Have you ever wanted to watch your favorite YouTube channel on your Echo Show device? Perhaps you want to have a music live stream playing in the background, or maybe you're following the latest political drama on C-SPAN. You may have heard conflicting and confusing information on whether or not you could even get YouTube on an Echo Show device. While there's no official way to do it, there's an easy workaround.
Products used in this guide
How to watch YouTube on an Amazon Echo Show
There's indeed no official YouTube support from Google for the Amazon Echo Show devices in the form of a YouTube app or skill. However, the "workaround" to watching YouTube on your Echo Show (live or not), is so easy, you probably won't know or care about the difference. I'll explain.
- Make sure your Echo Show device is plugged in, set up, and turned on.
- Ask Alexa to "open YouTube."
- If it's your first time making this request, Alexa will ask you to choose to open YouTube in either Amazon's Silk browser or Mozilla's Firefox browser. Select a browser.
- Alexa will open up YouTube directly in the browser you chose.
- From here, you can login to your YouTube account to access all of your favorite channels and live streams, or you can watch without being logged in.
See that? So easy. Now you can actively binge-watch your favorite gaming streamer, or zone out to the news. Or, my personal favorite, have the "study girl" from ChilledCow's lofi hip hop radio bumping in the background while you write articles all day. No? Just me?
Our top equipment picks
Chances are you already have an Echo Show device, but if you don't, grab the Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen). You'll thank me later.
Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen)
Not too big, not too little
The Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) comes to a more natural size that's easier to place than the Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) but still comfy enough to watch your YouTube videos on.
The Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) has the same HD screen as the larger second-generation Show but takes up less counter space. It's the perfect device to monitor and control your smart home, follow Food Network recipes, or video chat with grandma.
Additional Equipment
If you want to get an even better look at that live stream, consider picking up a stand for your Echo Show 8.
Echo 8 Adjustable Stand (opens in new tab) ($25 at Amazon)
This first-party stand by Amazon attaches magnetically to the Echo Show 8 and allows you to easily adjust the viewing angles for a better Echo experience.
Jeramy is proud to help *Keep Austin Weird* and loves hiking in the hill country of central Texas with a breakfast taco in each hand. When he's not writing about smart home gadgets and wearables, he's defending his relationship with his smart voice assistants to his family. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeramyutgw.
