Being a Plex user gets even easier thanks to the service's new Alexa skill

By Kris Wouk February 2, 2017

Plex and Amazon: We got skillz

It’s been a busy week for the team behind the Plex media streaming software. Earlier this week the company announced that it had acquired news streaming service Watchup, and now it is making it even easier to start watching something thanks to the addition of a new skill for Amazon Alexa.

This means that you can now access all your movies, TV shows, and music via Plex using only your voice, but the functionality doesn’t end there. The skill also brings support for recommendations, so for example, if you want to listen to a few songs but can’t decide what to play, you can simply say “Alexa, ask Plex to suggest some music to listen to.” Alexa will then offer up a suggestion, which you can play by saying “yes.”

For movies TV shows, you can start watching something as easy as saying “Alexa, ask Plex to play Sicario” or “Alexa, ask Plex to play season 4, episode 9 of The Goldbergs.” If you’re always adding new things to Plex (and if you’re a big Plex user, you probably are), it can be tough to keep track of what’s new. Fortunately, the new integration can help you there, as you can ask “Alexa, what’s new?”

To get started, you’ll need to have the Plex Media Software installed and running on a device in your home, and of course it won’t be much use if you haven’t pointed it toward some of your media. Assuming this is taken care of, just tell Alexa to enabled the skill, and follow the prompts to enable your account. Once this is done, tell Alexa to “open Plex” and you’ll be ready to start streaming.

The Alexa skill already offers plenty of functionality, but the company isn’t done yet. In the video announcing the new skill, Plex co-founder and head of product Scott Olechowski says “I can assure you, this really is just the beginning of the things that Plex will do with voice control.”

The Plex skill launched today, and is available on all Alexa-enabled devices. For a list of everything the new Plex skill can do, see the Alexa page on the company’s website.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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