A Samsung smart TV is all you need to binge-watch your favorite shows on Netflix. Apart from Amazon’s own Prime Video service, Alexa now supports many other apps, including Netflix. With Alexa on call, you don’t even have to search for content manually. The wake word ‘Alexa’ literally wakes her up to listen to your voice commands and execute them.
Further reading: How to connect Alexa to Smart TV
Connecting Samsung TV to Alexa
Every Samsung TV released in 2021 has a built-in Alexa app. Even some of the TVs of 2020 support Alexa. But the Samsung TVs of 2018 and 2019 require an external Alexa device like the Amazon Echo speaker or the Alexa smartphone app to make commands work. Follow these steps to make your Samsung TV work with Alexa.
Samsung TVs Having Built-In Alexa
- During the initial setup of the TV, select Alexa as the voice assistant. If this is not done, you can open the Alexa app whenever required and get started.
- Scan the QR code on the screen to log in to your Amazon account. You can also go to Amazon’s site and type in the code displayed on the TV screen. Anyhow, the first step is to sign in to the Amazon account.
- After signing in, read the privacy permissions and select Allow to connect to the Amazon account.
- Next, you have two choices. Either you can tap and hold the microphone button to give voice commands to Alexa or have your Samsung TV remote listen for the wake word continuously. The wake word can be one of these: Alexa, Computer, Amazon, Echo, Ziggy.
Samsung TVs Without Built-In Alexa
- Download both the Samsung SmartThings smartphone app and the Amazon Alexa app. These apps are available for both Android and iOS devices.
- Connect your Samsung smart TV and Alexa device to the same Wi-Fi network.
- Your Samsung TV needs to be enabled with the SmartThings app. If not, log in with your Samsung account on the TV. For this, go to Settings > General and select System Manager > Samsung Account.
- Using the same Samsung account, sign in to the SmartThings app. When you tap Devices, you can see your Samsung TV listed. If not, tap + to add it to the app.
- Open the Alexa app and enable the SmartThings skill. Now sign in to your Samsung account to connect the TV automatically to Alexa. Now your TV is ready to execute your voice commands.
You may also like: Can Alexa change TV channels?
How To Control Netflix With Alexa?
The apps installed on your Samsung smart TV can be controlled by the Alexa Video Skill API using your voice commands. Netflix supports in-app voice controls that let you give voice requests to complete tasks. Alexa can do many tasks on Netflix like searching and playing movies and TV shows, controlling video playback, and going to the next episode.
Try saying, “Alexa, play Squid Game on Netflix,” and you can watch the show right away. Alexa will either let you resume where you stopped last or go to the next unwatched episode.
You can give the following commands to Alexa while watching Netflix.
“Alexa, pause.”
“Alexa, play.”
“Alexa, stop.”
“Alexa, go back # minutes/seconds.”
“Alexa, skip ahead # minutes/seconds.”
“Alexa, next episode.”
“Alexa, play from the beginning.”
“Alexa, previous episode.”
As of now, Netflix supports only these commands. It is expected that Netflix will update the app to add more voice commands for the ease of users. While you can go to the next or previous episodes, there is no way to select a particular season or episode of a series. It is also not possible to change Netflix profiles with Alexa voice commands. Profiles can be changed only manually. Your account’s profile is opened by default when you request Alexa to play something from the home screen.
Alexa can also be used to navigate Netflix using voice commands. For example, you can say, “Alexa, go up,” “Alexa, scroll down,” “Alexa, move right,” or “Alexa, select.” Alexa voice commands can also be used to perform advanced searches on Netflix. For example, you can say, “Alexa, search for comedy movies on Netflix.”
Conclusion
Using voice assistants like Alexa for browsing Netflix has made it very easy for users to locate their favorite shows and movies on Netflix. Though the number of voice commands supported currently is less, hopefully, more commands will be added in the coming years. With a wide range of commands, it will be a pleasure browsing through Netflix without moving a finger.