What's the HI92 Alexa skill?
HI92 Maui Radio — Alexa Streaming Skill
An Alexa skill that streams HI92 Maui radio (KLHI-FM 92.1) on Echo devices.
The Story
I've been lucky enough to visit Maui a few times, and every time we come back home to Virginia, we listen to HI92 online until we can go back. The problem was the workflow — pull up the site on your phone, tap the stream, then manually transfer it to an Echo so you can listen around the house. I figured: why not just say "Alexa, play HI92" and be done with it?
What It Does
The skill connects to HI92's live audio stream and plays it through any Echo device. On Echo Show devices, it displays station branding and metadata on screen.
Tech Stack
- Runtime: Python, AWS Lambda
- Voice: Alexa Skills Kit (AudioPlayer interface)
- Display: Echo Show metadata and branding via APL
Challenges
Invocation collisions were the biggest headache. Saying "Alexa, play HI92 Maui" triggers Alexa's built-in music and radio players instead of the custom skill. For now, the workaround is "Alexa, ask 92 Maui to play" — not as seamless, but it works. This might improve if the skill gets published publicly, since Amazon gives published skills more invocation flexibility.
Echo Show display required handling APL (Alexa Presentation Language) templates to get the station branding looking right on screen devices.
Status
Currently a private skill running on my own devices. I'm planning to reach out to Pacific Media Group (the station's parent company) to see if they'd be open to letting me publish it publicly on the Alexa Skills Store.