How do you use your Alexa?

[MooFroo]

Hi All

we have a small Alexa / echo dot I think? It’s really only used as a speaker

My DS used his one to set alarms and play music

I know it can do a lot more and just read some posts on a threat where people had reminders on Alexander for certain things

Would love to hear how you’re using your Alexa 59 make life better / easier etc?

thanks so much

We have them in all rooms. I "announce" dinner is ready, "we're home" "come down here" etc. Saves me shouting upstairs to DC in their rooms. I use "add xxxx to my shopping list". I listen to the radio, I ask for cooking times,weight conversions, latest news, recipes, what's the weather like today, etc. We use them as alarm clocks too. Reminders, timers.

Caught my DS when he was younger asking Alexa to fart the alphabet. She asked what type of fart? He asked for wet parts, and she duly obliged 😂

Alexander is quite good at giving you the answers to maths homework too 🤔

I just have 1 in my bedroom.
I use it as an alarm clock and to play music. I ask it the weather forecast and useless bits of information I need. I sometimes use it as a calculator too.
Mine is one with a screen so I can see my photos and it's connected to the doorbell so I can see who's outside.

Everything Superdupe does plus Alexa controls all the lights so switches off any left on when I say goodnight. The morning alarms slowly turn the bedroom lights back on for a slower, gentler wake up. Alexa can also adjust my central heating if I need it warmer or cooler.

Edited to add:

Echo show in the kitchen that I use for recipes

Announcements, drop ins, Alarm clock/music/weather update morning routine. Turn my lights on and off, turn my TV on and off, control my central heating.

DS uses it to play games.

We have them all over the house, like the last poster I mainly use for cooking timer, reminders, to ask the weather/temp, add stuff to shopping list, to call the kids down! I'm always asking the time too.

We have it linked to Hive so can use it to control the heating. Have smart bulbs and plugs we control by either voice or have them on routines.

Always using the radio on them, as well as Amazon music playlists.

DD7 listens to stories, jokes. Asks her random things 😂

We have occasionally played the games on there like who am I, pointless, tenable

I reckon there's loads more potential and I do mean to have a look through the skills!

Shopping list is my favourite tool. Alexa lives in our kitchen so whenever something runs out we add it to our Alexa list. Then access the list at Tesco!

Turning on lights, controlling the heating, weather, alarms, timers, stories.

Echo show as a picture frame.

Otherwise I use it as a handy way to increase my blood pressure when it refuses to understand me for the 10 millionth time.

Not much, I have a couple of those Dots but prefer the HomePods for music. DH sometimes uses it for an alarm, I had one of those Amazon smart plugs but ditched it for a Hive one that was much more user friendly

Ours are used for playing music, displaying photos and the security cameras, controlling the lights, heating, robot vacuum, dishwasher and plugs, and of course routines, we have loads and loads of routines. One switches all lights and plugs off and sets the house alarm, another switches on certain lights and the kettle, then gives the weather forecast and a countdown to our next holiday. We have reminders set for things like bin day and when it’s time to take medication. Shopping lists is another well used feature.

And of course the most important use of all, which is Rick rolling DH when he asks alexa for the football score 😀

Hive plugs work with Alexa

Mainly to listen to music in the kitchen. Occaisonal use of timer or audiobook.

my 2 year old asks Alexa to play Let it Go about 100 times a day. Or occasionally she asks Alexa to play Stinky Bum Bum which unfortunately turned out to be a legit song. So sometimes I have to unplug her and say that she is sleeping.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Good thread! We use it for "Drop ins" to give messages, Koala Moon bedtime stories, rain drops / jungle sounds for bed time, setting timers and alarms, weather forecasts, horoscope, playing radio and songs, football scores, jokes and facts. How do you get Alexa to add things to your weekly shop - can it only be to an Amazon shop?

Dropping in to DD's bedroom, shopping lists, reminders, playing music, radio, switching on/off lights.

My mum tells me off for not saying please to Alexa.

We have them all over the house.

You have to set up the shopping list skill. I think you can ask her to actually order it for you but I don't. I just have it as a list on the app that I can access when I am in the shop and check what we need. It's good because everyone can add to it if they notice something us running low.

Kitchen Dot for adding shopping list items, timing what's cooking, listening to radio and odd questions.
Bedroom Dot - use as alarm, listening at night to podcasts or radio and to turn off after certain time.

Switching on and off the lights. Announcing dinner is ready. The kids ask for the animal of the day/cat of the day. Farting or meowing. Switching the cooker off (everything is on smart plugs). And then the usual playing the kids' playlists!

Mainly for playing music or podcasts on Spotify and as a timer for the oven. Also used to ask the odd general knowledge question or whatever, weather, etc. Kids try to use it to get her to answer Maths homework questions and also the farts. They also used to use it to call their grandparents. If you don’t have a landline it’s useful for young kids who don’t have a phone of their own to be able to use it to call someone in an emergency (eg grandparents) .

I mainly just ask her if it's gonna rain.

Yup, much of what's here. We have lots of lights connected which is great and allows routines so we don't come home to a dark house etc. Timers, music, radio; random trivia, weather, shopping list etc (I don't think you need a skill? You just create lists and then have one as default so our default list is "shopping" but we have Christmas lists etc too.

Really great for kids when you first start leaving them at home. I would drop in on dd while driving fs somewhere and we could just chat or she could hear us. Ditto they can call from there if they don't have a phone. Ds once managed to lock himself out but managed to shout through the window to Alexa to call me! 🤣🤣🤣

We have given permission for drop in to elderly family members and vice versa. Never used but nice to know if they fall over they can drop in on us and ask for help.

Same as other posters. I use it a lot for timing cooking, stops me burning things!

Usually ask her the time when I’m mid-nappy change or some other activity that prevents me looking at clock/phone and I need to know how long we’ve got until we need to leave the house.

My children love the animal sounds skill, they try to catch her out by asking for rare or specific breeds of animal.

I asks her to do calculations that I probably could/should I do in my head but don’t.

Add things to shopping list, play particular songs, radio stations, check weather forecast, have family photos uploaded so use as photo album, cooking timers, timer to get children to tidy to before dinner/leaving house - she gets more response than I do when she says it’s time to tidy up!

We've got them in the house, static caravan and the car.

Kids use them every day for music, I mainly use them for timers and drop ins.

The car ones are very good, my dab radio is useless and rarely has signal so I use the Alexa to play music or podcasts while I'm driving plus I don't need to look down to scroll through radio stations or adjust the volume