Quote:
Originally Posted by Alohamora
I would expect a mobile Alexa to buffer some amount of audio for playback.
However, apparently from my research, Alexa doesn't know how to play audiobooks from Overdrive, only Audible. That makes it far less useful.
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I tried using Alexa (the app) on my iPhone connected via BT to my car stereo system. Sound quality was good. I tried Amazon Music, Spotify, and Pandora. That arrangement was usable, but there were a lot of dropouts due to loss of or poor cellular signal, and I live in a metropolitan area with 7.2 million people. I didn't use it via voice though, I just set the service to whichever one I wanted to use and then selected one of the channels to listen to. If you live in a rural area, cellular coverage might be an issue.
As far as audiobooks, it might be better to download those directly to your phone then connect the phone to your car stereo system and use an audiobook app rather than Alexa. I'm not familiar with Overdrive, so I have no clue if they will let you download the entire book or whether they force you to stream it.
The same goes for podcasts. It would be best to download the podcast to your phone then connect the phone to your stereo and use a podcasting app rather than Alexa.
As far as the pre-downloading goes, Spotify allows you to download a large number of songs to your phone so you can listen even when you don't have an internet connection. It requires the premium subscription and I think you can download at least a thousand songs, but I don't remember the exact number. I did this and used the Spotify app connected via my phone to the car stereo (no Alexa app) and it worked very well. You can also stream through Spotify, but then you risk losing the connection in poor cellular coverage areas.