These are the functions I use daily at home from my phone and Echo smart speakers

Even though we already know them very well in Europe, smart speakers haven’t been with us for long. Amazon’s Alexa was launched on November 6, 10 years ago, in 2014. The presentation was accompanied by the announcement of the first Amazon Echo, a cylindrical speaker that went on sale in the United States but which did not has not arrived in Europe.

In the decade that has passed since then, we have seen many improvements in this assistant, although it seems that the biggest change is in a few months, with the creation of a paid version that will use intelligence artificial. But even without this active feature, the possibilities of Amazon’s assistant are enormous, even if many people still only use it to listen to music.

Little by little, more and more people are getting used to getting the most out of it, for work, leisure or organization, which in a house with children is perhaps the most useful accessory for organize events, tasks and meetings. Alexa can be used on both mobile phones and speakers, with Echo being the most suitable due to its integration and price. Facing the Black Friday, which will take place on November 29the choice of one speaker or another will depend on our needs.

Reminders

One of the functions I use the most in my daily life is setting reminders for everything. I’m a very forgetful person and I might remember to turn on a washing machine and hang it up, but I will almost certainly forget to pick it up 10 hours later unless I see a notification on my phone or on one of the speakers.

This feature is extremely simple to use and all you have to do is say “Alexa, remind me to collect the laundry in 6 hours”, changing what to remember and the time period. In addition, it is possible to change the form of notification on a smart screen so that it reminds us every hour from the moment we apply it until we mark the task as completed.

The most practical is to use it on the speakers, but obviously it can also be used on the mobile phone, especially if we have configured the application so that we can use Alexa by voice on the smartphone. The notifications will come in the form of a text notification, like any other, in addition to being displayed on smart screens. In the case of a speaker without a screen, the notification ring will light up and when you ask it to read them it will notify us of the reminder.

Light control

One of Alexa’s most common functions is home automation control, especially lights. This feature also depends on the presence of compatible smart bulbs or switches, but there are many of them and they are not expensive at all. It is very practical to be able to turn the lights on and off in a room, and dim the brightness.

I use the latter a lot in the bedroom, with 5% brightness, except when I need to do something like fold dry clothes from the washing machine, or change clothes. If you have colored LED bulbs, it is possible to control their color. I use it mainly in the field of video editing.

Heating control

I recently installed two ducted air conditioning and heating machines in my house, and one of the requirements I was looking for, beyond price, efficiency or warranty, was that they were intelligent, They can be controlled by WiFi. So I bought two models from the same brand, which have their own application.

But the best thing is that they also have integration with Alexa, so it is possible to turn the air on and off, whether it is cold or hot, in addition to being able to change the temperature at which it will be used. Of course, the delay is noticeable, but this has nothing to do with Alexa, but with the operation of the air conditioner itself.

Presence simulation

Another feature I use, although not daily, is the presence simulation. To do this, I create certain routines that are activated at one time and deactivated at another. In the Alexa app it is possible to select which devices turn on and off at a given time, giving the impression that there are people at home.

This is useful when I go away for the weekend or we are on vacation. The important thing is to vary these routines so that they are not always exactly the same. This way the feeling of realism is greater, even though it is still a simulation. Likewise, it is possible to use presence detection to notify us if someone has entered the house.

News

When I’m cooking, the Alexa speaker I use the most is the Amazon Echo Show. With its 15-inch screen, it is the ideal place to put video information, since extracts of information from different channels unfortunately lack a greater variety of media.

It is also possible to broadcast news from different radio stations with the simple command “Alexa, play news”. If we’re not convinced, we can say “Alexa, next” and it will move to the next bulletin.

Control the TV

When I bought the TV I have, which is several years old, I knew I wanted it to have Android TV, but having Alexa built-in wasn’t something I was looking for, although now I like it. This way it is possible to turn it on, off and control the channels and volume very easily.

It is also possible to do this with any television using a system like that of Broadlink, which allows you to emulate the device’s remote control. You have to configure each command separately, but once done it’s really practical.

Alarm, presence detection…

Another feature I’m using more and more is using Alexa to control the house alarm. Having a Ring system, it is possible to arm and disarm the system simply by speaking into the speaker, although you must be careful not to say the security code if there are other people around near.

También es posible configurar los Amazon Echo para que se activen cuando detectan la presencia de alguien, sea por movimiento o por sonido. Esto activa las rutinas de la aplicación de Alexa, que se ejecutan de forma automática cuando alguien entra en la estancia.

Pese a que estas son las funciones más utilizadas en mi caso hay otras muchas que pueden ser usadas. Por ejemplo, se puede hacer la lista de la compra directamente en esta aplicación, aunque en mi caso uso más la de Google, que está vinculada a Keep. También es posible usar un altavoz con pantalla como agenda, poniendo los eventos del calendario y sincronizándolos con el resto de la familia.