Apple’s Siri may be a good voice assistant, but there’s so much she cannot do.
You may be wondering if Alexa can be used hands-free on an iPhone instead.
Alexa can be used to control a lot more of your devices, and is connected to IFTTT, unlike Siri.
You cannot use Alexa on your iPhone without opening the app. The hands-free mode can only be accessed by first opening the Alexa app. However, it is possible to use widgets and other features to make Alexa easily accessible on an iPhone.
In this blog post, we will look over how Alexa works on iPhone and how you can make the most of it.
Just because the app has to be open doesn’t mean you can’t make good use of the Alexa voice assistant on your iPhone.
How To Use Alexa on Your iPhone
If you have an echo device, you know how great Alexa can be.
However, Apple has its own voice assistant, Siri.
While Siri is great, she doesn’t have the same capabilities that Alexa has.
For example, if you want to control your smart home devices with Alexa, you can’t do that using Siri.
The good news is that you can use Alexa on your iPhone, even though the app has to be open in order to use it.
Download the Alexa App From the App Store
The app is free to download and can be accessed by searching for Alexa in the app store.
Once you have the app installed, open it and sign in with your Amazon account.
If you don’t have an Amazon account, you can create one for free.
Once you’re signed in, the app will open to the main screen.
Grant Alexa Access Permissions
Before you can enjoy Alexa to the fullest, you must give the app permission to access things like the microphone and location data.
In order to do this, you should tap on the Alexa icon, which can be found at the top of the app.
A small box will pop up asking for these permissions.
All you need to do is click ‘allow,’ and Alexa will be able to function correctly.
Go Hands-Free With Alexa
Alexa is great because you just need to talk to it, and it will take action based on whatever you request.
This is really simple when using Amazon devices such as the echo because the voice assistant is always listening for commands.
All you need to do is address ‘Alexa‘ and state your command, and off it goes.
Sadly, this feature is not available on the iPhone because Alexa is not allowed to be always listening.
Siri takes on this role, but because Apple’s voice assistant isn’t as useful as Alexa, you may not want to interact with it.
The good news is that as long as you are in the app, you can communicate your requests audibly and Alexa will execute the tasks.
This is great for connecting to your smart home electronics.
Let’s look at how to enable hands-free mode in the Alexa app.
Turn On Hands-Free Mode
While in the Alexa app, you can turn on the hands-free mode by going to the app’s settings.
Look for the ‘Alexa on this Phone’ settings to ensure that what you change only happens on this phone instead of your entire Alexa ecosystem.
Once you’re in this section, toggle on the ‘hands-free’ mode, and you’re ready to go.
The app may prompt you for additional permissions for things like the microphone.
This will allow it to actively listen so it can identify when you speak to it.
Add the Alexa Widget to Your Home Screen
Since you can’t have the hands-free mode always on, another way to make Alexa easily accessible is by adding the widget to your home screen.
This will put an Alexa icon on your home screen that you can just tap on and talk to without searching for the app icon.
The widget doesn’t do too much other than offering a bigger icon to select.
Unfortunately, having the widget on your home screen doesn’t mean you can start using Alexa without opening the app.
However, it can save you some time.
When you click on the widget, it will automatically start listening for your instructions.
This saves you at least one click, speeding up the process.
How To Use Alexa Completely Hands-Free
As a voice assistant, Alexa provides many more features than Apple’s Siri.
The only drawback is that you cannot use it completely hands-free because Alexa isn’t allowed to listen when you’re not in the app.
This may not seem like a big deal, but speaking to a voice assistant with ease is really useful when you’re working.
If you want to use Alexa the same way as you would on an Amazon echo, there is a workaround.
It’s not ideal, but it will work, and it only adds one step to the process.
Use Siri To Open Alexa
If you can’t click on the widget or app to bring Alexa up, there is a simple solution: use Siri.
It may seem bizarre and counterintuitive, but you can give Siri the command to open the Alexa app for you.
In order to do this, you will need to make sure you have Siri enabled and actively listening.
If you’re not sure if Siri can do this, just go to the Settings > Siri & Search > Listen for “Hey Siri.”
As long as you enabled the hands-free mode from within the Alexa app, you should now be able to speak with Alexa directly, without touching your phone.
This method still requires that you are in the Alexa app to communicate with the voice assistant.
However, this is the only truly hands-free way of using Alexa on an iPhone.
Can You Use iPhone on Alexa Without Opening the App? Conclusion
While it’s not as seamless as using Alexa on an echo, the tips and tricks we’ve detailed will let you use the voice assistant without having to constantly open the app.
If you’re looking for a way to make hands-free requests without worrying about opening an app, then using Siri to open Alexa is your best bet.
Just ensure you have ‘Hey Siri’ enabled, and you’re all set.
