Can Alexa Flash Lights to Music?

The various features that Alexa offers have always exceeded the expectations of users who own this AI-backed-up device. In addition to listening to your commands and performing day-to-day tasks, this AI can do many other things, but can Alexa flash lights to music?

Yes, Alexa can flash lights to music through Alexa-enabled smart lights and their apps. All you need to make Alexa flash the lights to music is an Alexa, a home audio system, and a mobile device. Moreover, you can also make Alexa itself light up with the music using the steps we’ve provided!

Additionally, it is necessary that you are playing music on a speaker. The reason is that smart lights connect to the beats of the music, and they will be unable to do so if the music is only audible over headphones or earphones.

Let’s learn how to set up Alexa so that it can start flashing lights to music!

Getting the right lighting system

So the first you need to do is get the right lighting system. What I mean is that you need a lighting system that can sync music to Alexa, i.e., a “smart-lighting system”. Smart lighting comes with sensors that enable them to interact with their environment.

A good quality smart-lighting system should have the following features;

• It should be able to “read” the audio and detect your movement so that it can carry out your commands accordingly.
• A reliable connection between your smart lighting system and other devices, such as your smartphone, is required. Such a system has to have Wi-Fi for this to happen.

Smart-lighting system is quite convenient as it can control the light through voice commands.

Alexa-compatible lighting systems

Your smart lighting system must be compatible with Alexa. The lighting system should properly align with your music and should also sync to Alexa.

Here are the most common Alexa-compatible lighting systems:

• Philips Hue Lights
• IKEA TRÅDFRI Smart Lights
• Light Rhapsody Holiday String Lights

Among them, the Philips Hue lights are common and the most popular.

Flashing Philips Hue Lights with Alexa

Detailed below are steps you need to follow to get Alexa to flash your Philips Hue lights.

Setting up the Philips Hue Bridge

Philips Hue Lights have the Hue Bridge, which can control over 50 lights. Follow the given guidelines to set the Hue Bridge;

1. Plug in the Philips Hue Bridge.
2. Connect the Bridge to Wi-Fi using the Ethernet cable.
3. Wait for the three lights on the Bridge to turn on.
4. Install the Hue app either from App Store or Google Play Store.
5. Make sure that your phone and Hue Bridge are connected to the same Wi-Fi.
6. Open the Hue app on your phone, go to Settings, then Hue Bridge, and add Hue Bridge to the app.
7. Then read the instruction manual to set it up.

Setting up the Philips Hue Lights

The next step after setting up the Philips Hue Bridge is to set up the Philips Hue Lights. To do so;

1. Select the “add lights” option from the Settings of the Hue app. You’ll find the “add lights” option under the “light set up”.
2. Connect the light bulb according to the serial number. You have two options for adding this number: manually or through an app search.

Synching the Philips Hue Lights to Alexa and music

To sync the Philips Hue Lights to Alexa;

1. Open the Alexa app on your smartphone.
2. Go to Menu>Skills>Games section.
3. Look up Hue in the search bar and select Philips Hue from the search results.
4. Select “Enable to Use” from the Menu.
5. Log in to your Hue App.
6. Choose Discoverable Devices, which will allow you to connect your lights to Alexa.
7. To sync music to the Philips Hue lights and Alexa, download any music app (e.g., Philips Hue Disco).
8. Ask Alexa to play the music you like, and your lights will also sync up to that music.

Flashing IKEA TRÅDFRI Smart Lights with Alexa

Detailed below are steps you need to follow to get Alexa to flash your IKEA TRÅDFRI Smart Lights.

Setting up the IKEA TRÅDFRI Gateway

Your Alexa will link to the IKEA TRÅDFRI Smart Lights through the Gateway. To set up the Gateway;

1. Open the IKEA Smart Home app after installing it.
2. Plug in the Gateway according to the given instructions.
3. Select Next on the app, then tap Scan.
4. Scan the security code on your phone or type it manually.
5. Link your TRÅDFRI products to the Gateway according to the given instructions.

