Updated 04/26/2023
Why is our SmartHome so dumb sometimes? Seriously.
I need some help troubleshooting why Alexa can’t play my workout playlist. Any and all suggestions other than “throw it all out” are appreciated.
Here’s the setup:
- A Peloton Treadmill which has two user accounts: Cherish8 and vortex0007.
- The Peloton Treadmill is linked to Apple Music using Bryan’s Apple Music Subscription. I’m unclear if this is an Apple or Peloton limitation but the way the Peloton Apple Music linking works, it’s only possible to link one AppleID to Apple Music.
- The Cherish8 account is also an Apple ID that is a member of the Apple Family Sharing plan and the family has the Apple One Premier subscription which allows the Cherish8 Apple ID full access to the Apple Music Subscription.
When Bryan or Cherish workout and favorite a song on the Peloton, under Bryan’s Apple Music Account the following two playlists are initially generated then updated by the Peloton Apple Music Integration
As long as the music being played on the Peloton is part of the Apple Music catalog, the music is added to the playlist matched to the user. At least that’s what is supposed to happen.
The first problem we were having is that when Bryan opens the Apple Music app on any Apple device logged into Apple iCloud by Bryan, Bryan can see both Playlists, and all the songs listed in them appear and can be played. Any “favorite” or “un-favorite” done on the Peloton Treadmill on either Bryan or Cherish treadmill accounts are properly synchronized on the Apple Music Playlist. When Cherish opens Apple music from her Apple devices, signed into Cherish’s Apple iCloud account, Cherish can see the Apple Playlist “My Peloton Music by Cherish8” but the Playlist is empty. Why is the playlist empty for Cherish’s account?
After a few emails with Peloton support, It turns out that the Playlist sync problems were a result of some bug/glitch that exists with the Peloton app on the Treadmill. To resolve the problem, on the Treadmill one must open the Android OS settings menu, navigate to Apps, choose the Peloton app and then select the option “Uninstall updates.” Performing this step resets the Peloton app to its default state (erasing everything) which triggers the Treadmill to reboot and launch the initial setup wizard. After getting both Bryan and Cherish accounts logged back in, the app finds there is an app update available, installs the app update and the playlist problem resolves itself. One problem solved, but the other still remains.
The second problem involves Alexa and her inability to follow verbal instructions:
In the home gym we have 2 Amazon Echo Dot 5th Generation devices paired via Bluetooth running the latest firmware. The Alexa Skill named Apple Music has been enabled, the account linking is successfully linked and the end result is that in most cases we can speak to Alexa and she will play a song from “Bryan’s Apple Music account” Additional Alexa Settings that are related to music playback are found under the “Alexa Preferences” > “Music and Podcast” section where a default music and podcast service can be defined. We have defined Apple Music as the default for both Music, Artist and Genre Stations both for the “Family” profile as well as for the “Bryan” profile. Here’s the problem:
When Bryan walks into the gym and says “Alexa, play the Playlist My Peloton Music by vortex0007” Alexa plays back the playlist named “My Peloton Music by Cherish8.” Every time. As the name of both of the Playlists are generated by Peloton, renaming the playlist is not an option in this case.
I have tried saying:
- “Alexa, play the Playlist My Peloton Music by v-o-r-t-e-x-zero-zero-zero-seven”,
- “Alexa, play the Playlist My Peloton Music by vortex-triple-zero-seven”
And the result is always the same: Alexa plays Cherish’s playlist not mine.
Why? What am I doing wrong?
I have a different playlist not managed by Peloton that I created named “Bryan workout” and if I say “Alex, play my workout” she correctly picks the “Bryan workout” playlist every single time. I can call out a number of other Playlists that all work fine. It’s only these two Peloton playlists that are the problem.
Is this a Peloton support issue, an Apple Music support issue, or an Amazon Echo support issue?
