Do you have an Amazon Echo? Great, this article will cover some amazon echo tips you may not know and you may be surprised just exactly how much your Echo can do. Echo’s assistant Alexa lives in the cloud so she’s going to be up to date with the information you ask for.
Some of the amazon echo tips are making lists, setting up alarms, playing music, reading to you, giving you updated weather, letting you know where traffic problems are, answering your questions, and of course, taking control of your home automation system. There is a lot more that Alexa can do, let’s take a look at them.
Amazon Echo Tips and Some Tricks You Might Not Know
1] Muting Alexa… Amazon Echo is waiting for you to speak the wake word, which is set to “Alexa” This is great when you want to give voice commands or ask a question. But what if you need some privacy and don’t want Alexa to listen? There’s a mute button you can press to prevent Alexa from hearing and responding.
2] Changing Echo’s Wake Word… If someone in your home has a name that’s similar to Alexa then you probably have had Alexa respond when you say that person’s name. There is an option to change the wake word, go to the Alexa app and select “settings”…then select “Select your Echo”… and then select “Wake Word” and you can choose a different wake word from the provided list.
3] Controlling Your Amazon Echo with Your Browser… The usual way to control the Echo is by using voice commands with Alexa. There is an option to control your Echo using your web browser, go to http://echo.amazon.com and you can log into your account and you can control Echo without having your smartphone.
4] Customizing Flash Briefing Preferences… When you give the voice command “What’s New” or “Flash Briefing” Alexa will provide you with some updated details on news and weather conditions. You can make changes by going to settings… select “flash briefing” Here you will see where the news is coming from and you can turn off the weather here too. You can also change what information is delivered and the order.
5] Sports Updates… If you have a favorite/s sports team you can get Alexa to give you updates, go into settings and select “sports update” Here you can do a search for the team/s you want updates on. Unfortunately, not all sports are on the option list.
6] Getting Updated Traffic Reports… If you want updated traffic reports go to settings… “traffic” and you can enter your work address and any other places you’re going to stop along your route. Then you can just have Alexa give you current traffic information.
7] Adding your Calendar to Your Echo… This is a great way to keep track of your appointments, got to settings… “Calendar”. Here you have the option to add your calendar from Google, Microsoft or Apple. When you have synced your calendar to Echo you can ask Alexa what’s on your calendar for the day. If you have an Echo Show the information will be on the screen as well.
8] Controlling Voice Purchases… The Echo lets you use voice commands to make purchases from Amazon as well as search for items. The problem is anyone can give this command and make purchases, you can turn off this feature by going to settings… “Voice Purchasing” and setting it to off.
Even with this feature turned off, you will still be able to add items to your shopping cart “basket”. To protect yourself from unauthorized purchases you can add a PIN code that will be required to say to complete the purchase.
9] Connecting Your Bluetooth Speaker to Your Echo… This is a great amazon echo tip and it’s pretty easy to do. Go to settings… “and chose the Echo you want to pair”. Next, choose “Bluetooth” and you’ll get a list of devices that are paired to your Echo and use one of them or add a new device. You will need to set the Bluetooth speaker into pairing mode, now just follow your app’s instructions.
10] Connecting Echo to a Sound System… Most of the Echo devices have a connection port on the base where you can connect a 3.5mm cable. You will need to provide the cable, and once you’ve connected your Echo to the sound system you will now be able to use your larger sound system to give commands to your Echo. I love this setup it lets you use Echo with your existing sound system speakers.
11] Make a Multi-Room Music Group… This is a cool feature that lets you pair up Echo devices and then play your favorite music on them. Go to settings… “smart home” from the list select “groups” and then “add group” Find the setting “Amazon Multi-Room Music Group” Add a name for the group, you’ll also have a list of devices already added to this group.
When you’re ready to listen to music just say “Alexa play music” and name the group you want to hear played, you’ll get to enjoy your music from all the Echo devices in that group.
12] Use a Different Music Service… Your Echo can play music from other music services, if you want to listen to music from Spotify go to settings… “Music and Media” then you will be able to set up your music accounts as well can set the default music provider. Once you have set up Spotify as your default provider Alexa will use that service to play music.
13] Get Alexa to Play a Song… Sometimes you have a song in your head and you just can’t quite remember it, here’s a really handy Amazon echo tip… sing the words you know to Alexa and she might know the song you’re trying to remember and offer you some choices to listen to.
14] Give Your Echo a New Name… If for some reason you want to rename your Echo, this is helpful if you have more than one device. Go to settings… “pick a device to rename” then find the device in the list and “click edit” then delete the existing name and enter in a new name and then click “save”.
