Alexa ignorance..please enlighten me!

[EdnaMole]

Looking to get an Alexa for my elderly dad who lives alone..I think he will enjoy asking questions and getting it to play music he likes.
i have never had one myself so I don’t know how to set it up. He’s got broadband at his bungalow (needed it to get TV but doesn’t use a computer or mobile. Does it need to be linked to a device or can I just buy it and link it to the WIFi and off we go? Simpler the better if anyone has any recommendations.

Been a while since I set one up.
I think you need to have the alexa app on a smart phone to complete the set up, attach it to the WiFi, but you don't need the app for it to function.
So you can download the app, get him set up and away you go.
It's pretty simple and the instructions are clear.

I’ve done this for my parents. I downloaded the app onto my phone to set it up and connect it to their broadband. They don’t have a tablet or smart phone so couldn’t do that bit themselves.

This is the one you need

If you get one for your home too and link it to the same account, then you can use the “drop in” feature. We use it with my in-laws - so if they aren’t answering the phone we can ask our Alexa to drop in to “mums echo dot” and it will automatically start a conversation, without them needing to answer the phone. Obviously you’d need to check that he was okay with this, but it’s been really useful as my in laws often forgot to carry their mobiles with them, or one will be on the home phone and we need to speak to the other. We’re not at this stage yet but I think it will also be useful for future proofing - if we were ever concerned/hadn’t heard from them we could drop in and speak to them to check they were okay/make sure they hadn’t fallen etc.

they love it! They Alexa for music/reminders, all sorts.

as others have said above I think you’ll need the app for initial set-up but your dad won’t need the app to use it.

Alexa has been great for MIL, we've set it up so she can turn lights on and off and she uses it a lot for listening to the radio and on the odd occasion it stopped working she missed it terribly.
We've not introduced her to 'drop in' function yet though, we'd never get any peace! 😂

Love it! Really cheered me up and what I needed tonight. ☹️➡️😆