Amazon is rolling out a nifty new Alexa feature today.
Alexa Cast will let you control playback on your Alexa device using your phone. The feature works with any Alexa device, including Amazon's Echo speakers, third-party Alexa devices, and select Amazon Fire devices. However, the only service that currently offers Alexa Cast is the Amazon Music app.
Introducing Alexa Cast with Amazon Music. Play music on any Alexa-enabled speaker using your mobile device. Visit the Alexa Cast page for more details: https://t.co/CN0kOTHgxo pic.twitter.com/StJSIMiS8v
— Amazon Music (@amazonmusic) July 26, 2018
Amazon is updating the Amazon Music apps on Android and iOS with Alexa Cast today. When you get the update, you'll see an Alexa Cast button at the bottom of your Now Playing screen. Tap it and you can choose which Alexa device you want to play your tunes on. You can control playback on your phone, and when you're done, you can switch back to playing the music on your phone.
It's unclear when or if services other than Amazon Music will work with Alexa Cast. Amazon only says that it'll "continue to improve this feature and expand support over time."
Alexa Cast is reminiscent of Google Cast, Google's feature that lets you control playback of audio and video on a smart device from your phone. Of course, since Alexa Cast only works with Amazon Music right now, it's not quite as useful as Google Cast, which works with several different services. Alexa Cast could be a pretty awesome feature for Alexa device owners if Amazon expands it to work with other services, though, letting you beam content to your Alexa-enabled devices more easily than Bluetooth.
