Your Amazon Echo speaker can do so many things, some of which you probably don’t know about. Here are a few.
Your Amazon Echo speaker can play music for you, control connected devices in your home, or make phone calls. But are you really using Alexa to its full potential if you’re only asking her for simple things like this?
After all, Alexa can do so many things that you might not have thought of yet. For example, did you know that you can transfer music from one Echo to another? You can also donate to charity very easily, or ask Alexa to look after your home when you’re not at home.
Below are some pretty amazing things that your Amazon Echo can do.
1. Broadcast to other devices
When you really like a song playing on the Amazon Echo in the room you’re in and need to move around the house, it can be frustrating to pause the music. Luckily, if you have multiple Echos, you can ask Alexa to play that music elsewhere, on a different speaker.
In the Amazon Music app on your phone, select the playlist you’re listening to. Raise the controls and press the button in the lower right corner of the screen. Then select the Echo speaker you want to listen to.
2. Monitor your home with Alexa
If you’re worried about what might be happening in your home when you’re not there, you can turn on Alexa Guard before you leave. Just say “Alexa, I’m leaving”and the voice assistant will listen for any signs of intrusion, such as broken glass. If he hears something suspicious, he will send you an alert so that you decide what to do next, contact the authorities or something else.
When you get home, say “Alexa, I’m home”and the assistant will stop monitoring.
3. Make charitable donations with Alexa
If you know an Amazon listed charity you’d like to donate to – there are over 300 to choose from – you can use Amazon Echo to donate. When you say “Alexa, I’d like to make a donation”, the voice assistant asks you for an association of your choice. Alexa will then ask you which animal you want to give away. Please note that you must first set up Amazon Pay in order to be able to donate.
4. Shopping on Amazon with Alexa
If you’re short on something in the house, like toilet paper or toothpaste, you can ask Alexa to order something for you through Prime Now. You must first enable voice purchases in the Alexa app.
To do this, open the app, go to Menu > Settings > Account > Voice Purchases, and enable the Purchase by Voice option. When you’re ready to buy something, say something like, “Alexa, I want to buy some toothpaste.”The product will be added to your cart and Alexa will ask you to confirm that you want to buy it now.
You can add a PIN in the same settings so that only you can make purchases through your Echo speaker.
5. Find your smartphone with Alexa
Losing your phone in the house happens more often than we are willing to admit. And when there’s no one around to call your phone, having to look around the house can be frustrating. Luckily, you can use your Amazon Echo to find it. You can ask Alexa to call your phone, but if it’s off it won’t help much. Another option is to install the Find My Phone skill in the Alexa app.