Alexa can do a lot, but it’s only as smart as the person talking to it. With these tips and tricks, you’ll always have the right voice commands at your fingertips.
Whether in WLAN speakers, lamps, TVs, vacuum robots, cars or Amazon's own Echo devices – Alexa is everywhere!
Many people like to talk to her and place suitable devices in the living room, kitchen or on the bedside table.
Of course, competitors Google with Google Nest and Google Assistant and Apple with HomePod, HomePod mini and Siri also have devices and voice assistants on the rise – but none are as popular and talented as Alexa.
But only those who know the right voice commands can exploit the full potential of Amazon's voice assistant.
What commands does Alexa understand? What can she do? And what does super mode do?
THE I FOUND MY CELL PHONE talked to Alexa for hours and days and compiled the most important voice commands and functions.
Below, O ACHEI CELULAR reveals what beginners need for Alexa and how they can add additional functions using skills. The best smart speakers with Alexa.
Alexa can do all this
Answer questions, get the weather report or traffic information, play radio or Spotify music, make calls, chat, help with shopping and organize everyday life – there is (almost) nothing that Alexa can't do.
Recently she even reacts to noises. The smart helper is mainly at home on smart speakers.
Using multiple microphones, these speakers constantly listen to the room. But only the voice command “Alexa” starts recording.
The smart speaker quickly sends a question or command to the Amazon server, where it is processed and a response is prepared. The response comes from a synthetic female voice.
She tries hard to sound perceptive, competent and “human”, reacting surprisingly intelligently, but she doesn’t sound 100% natural. An alternative is the male voice called Ziggy. Here you can find out what Alexa can do and which settings and voice commands help.
Check news, weather forecast and more with Alexa
Alexa knows a lot and answers questions like “Alexa, how old is Angelina Joeli?”, “How tall is Madonna?” or “What do cats like to eat best?” always with an appropriate answer.
But Alexa also provides other information on demand:
Daily Summary: One popular feature: the “Daily Brief.” You decide what this includes. In the Alexa app, tap Settings, Daily Brief, the plus sign, and add your favorite news services.
Then, sort them in the order you want them to be. To stay up to date, say something like, “Alexa, read my daily summary.” or “Alexa, what’s new?”
Check traffic information: If you want, you can ask in the morning what the current traffic is like on your way to the office.
But before that, Alexa needs to know where you live and the address of your workplace. You can set this in the Alexa app under Settings & Traffic.
Check sports news: Alexa also provides sports news on demand.
You specify which sports and teams are taken into account in the Alexa app under Settings and Sports.
Add new teams with the plus sign and arrange them in the desired order with Edit . With “Alexa, what’s the sports news?” start the query.
You can also get sports scores from different teams without first setting them as favorite teams in the Alexa app.
Say something like “Alexa, how did FC Bayern play?” or “Alexa, when is Dortmund playing?”
Check the weather: Alexa also makes a good weather fairy. If you don't ask for a specific location, Alexa will look at what's stored in the Alexa app under Settings and My Locations.
For example, ask:
“Alexa, what’s the weather like?”
“Alexa, will it rain tomorrow?”
“Alexa, what is the advanced forecast for Berlin?”
“Alexa, what’s the weather like in Paris this weekend?”
“Alexa, do I need to bring an umbrella today?”
“Alexa, will it be sunny on Tuesday?”
That wasn’t all. Alexa still has the “super mode” under her belt. You can read what it does and how you can get it out of Alexa in the article Secret Alexa Command: How to Activate Super Mode . Give it a try and you’ll be amazed…
Call with Alexa
With Alexa, users can call or communicate with devices in their own home or with contacts stored in the app.
For calls, messages, etc., tap Communication in the Alexa app. The first time, Alexa will ask if she can access your contacts.
Confirm with Allow. Here are some ways to stay in touch with your loved ones:
Make smart calls: Say “Alexa, call Thomas,” and the person you’re calling’s Echo devices and Alexa app will ring.
For this to work, Thomas must be stored in your contacts and Alexa must have access to him.
With “Alexa, hang up!” end the conversation. A big innovation is group calling, with which users can call up to six other Amazon Echo owners at the same time.
Send message: Similar to WhatsApp, you can send text or voice messages here. For example, say “Send a voice message to Laura,” followed by the desired text.
The message is then played on the recipient's Echo speaker or mobile phone.
Drop In: Especially handy for at home! For this to work, make sure the feature is enabled in the Alexa app as per Device Tips , Echo and Alexa , the box you want, Communication and Drop In.
If you want to start a chat at home, press the speaker's name. It also works with a voice command, for example with “Alexa, Drop In in the living room”.
Announce: If you want to tell other family members in your own home something, use the handy announcement function. Advantage: you don't have to wait for the offspring in the children's room to answer the call.
Instead, they summon the gang directly to the dinner table. For example, if you say, “Alexa, announce: Kids, dinner is ready!”, a short chime will sound on all Echo speakers and the message will be sent without prompting.
Chatting via Skype: Skype chatting, with sound only, works with all Amazon speakers; video telephony is also possible with the Echo Show.
To set it up, tap Settings, Communication, Skype, and Sign In from the Alexa app menu. Enter your Skype credentials. Confirm with Sign In and Yes.
A short command like “Alexa, Skype with Ben” is enough for a Skype call.
Listen to music with Alexa
Of course, Alexa smart speakers are also suitable for playing music, audiobooks and radio plays.
You can access thousands of radio stations or listen to your favorite songs and playlists on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music or Deezer with just a few voice commands.
This is how it's done:
On-Demand Radio Stations: Thanks to the connection to the TuneIn radio service, Alexa has a large number of radio stations ready.
