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* Overview for Voice-enabling Your App and Content
* Voice-enabling Transport Controls with Media Session API
* In-App Voice Scrolling and Selection
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OVERVIEW FOR VOICE-ENABLING YOUR APP AND CONTENT ON FIRE TV
With the release of Fire TV Cube, and the ability to link Echo devices to Fire
TV, customers can interact with their TVs in a hands-free way (an interaction
referred to as "far-field control"). They can ask Alexa to play content, search
for content, control playback, and change channels on their Fire TV using voice.
Even without Fire TV Cube or a paired Echo, customers can press the microphone
button on the Alexa Voice Remote to say voice commands to Fire TV (this is
referred to as "near-field" control).
To support voice interactions on Fire TV, it's becoming increasingly important
that you voice-enable your apps. There are several techniques for voice-enabling
your app: Video Skills Kit, Media Session API, and In-App Voice Scrolling and
Selection.
* Key Terms
* Video Skills Kit (VSK)
* Media Session API
* In-app Scrolling and Selection
KEY TERMS
Integrating with Alexa introduces some terms that might be unfamiliar. The
following glossary defines some of these terms.
See key terms »
Alexa skill A capability or ability of Alexa. Alexa provides a set of built-in
skills (such as playing music), and developers can use the Alexa Skills Kit to
give Alexa new skills. A skill includes both the code (in the form of a
cloud-based service) and the configuration provided on the developer console.
Alexa Voice Remote A remote control for Fire TV that offers a voice button.
Interacting with this voice-enabled remote (even if you're far away from your
TV) is still considered "near field" control because you're near the microphone
array of the remote control. far-field Using an Echo device that is paired to a
Fire TV to issue a voice command. Fire TV Cube The first Fire TV device offering
a hands-free TV experience (far field control). Without a remote, you can use
your voice to access, launch, and control content, turn on your TV and AV
devices, switch inputs, adjust the volume, search for content, and more from a
distance. For details, see Device Specifications: Fire TV Cube. Catalog An index
of the media on Fire TV. Integrating your media catalog with Amazon allows your
content to be discovered and launched from Amazon devices. It will then be
discoverable on the Fire TV home screen when users search for it (either through
voice or text search). See Getting Started with Catalog Ingestion for details.
AWS Lambda An AWS compute service that runs your code in response to events and
automatically manages the compute resources for you. This lets you run code
(referred to as a Lambda function) in the cloud without managing servers. The
code for your skill must be hosted as a Lambda function and is required for
smart home skills. You can also choose to use a Lambda function for the service
for a custom skill. AWS Lambda is a service offering by Amazon Web Services. AWS
Lambda function The code uploaded to AWS Lambda. Lambda supports coding in
Node.js, Java, Python, or C#. A smart home skill must be implemented as a Lambda
function. You can also choose to use a Lambda function for the service for a
custom skill. local search A search for content within a specific
catalog-integrated app on Fire TV. near-field Using the Fire TV Voice Remote to
issue a voice command. In the case of the new Fire TV Cube, requests made to the
Fire TV Cube initialize Alexa on the device, so although it uses the microphone
array, it is a near-field experience. transport controls Playback controls while
watching media (Play, Pause, Stop, Rewind, Fast-forward, etc.). Also called
"media controls." universal search A search for content across all
catalog-integrated apps on Fire TV. You can initiate a universal search using
voice or text. All voice searches by default are universal searches. Any search
using the search button within the Fire TV UI (rather than using the search
provided within a specific app) is also a universal search. utterance The words
the user says to Alexa to convey what they want to do, or to provide a response
to a question Alexa asks. Video Skills Kit The name for implementing video
skills for your Fire TV app. Video Skill API A set of APIs that enable the
far-field control of video devices and streaming services using an Alexa-enabled
device. For details, see Video Skills Kit (VSK) for Fire TV Overview.
VIDEO SKILLS KIT (VSK)
You can integrate the Video Skills Kit (VSK) for your Fire TV app so that
customers can use natural language commands to search for your app's content,
launch your app, control media playback, change the channel, and more.
Implementing the VSK involves building a Lambda to support the directives from
Alexa, integrating the Alexa Client Library, handling cloud-to-app communication
through ADM, and more. Catalog integration is also a requirement to implement
the VSK for Fire TV. To get started, see Video Skills Kit for Fire TV Apps
Overview.
Integrating the VSK for Fire TV gives customers the following capabilities:
* App launching: When a customer asks to play or search for specific content,
Alexa automatically launches the correct Fire TV app. When customers say
"Alexa, open <app name>," they are directed to the app’s homepage. The video
skill automatically enables the Alexa Video Skill API to launch the app.
* Quick play: Customers can ask Alexa to play video by saying, "Alexa, play
<show name> " or "Alexa, play <show name> on <app name>. Alexa routes the
user to the correct app with that content, and Fire TV begins playback
automatically (rather than just going to the detail page).
* Search: Customers can ask Alexa to perform universal searches for content by
saying "Alexa, find <show name>." Searches like this, which don't limit the
scope to an app, are called "universal searches," since they look for the
content across all catalog-integrated Fire TV apps. Searches that limit their
scope to a specific app are called "local searches." Customers can also
perform local searches by saying "Alexa, find <show name> on <app name>" or
"Alexa, find <genre> on <app name>."
* Transport Controls: Customers can control playback via voice through
utterances such as "Alexa, fast forward", "Alexa, fast forward 5 minutes",
"Alexa, next", "Alexa, previous", as well as rewind, pause, resume, and stop.
* Channel Change: For apps that offer live TV functionality, customers can
switch between channels through utterances such as "Alexa, tune to <app
name>".
Integrating the Video Skills Kit (VSK) into your Fire TV app makes it easier for
customers to discover and play your content.
MEDIA SESSION API
If you don't have the bandwidth or resources to implement the VSK, or if your
planned implementation is some months into the future, you can voice-enable the
media playback controls in your app using the Media Session API. Media Session
is an Android API that allows streaming applications to receive media commands,
and it's the recommended best practice for handling events from remote controls,
Bluetooth, ADB, the Fire TV companion app, and more.
Integrating Media Session allows customers to say commands such as "Play,"
"Pause," "Rewind," etc, during media playback. These commands work in both near
field and far field devices. Media Session won't let users perform the more
advanced voice controls described in the Video Skills Kit, where you can launch
apps, search for content, and more through voice. Media Session integration just
voice-enables the playback controls.
If you've already implemented Media Session in your app (most developers have),
there's little to no extra work to voice-enable Media Session. You just add a
special Alexa permission to your app manifest. Full details are available here:
Voice-enabling Transport Controls with Media Session API.
IN-APP SCROLLING AND SELECTION
Fire TV Cube allows users to perform scrolling and selection using common Alexa
phrases. The in-app voice scrolling and selection works by mapping D-pad
navigation events to your voice commands. D-pad refers to the remote control's
directional keypad, which is used to scroll right, left, up, and down. Alexa
converts these voice commands into D-pad navigation events that are sent to the
app.
In-app scrolling and selection is a feature that Amazon manually activates on
the back-end for apps, after ensuring that the app will support the commands.
Amazon is gradually increasing the number of apps with scrolling and selection
enabled. For more details, see In-App Voice Scrolling and Selection.
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Last updated: Aug 18, 2022
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