Tech tip: How to turn your Echo Show or Fire TV into a digital photo frame

March 16, 2022

By Kim Komando

Smartphones have had a significant impact on how we shoot photos. Now everyone has a powerful camera in their pocket at all times and can snap thousands of pictures without worrying about the cost of film.

But what about your old physical photos and negatives? You can keep them in a dusty old album on a shelf, or you can digitize them and easily share them with anyone. Tap or click here to check out some apps that make it easy to digitize your photos and negatives.

Once you have your digital photos, what to do with them? Beyond sharing them, you can display them in your home using a digital photo frame. If you have an Amazon Echo Show or Fire TV, you can display your photos on a full screen at any time. We’ll show you how to set it all up.

Put your photos in storage

You’ll need to get the Amazon Photos app to use your devices as a display. You can also connect your computer to back up your photos automatically or drag and drop them individually. You’ll need to sign in first.

Go to amazon.com/photos/welcome for more information, along with links for connecting your PC and Mac. You can also download the apps for iOS and Android.

Amazon Photos offers free, unlimited photos storage to Prime members. Non-Prime members get 5GB of free photo storage but can add more via plans starting at $1.99 per month for 100GB.

Use an Echo Show 5 as a digital photo frame

Your Echo Show 5 can alternate your photos with other home screen content or display them as a slideshow:

• Swipe down from the top of the screen on your Echo device and tap Settings.
• Tap Home & Clock > Clock & Photo Display > Amazon Photos.
• Choose which photos to display: Manual photo upload, Photo album, This Day (photos from this day in past years) and Daily Memories (an automatic selection of your pictures will display daily).
• Try these commands: “Alexa, show my photos,” “Alexa, set up my photo display.”

Use an Echo Show 8 as a digital photo frame

The Echo Show 8 adds an option for Adaptive Color, which blends on-screen colors with the tone and hue of the room environment and makes your photos look even better. Go to Settings > Display and switch on Adaptive Color to check it out.

Here’s how to get your photos on your Echo Show 8 screen:

• Swipe down from the top of the screen on your Echo device and tap Settings.
• Go to Settings > Clock & Photo Display > Amazon Photos.
• Choose which photos to display: Manual photo upload, Photo album, This Day (photos from this day in past years) and Daily Memories (an automatic selection of your pictures will display daily).
• Try these commands: “Alexa, show photos from this day,” “Alexa, launch photos of my birthday party.”

Use your Fire TV Stick 4K to display photos on your TV

You can use the Amazon Photos app and Fire TV Stick 4K to see your pictures on your TV:

• Open the Amazon Photos app on your iPhone and tap the smile icon or open the app on your Android phone and tap More.
• Tap Personalize Echo Show & Fire TV.
• Tap your Fire TV Stick 4K.
• Enable Daily Memories or tap Add More Collections to select one of your existing collections as your screensaver.

You can also set up your images from the Fire TV device itself by going to the settings then Display & Sounds > Screensaver > Current Screensaver.

Use your Fire TV Cube to display photos on your TV

You can use the Amazon Photos app and Fire TV Cube to see your photos on your TV:

• Open the Amazon Photos app on your iPhone and tap the smile icon or open the app on your Android phone and tap More.
• Tap Personalize Echo Show & Fire TV.
• Tap your Fire TV Cube.
• Enable Daily Memories or tap Add More Collections to select one of your existing collections as your screensaver.

You can also set up your photos from the Fire TV device itself by going to the settings then Display & Sounds > Screensaver > Current Screensaver.

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