This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Working with Alexa
Using Alexa is as easy as speaking into your Echo device. Say the wake word (“Alexa,” by default), followed by whatever it is you want Alexa to do.
When the Echo hears the wake word, the ring on the top of the device lights blue, with a small cyan area pointing in the direction of whomever spoke. Alexa listens to your request, and then (sometimes after “thinking” about it for a few seconds) voices her response.
The top ring on your Echo lights blue when it’s listening to a voice command
Now, Alexa is not all-knowing. There are many questions you can ask of Alexa that she can’t answer. If that’s the case, she tells you. She also tells you if she just doesn’t understand the question; when this happens, try stating the command again, or maybe try saying it a different way.
In most instances, however, Alexa tells you what she knows, or does what you asked her to do.
What, then, can you ask of Alexa? The questions and commands are almost limitless, but the following sections explain some common questions and commands you can try.
Employ General Commands
There are a lot of specific commands you can issue, but depending on what you want to do, there are also a handful of general commands that apply across all actions and applications. When you’re using Alexa, you can use the general commands shown in Table 11.1.
Table 11.1 General Commands
Tell Alexa What to Do
Alexa can perform a wide variety of operations, from retrieving the latest news and weather to reading audiobooks to answering all manner of questions. Here’s a short list of what you can ask Alexa to do:
Read the latest news stories: “Alexa, play my Flash Briefing.”
Read the weather report: “Alexa, what’s the weather forecast?”
Read the latest sports scores and news: “Alexa, play my Sports Update,” or “Alexa, what’s the score for the [your team] game?”
Get traffic information: “Alexa, how is traffic?”
Play music: “Alexa, play [song or album or artist or genre].”
Read an audiobook: “Alexa, read the book [book name].”
Find nearby restaurants and businesses: “Alexa, what [type of food] restaurants are nearby?” or “Alexa, where are the nearest [type of business] stores?”
Set timers and alarms: “Alexa, wake me up at [time],” or “Alexa, set a timer for [duration] minutes.”
Manage your calendar: “Alexa, what’s on my calendar today?” or “Alexa, add an event to my calendar.”
Create shopping and to-do lists: “Alexa, what’s on my to-do list?” or “Alexa, add [item] to my shopping list.”
Shop online at Amazon.com: “Alexa, order [item],” or “Alexa, add [item] to my shopping cart.”
You can also ask Alexa a variety of random questions. If you want to know how far it is to the moon, what is the capital of Brazil, what was the name of Bob Dylan’s first album, or what the square root of 42 is, just ask. Alexa probably knows the answer.
