If you’re like most people, you probably have an Echo device sitting around your house. And if you’re not using it, you may be thinking about how to get the most out of it. There are a few ways to control your Echo device from anywhere in the world. Here are three tips:

  1. Set up a home Wi-Fi network and use the Echo’s built-in Wi-Fi connection to control your Echo from anywhere in the world. This is especially useful if you have an Ethernet cable running throughout your house and don’t want to worry about losing or damaging your Echo device.
  2. Use an app on your phone or computer to control your Echo from anywhere in the world. There are many apps available that allow for voice commands and access to all of the features of an Echo device. You can even set up a custom voice command for each room in your home!
  3. Use Amazon’s Alexa Voice Remote app to control your Echo devices from any computer or phone with Alexa enabled. This app allows you to control all of the features of an Echo device, including speaker volume, music playback, and more!

Why Would I Want to Do This?

In addition to simple ease-of-use, the web interface also has the benefit of working anywhere you have Internet access: whether your Echo is across the room or across the city. If you own an Echo and you haven’t taken a peek at the Echo’s web portal, you’re missing out.

How to Access Your Echo Remotely

There, instead of squished into a little smartphone screen, you’ll find the a nice expansive GUI: so much room for activities.

Every single feature available in the mobile app is available here, as the Alexa App and the web portal share the same interface right down to the color scheme.

You can access your Now Playing song/playlist, control the playlist by advancing it, jumping back, repeating the song, or playing/pausing the music, as well as reviewing previously played songs.

If you’re hooked on using the Alexa To-do/Shopping lists you can manually add items to the list from the comfort of your full size keyboard. It’s one thing to tell Alexa “Alexa, add milk to my shopping list.” but it’s a whole different thing to have her parse out complicated or lengthy additions to the lists.

And, of course, if you’re customizing your daily commute for on-the-fly traffic updates or keeping up on sports scores, it’s much easier to tweak your settings with a full keyboard at your finger tips.

In short, everything you can do with the mobile app you can do with the web portal but the view is bigger, the menu easier to move around in and edit, and the extra screen space is perfect for reviewing everything from shopping lists to play lists.