Posted by Melody on Tuesday, Jun 5, 2018
Everyone I talk to knows how much I love listening to audiobooks whenever I'm doing housework. Up until recently, I thought I could only use apps approved by the maker of my smart speaker. I knew I could cast but didn't have my devices paired in the right way in order to make the audio from *any* app stream through my speaker. I now have my smartphone paired to my speaker and I'm never looking back.
Why didn't I google this sooner? The instructions for pairing a device up with an Echo smart speaker are on the Amazon.com Help site. Basically, you make sure Bluetooth is turned on on the device you want to pair and you say "Pair" within range of the speaker. Then you can play whatever audio you want like it was any old Bluetooth speaker.
The Google Home Help site has instructions for pairing an Android phone to the Google Home, but what about an iPhone? They do have general instructions for playing music via Bluetooth that also works for audiobooks.
CNET has put together a how-to video to guide Apple users through the process.
You won't be able to verbally direct the smart speaker to play what you want it to play, but using your device like a remote is the next best thing.
I started listening to the audiobook version of this on hoopla (https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/15013684) and wound up buying my own copy to switch back and forth. Some parts are better read so you can stop and ponder McGonigal's probing questions and go through her "creativity training." I mean, who doesn't love creativity training?! Now some of us ICPL staff are in an Imaginable book club where we imagine the future of libraries and the Iowa City community. It's been a fun discussion so far, and I'm looking forward to seeing which of our predictions comes true. -Melody