Synching TRÅDFRI Smart Lights to Alexa and music

1. Open the Settings of your TRÅDFRI app and select integrations. Enable the Amazon Alexa option.
2. Log in to your Amazon account and select Allow.
3. Now, search for TRÅDFRI in the Alexa app search bar and select TRÅDFRI in the results.
4. Select devices>add devices>choose lights>select IKEA.
5. After linking, select Discover Devices. Alexa should now let you operate your TRÅDFRI.
6. Download a third-party music app to sync music to Alexa-enabled TRÅDFRI Smart light.
7. Order Alexa to play music of your choice, and your lights will also flash to the music.

Flashing Light Rhapsody Holiday String Lights with Alexa

Detailed below are steps you need to follow to get Alexa to flash your Light Rhapsody Holiday String Lights.

Setting up Alexa with Light Rhapsody

1. Open the Alexa app and go to Settings.
2. Select the device you want your lights to pair with.
3. Choose Bluetooth and tap “Pair a new device”.
4. Select the Light Rhapsody Lights. Upon connecting, the lights will change their color.
5. Go to the Skills section and choose the Light Rhapsody skill.
6. Open a third-party music app and play your favorite song.
7. Now, ask Alexa to “start beat detection” and it’ll start flashing the Light Rhapsody String lights to the beat!

Flashing smart lights with Alexa using iHeartRadio

Here is how you can tune your iHeartRadio account to Alexa to sync the lights of your house with music.

1. Open the Alexa App.
2. Go to Menu>Settings>Music>Media.
3. Link the iHeartRadio account by tapping on “Link Account”.
4. Log in to your iHeartRadio account.
5. Select the room in which you would like to control the lights by selecting from the available rooms or creating another option by tapping on the “+ Add room” option.
6. Open Spotify, go to Menu>Share>Light sync. Choose the room where you want the lights to flash.
7. Play music on Spotify or iHeartRadio and enjoy the light show.

Also read: Does Alexa have DAB radio?

Flashing smart lights with Alexa using TuneIn

Here is how you can light up your smart lights using your Alexa device with TuneIn;

1. Open the TuneIn app and select the Lights option.
2. Turn on the Connected Light switch.
3. You will now be required to give your LIFX or Hue information. If you do not have a Hue or LIFX account, you can create it.
4. Authorize your login credentials.
5. The lights will now be connected to TuneIn.

Flashing smart lights with Alexa using Spotify

You can easily connect your Spotify account to Philips Hue Lights. The procedure involves switching on or off the slider in the top right and switching to Spotify or Apple Music to play music while synchronizing the lights. The LIFX lights and Spotify or Apple Music are synced via the app.

Lighting up Alexa using different music apps

Alexa can also light up to music played from different apps such as;

• Apple Music
• Google Play Music
• Pandora

Lighting up Alexa using Apple Music

Make your Alexa lights dance to your tunes by following the given steps;

1. Ensure that you have installed the Light Show app on your phone and both devices are logged in through the same account.
2. Open Settings on the light show app.
3. Select Apple Music under Music Source.
4. Select Link Account and log in through your Apple ID.
5. Switch back to the app’s main menu after closing the Settings menu. All of your Apple Music playlists should now be displayed in a list.
6. Play any song you like, and the lights will automatically flash to your music.

Lighting up Alexa using Google Play Music

Here is how you could light up Alexa using Google Play Music;

1. Make sure that Alexa has root access to ensure the proper functioning of the AllStream app.
2. Install the AllStream app and the Media Renderer app on your phone. Perform the setup.
3. Command Alexa to play music by saying, “Alexa, play some music.”

Lighting Alexa up using Pandora

Light up your Alexa on music using Pandora services. Here is how you can do this;

1. Install the iLightShow app on your phone and turn it on. This software links to LIFX, Hue, or Nanoleaf lights, as well as Spotify or Apple Music accounts.
2. Open the app, sign in to your Spotify or Apple Music account, and select the “Lights” tab. From there, you can choose whatever devices you want to operate.
3. Play any song from Pandora on your Echo show 8 or other Alexa-enabled devices and see how the lights change color to match your music.

Final thoughts on whether Alexa can flash lights to music

You can get Alexa to make your lights dance to your tunes by ensuring that you have a smart light system. When synced to Alexa, these smart lights can flash, and you will get a whole light show. Philips Hue Lights are the most common Alexa-compatible smart light system.

Alexa can also flash lights itself when music is playing through Pandora, Google Play Music, and Apple Music. Sync these apps to Alexa and enjoy a good musical light show.