Alexa Can Improve Your Smart Home Experience
March 5, 2024
When we started bringing smart home technology into our home I was looking for efficiency, convenience and simplicity. As a technology guy I was intrigued by all it could do but I wasn’t looking for a second job maintaining it. Not that I expected it to be maintenance free because nothing worth having in life is. I just didn’t want to leave one job to come home to another.
At the time, Amazon Alexa was the predominant smart home assistant so it seemed safe to invest in that technology. I wasn’t wrong but other platforms like Google Assistant and Apple Homekit have worked hard to catch up. They all seem to have their pros and cons so it depends on your preference. I’ve been happy with Amazon and have continued to expand it’s capabilities and hardware since. I recently purchased the Echo Hub and am evaluating it as a whole home control interface for our new home build.
As Alexa has become more ingrained in our daily lives at home we’ve found it to be a powerful virtual assistant found in every Echo speaker and many other devices. It’s a powerful tool to help accomplish most tasks, but with a little more work you can personalize your experience by adding more features. Below I’ll cover some great ways to make your Alexa experience even better.
A great first way to improve your Alexa experience is to find Alexa skills. Think of skills as voice-controllable smartphone apps. More than 100,000 skills are available to download and use on your Echo. You can do everything from ordering a pizza from Domino’s to playing a game of Jeopardy! using Alexa. The possibilities are pretty much endless.
If you have an Amazon Echo Show with a touchscreen, many skills will show visual content as well. To take a look at all the skills available, head to the Amazon Skills Portal on the Amazon site. Some neat places to start with Amazon skills are:
If you own smart devices that support Alexa such as smart LED strip lights and smart plugs, you can connect them to Alexa. Connecting them allows you to control your smart devices with Alexa, which in turn allows you to use them more conveniently — through the app or by voice.
To control your smart devices with Alexa, you need to download the respective Alexa skills. To find the skills that you’re looking for, start by adding your smart devices in the Alexa app. In the Alexa app, head to the “Devices” tab at the bottom of the screen. Tap the plus icon in the upper-right corner, and then choose “Add Device.”
Let’s say that you want add a smart plug. You’ll need to find the device manufacturer or brand name of the plug from the list of Devices. If you can’t find it, use the “Other” option located at the very bottom. Then, follow the instructions in the app to finish connecting your smart plug and download the required skill.
When you enable the skill, it means that you’ve connected and can now control your smart plug with Alexa — through the Alexa app, with voice commands, and via Alexa Routines. Follow the same process for all of your smart devices to use them more conveniently on your Amazon Echo devices.
What about listening to your favorite music? Use Alexa’s music skill by saying “Alexa, play [song name].” Alexa will play the song on the default service that you’ve selected in the Alexa app, such as Amazon Music, Spotify, or TuneIn.
To change the default service, open the Alexa app and head to the “More” tab at the bottom of the screen. Then, select “Settings.” Choose “Music and Podcasts” under Alexa Preferences. Next, tap “Default Services” at the top of the screen. For each category on the Default Services page (Music, Artist and Genre Stations, and Podcasts), choose the default service that you want to assign them by pressing the “Change” button.
Here are some music commands that you can use:
- “Alexa, play [song name] on [service name].”
- “Alexa, play [album name] album.”
- “Alexa, play [artist] on [service name].”
- “Alexa, play [radio station] on [radio station name].”
- “Alexa, play [name of playlist] on [service name].”
Why not set alarms on your Amazon Echo devices? You can easily instruct Alexa to set an alarm by saying, “Alexa, set an alarm for [time].” You can also set a repeating alarm by saying, “Alexa, set an alarm for [time] every [day].” Start by setting a morning alarm to wake up to. Say, “Alexa, set an alarm for 9:30am every day.” You could replace “every day” with “on the weekdays.” To cancel alarms, say, “Alexa, what are my alarms?” Alexa will then read you all of your alarms. You can then cancel them all by saying, “Alexa, cancel my [time] alarm.”
