Amazon has introduced hands-free Alexa voice control for its Amazon Music application on iOS and Android.

It is only available for Music Unlimited and Prime Music subscribers in the US at present, with no word yet on the feature coming to UK versions of the app. However, it does enable those in the States to speak to their phones in order to play, pause and queue music without needing to tap the Alexa button before each command.

The new feature effectively apes an Amazon Echo, understanding similar music search and playback phrases.

• What is Amazon Music Unlimited and how does it work?

This will be of particular interest to those who use the Amazon Music app when driving. They will now be able to say things like, "Alexa, play the Stone Roses" and the app will stream popular Stone Roses tracks instantly.

You can also create playlists just using your voice.

Apple Music can already be controlled using Siri on iOS devices, while Spotify is working on its own voice search functionality to be launched at a later date.

We await to see how hands-free Alexa control works in our day to day use of Amazon Music - mainly because we are based in the UK and it is yet to release here. We'll give you our thoughts when we do.