Smart assistants have managed to penetrate not only mobile phones, but also watches, cars and homes. Smart speakers, especially those from Apple and Amazon, have become one of those tools that many people have at home, although not everyone benefits from them as much as they could. .
As you can imagine, I’m a very tech-savvy person, and it shows in my house, which is full of many gadgets, including smart speakers.
I use them daily, constantly, and that’s why I want to recommend some of the commands that I use so much that they have changed the way I am at home. In fact, when I’m moving on, more than once I’ve found myself talking to myself, thinking there was a loudspeaker ready to listen to me.
Reminders
My memory is very bad. A lot. Always. He was one of those people who wrote something down so as not to forget it and then forgot that he had written it. This is the level.
OK Google, remind me Saturday at 10 a.m. to turn on a washing machine.
That’s why it’s no wonder that what I do most with the speakers is to set reminders. All the time. In fact, the normal thing is that I put a reminder to remember to put the washing machine on one specific day and then another for eight hours later to remember to pick up the clothes.
Another use for this feature is when I want to say something to my partner, but they’re not home. She’s away from home about twelve hours a day and I work from home, so not to constantly bother her with WhatsApp messages or calls, I set reminders so I don’t forget to tell her something later , at least if it is particularly important.
information
OK Google, put the news.
For me, going to make my bed in the middle of the morning goes hand in hand with the order to pass the information on the enclosure of the room.
It’s a few minutes, but I’m taking the opportunity to discover something. And if I have to shave afterwards or get dressed, well, I’ll let it play a little longer.
Shopping list
OK Google, add rice to the shopping list.
Another one of those features that I would find it hard to stop using is the shopping list.
Anytime around the house, I can remind myself that I need to buy something in particular, or maybe my partner tells me when we’re in the living room or the office, and just by speaking out loud, I can tell it. ‘add to list for when I go to the supermarket.
timers
OK Google, put a 12 minute timer called Eggs.
Although I never use alarms (for that I prefer watches and smart bracelets), I do use timers, especially in the kitchen. Here it is useful to have a speaker with a screen to see the remaining time.
In addition, we can give them names, in case we do one thing in the oven and another on the ceramic hob, for example.
remote
OK Google, put 1.
Another of the functions that I use daily, although less than the previous ones, is the TV control. Put it on and take it off, change the volume or put on a specific channel is something we can do.
If our TV is compatible with a specific assistant (mine is with Alexa, for example), we can do it without accessories. In case this is not the case, with an infrared device like this Broadlink Mini that we are analyzing, we can do it on any TV on the market.
distances
OK Google, how long does it take to get to IKEA from home?
Although I don’t use it daily, it’s very common in my week. Often we have to drive to somewhere and where we live there is a lot of traffic. That’s why, even if I know the distance or the route between my house and another place, I usually ask the assistant how long it will take because it depends a lot on the time I have to travel.
I can thus organize myself without fear of wasting time when I arrive or of being late.
Cleaning
OK Google, clean house.
Another command linked to a device is that of cleaning. I have two Roomba vacuum cleaners, one on each floor, and different controls to activate the cleaning of each of them.
There’s also a command for them to clean both at once, and I usually run it when I leave the house, so I don’t know if I’m tripping over them or trying not to be bothered by the noise.
Lights
OK Google, turn on the bedroom.
Finally, one of the most common uses, lighting control. Thanks to bulbs or sockets, I can control at least one lamp in each room. It’s not about being able to turn everything on and off with your voice, that wouldn’t make sense either, but it’s about being able to turn on a light in any room if you enter loaded, for example.
In this case, I prefer smart bulbs, as they take up less space, but it is true that sockets are more versatile and can be used for other things, such as fans or heaters.
If you want to know what else you can do with Google or Amazon speakers, we invite you to watch this video:
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