Users will be able to control playback and request songs with Alexa. It activates via the push-to-talk function on the bottom right area of the app. They can also request Alexa to recite the weather, news and sports scores, but there is no access to Alexa Skills.
Amazon customers are already using Alexa to control music via Echo devices, but not smartphones — until today. This is part of Amazon’s push to get Alexa on more devices; it added Alexa to its shopping app earlier this year. Alexa is also showing up in non-Amazon devices — for example, check out GE’s new Sol lamp that GeekWire reviewed earlier this month.
Alexa on the Amazon Music app will offer the same functionality as Alexa with an Echo. CNET reported that Alexa’s natural language processing will allow users to ask questions and receive answers about particular music, even with few details — questions like, “play the new song by Coldplay,” or, “Play Coldplay from the 2000s.” The same features are already available for Echo owners who are requesting songs.
