It’s always nice to stay up to date on what’s going on in your local area. Having a general idea of the happenings in your community can change your day-to-day routine or your general outline for the days to come. This information could be as simple as changing your route to work or something more drastic.
In helping you keep up to date on your surroundings, there’s Amazon Alexa. You can now watch local news on your Echo Show smart display to stay informed. This feature works with any Echo Show smart display you may have, whether it’s the 5, 8, 10, or 15.
While you may think that Alexa has had the new feature for a while, the act of watching it live requires a screen, hence the need for an Echo Show. It’s no wonder why they’re some of the best smart displays around.
It’s actually much easier than you think.
How To Watch Local News on Your Amazon Echo Show Smart Display
I personally have an Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen), which sits next to my computer monitor most of the time. This neat feature of watching the news lets me know what’s going on while writing articles or editing photos. Here’s how you set it up:
1. Say “Alexa, watch local news.”
2. Then you can tap the screen of your Echo Show.
3. Swipe right to see and choose from other options: local, national, or global.
You’ll want to ensure that Alexa knows your proper address to get the correct local news channel. Also, local may end up being your whole state or your city. It all depends on where you live.
Important Things To Know About Watching News on Your Echo Show
It’s important to know that you can set preferred news channels so that once you say, “Alexa, watch news,” the device immediately shows what you want to see. In order to do this, you’ll want to go to settings on that particular device, hit the news section, and choose which channel you want to be preferred.
You can also pair Visual ID with watching news, so Alexa will know who’s watching (or speaking) to it and show the proper channel. Visual ID allows Alexa to ‘see’ who’s asking a request and tailor answers or apps to that particular user’s profile preferences. Utilizing this feature would be great on some of the bigger smart displays in Amazon’s lineup, such as the Echo Show 10 or Echo Show 15.
It’s a Convenient Feature
Having news access, predominantly local to you, can be very convenient. At the request of your voice, you can be up-to-date on all of what’s happening in your area. All you have to do is ask Alexa. Now, while you’re getting ready for work or cooking dinner, you can get information on your community.
Features like this show off the power and access that Alexa can provide in your life. From asking for timers and recipes to showing you what’s happening in your world, Alexa is at the center of everything. If that’s not enough to convince you, there are more services and features to try out. For example, there are the life saving potentials with Alexa Together, as well as the instant communication of Alexa’s Drop-In function. And oh yeah, you’ll also find how you can make Alexa funny with the help of a celebrity voice assistant.
So if you still need an Echo Show, now is a great time to buy with all these deals happening. Here are just a few of our favorite.
Amazon Echo Show 8
Amazon Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen)
Amazon Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen)
Amazon Echo Show 15
Review: The New Amazon Echo Show 15 Is So Much More Than a Smart Display