1. What time is it?
Our clocks are never set correctly. So we always ask
“Alexa, What time is it.”
2. What is the weather?
I’m so bad about checking the weather before I step out the door. I always miss the weather report on the morning news (because I’m not awake at the hour) nor do I google the weather report online. With Alexa, we only say
“Alexa, what is the weather.” Alexa will then give you the weather report for your area.
You can ask for the whole week or a particular day. She can only give you weather information for ten days.
“Alexa, what is the weather for Tuesday” or you can say
“Alexa, what is the weather for May 1st.”
“Alexa, what is the weather for the week.”
3. Set a timer
I love this feature when cooking dinner. Many times, I need to set several times that run at the same time while making a large meal. I love that I can set these timers using voice commands. There’s no need to quickly wash my hands to set the timer on the oven or microwave.
“Alexa set timer for Roast for 10 minutes.”
“Alexa set timer for casserole for 30 minutes.”
Since there is no visual clock on the echo dot, you can ask Alexa how much time is left.
“Alexa, how much time is on the Roast timer.”
4. Set the alarm.
You can use Alexa to wake you up! In your Alexa App, you can pick which sound or celebrity you would like to wake up to. You can even wake up to music.
“Alexa, wake me up every morning at 6 am.”
“Alexa, wake me up every weekday at 6 am.”
“Alexa, wake me up to [insert radio station] every weekday at 6 am.”
For more info, check out our Alexa Skills page
The only thing you might want to consider is that your internet could go off during the night. It’s always good to have a backup alarm clock just in case!!
5. Make Shopping list
This is very convenient. When you run at of items, you can quickly tell Alexa to add that item to your shopping list. You can find your shopping list on your Alexa App.
“Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list.”
More information about this skill found on our Alexa Skills page
I have an Alexa dot in my bathroom as well. When I run out of shampoo or toilet paper, I can quickly add that to my shopping list!
6. Set a reminder
I have set up reminders like “Take out the Trash.”
“Alexa, remind me to [take out the trash] every Thursday at 4 pm.”
7. Announce dinner
I LOVE this feature! I no longer have to walk around the house calling everyone to come to dinner. I just ask Alexa to announce dinner is ready and she will announce to all the Echo Dots we have in the house. We have one in every room!
Simply say
“Alexa, tell everyone dinner is ready.”
Alexa will make a notification sound, followed by a bell and then it will play back my message!
8. Connect Spotify
I use the Echo Dot as a speaker to listen to my music. I’m able to connect my Spotify to any Echo Dot.
Simply say
“Alexa, connect Spotify.”
Alexa will tell you to open Spotify app on your device (my phone). I will click Devices Available and the Echo Dot that I just asked to connected to will show up on my list. I select it, and now my music is playing. I can control the Echo Dot’s volume on my phone as well.
9. Turn on Lights
I use Alexa to turn on my lights. We have set up our house to have Smart Lights or Smart Switches in every room. We can turn the lights on or off anywhere in the house. To do that, this requires using Smart Things or Hubitat to control.
“Alexa, turn [name of room] lights on”
“Alexa, turn [name of room] lights off.
You can also group lights using the Smart Things or Hubitat. We have grouped the downstairs lights to one name. When we go to bed, we just say “Alexa, turn downstairs off”
10. View calendar on Echo Show
With the Echo Show, you can link your calendar to Alexa using the Alexa app on your phone. After you have everything set up, you can view your calendar on the Echo Show.
Simply say
“Alexa, show me my calendar.
To add events to your calendar, say:
“Alexa, add [activity] to my calendar on [date or day] at [time]
“Alexa, add PARK to my calendar NEXT FRIDAY at 4 pm.”
“Alexa, add SHOPPING to my calendar MAY 8TH at 1 pm.”
This is helpful and informative.