You can also check the weather before you head outside. You wouldn’t want to get caught in weather you’re not prepared for. To ask Alexa for weather reports, say, “Alexa, What’s the weather?”
Alexa will report the current temperature and weather conditions. Alexa will then report the temperature and weather conditions for that night, so you can plan accordingly.
For accurate weather and traffic reports in your area, allow Alexa to access your location. You can usually do so with your phone’s privacy settings and then location services. Find the Amazon Alexa app and change the location access to “While Using The App” or “Always,” or something similar. You can also turn on “Precise Location” for more accurate reports.
Alexa can fill you in on traffic reports in your area. Say, “Alexa, how’s the traffic to [location or address]?” A location could be the name of a restaurant in your city. Alexa will let you know whether there’s traffic and how long the drive will be on the fastest route.
Whenever you’re afraid of forgetting something important, use the Reminders skill on your Amazon Echo device. Say, “Alexa, remind me at [time] on [date] to [reminder].” There’s a lot of flexibility with the date input. For example, you could say “in two days” or “next week.” Without adding a date to your reminder, Alexa will assume that it’s for today. You can also set recurring reminders. For example, if you want to remind yourself to pay the rent, you could say, “Alexa, remind me at [time] to pay the rent on the first of every month.” To cancel reminders, say, “Alexa, what are my reminders?” Alexa will read you all of your reminders. You can then cancel them by saying, “Alexa, cancel my [time] reminder to [reminder].”
Alexa also has a List skill, which allows you to create lists for whatever you want. The skill tends to be limited but comes in handy if your lists are simple. For example, if you want to create a to-do list, say “Alexa, create a new list.” When you’re prompted, provide Alexa with a name to call the list. Add items to the list by saying “Alexa, add [item] to [list name] list.” Remove items from the list by saying, “Alexa, remove [item] from [list name] list.” You can create multiple lists with the new list command — giving each one a different name. To check the items on your lists, say “Alexa, what’s on my [list name] list?”
In addition to Alexa’s skills, you can also add third-party skills. There are thousands of third-party Alexa Skills that you can enable for your Amazon Echo, and that number continues to rise.
To begin, tap on the menu button in the top-left corner of the screen in the Alexa app. Select “Skills” from the list. Tap inside of the search box at the top where it says “Search All Skills” and type in the name of an Alexa Skill that you want to install. Then tap on the Search button to the right.
If you’re not looking for a particular Alexa Skill, you can also just scroll down to browse through them or tap on “Categories” to narrow down the field a bit. When the Skill appears, tap on it to open it up and see more information about it. From there, tap on “Enable Skill” to add the Alexa Skill to your Amazon Echo.
Depending on the Alexa Skill you’re installing, you may receive pop-up prompts, like allowing the Alexa Skill to use your location. Or you might be redirected to a new screen where you’ll need to sign into your account that’s associated with the Alexa Skill you installed (Like Lyft, for instance). Once the Alexa Skill is installed and enabled, you’ll see “Disable Skill” appear, this means you’re all set.
You can search through Amazon’s massive library in the Alexa app and discover Alexa Skills on your own, but here are a few of our favorites to get you started. Here are a few third-party Alexa Skills that you should check out.
Order a Pizza — How much easier could ordering a pizza be than using your voice and your Amazon Echo. Domino’s and Pizza Hut both have an Alexa Skill for this. You’ll need to make sure that you have accounts created at either establishment, as well as an address and payment method entered.
Be the Weather Man — Alexa’s default weather reporting is pretty basic, but Big Sky injects a lot more detail into Alexa’s weather forecast. You can obviously ask Big Sky for the basic forecast, but if you want more specifics, you can say things like “Alexa, ask Big Sky what the humidity is” or “Alexa, ask Big Sky what the temperature will be at 5pm”. You’ll need to create a Big Sky account once you enable the Alexa Skill, as well as enter your location and choose a couple other settings.
