How to Let Multiple People Use the Same Amazon Echo
Your entire family can join in on the fun of your Alexa device. Here’s how to set up an Amazon Household and add adults and kids to the mix.
If you want more than one person to use the same Alexa-enabled device, you can add multiple accounts by setting up an Amazon Household. Family members must have their own Amazon account, but once you have set everything up, you can jump from one account to another just by talking to Alexa.
How Many Accounts Can Be on One Device?
With Amazon Household, you and other members of the family can share the benefits of an Amazon Prime account, including access to Kindle ebooks and other digital content from Amazon on the web. You can also grant certain people access to your home’s Echo devices and Alexa.
An Amazon Household can include up to two adults who are 18 years of age or older (this includes yourself), four teenagers 13 to 17 years old, and four children age 12 and under. Children can use your Echo via a feature called Amazon Kids (previously FreeTime). Teenagers are able to order products on the web and stream video, but they won’t have access to your Echo or Alexa directly through their personal profile.
Set Up Amazon Household
Head over to the Amazon Household website and sign in with your Amazon account if necessary. To add another adult, click the button at the top labeled Add Adult.
Add Adult
Confirm your country, then type the name and email address of the adult with whom you want to create and share your Amazon Household.
Choose What to Share
Confirm that you want to share your Amazon Wallet as proof that you both live in the same household. Then check or uncheck the items you want to share with the other adult, including apps and games, audiobooks, and ebooks. Click Continue.
Send Household Invitation
Confirm the person’s name and email address, then click the Send Invite button to send them an invitation to create and join your Amazon Household. The other adult receives the invitation email and clicks the Get Started button in the email.
At the Amazon website, your invitee clicks the Continue button to accept the invitation. They must agree to share their digital wallet and then check or uncheck the items they want to share from their library. Your Amazon Household screen then shows the other adult as part of your household.
Add Teens
You can’t give a teenager access to your Echo under their own profile, but you can add them to your household to grant them certain Amazon shopping and video-streaming abilities. From the Manage Your Household page, click Add a Teen. Click Sign up now, then add their name and birthday.
Approve Orders
Under the Amazon Teen program, teens can shop online on their own, but you approve their purchases. You can determine how to proceed — review and approve all orders, automatically approve orders up to a certain amount, or automatically approve all orders. The final setup requires you to enter your teen’s phone number or email address, which sends them a link. The teenager must click on the Create your profile button in the invitation email, then click Create your login on the Amazon page.
Create an Account
At the account creation screen, the teen must enter their name, phone number, and a password, then click Continue. They are also asked to enter a one-time password, which is then texted to their phone to finalize their Amazon account. Refresh the Amazon Household page to see the teenager listed.
Add Children
From the Amazon Household page, click Add a child. A pop-up window will open in which you can enter the child’s name, gender, and birthday, then choose a profile icon. Your Amazon Households page then shows the name of the child you added.
Add a Child Account to an Echo Device
You now need to set up Amazon Kids (still labeled as FreeTime in the Alexa app) in order to give the child access to a specific Alexa-enabled device. In the Alexa app, tap Devices > Echo & Alexa and select the Echo to which you want to add the child. Under device settings, tap the entry for FreeTime.
Activate FreeTime
Turn on the switch to enable FreeTime, and a screen will pop up to explain the feature. Tap the Setup Amazon FreeTime button to continue. Select the child that you added to your Amazon Household, then click Continue. You can also add a different child here.
Grant Permissions
At the next screen, click Continue to give Amazon permission to collect certain information from the listed profiles. Sign into and authenticate your Amazon account, then click “I Agree” to give parental consent for the child’s account. Read the FreeTime for Alexa screen and then click Continue.
Amazon FreeTime Unlimited
Amazon then tries to sell you a subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited (also known as Amazon Kids+), which offers more features beyond the standard FreeTime service. If you click Cancel now, you can always subscribe in the future.
Amazon Parent Dashboard
After you set up access for the child, your Echo automatically switches to their account. You can now manage the child’s profile settings at the Amazon Parent Dashboard, where you can then view all the activities the child has with your Echo. Click the gear icon to access settings. At the Settings screen, you can modify certain options for the child, such as content, daily time limits, and age filters.
Switching Between Adult and Child Accounts
If you wish to switch from one adult account to another, just say “Alexa, switch to [name of adult’s] account,” and that person’s account is now in charge.
You can’t ask Alexa to switch between a child account and an adult account. Instead, you must turn FreeTime on to switch from an adult account to a child account and off to move from a child account to an adult account. You can turn FreeTime on and off through the Alexa app by returning to the screen where you first set up the feature.
When FreeTime is turned off, the Echo will revert to the last adult who used the device. If you forget which account is active, ask “Alexa, which account is this?” and Alexa identifies the current account.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
