Amazon Echo does everything from playing music to answering your questions but it also has some cool tricks enabled like being your personal trainer, or reading a bedtime story to your kids.
Amazon says it’s Prime members bought more Echo Dots than any other product in any category in 2017! That’s a lot of people now talking to Alexa! Here are some fun commands you can try.
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Reminders: Need to book your spin classes for the week right when the clock strikes noon on Monday? Ask Alexa to remind you so you don’t miss out on your favorite classes.
Music Alarms: Working out in the morning is hard. Get a little extra motivation when your alarm goes off in the morning. Just say, “Alexa, wake me up to pop music for running at 5 am.”
Music: Never workout without some musical inspiration. Just ask “Alexa, play a workout playlist” from Amazon Music Unlimited, Spotify, Pandora and more.
Calling/Messaging: We all know having a friend or family member help keep you accountable for your New Year’s wellness goals can help you stick to your resolutions. Send a quick message via Alexa to your workout partner in the morning to let them know you’re heading out on a walk or to the gym.
Nutrition: The Nutrition Label skill for Alexa allows you to get a variety of nutritional information on all of your favorite foods.
Meditation: If mindfulness is one of your New Year’s resolutions, try Alexa skills like Stop, Breathe, Think or Guided Meditation for a guided meditation.
Sleep Sounds: Ask Alexa play “thunderstorms” or “sleep sounds” to help you fall asleep.
Workout Skills: If you’re looking for a quick at-home workout, try the famous Seven Minute Workout skill. Alexa will walk you through the exercises and time each move for you.
Fitbit: Keep up with your fitness goals by checking Fitbit with Alexa. Just enable the skill in the Alexa app and link your Fitbit account to stay in touch with your progress and get motivated as you go about your day. Check in on your daily Fitbit progress with Alexa. Ask Alexa if you hit your sleep goal, how you did yesterday, or just to get a quick update on stats you care about the most.
Five Minute Plank Workout: Alexa will walk you through a series of plank variations and time each for you.
Easy Yoga: Alexa will walk you through basic yoga positions.
Travel Skills with Kayak: Enable the KAYAK skill in the Alexa app and link your account. Once your account is linked with Alexa, you can say things like: “Alexa, ask KAYAK to book me a hotel room in Boston” or “Alexa, ask KAYAK to book me a hotel room at the W South Beach”. Alexa will give you a bookable option and you use your KAYAK account to confirm the reservation.
Other commands:
“Alexa, ask KAYAK, when is my next trip?”
“Alexa, ask KAYAK, when is my next flight?”
Search by flight cabin class: “Alexa, ask KAYAK how much is a business class ticket to…”
Set up a Price Alert to track flight prices “Alexa, ask KAYAK how much is a flight to Miami next week” and Alexa will respond asking if you’d like to create a Price Alert
Alexa, ask KAYAK how much is a flight to Boston”
“Alexa, ask KAYAK when can I go in March for $500”
Reminders: Set repeating reminders for important tasks like taking out the garbage every Tuesday, taking your vitamins every morning and more.
Calendaring: Instantly make updates to your calendar with your voice (before you forget!). Just ask Alexa to add an event to your calendar—now you can even send an invite to another person via Alexa too!
Named lists: You can now customize your lists on Alexa. Create and organize lists to capture everyday ideas, plans and tasks. All you have to do is say “Alexa, create a list” – you can make a packing list, a dinner party shopping list and more. Every list you create with Alexa is stored within the Alexa companion app in case you need to reference if on the go. You can also sync your list with supported list skills including any.do, Cozi, Picniic and AnyList.
Reordering: Avoid one-off shopping trips in the frigid cold – reorder pantry essentials like paper towels via Alexa while you’re busy doing other things.
Food: Ask Alexa to order dinner from skills like GrubHub, Amazon Restaurants, Domino’s, or Pizza Hut. Or even ask Alexa to reorder your favorite Starbucks drink by enabling the Starbucks Reorder skill.