Night Light — Do you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom? Night Light is an Alexa Skill that allows you to turn on the glowing blue ring on your Echo so you can see in the dark. Just say “Alexa, open Night Light” and the blue ring will light up. It should give you enough light so that you don’t trip over anything. When you want to turn it off, just say “Alexa, stop” or hit the wake button on the Echo. You can also turn it on for a specific amount of time by saying “Alexa, open Night Light for two minutes”.
Get In a Quick Workout — With the 7-Minute Workout Alexa Skill, you can have your Amazon Echo lead you through several high-intensity exercises that take just seven minutes to get through. All you have to say is “Alexa, start 7-Minute Workout” and you’ll be guided through all the exercises. Alexa will wait for you and ask you when you’re ready for the next exercise.
What’s The Translation? — If you want to know how to say a certain phrase in a specific language, you can easily with Alexa using Translated. Simply say “Alexa, ask Translated to say where is the restroom in Spanish.” You can also tell Alexa to “slow down” if you need to hear the translation more carefully, or just tell Alexa to “repeat” it and she will repeat the translation. Translated supports a huge list of languages, including some fairly obscure languages.
The Alexa app is necessary for setting up new Echo devices. But once you’re done, you should definitely keep it on your smartphone. The app has a wide variety of features and settings that you can use to make Alexa better, even when you’re away from home. In the Home feed, you can see exactly what you’ve been doing with Alexa and view lists, shopping, recently played music, and more. It’s also a great way to choose a song or playlist to listen to on all of your Echo devices. The app even lets you interact with Alexa hands-free or by typing in a message. To get the app download it for Android from Google Play or for iPhone and iPad via the App Store.
Alexa devices are meant to be used by everyone in your household. To personalize the experience for each person, make sure to create Household Profiles for your family members or friends. Once a profile is created, everyone can have a personalized experience with the virtual assistant. For example, you can ask Alexa for your calendar and it will know who you are and let you hear your appointments for the day.
There are two different IDs you can create for each profile. A Voice ID is used for Echo smart speakers while Visual ID can help personalize what is shown on the screen of an Amazon Echo Show. To create a Voice ID, you can simply say “Alexa, learn my voice.” For a Visual ID, tell an Echo Show “Alexa, learn my face.”
One of the most popular and powerful uses for Alexa is to control other smart home devices. Even if you’re just using your Echo for simple tasks, you’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make your home smarter with the right accessories. If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can find something like a smart plug for less than $10. With those, you can control a lamp, appliance, or pretty much anything that uses simple on-off functionality with just a quick Alexa command.
Once you’ve started to use Alexa to control your smart home, you might get hooked. There are thousands of compatible devices to improve your home including smart locks, doorbell cameras, thermostats, and much more. All of these are controllable with an Alexa command and the Alexa app, just look for the Alexa logo on the packaging when shopping.
Alexa is great at answering questions and following commands, but the assistant can get a bit talkative. By default, Alexa will respond “OK” to every request. To help make communication less verbose, try turning on Brief Mode. As you might have guessed by the name, this mode will shorten Alexa’s response. Most times, you’ll hear a simple beep confirming that the command has been accomplished. To turn it on, launch the Alexa app and tap on the “More” tab. Select “Settings” and then “Voice Responses.” Toggle on “Brief Mode” using the switch.
Another great way to improve your interactions with Alexa is to turn on Follow Up Mode. Usually, when talking with Alexa, you’ll have to use the wake word each time you want to get the assistant’s attention. That might make for longer conversations. With Follow Up Mode, you can start a conversation with the wake word and then ask additional questions without needing to say “Alexa” once again. Just make sure the teal indicator light is on before you start speaking.
You can turn this on with a quick command of “Alexa, enable Follow Up Mode.” You can also do the same thing through the Alexa app. In the “Devices” tab, find the specific Echo device. On the relevant page, choose the “Settings” cog and scroll down to “Follow Up” to toggle the feature on or off.
