Once activated, Alexa is ready to obey your spoken orders.
Many of the things Alexa can do are built-in, but the scope of the tasks
Alexa can perform continues to expand at a rapid rate, thanks to support
from third-party developers. Called Alexa Skills, third-party apps use
Amazon's Alexa Voice Service to give Alexa new functionality and you can
easily enable them through the Skills tab in the Alexa app.
Answer your questions and get updates
While Alexa can't compete with Google and other traditional search engines,
but she can answer a wide range of questions. For instance you can ask:
"Alexa, how tall is Mount Everest?"
"Alexa, when is Labor Day this year?"
"Alexa, how many ounces in a cup?"
For information on a broader topic, you can access Wikipedia. So you could
say "Alexa, Wikipedia Fantasy Football."
For timely information, you can ask for the latest sports scores and game
times for professional and select NCAA sports teams (set your favorite teams
in the Alexa app) and hear the latest news from CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, NPR and
other sources (you set your sources in the Alexa app).
When you input your home and work addresses, you can ask Alexa for traffic
on your commute or the weather forecast for the day.
Based on your home address, Alexa can tell you about nearby restaurants,
businesses and shops.
She can also help you find movies and when and where they're playing in
local theaters.
Manage your calendar, to-do list and shopping list
Besides finding information, Alexa can be your personal assistant. She can
remind you of upcoming appointments in your Google Calendar and help you
create lists of things to do. Link your Google account with the Alexa app
(only one account can be linked. But if you share a Google calendar
<https://www.techlicious.com/tip/10-tips-to-squeeze-more-out-of-google-calen
dar/> with someone, you can add events to their calendar as well.). Once
it's linked, you can ask Alexa to check upcoming events or add new events to
your Google Calendar.
Alexa can create a new to-do list or add a new item to an existing list. She
can also remind you of what's on your to-do list.
You can add items to your Alexa Shopping List. They can be everyday
household items, like milk, or products you'd typically buy on Amazon. When
you visit Amazon.com <http://amazon.com/> , you can see what's on your Alexa
Shopping List and delete or mark items as "completed."
Set alarms and timers
Alexa can tell you the time, date and set an alarm. You can set alarms to
sound once or repeat based on days of the week. Because everything is
voice-based, you don't have to fumble with device controls when you're busy
or sleepy. To dismiss an alarm, say, "Alexa, stop." To snooze it, say,
"Alexa, snooze." No swiping, tapping or pushing buttons. Not sure if you set
the alarm? You can ask Alexa if there are any alarms set.
You can also set a timer and check how many minutes are left on a timer. Or,
if you like drifting off to music, you can set a sleep timer.
Play and buy music
Music you play on your Alexa device can also be controlled with voice
commands. Tell Alexa to play, pause, skip, resume or jump to the next song.
You can access your Amazon Prime Music library through Alexa. Just ask Alexa
to play a certain song, or ask her to play a certain type of music from
Prime Music ("Alexa, play some relaxing Prime Music").
You can also wirelessly control services like Pandora, iHeartRadio and
Spotify this way. Just sign into your account with your Alexa app. Once your
account is linked, you can control playback through Alexa voice commands.
For instance you can say "Alexa, play Purple Rain on Spotify." You can also
"like" or "thumbs down" songs.
Alexa makes it easy for you to add new tracks to your music collection. When
you hear something you like, simply say "Alexa, buy this song/album."
Other convenient commands Alexa can perform include pausing what's currently
playing, skipping tracks and turning the volume up or down (or setting it to
a fixed level).
Alexa can also help you with controlling Bluetooth speakers paired to an
Alexa device. She can help you pair your speaker to your Alexa-equipped
device ("Alexa, pair my device" or "Alexa, pair Bluetooth") and then control
media playback via Alexa.
Read Kindle books and play audiobooks
If you're a bookworm, Alexa can read books from the Kindle Store, Kindle
Owner's Lending Library, Kindle Unlimited or Family Library. To start, just
say "Alexa, read [Kindle book title]" or "Alexa, read my Kindle book." You
have full control over Alexa's reading. Tell her to pause, resume or go
forward or backward. You can also tell Alexa to play audiobooks from Audible
or Kindle Unlimited on your Alexa device.
Control smart home devices
Another of Alexa's abilities is interacting with and controlling supported
smart home devices. For instance, if it's too hot in the room, tell Alexa to
lower the room's temperature. Lights too bright? Ask Alexa to dim them. You
can even ask Alexa to turn on your coffee maker, if it's plugged into an
Alexa-compatible plug. Alexa manages this with the help of your
Alexa-equipped device and supported third-party smart home devices
<https://amzn.to/1Wriveh> devices.
Make purchases
Alexa can be used to buy more than music. Buy enabling access to specific
merchants, you can buy pizza and flowers or even book a ride. To access
these services, make sure to enable and set up the Domino's Pizza Skill,
1-800-Flowers Skill and Uber Skill in the Alexa app.
And, if you have an Amazon Prime account, you can reorder items from your
order history using your Alexa device. Just tell Alexa what you need and
you're good to go. You can also ask Alexa to add an item to your Amazon
shopping cart.
Take a fitness class
Need a little inspiration to get moving? You can take a voice-driven
exercise classes, including a pilates class and a 7-minute workout.
You can teach your Amazon Alexa new tricks
The scope of the tasks Alexa can perform continues to expand at a rapid
rate, thanks to support from third-party developers. Called Alexa Skills,
third-party apps use Amazon's Alexa Voice Service to give Alexa new
functionalities like getting updates about upcoming concerts, playing
games.
To enable Skills, open the left navigation panel in the Alexa app and select
Skills. Browse the list of available skills and select the skills that you
want to teach Alexa. Developers may take advantage of Alexa's prowess and
sign up for an Alexa Skills Kit
<https://developer.amazon.com/appsandservices/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-k
it> to develop new skills for Alexa.
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