Can Your Amazon Echo Auto Connect to Multiple Phones?

Evan Gower December 3, 2019

Being distracted by a mobile phone while driving is a real problem, which is why using one while behind the wheel has been made illegal in a number of countries around the world. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of voice activated devices on the market that allow you to change the song that’s playing, or to get directions while keeping your hands on the wheel.

Can Your Amazon Echo Auto Connect to Multiple Phones?

For car drivers wanting to turn their vehicle into an Alexa-enabled device, Amazon released the Echo Auto in late 2018. Connecting it to a single phone is quite easy, but can you connect it to multiple devices?

How to Connect Your Echo Auto to More Than One Phone

The Echo Auto isn’t Amazon’s best or most versatile device. At its core, it’s just a way for you to integrate your car into Alexa’s internet of things. It has limitations you won’t encounter on home-based devices.

Connecting more than one phone to an Echo Auto is doable, but it’s a little clunky. Once you have two phones paired to it, and you have both of them in the car at the same time, it seems to just pick one at random to connect to. You can’t have both of them connected at the same time, which can be a bit frustrating.

Before you start setting up your Echo Auto with a new phone, you’ll need to make sure that the phone that you’ve already connected to it won’t automatically connect when you start your, so make sure that you’ve switched Bluetooth off on it first.

Also, ensure that your Echo Auto is plugged in to the provided power supply, and that it is connected to your car using either the provided auxiliary cable or by Bluetooth. Here’s what you’ll need to do in order to connect a second phone to your Echo Auto:

Start your car, and your Echo Auto.
Turn on Bluetooth on the phone that you want to connect.
Hold down the Action button on the Echo Auto until the display bar starts showing an orange light.
Open the Alexa app from the Home screen of the phone that you want to connect.
Tap on Devices.
Tap on the + icon.
Tap on Add Device.
Tap on Amazon Echo.
Tap on Echo Auto.
Follow any further onscreen instructions to complete the pairing.

To pair more phones or tablets to your Echo Auto, you simply need to repeat the process above, ensuring that Bluetooth has been turned off on any devices that have already been paired to it.

One Phone at a Time

Once you’ve got more than one phone connected to your Echo Auto, you’ll have to choose which one you want to be connected to it, as it can’t handle multiple devices at the same time. Turn off the Bluetooth on any phone that isn’t the one that you want to use. If it doesn’t connect to your phone, try switching your Echo Auto off and on again, as this should refresh the connection.

The Finish Line

Amazon’s Echo Auto is pretty simple to use once you’ve got it set up, and can make your life easier when on the road. You won’t have to actually pick up your phone to interact with it, meaning you can simply talk to it to make calls, send messages, and play your favorite tunes.

If you’ve got any useful tips and tricks to make using an Echo Auto an even more convenient and enjoyable experience, or have managed to find a way to connect more that one phone to it at the same time, why not let us know in the comments section below?