Your Echo is always listening for the default wake word of “Alexa,” but sometimes your smart speaker might be triggered accidentally. Whether it’s an Amazon commercial on TV or something else, accidentally triggering the virtual assistant can be a pain. If it becomes a consistent problem in your home, you can change the wake word to one of four other options: Amazon, Computer, Echo, or Ziggy. To do that, open up the Alexa app and select “Devices.” Pick the Echo speaker you want to modify. On its page, tap the “Settings” cog. You can then scroll down to “Wake Word” and select from one of the other options.
Alexa Routines showcase the true power of automation and are something everyone with an Echo device should use. At a basic level, Routines bring together many different Alexa actions that can be activated with a simple, custom phrase. For example, you can create a “Good Morning” routine. This allows you to say, “Alexa, good morning,” and the virtual assistant will complete several custom actions like telling you a weather forecast for the day, giving an update on traffic conditions, reading the top news stories for the day, and even turning on your coffee maker. Along with many ready-made options, you can create your own from scratch.
There are a multitude of useful routines — here are a few of the most popular:
The Calendar Action — To use the Calendar action, you need to link an existing calendar to your Amazon Alexa account. To do so, open the Alexa app and tap on the “More” tab at the bottom of the screen. Then, select “Calendar & E-mail.” From the calendar and email services list, choose the ones that you want to link by pressing the plus icon beside them. Then, follow the instructions on the screen to link each service. Once they’re linked, you can use the Calendar action for Alexa Routines.
There are three options when using the Calendar action …
- Today’s Calendar: Alexa will read out everything on today’s calendar.
- Tomorrow’s Calendar: Alexa will read out everything on tomorrow’s calendar.
- Next Event: Alexa will read out the details of the next event on your calendar.
The Calendar action can help you plan your day and stay organized. For example, you can add the Today’s Calendar action in your morning routine to read everything on your calendar when you wake up. This will remind you of all your events so that you can prepare accordingly.
You can also add the Tomorrow’s Calendar action in your night routine to read out tomorrow’s calendar. This gives you time to prepare for tomorrow’s events. For the Next Event action, you can simply say, “Alexa, what’s my next event?” This might be easier than adding it as an action in one of your routines.
The Messaging Action — Messaging is a useful action that helps you stay organized. There are two options when using the Messaging action:
- Send Announcement: Alexa will read out a customized message through all or one of your Alexa devices.
- Notification: Alexa will send a notification to your phone on the Alexa app.
If you regularly follow a routine where you’re constantly around your Alexa devices, the Send Announcement action is convenient to use. You can add the action in any of your routines when you know you’ll be around your Alexa devices. For example, you can schedule Alexa to say, “Take out the trash before you forget” every Thursday night at 10:00 p.m. Another useful announcement could be to “Pick up the kids from school” 20 minutes before school ends.
Consider setting an announcement to let the kids know that it’s time to get ready for bed. There are countless ways to use the Send Announcement action. Think of it as a verbal reminder for your daily to-do list.
The Notification action works similarly to the Send Announcement action. But unlike the Send Announcement action, you don’t have to be around your Alexa devices. Instead of reading a customized message aloud, Alexa will send a customized notification to your phone. This is the perfect way to regularly give yourself reminders on the go.
You can use the same applications as the Send Announcement action. For example, add the Notification action in one of your routines to send yourself a notification to take out the trash every Thursday night.
The Traffic Action — To use the Traffic action, you need to allow Alexa to access your location. You can usually do so by accessing your phone’s privacy settings and then location services. Find the Amazon Alexa app and change the location access to “While Using the App” or “Always,” or something similar. You should also turn on “Precise Location” if you have the option for accurate traffic reports.
Once you’ve allowed access, make sure that you entered your saved address in the Alexa app. To do so, open the Alexa app, and then tap the “More” tab at the bottom of the screen. Next, choose “Your Locations,” and fill in your home and work addresses. You can also add other addresses of places that you visit frequently. Now, you can use the Traffic action for Alexa Routines.
