try it for 1 month free (three if you are already an Amazon Prime user), after which you start paying 9,99 euros per month.
You are missing a last resort: install your skill. You must have it installed before proceeding for the voice commands you use to work.
How to play an audiobook: voice commands
Since Amazon owns Audible, you only have to Log In with the same account with which your speaker is configured and that you use on Amazon itself. Once inside, the next thing is to ask Alexa with your natural language to play the book that interests you with a command like the one below: “Alexa, play [book title].” Some ideas:
- “Alexa, play [book title]”
- “Alexa, read [book title]”
- “Alexa, read my audiobook (this will play the last book played)”
- “Alexa, read [name of audiobook author]”
- “Alexa, read [book title] from Audible”
You can also change the reading speed, skip pages or return to a specific chapter. Until you discover free content or buy a book:
- "Alexa, read faster"
- "Alexa, move forward"
- "Alexa, go to the latest chapter"
- “Alexa, suggest free Audible content for me”
Using the Alexa app
Your audiobooks are also accessible through the Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone - which, as you know, is compatible with both Android As with iOS systems. The steps to follow in this case are very simple, although remember that you must have the linked Audible and Amazon accounts:
- Open the Alexa app on your phone
- Go to the Music and more section.
- In the Audible section you will see the books you have available.
To choose which speakers you would like to play audiobooks on and other options, you can also use the application.