15] Use a Different Echo to Play Music… For those who have more than one Echo device, renaming the device can be very helpful especially if you want to listen to your music from a certain Echo. Now you can just instruct Alexa to play music and name the Echo device you want the music played on.
16] Listening to Audio or Kindle Books… You’ll need an Audible account to do this. Just “say Alexa read my book” and Alexa will continue to read your book to you. If you have more than one book you can ask Alexa to list them and then you can choose which one for Alexa to read to you.
If you happen to be a Kindle user, you can say “Alexa read Kindle book” Alexa will continue reading from the last point. To get a list of books go to settings… “Music books” and then click “Kindle” and a list will appear. If you want a better reading experience you can try a free trial of Audible.
17] Setting up a Smart Home Device… You’ll love this Amazon Echo tip to get full use of your Amazon Echo device. Most home automation systems will work with Alexa. Begin by connecting and turning on your smart home devices followed by the voice command “Alexa discover my devices” Echo will search for the devices and get a list of compatible devices to use.
You’ll need to sign into your smart devices account and add a skill, now Alexa will have control over that device, and when you give the voice command Alexa will control the device to do what you asked for. Some Amazon Echo devices like the Echo Plus with Zigbee require no setup and when Echo discovers them it will know how to use them.
I have a couple of other articles you may find helpful…”How to Pick the Best Smart Outdoor Lights”
18] Adding Skills to Alexa… Alexa can do a lot of tasks for the Echo that is default tasks, however, you may need to enable a feature to have tasks done. When you enable Alexa there referred to as “skills”. In your Alexa apps settings… go to “skills” and there will be a selection of compatible features, from this setting, you can enable control over your smart devices.
If you’re unsure of the required skill needed to perform a task just ask Alexa and she may know what skill she needs to perform the task. Alexa may simply enable the skill needed to carry out the task you require.
19] Setting up a Routine… Alexa is able to run routines which are a series of actions that will take place when you give a particular voice command. An example of a routine would be to say “Alexa Good Night” and then she will carry out the routines associated with the command, such as shutting off lights, adjusting the temperature for the night, and activating the alarm system.
Go to the settings… Select “routines” You can then go thru the options and set them up. The Echo is always being updated so you will find the routine list will be expanding more and more.
20] Setting up Profiles… Going to the Amazon website you’ll be able to link your family’s prime accounts, using a feature called “Household Profiles” you will get the option to add another person to your household and then they can play their favorite content and music and organize the shared features.
Go to settings… And find your “Alexa Account” and then “Amazon Household” and follow the instructions. Just a word of caution whoever you add to your account will have the ability to make purchases using the payment method you have set up on your account. You can add the voice security code to prevent anyone from making purchases with your account.
21] Switching Account Profiles… We can thank “Household Profiles” that Amazon Echo can be synced to more than one account. If you’re not sure what account you’re using simply ask “Alexa, what profile am I using?” If you want to switch profiles say “switch profile” or if you know the name of the profile say “Alexa switch profile” Fill the space with the name of the profile you want to switch to.
22] Force a Software Update… The Echo will search for and install updates every night, but if for some reason you want your Echo to update sooner than that. All you need to do is use the “mute” button to mute your Echo for 30 to 45 minutes and when you unmute it, it will update.
23] Controlling the Settings for Each Echo… If you have a few devices here’s an Amazon Echo Tips for controlling them. Go to settings… you will find a list of Alexa devices that you’re using and will also include any third-party speakers and tablets and as well smartphones. Just “click” the device you want to adjust the settings for.
24] Get Alexa to Understand You Better… Considering the many accents Alexa does a pretty good job of understanding what you’re saying. Go to settings… and find “voice training” follow the instructions there.
Tip… Help Alexa better understand you…. Go to settings… and find “history” click on any voice command listing that you were having trouble with. Help Alexa by letting her know that she did not understand the command by tapping “no” to the question, did Alexa do what you wanted”. Answering no will assist the Alexa team improve itself.
25] Deleting Voice Commands… A record of all your voice commands is kept in Alexa’s history and it’s possible to delete these commands. Go to settings… find “history” then find the command you want to delete, and press the delete recording button [bottom of the screen].
If you want to delete all the recordings… Log into your “Amazon Account” and find “manage your device and content”. Click your devices tab; click the button to the left of your Alexa name. You will get a pop-up to “manage your recordings” By clicking this you will get the option to delete all the recordings.
Conclusion
I hope you have found these Amazon Echo Tips useful, I have only looked at the main ones, if you want more options just log into your account for a list of all the options.
