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

Music, setting multiple oven timers and naming them: ‘your potatoes timer is up’😂. I like the Newtons Cradle it shows as a countdown!
Weather, announcing things to other rooms, DH with his sleep sounds at bedtime: thunder, crashing waves etc.
There are some good quizzes. recipes, ‘what time does x shop close’… weight conversions for recipes.
Also used for the Ring doorbell.
I was adamant we didn’t need one but I often find myself at work or in the car, about to call out a question to Alexa!

Shopping lists
Chime for ring doorbell
Timer for cooking

Oh wow, thank you so much for the replies!

sounds like there is loads of smart/techie homes here on Smeg! Think we’re quite old school 🤣

don’t have smart lights or heating or even a robo Hoover!

what does the drop-in mean? A few of you mentioned dropping in on your DC or elderly parents - how / what is that ?

I just use my phone for alarms, et cetera, but would love it to be more physically hands off so might ask my teenage DC to help me figure this out!

thank you all!

Reminders, used to ask for the news but stopped because it was so depressing, music and random questions. Bit stopped with the questions because it doesn't understand me when I talk

Alexa's on the same account, or on different account with permissions, can be used as intercoms. So, in our house, if I am in the bedroom, I can "drop in" on the kitchen/lounge for example "Alexa, drop in on the kitchen". DS and DD (and our parents) are on different amazon acconts, but drop in is enabled so we can do it without the person at the other alexa specifically accepting the call.

For alarms/timers, just say, "Alexa, set a timer for 5 minutes".

Smart lights are great and worth looking at. We have a mix of bulbs (in lamps) and a few that are actually smart plugs where the Alexa turns off the power as required. Obviously, smart plugs can be used for all kinds of things. Very easy to install and really convenient.

Reading this makes me feel very ancient and tech inadequate 😅

We have an Alexa built into our TV but have never used it.

I think the age of this level of technology has passed me by!

Míne is in the kitchen. I ask it to play music and add things to my shopping list. That's it.

I use Alexa (with an Australian accent) for pretty much the same as PPs:

1. We have our light bulbs and plugs linked to it so I can turn all lights off or on either with my voice or have them on timer
2. Useful for having my kids lights on a timer in case they fall asleep with their light on, or time the nightlight to come in case they wake up during the night but they didn't switch it on first
3. It switches off my son's playstation at night
4. She announces it's x mins to bedtime as a warning to the kids to when their devices will shut off for the evening
5. I announce dinner time/time to get up if alarms are being ignored
6. ALL the morning alarms!
7. Use the Echo Show as a digital picture frame
8. Play music
9. Play games

10. Couldn't be without the shopping list! Whenever we run out of something we can just get Alexa to add it to our shopping list and when it comes to do my online weekly shop I can refer to it 11. The routines you can set are brilliant - my hall light and outside lights come on daily at sunset, when the kids alarm is stopped in the morning she says their name and that it's time to get up or tells them the time 12. Both kids listen to audio books every night in bed 13. Obvious ones of asking her trivia or weight conversions etc 14. Cooking timers 15. I am forever asking her the date or the time

I'm sure there's more but I think that gives you an idea 😄 We have one in every room and I don't care if someone is listening in as she's a lifesaver!

Have no idea why some of my previous post is in bullet points and some numbered!

Forgot about drop in! We drop in on the kids devices in their rooms from the lounge all the time and vice versa. This saves shouting up and down the stairs!

I have been known to start to say "Alexa add X to the shopping list" when I've not been at home 🙈

I used to drop in on my mum in her house and we could video chat before she went into a nursing home. It was great for piece of mind.

Announcements -usually tea is ready but also to call teens down if I need help. Family calendar. Holiday photos on rotation. Boosting the heating or hot water. Turning lights on and off. Local weather forecast. Time and date. Cooking timers. Reminder to stop doing something and leave if I am concentrating on something

Listening to radio/music, timer when cooking, asking my kids homework questions, asking what the weather is.

@MrSeptember so drop in means you can talk to them via the Alexa’s instead of having to phone or message?

@RaraRachael i hear you despite my dodgy hearing 🤣🤣

I feel like I missed all the Alexa hype

Alarms, radio, weather, time, reminders and phone

@MooFroo Yes - from in the house you can drop in (basically like an intercom) to other rooms that also have Alexas. I have the app on my phone so I can drop in on them when I'm not at home as well - very helpful considering I have a family that are notoriously bad at answering phones!

We have different accounts so that the chidren can use their spotify accounts on their Alexas (you can't play different spotif accounts on alexa's linked to the same account. this wouldn't be an issue if we used amazon music though) but I do wish we were on the same account as then I could use the announcement feature instead of dropping in when dinner is ready etc.

How anyone can live with those speakers in their home is beyond me. Anyone can hack them and listen to you. Especially anyone with children in the house

all our lights are linked up to our alexa... our kettle is also. i use the shopping list which is my favourite functio i think.

also for music, alarms.. nothing too fancy but have 3 in the house

If “anyone” can hack them then please go ahead and hack one right now to demonstrate how it’s done. .

If, as I suspect, you mean professional hackers, then that is true of everything connected to WiFi, including your phone and computer and it’s far more likely that someone would target those to get bank details etc, than try to listen in to people getting Alexa to make fart sounds. And what bloody difference does having kids in the house make?

www.familyhandyman.com/article/can-alexa-be-hacked/#:~:text=Though%20it's%20rare%2C%20Alexa%20can,and%20your%20personal%20information%20safe.

Music
Ring doorbell
Plugs/lights (although I realised this had turned my kids stupid as our internet went down and dd didn’t know how to turn the lamp on other than asking Alexa to do it 🙄)
Bedtime warning for dc
Nagging dc in the morning (with a routine saying things like clean your teeth, get your shoes on etc)
Timers when cooking
Announcing when it’s dinner time
Turning off certain things at night
Answering the random questions the dc ask at dinner time
Dropping in on other rooms to speak to someone without having to go up/down 4 flights of stairs…

DC mostly like to ask how many days until Christmas and what noise certain animals make!

Mainly to listen to the radio or find TV programmes, sometimes we use it like we would Google.

Following, as I only just bought one a couple of days ago.

I doubt very much that anyone could hack them and if they did happen to hack mine they would find it extremely boring.

Shopping list!