Apple Music on Alexa won’t shuffle playlists

I found an effective workaround for ensuring Apple Music playlists are shuffled as part of Alexa Routines.

It involves buying a cheap Airport Express from EBay (about £50) Apple no longer sell the Airport Express but still supports the firmware. You will also need a smart plug that supports both Siri and Alexa like Meross for example. I have a automation set up in the Home App on my iPhone that when my speakers are powered on by a Meross smart plug (in my case a Bose speaker but any speaker connected to the Airport Express by a aux lead) a Apple Music playlist will play shuffled properly.

I like the solution because it bypasses the broken Apple Music Alexa skill but remains part of the my Alexa eco system and routines. For example, I can say “Alexa, Good Morning”. Alexa switches on the Meross plug which in turn powers on the Bode speaker and triggers my Apple Home app automation to play my playlist SHUFFLED!

Total cost of the workaround £65.00. As an Apple Music subscriber who likes to play music shuffled properly every morning this is money well spent. I also enjoyed the challenge of finding this solution.

Aside from playing playlists shuffled as part of an Alexa routine I did opt to add a HomePod Mini to my predominantly Alexa home. Heresy, I know, for Alexa users! However, for Alexa routines and Apple Music playlist shuffling the HomePod Mini is not essential, as far as I am aware.

I know this hassle and extra expense won’t be for everyone. I just wish the workaround wasn’t necessary and in the words of Steve Jobs Apple Music on Alexa just worked!

Come on Apple, fix your broken Amazon Alexa Apple Music skill!

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the document you shared covers features that do work, not a bug which I am referring to. The Apple Music Skill for Alexa is broken. Apple developers responsible for the Apple Music Skill have known this for 2 years. I will submit feedback as you suggest but I have done this previously, as have many others, according to numerous internet posts. Apple Music is an expensive paid service and its presence on other platforms like Alexa should work. If Spotify can shuffle on Alexa then logically by extension Apple Music should be able to. Please Apple do the right thing and fix this long standing bug

Please also note the Apple Music feedback form is out of date. It asks what software version you use and lists up to iOS 13. Most users are on iOS 14 now. There is not an option to select iOS 14. Also it asks where do you listen to Apple Music but only lists Apple products and services, not 3rd party products such as Amazon Alexa and Echo devices.

I think the Apple Music feedback form needs updating and improving

I am not looking to "enjoy new features" I am asking for an existing feature i.e. shuffling playlists to actually work with the Apple Music skill of the Amazon Alexa platform. Apple is responsible for the skill and it is broken and not working. I and many others are waiting for a fix to this long-standing bug.

I am glad that my feedback regarding Apple Music Feedback portal is under review

I have never found a satisfactory solution or work around. Adding one second of silence at the beginning of the playlist, (you can search for a track called "one second of silence"), tricks the Apple Music skill to shuffle to a minor extent but only the first few tracks, it is not a deep or comprehensive shuffle, and does not deliver for me. I have tried numerous commands in the Alexa app when creating routines, and directly to my Echo speakers and nothing works. All my research has led me to conclude this is an Apple issue, related to the Apple Music skill that Apple developed for the Alexa platform. I switched to Spotify for a short time and found that the Spotify Alexa skill shuffles playlists perfectly. But I am a Apple music customer paying £10 a month and I expect the service to work correctly on all platforms where it is available. Hopefully, the developers of the Apple Music skill for Alexa will see this thread and do something about it. It is disappointing that it is still ongoing after two years

Unfortunately, still not working on my Echo device. Songs in my playlist still play in the same boring order not shuffled. When I say “turn on shuffle mode” it says “I can’t turn on shuffle mode for this stream”. Interested to know what change you have noticed?