Listening to Podcasts on Amazon Echo is even easier with a skill

Until now, the easiest way to listen to podcasts on an Amazon Echo was to connect via Bluetooth and play the podcast with your favorite app. But a new Alexa skill called AnyPod has made listening even easier.

How to configure AnyPod

You can enable the AnyPod skill from a browser or the Alexa / Alexa iOS app:

• In the app, tap the hamburger menu button and go to Skills . If you prefer to do this step in a browser, go to your Alexa account page and click Skills in the sidebar on the left.
• Search for “AnyPod” and tap the Enable button.

How to use AnyPod

You don't have to create an account or do any extensive setup to use AnyPod. You can start listening to podcasts without subscribing instantly, add podcasts to your subscription list, unsubscribe from podcasts, and more, all with just voice commands.

Here is a list of the voice commands AnyPod provides for playback:

• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play How I Built This.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to move forward 2 minutes.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to rewind 30 seconds.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to start playing at 12 minutes and 25 seconds.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play my podcasts..”

And commands to manage your subscriptions:

• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to subscribe to How I Built This.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to unsubscribe from How I Built This.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod what my subscriptions are?”

When listening to a specific podcast, you can ask Alexa to play the latest or oldest episode. If nothing is playing, you can specify which podcast you want to listen to:

• “Alexa, ask AnyPod for the newest episode (of How I Built This).”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod for the oldest episode (of How I Built This).”

AnyPod benefits and drawbacks

AnyPod has some features that are key to a good podcast listening experience.

If you stop in the middle of a podcast, AnyPod will remember where you stopped and resume playback. (You can ask it to start over by saying "Alexa, ask AnyPod to restart.") And if you're listening to podcasts exclusively through Amazon Echo, this is one of the best options out there.

But if you're like most podcast listeners and prefer to take your episodes with you on the go or listen on your phone, AnyPod can be a bit of a hassle. Because the skill doesn't have a corresponding mobile app, listening to your podcast won't sync, and it'll be harder to keep track of what you've already listened to.

Another challenge is getting AnyPod to play a particular episode. With some podcasts (for example, S-Town), you can ask to play a particular chapter or episode. Examples of commands you can use include:

• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play S-Town Chapter 3.”
• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Serial Season 2 Episode 6.”

If you're already listening to a podcast, you can request a specific episode with this command:

• “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play episode 12.”

But it doesn't always work. You'll need to test this feature with your favorite podcasts to see if they support playback of chapters, seasons, and episodes.

What is your favorite way to listen to podcasts using Amazon Echo? What do you think of AnyPod? Let us know in the comments.