First Alexa Skills to Use in Your New Amazon Echo
So you bought an Amazon Echo on Prime Day, but you don’t know what to do with it other than asking stupid questions, setting timers, and rolling the dice. Before you return it, know that there is a lot more you can do with this smart speaker.
According to Amazon, the Echo currently has over 3,000 skills . But since writing a guide for all of his talents is likely to be longer than Nicholas Sparks’ novel, here’s a short list of the best practice skills you should start using right now.
Get the daily morning news briefing
One of my favorite Alexa skills is briefing the morning news, as I can go to bed or make breakfast while the news is read to me. Just ask, “Alexa, read me the news,” and Alexa will tell you what’s going on in this crazy world thanks to NPR. She will even end the briefing with a weather report. You can customize your flash briefing in the Alexa mobile app. Or, set the Guardian skill and ask Alexa to read headlines and even full articles to you.
Train with Alexa
It can be tricky to go to the gym when you have such a busy schedule, but Alexa can help you get a quick workout in the morning. Just say, “Alexa, start a 7-minute workout, ” and the AI will guide you through a series of workout repetitions that you will definitely sweat on. If you don’t know what a workout looks like, you can simply find them on your phone and follow them.
Control your light
This skill is one of the most basic and well-known, but also one of the most convenient – or maybe I’m just lazy. But if you have Philips Hue Lights , you can ask Alexa to turn them on / off without getting out of bed or couch. It’s perfect for when you go to bed or are already sitting on the couch with popcorn and about to watch a movie.
Change the word to wake up
If “Alexa” as the wake-up word – the word that the voice assistant launches – is causing a lot of trouble because someone in the house is named Alex or Alexis, you might want to change it to something less common. You can change the wake word to Amazon, Echo, or Computer . Of course, the options are limited right now, but hopefully Amazon will allow us to change it to whatever we want in the near future. I would like to refer to my Jarvis as Iron Man.
Find your smartphone
Are you one of those people who constantly lose their phone at home? Well, Alexa has great skills to help you find her. If you sign up for a TrackR account , you can simply ask, “Alexa, find my phone,” and the smart speaker will make sure your smartphone is ringing at full volume – and guess what? It was probably under the sofa cushion again.
Check airport security waiting times before leaving home.
Plan better and avoid long lines on the day of your trip. Simply say, “Alexa, ask airport security for the waiting times at La Guardia (or another airport),” and the AI will check the public TSA API for the latest reported waiting times at the airport checkpoint. If you are planning a trip at the last minute, this trick will help you a lot when you are going in a hurry in the morning before your flight.
Set Spotify as Your Default Music Streaming Service
Last year Amazon announced that it would add the Spotify skill to the Alexa directory, but for it to work properly, the consumer must say, “Alexa, play Queen On Spotify’s Bohemian Rhapsody .” If you haven’t listed Spotify, Alexa will try to find a song on Amazon Music that has a very limited song catalog. However, there is a way to make Spotify the default so that when you ask to play a song, it will automatically pull media from the selected streaming service.
Open the Alexa app and in the Settings section go to the Music & Media section. Once there, just select Spotify as your default music service and save your changes.
Get Exclusive Deals Through Alexa
If you’re looking for a new way of shopping, all you have to do is ask, “Alexa, what suggestions do you have?” while a smart speaker reads out a list of exclusive offers for Prime members. If you have Alexa synced to your Prime membership and payment method of your choice, you can simply Alexa place the order for you.
Add a code to avoid accidental purchases
Since Alexa is very easy to launch using a language that resembles its name, you might sometimes accidentally make an unwanted purchase. However, there is a way to prevent unintentional purchases on Alexa by setting a 4-digit voice code for purchases through the appropriate app. To enter your code, go to the Alexa app settings and select Voice Purchases, then simply enter your code and select Save Changes.
Learn more skills
You can also discover new Alexa skills using the Finder skill . All you have to say is, “Alexa, tell Skill Finder to give me the skill of the day,” and you’ll discover some awesome new skills. You can also find out about new talent by category by asking, “Alexa, tell Skill Finder to list the best skills in the game category.”