Can Amazon Echo Show Play Netflix?

Evan Gower November 28, 2019

The burning question about the Echo Show is this: Can Echo Show play Netflix? Sadly, the answer is no. People say that there’s a workaround, but in all honesty, it isn’t worth your while. If you want to buy this device just to watch Netflix, give it a pass.

This isn’t Amazon’s fault, but on Netflix’s end because they lack support for smart home displays. You can’t watch Netflix on Google Home devices either. Read on to learn more about this topic, and instructions for a workaround that, as stated above, isn’t that great.

Why Can’t Echo Show Play Netflix?

We’ll level with you – the Echo Show isn’t meant for playing Netflix. This is straight up impossible on all Amazon Echo devices, except two – the Echo Show 8 (8-inch screen) and Echo Show 2^nd gen (10-inch screen).

If you have regular Echo Show, or Echo Show 5, you won’t be able to play Netflix at all. The thing that’s missing, making everything complicated, is the lack of Netflix Alexa skill. And Netflix isn’t the only streaming service missing out. YouTube isn’t supported either.

Your best bet for streaming any video content on all Echo Show devices is Amazon Prime Video. Over the years, Amazon added Hulu, CNN, and NBC to their roster. Of course, Amazon wants you to watch their streaming service, but that isn’t an excuse for leaving out Netflix.

On the other hand, Netflix isn’t troubled by this unduly. There doesn’t seem to be much cooperation between these two companies. And neither of them seems to care too much about this particular issue.

Streaming services aren’t going anywhere, in fact, there are many more are to come. Disney Plus has already launched and Amazon should definitely consider adding it to its streaming options, alongside Netflix.

The Workaround

Have you tried watching Netflix on a tablet or a smartphone before? Frankly, it isn’t a great experience. Firstly, you’re watching on a small screen that you have to keep close. Secondly, it’s difficult to navigate around the website.

Netflix has tons of content, and scrolling and picking one of the thousand TV shows or movies can be challenging, to say the least. With regards to the workaround, it’s pretty simple. You need a stable Wi-Fi connection, preferably at least 10 Mbit/s for video streaming.

Next, you can choose between using the Silk or Firefox browser on your Echo Show. We prefer Firefox, but either one of them will work fine. Follow these steps:

Say Alexa, open Firefox/Silk.
Go to netflix.com.
If you’re lucky enough, you’ll be able to log in and use the site version of Netflix.

That’s why you need the Echo Show 8 or Echo Show 2^nd gen. You may be prompted to enter portrait mode on your device – and some Echo Shows don’t have it. Alternatively, you’ll be asked to download Netflix’s app from the Google Play Store. Only Echo Show doesn’t support Google Play Store.

Amazon and Google are big competitors. As a result, some users are hurt by their lack of cooperation; those who’d like to watch Netflix on the Echo Show.

The Alternatives

There are several alternative ways of watching Netflix. You can get an Amazon Fire tablet and use it to play Netflix. This device has great Netflix support and it works 100%. The other route you can take is watching another streaming service.

On the Echo Show, the best streaming alternatives to Netflix are Hulu and Amazon Prime Video. Each has a lot of content, updated on a daily basis. Therefore, you could cancel your Netflix subscription and subscribe to a different service.

This isn’t ideal, but it’s the only thing you can do at the present time . Perhaps in the future, Netflix will be available on the Echo Show, but sadly, that’s seems rather unlikely.

No Netflix and Chill

Who knows why Netflix isn’t already an Alexa skill, and why it doesn’t have better integration with the Echo Show? Either way, hopefully this article has helped you to play Netflix on your Echo Show.

If not, you still have some alternatives at your disposal. Which one did you choose? Let us know in the comments section below.