We’re just a day away from Google dominating the headlines at I/O 2018. However, a surprising move happened, as Amazon updated its Alexa app on Android devices.
READ MORE: Amazon Echo tips and tricks
The update now allows you to use Alexa as your default voice assistant on just about any device. This includes support for the Galaxy S9, S9 Plus, and even the Huawei Mate SE.
How to set up Alexa
If you want to stop using Bixby or Google Assistant, in favor of Alexa, we have a guide for you. Follow these steps on your Galaxy S9 in order to use Alexa.
Before getting started, you’ll need to download the Amazon Alexa app from the Play Store. After the app is installed, you will need to log into your Amazon account to get everything working.
Here are the steps you’ll need to follow to set Alexa as the default:
- Open Settings
- Scroll down and select Apps
- Tap the three-dot overflow button in the top right-hand corner
- Select Default Apps
- Tap Phone assistant app
- Select Alexa
As expected, this will enable Amazon Alexa as your personal assistant.
What’s next?
Now that Alexa is in charge, you can activate her by pressing and holding on the home button. This will show a screen asking if you want to give Alexa permission to “access your microphone and location”.
By performing these steps, you will then be able to use Alexa to ask all of your pertinent questions. However, there is a bit of a catch here.
Samsung has included a hardware button for its Bixby services. However, you won’t be able to properly activate Alexa using the Bixby button.
READ MORE: How to remove Bixby
Additionally, you won’t be able to use the “Alexa” keyword phrase to activate the assistant. All of this means that you will only be able to activate Alexa by long-pressing the home button.
At the time of this writing, the popular bxActions application does not work with Alexa. So you will be stuck with only one method to activate Amazon’s assistant.
If you run into any issues in, be sure to let us know in the comments below. We’ll be sure to get back to you with any possible fixes!