You can create a routine with multiple Traffic actions after you wake up to check the traffic before heading to work. If one of the reports says that there’s little traffic at the time, you might want to head out before it gets busy. You can do the same when you’re done with work so that you can find the best time to drive home.
The Wait Action — This allows you to add a timed delay to an entire routine or between actions. This is exactly what you need to make certain routines run seamlessly. The longest delay that you can add between actions is four hours. However, you can add another Wait action to make the total delay longer than four hours.
Depending on what your routine’s like, you can use the Wait action to ensure that everything’s timed perfectly. For most routines, it doesn’t make sense to have every action run instantly after another.
For example, let’s say that you have lights that can be set to specific brightnesses with Alexa. You could create a morning routine that starts before you wake up so that your lights turn on at low brightness. You could then add multiple actions for the lights to gradually brighten to 100 percent.
Add Wait delays of five or so minutes between the different brightnesses so that you can gradually wake up to your light at maximum brightness.
The Smart Home Action — To use the Smart Home action, you need to have smart devices with built-in Alexa or that support Alexa. Smart devices that support Alexa usually have “Works with Alexa,” “Compatible with Alexa,” or “Supports Alexa” on the packaging or product description.
These devices need to be registered on the Alexa app. Once it’s registered in the Alexa app, you can use the Smart Home action to control your smart devices. Keep in mind that different devices and brands might not have the same control options.
For example, one brand of smart LED strip lights might have control options for turning the lights on or off, adjusting the brightness, and changing colors, while another might not allow you to change colors at all.
The same applies to other smart devices, such as speakers, thermostats, doorbells, and locks. With the Smart Home action, you can create routines for all of your smart devices to make your life easier. For example, turning your thermostat to a cooler temperature before you get home from work is perfect on a hot day — and saves you money. There are infinite ways to make use of these actions for Alexa Routines. Get creative and think about how you can use these actions to make your daily schedule more convenient.
Alexa Emergency Assist is something you’ll hope you never have to use, but something you’ll be grateful for in an emergency. The optional service, which costs $5.99 per month or $59 per year, can assist in two types of emergency situations. If you need a first responder like the police or an ambulance, you can say “Alexa, call for help.” You will then be automatically connected to a trained agent who can direct your request. Emergency contacts you’ve chosen will also be notified.
In addition to being able to connect you to emergency services, your Echo speaker will also be constantly listening for a fire or carbon monoxide alarm. You will receive a notification whether you are home or not, and you can also talk to the agent and request first response. This service is especially valuable if you have someone in your home who doesn’t have a wearable device or smartphone, like a child or elderly parent.
One of the most underrated features of Echo devices is Drop In. The feature acts as a two-way intercom with any other Echo device, whether it’s in your home or thousands of miles away. If you Drop In from one Echo Show to another, you can even see a live video of what’s happening at the other location. It’s a great way to check in on a child upstairs or parents who are on the other side of the country. You can even Drop In using the Alexa app.
With an eye to privacy, any Drop In calls to Echo devices outside your location must be permitted by the other owner. And in a video call, the caller will see a blurry view for 10 seconds. During that time, you can choose to disable the camera view or use the built-in shutter cover on any Echo Show.
All of this is just the tip of the iceberg with your Alexa device. Out of the box, Amazon Alexa can help you accomplish many everyday tasks. But as you can see, you can make the experience even better. If you’re looking for even more ways to leverage the virtual assistant, doing a little homework will reveal more of the great things you didn’t know Alexa could do. I’m curious how many of you have already looked into expanding your Alexa’s capabilities and how you’re using them. Have they measured up to your expectations? Are you considering adding more?
Let Debbie and I know what you think in the comments, DMs and emails as we really enjoy hearing from you. Thanks again to all those following Debbie and I through our home building journey. It’s great to hear your success stories and suggestions as we move through the process. And if you like the content I’m posting each week, don’t forget to ‘Like’ and ‘Follow.’
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