If you already know what you want to listen to, a voice command like “Alexa, play NDR 2 on TuneIn” on your Echo Box is enough.
Need some inspiration? Then tap Play, Browse Music, TuneIn, and something like Local Radio in the Alexa app to get a selection of nearby stations. Playback starts when you tap the station you want.
Add streaming services: Want to make your own music? In the Alexa app, add your streaming services under Settings and Music.
Just tap on it and follow the prompts to link your Spotify account, for example. Voice commands like “Alexa, play Madonna from Spotify” or “Alexa, play rock on Spotify” now work.
Good to know: If you ask Alexa to play a song or album without naming a specific service, it will search all music services.
Under Select default music service, you specify which one you want to use.
This is free with Amazon Music: Amazon Music is already included in the Alexa app.
With voice commands like “Alexa, play Mark Forster” or “Alexa, play 80s music,” Alexa accesses automatically created playlists that contain suitable songs.
It is occasionally interrupted by advertising. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can enjoy top songs and playlists without ads.
Book Amazon Music Unlimited: If you want more, you can book Amazon Music's flat rate. Amazon Music Unlimited gives you unlimited access to over 50 million songs, including new releases.
The subscription starts at €7.99 per month and is comparable to the offerings of Spotify or Apple Music. Tip: If you only want to use Amazon Music Unlimited on a single Echo device, just say, “Alexa, sign up for Amazon Music Unlimited.”
Pairing via Bluetooth: While the Echo can serve as an external speaker for your smartphone, the connection with the small Echo Dot is the opposite: you can connect external speakers or your stereo system to make them compatible with Alexa and listen to music in better quality.
Simply say “Alexa, connect via Bluetooth” and follow the voice instructions. Have you listened to enough music? With the command “Alexa, disconnect Bluetooth connection” you can cancel the “forwarding”.
Setting up a multi-room system: couple multiple echos and listen to music in different rooms at the same time?
This is useful at a party, for example. To set it up, in the Alexa app, tap Devices , the plus sign, and Add a multi-room speaker.
Choose a name from the list, such as Living Area , or enter your own name. After tapping Next , check all the devices that should belong to the group. Confirm with Save.
Set preferred speakers: If you want Alexa to play music, it will play on the speaker that accepts the command.
However, you can also choose to play on a specific device by default. To do this, in the Alexa app, tap Devices , tap the room, and then under Preferred Speaker, tap Setup.
Now select the speaker or group and confirm with Save.
Volume and sound control: The volume can of course be controlled during music playback with the voice commands “Alexa, louder”, “Alexa, quieter” or, for example, “Alexa, volume five”.
But the sound can also be adjusted: for a little more boom from the Echo, say “Alexa, lower.” This also works with “treble” and “mid” or specific information like “bass at +6.”
News from your favorite artists: If you listen to music with a Prime or Amazon Music Unlimited subscription, you can have Alexa tell you about new releases from your favorite artists.
Say something like “Alexa, tell me when there’s new Coldplay music” or “Follow this artist” during playback. You’ll be notified via a light display or via a push notification on your phone.
Control your smart home with Alexa
If you have light bulbs from Philips Hue, IKEA Trådfri & Co., smart thermostats, blinds, robot vacuum cleaners or other smart home devices at home, you can also control them via Alexa.
This works with voice commands like “Alexa, turn off the living room light” or using a routine (see below).
For example, you turn on the smart coffee machine on command in the morning, the weather report is read to you and the kitchen lamp turns on.
By the way: Alexa will soon be even better at helping you set up and control smart home devices.
Configure Smart Home: With the Alexa app, you can easily set up new speakers or Smart Home devices under Devices.
To do this, tap the plus sign in the top right corner and then tap Add device. Now select a provider or below the device type and brand, such as “Lamp” and “IKEA”.
Follow the prompts to introduce Alexa to your smart home gadget. Under All Devices, the app also lists everything else, like TVs, smart bulbs, and more.
Echo devices as smart home hubs: One for all: Many smart home devices require a bridge, also known as a gateway.
The small box connects to the router via LAN and brings radio-controlled lamps, heating controls or sockets to the Internet so that the Smart Home resident can control them remotely.
Anyone who has an Echo Plus, Echo Show (2nd generation) or Echo Studio often no longer needs a bridge and thus creates order in the router: the devices have a gateway and communicate directly with ZigBee-enabled devices such as Philips Hue bulbs.
Controlling everything in the room at the same time: Less is more! This definitely applies to smart home commands. If you group your lights, gadgets, and Alexa devices into groups, commands like “Turn off the living room light” are enough to darken the entire room.
In the Alexa app, tap Devices, tap the plus sign, and then tap Add Group. Choose a name from the list, such as Living Area, or type one in.
After tapping Next, check all devices that should belong to the group. Confirm with Save.
Automate processes by routine
Want Alexa to do something specific for you automatically every day? One of the most useful features is called routines.
In the Alexa app, you can use it to define certain processes that are carried out fully automatically or conveniently link several requests to one voice command.
For example, you can ensure that all devices automatically turn off at specific times – for example, at 9am when everyone leaves the house, or just after midnight when everyone is asleep.
Routines can be not only time-based, but also voice-based. Here's how it's done:
From the Alexa app menu, select Routines and then the plus sign in the top right corner.
Tap on possible combinations of actions, schedules, devices, and groups.
For example, select When the following happens, Voice command.
Add something like “Alexa, closing time” to the sentence. This will serve as a voice command later.
After you click Next and Add Action, tell Alexa what you want the command to do, like turn off the lights in your office and turn on the music in your living room.
Tip: Such routines can be triggered not only by voice command, but also by noises, for example, when Alexa hears a dog barking, a baby crying, coughing or snoring.
