Does Echo Show 15 Have A Web Browser?

Amazon Echo, a product of its time, where innovation and small steps can provide many people with a boost in advantage for everyday life. Its functions can provide for many things such as new recipe ideas and showing the time and date for any important task. One obvious question remains with all these options and design choices: does the Echo 15 have a browser?

The Echo Show 15 has a web browser. It uses the Amazon Silk web browser. You can easily open the browser to view web pages. However, it isn’t the perfect web browser.

The Silk browser has its own share of uses, but it is not without its flaws. It is not that well known compared to browsers like Chrome or Safari. It still manages to get the job done with its own abilities.

How to Access Amazon Silk Web Browser

The Silk browser is readily available on the Echo Show 15. You don’t have to tap and swipe through multiple screens since opening the browser is entirely hands-free.  

To access Amazon Silk, all you have to say is “Alexa, open Silk.” From there, you can browse and search web pages. There, you can perform other actions. When you are done using the browser, you can say, “Alexa, stop.”

Once you’re in Amazon Silk, there are several things you can do, such as: 

• Back and forth navigation
• Set bookmarks
• View YouTube videos
• Stream to Fire Stick devices

It is able to connect to many websites, but there are a few issues that might crop up.

The accessibility to the Silk browser is still beneficial regardless. When connected with an Amazon account, this has the added bonus of Amazon’s interconnected products.

Amazon Silk and Cloud

The Silk internet allows the user to be connected to the Amazon cloud. This data is observed and collected, which would provide the service to provide exactly what the user would like and how they would have anything related to their interests. 

Admittedly, there is a bit of an issue in regards to privacy. Still, there is no doubt that this browser’s main and most prominent capabilities would be how it connects itself to various Amazon applications. 

Displaying Images and Videos

Amazon devices, including the Echo Show 15, are capable of streaming images and video to their Fire TV or any Amazon Fire-related products. To share the image between devices:

1. Go to “Settings.”
2. Tap on the “Display & Sounds” where the option “Display Mirroring” will be shown. 
3. Once “Display Mirroring” is selected, there will be a list of devices from which the image or video can be streamed to.
4. Once the device is chosen, wait a few seconds for the image/video to be displayed.

The images and videos can be moved interchangeably with both screens. With these streaming capabilities, its performance is done very well. 

Another awesome thing about Amazon Silk is that it facilitates playing music on your Echo Show 15.

Even with all these benefits, there are still a few problems when it comes to this particular browser.

Disadvantages of Amazon Silk

As previously stated, there are several flaws when it comes to the browser itself. Some of the following are considered disadvantages of the Amazon Echo’s web browser:

• Some websites would require a “constant re-authentication,” like YouTube
• Some websites can’t be accessed due to the platform not recognizing the website or not being able to find the website at all.
• Privacy issues since it’s attached to the Amazon cloud. It tracks various websites and locations and what exactly you might be interested in; that sort of intrusion would be very anxiety-inducing for a number of people.

While these are problems that need to be addressed, there is an easy answer for each and every single one of them.

Managing Your Echo 15 Data

One way to ensure privacy is to manage the data through your Echo 15 and other Alexa devices. You can do this via Amazon’s website, going to “Manage your content and devices.” From there, you can manage your data in different ways, including:

• Voice recordings
• Smart home device history
• Detected device history

You can select how often you want history to be deleted or manually delete it yourself.

Conclusion

The Silk internet browser has quite a number of benefits, from a fast-performing internet connection and video streaming to enhanced images and interconnection to many Amazon devices. In comparison to other browsers, it has faster performance than what would be typically expected from an internet browser.

Nevertheless, due to the noticeable flaws of the Silk browser, unless one is willing to take risks, there might be better options for this sort of browser. This browser is readily available to many internet surfing Amazon devices, but if given a chance, one might choose to use another.