With the rapid changes in technology, performing certain actions gets easier and, new advancements come up, such as controlling your Xbox with your voice courtesy of Alexa. isn’t that impressive. And to achieve that, you only have to connect Alexa to your Xbox.
Years ago, when Zenith introduced the first wireless television remote, it was able to turn a television on or off, change channels and perform all other basic functions
Fast forward to today, you really don’t need to use a remote to control your TV or Xbox, all you need is your voice.
And Amazon Alexa has made that seamless. Alexa has made it possible to use only your voice to turn ON, turn Off, Mute and perform other basic tasks on your TV
This all, became a thing when Amazon paved the way to allowed third-party hardware makers to build Alexa into their own devices.
During this period, a lot of hardware integrated Alexa into their system and Xbox is one of them, with Alexa connected to your Xbox you can do a lot of cool stuff such as turn on your Xbox, turn it off, launch an app, play a game, and much more. the list is endless.
in this article I will be breaking down the easy steps anyone can follow to connect Alexa to your Xbox and some cool commands you can use to control your Xbox device. more about it HERE
Note: you cannot connect Alexa to Xbox 360 it can only work on Xbox One, but you can use Alexa to control your TV, learn below I will be breaking down how you can connect to Alexa using your console.
Easy Way to Connect Alexa to your Xbox
- To enable Xbox to connect seamlessly to Alexa follow these steps closely:
- Get your Xbox remote control and press the Xbox button – which has the “Xbox icon”
- Now, navigate to “Profile and system” (you can navigate there using the + directional button
- It will take you to another screen
- over here select “setting”
- Now, move to “devices and connection”
- At the right side of the screen, you should see digital assistant” click on it
- On the next screen, simply click on “enable digital assistant”
After successfully doing this you will be able to use Alexa with your Xbox but that isn’t all.
You will not be able to use Alexa, to power on your Xbox unless you configure the setting on your consoles.
How to Configure Alexa to Power On Your Xbox Device
To do that follow these simple steps:
- On your Xbox controller, press the Xbox button.
- Now navigate to “profile and system”
- After doing this, click on “Setting”
- Move up to where you can see “General”
- On the right side of the screen, locate “power mode & Startup”
- Click on it and change the power mode to “instant on”
After doing that you will be able to make use of Alexa to turn on your device.
in addition to all that, the same procedure also applies to “Xbox Series X” and “Xbox Series S“,
Now, as you are setting your Xbox and connecting it, you might not like the default name that comes with your Xbox device.
Every Xbox device usually comes with “Xbox-SystemOS” as the default name, and this might be a boring name.
To change it, follow these simple steps:
How to Change the Name of your Xbox Dev
Take the steps below to change the name of your Xbox Dev.
- On your Xbox Controller, press the menu key.
- After doing that, navigate and select “settings”
- Then click “system”
- Now, select “name”.
- Simply type the new name you want to change it to
- Press “enter” on your Xbox Controller remote and restart the console.
- Now that, you have paved the way for digital asistatts to connect with your Xbox,
Here is how you can now connect Alexa to Xbox.
Note: You can do that either using your PC or your smartphone but in the article below I will focus on Connecting it with your smartphone
How to use your smartphone to Connet Alexa with Xbox
To connect Alexa with your smartphone, you need to have it installed on your device, Alexa is available on ios and Andriod
- After installing the Alexa app, follow these simple steps;
- Launch the Alexa app,
- at the bottom right corner, you will see an icon named “more”
- Click on it.
- On the next screen, navigate to “skills and game” and choose it
- After doing that it takes you to a new screen
- simply locate the “Search” icon at the top and press it
- On the search bar, type “Xbox”
- After showing “Xbox” in the results, click on it and select the “enable to use the button”
- It will take you to where you will sign up using your Microsoft account credentials
- On the next screen, choose “yes” and then select “close”
- on the list of devices you want to control with Alexa, simply click on Xbox.
- After doing that, on the next screen, select the Alexa device(which you have) that you want to use to control your Xbox
- Now, go ahead and click “Link devices”
After successfully completing this you should be able to use Alexa to control your Xbox, in a scenario where you want to make use of your Pc to carry this out
Follow these steps below:
Note: whether you are using a mac or windows it works for both
How to Connect Alexa to your Windows/Mac PC
Follow the steps below
- First and foremost you need to launch your web browser,
- After doing that, go to alexa.amazon.com (it is clickable from here)
- Now, sign in with your Amazon details
- On the next screen, by the left” locate skills” and click on it
- Now, go to the search bar at the top and type in “Xbox”
- Once you’ve seen “Xbox” in the results, click on it and then click on “enable”
- After doing this, sign in using your Microsoft account details
- If your computer has a password, you might be requested to enter the password details,
- After doing that, a screen will appear telling you to grant the app access to your info
- simply click “yes” and then close the window.
After successfully completing these steps you should have been linked with your Alexa. Now, you might also want to control your Xbox from your Pc, if you don’t want to use the Xbox controller.
To do that here are the steps you need to follow:
How to Connect Xbox to your Windows PC
To connect to your PC:
- First and foremost you will need both devices on the same network.
- Now, on your windows app, locate the “Xbox console companion app”
- After selecting it, Launch it.
- If you don’t have an account, you will need to sign in to your Microsoft account”
Now that the Xbox app is linked to your Microsoft account, it doesn’t mean it will connect automatically to your Xbox, you need to configure it manually to do that
Follow these instructions closely:
On your Xbox console app which is on your windows pc, navigate down to where you can see” connection”
- Select it,
- On the new screen, it shows you named “connect to your Xbox” window”
- Locate the “add a device icon and click on it
- Your windows console app will automatically search for your Xbox console
- Once it brings it out, click on “connect”
After doing this your Windows pc should be successfully connected to your windows pc you will be able to control your Xbox from your Alexa since you’ve activated the “skills and game” section in the Alexa app.
You will be able to make use of the Alexa Xbox skills.
Now, let’s start using our Alexa Xbox skills by trying out some cool commands on your Xbox device.
List of standard Alexa Commands for Xbox
Now, you make use of Alexa to control your Xbox, to do that you will need to know some standard commands that are available for the Xbox skill on Alexa.
Here are the standard command structures you can use to perform a series of tasks on your Xbox – the commands are the ones by the right.
- Turn on your Xbox device – “Alexa, tell Xbox to turn on“
- For this command above to work you should have enabled “instant on” on your console.
- To Turn off your Xbox Device – “Alexa, tell Xbox to turn off“
- To Turn on your Console, Sign in and start a game – “Alexa, tell Xbox to launch Forza Horizon 4“
- To Pause a video while it is playing on Xbox – “Alexa, tell Xbox to pause“
- To Resume a Paused Video -“ “Alexa, tell Xbox to resume.“
- To Increase the volume of a Video -“Alexa, tell Xbox to turn the volume on”
- To search for an app on the Microsoft store – “Alexa, tell Xbox to record that“
- To Restart your Xbox Device – “Alexa, tell Xbox to reboot“
- To switch between accounts easily – “Alexa, tell Xbox to sign in/out“
in addition to all that, kindly take note of these commands “Tell Xbox” and “Ask Xbox”. these two commands work for standard commands so you can interchange them without any issues.
Conclusion
Alexa makes it easy to control your Xbox device, setting it up might be a bit challenging, however, after linking bother Alexa with your Xbox, the rise is seamless,
Not long ago you had to tap keys, to perform certain actions with your Xbox, but right now, it almost seems effortless.
Now to you, what do you enjoy about your Xbox skill for Alexa?