Echo Naming Quirks

[JDRoberts]

@Todd_Whitehead

@JDRoberts,

How do you get the Echo to turn on ESPN?

-Todd

Use Harmony as the tv controller.

The following method uses the official SmartThings integrations.

Smartthings+Echo+Harmony Hub = Voice Controlled TV! (2016 version)

I haven’t seen this posted anywhere, so I thought I’d write up my experience. I wanted to control my TV, set top box, receiver, etc with my Echo and I’m a bit paranoid about IFTTT. I saw that the new Samsung Smartthings hub is compatible with both Echo and with the Logitech Harmony Hub. Long story short, Alexa can now turn on my TV, receiver, set to the right input, and change channels! I also have two Philips Hue Bloom lights behind my TV and they can be set to different colors depending on the channel. (Syfy and HGTV simply MUST have different colors… obviously :P) To do this, you set up “Activities” in the logitech harmony hub software. For example, if I want Alexa to be able to tune to HGTV, I create an HGTV activity in the harmony hub software. The activity will turn on the TV…

Or you can just use IFTTT, since both echo and harmony have IFTTT channels. Or you can use any other TV control device that has an IFTTT channel.