If you have an Amazon Echo device and want others in your family to use it, you can set up an Amazon Household and add multiple accounts to it. Each family member must have their own Amazon account, but once it's set up, everyone included will have access to the benefits of your Amazon Prime account.
An Amazon Household can include up to two adults 18 years of age or older, four teenagers 13-17 years old, and four children aged 12 and under. Children can use an Echo through a feature called Amazon Kids. Teenagers can order products on the web and stream video, but they won’t have access to your Echo or Alexa through their personal profiles.
Add an Adult to Your Amazon Household
Browse to the Amazon Household website and sign in with your Amazon account. To add another adult, click Add Adult. Confirm your country and then enter the name and email address of the adult with whom you want to share your Amazon Household. Verify that you want to share your Amazon Wallet as proof that you live in the same household.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)Then check or uncheck the items you want to share with the other adult, including apps and games, audiobooks, and ebooks. Click Continue and confirm the person’s name and email address, then click the Send Invite button to send an invitation to join your Amazon Household.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)The person will receive an email, where they can click the Get Started button and head to the Amazon website to accept the invitation. They must also agree to share their digital wallet and then check or uncheck the items they want to share from their library. Your Amazon Household screen shows the other adult as part of your household.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)Add a Teen to Your Amazon Household
You can’t give a teenager access to your Echo under their own profile, but you can add them to your household to grant them certain Amazon shopping and video streaming abilities. From the Amazon Household page, click Add a Teen. The next screen explains what a teen can do with the account. Click the Get Started button.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)Enter the teen's name and birthdate, then select Continue. The next screen asks how you want to handle orders made by your teenager. Teens can shop online on their own, but you must choose how you'll approve their purchases by selecting one of three options:
- Review and approve all orders: Every order must be reviewed and approved by you.
- Automatically approve orders up to a certain amount: All purchases under a certain amount will go through automatically.
- Automatically approve all orders: All purchases will go through automatically and no action is required from you.
The final setup requires you to enter their phone number or email address. They are then sent a link that will let them create their own account. After entering their name, phone number or email address, and a password, they're asked to enter a one-time password sent to their phone or email address.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)Add a Child to Your Amazon Household
To add a child to your Amazon Household, click the Add a child button on the Amazon Household page. Enter the child’s name, gender, and birthday into the pop-up window and choose a profile icon. Click Save.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)You can add a child to your Amazon Household by clicking the Add a child button on the Amazon Household page. Enter the their name, gender, and birthday into the pop-up window that appears. Choose a profile icon, then click Save. You now need to set up Amazon Kids to give the child access to a specific Alexa-enabled device.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)To do this, open the Alexa app. Go to Devices and select the Echo to which you want to add the child. Tap the gear icon in the upper right corner, then tap Amazon Kids under the General section. Turn on the Amazon Kids switch to enable it. A screen will then pop up to explain the feature; tap Setup Amazon Kids.
Select the child that you added to your Amazon Household and choose Continue. You can also tap Add Child if you need to add another child. Give Amazon permission to collect certain information from your profile, then authenticate your Amazon account and tap Verify to confirm you are an adult.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)Choose I Agree to give parental consent for the child’s account and tap Continue. Amazon explains which features have been enabled. After you set up access for the child, your Echo automatically switches to their account.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)To manage the child's profile settings, browse to the Amazon Parent Dashboard where you can view all the interactions the child has with your Echo. Click the gear icon to access settings and modify certain options for the child, such as content, daily time limits, and age filters. When you enable Amazon Kids for a specific Echo device, you're automatically switched to the child's account.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)How to Switch Between Accounts
If you wish to switch from one adult account to another, just say to your Echo "Alexa, switch to [name of adult's] account." To switch between child and adult accounts, open the Alexa app and go to Devices, then select the Echo you want to use. Tap the gear icon, select Amazon Kids, and then disable the feature. After Amazon Kids is disabled, the Echo will revert to the last adult who used the device.
If you ever forget which account is active on a specific Echo device, ask "Alexa, which account is this?" and Alexa will identify the current account.
(Credit: PCMag / Amazon)