A few weeks ago, someone posted a question regarding wanting to bring music to the island in the form of their Amazon Echo. I had wondered the same thing when we went for 10 weeks this past summer, so I brought 3 Amazon Dots and our Apple TV and they worked GREAT!!!
I read the post right after she wrote, "well, I guess Alexa stays at home:-("
I jumped into the conversation with a HUGE Noooooo!! Bring Alexa with you!!
Here is our experience:
We knew that there would be some restrictions as to what we could access via Amazon and Apple music as well as certain movies and tv shows. I set up Alexa dots in 3 rooms: the kitchen/living room, the backyard and our bedroom. I was able to sync all three of them to each other so we were able to enjoy continuous music throughout the house. I learned I had to use the phrase, "Alexa, play xx on Bonaire" in order for it to play on all three devices. (I had called the speaker group "Bonaire"). My only complaint was the speaker on the dot wasn't quite strong enough to play over loud kids splashing in the pool outside. Other than that. . . no complaints!
We do not have Amazon Music, instead we use Apple Music. I think I was able to access our library, but honestly can't remember. I really never felt like I couldn't access the music I was hoping to hear, so I didn't pay much attention. All I know is that is was spectacular to be able to listen to our music throughout the house ALL summer long. It was also nice to be able to continue with our regular Alexa requests of timers, farts, jokes etc!!
As for the Apple TV, we were able to watch several shows/movies on Netflix. Hulu was pretty closed off. Amazon Prime Video was hit or miss. That said, all of our movie purchases via iTunes were all available for us to watch and we were able to purchase and watch new movies throughout the summer. We even were able to utilize the apps (like Just Dance)! Honestly, it got to a point where I regretted bringing the Apple TV because the kids were constantly watching/playing on it instead of being in the pool. I started hiding the remote and only took it out when we wanted to watch something as a family or when we wanted to cast our computers to AirPlay to watch videos / photos from our day.
All in all, I 100% recommend bringing both. It was absolutely worth it and didn't take up too much space / weight in my bag. Another thing I learned is that I only needed 1/3 of the clothing I brought - so next time I'll pack a larger speaker for the outdoor area and less clothing!!
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