Will the Alexa skill work if my player is Kodi (via Emby for Kodi plugin)?

[harrv 88]

I couldn't find this answered anywhere else, so I'll ask here.

 

My wife just got an Amazon Echo as a gift through her work, so I'm trying to figure this out for the first time. I love Emby and have all of our media available through the Emby Server. I use Emby players when I'm away from home, but at home we use Kodi as the player, with the Emby for Kodi plugin allowing Emby to act as Kodi's media library.

 

Is using Kodi in that way a supported player for this Emby Alexa skill? I've gotta assume probably not, since I think the Emby for Kodi plugin simply allows Emby to be used as the media library but doesn't actually replace normal Kodi functions for playback.

 

There are a couple of beta efforts for controlling Kodi via Alexa skill, but they don't seem to be as mature/complete as this solution is. If I can't use Kodi as a player though for the Emby Alexa skill, I'll look into those next.

 

Thank you!

[Angelblue05 4131]

Yes you can use the skill to control Emby for Kodi. There are some limitations, such as you cannot display titles. Can't think of any more on the spot. You can send play commands to it, navigate your interface if you so wish (move up, down by 3, etc.).

Edited May 7, 2018 by Angelblue05

[harrv 88]

Thanks for your reply, Angelblue05. That's impressive. I just signed up for Emby Premiere, so I should be able to try this soon. Thanks again.

Edited May 8, 2018 by harrv

[Angelblue05 4131]

Sure. I'm in the process however, of updating the skill. The invocation name will be changed as the alexa learning curve for the word "emby" is a bit too difficult.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[harrv 88]

Sure. I'm in the process however, of updating the skill. The invocation name will be changed as the alexa learning curve for the word "emby" is a bit too difficult.

 

Yes, I've run into that issue, so I'm looking forward to your update. Alexa usually tries to invoke "ambi" instead of "emby". I did get the emby skill linked to my server (via Emby Connect) but have been unable to get the skill to do anything. The reason is that every time I give it a command, it says that this is the first time I've used the skill and would Iike to set a default player. I say yes, and it recognizes that my player is "kodi (localhost)" and sets it as the default (maybe it picks that player because it's the only one active when I use the skill). But then when I actually try to give it a command after that, it says the same thing (no default player set) and goes through it again. I can never get past that part.

 

The wiki says that I don't have to specify a player for every command if I say "Alexa, open emby" or "Alexa, start emby" first. But Alexa NEVER recognizes either of those two commands.

Edited May 14, 2018 by harrv

[Angelblue05 4131]

Try open or begin emby instead which are alternative start words.

 

Thank you for the feedback, I really hope switching to m. b. home will do the trick.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Angelblue05