Buzz
Today, Mytour will walk you through some of Alexa's most useful features and voice commands that you might find handy. After setting up your Echo speaker, you might feel a bit lost due to the vast array of capabilities available. This article highlights some of Alexa's everyday functionalities. Additionally, the Mytour skill for Alexa is incredibly beneficial. Note: Amazon Echo currently does not support the Vietnamese language.
Steps
Ask Common Questions
Ask for the time. Check the current time or the time in another city around the world. You can also inquire about different dates.
- "Alexa, what time is it in London?" (What is the current time in London?)
- "Alexa, when is Easter?" (When is Easter?)
Ask about the weather. Check the current weather or forecast for your local area or a specific city.
- "Alexa, what will the weather be like on Tuesday in Chicago?" (What will the weather be like on Tuesday in Chicago?)
- "Alexa, is it going to rain?" (Is it going to rain?)
Check current traffic conditions. To input your home and work addresses into the Alexa app, tap the ☰ icon, select Settings, then tap Traffic. You can also inquire about traffic conditions in a specific location.
- Say "Alexa, check traffic" to check your commute time to work.
- "Alexa, how long will it take to get to 45th Street?" (How long will it take to get to 45th Street?)
- "Alexa, what's the traffic like to Home Depot?" (What’s the traffic like to Home Depot?)
Check flight status.
- "Alexa, what's the status of American Airlines flight 4444?" (What’s the status of American Airlines flight 4444?)
Check stock prices. Say the name or spell out the ticker symbol of any stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ.
- "Alexa, check Amazon stock" (Check Amazon stock).
- "Alexa, stock price for A-M-Z-N." (Stock price for A-M-Z-N).
Get definitions, synonyms, or spellings of words. If you're reading or writing, you won’t need to look away from the page—just ask:
- "Alexa, what does 'flocculant' mean?" (What does “flocculant” mean?)
- "Alexa, what's another word for 'big'?" (What’s another word for “big”?)
- "Alexa, how do you spell 'maintenance'?" (How do you spell “maintenance”?)
Perform calculations. Ask Alexa to handle addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, cube roots, exponents, or factorials. Only one operation can be performed at a time.
- "Alexa, what's 92 divided by 14?" (What is 92 divided by 14?)
- "Alexa, what's the square root of 5?" (What is the square root of 5?)
- "Alexa, what's 100 factorial?" (What is 100 factorial?) Hint: It’s a very large number.
- Alexa may know other mathematical operations, so feel free to experiment. For example, she can answer questions about prime numbers, the value of pi or e, or calculate sine, cosine, or linear equations.
Convert units of measurement. Convert between any units of volume, weight, distance, or temperature in the imperial or metric systems, or convert currency. This feature is especially useful for cooking.
- "Alexa, how many milliliters in 2 and a half cups?" (How many milliliters are in 2.5 cups?)
- "Alexa, 10 kilometers is how many miles?" (How many miles is 10 kilometers?)
- "Alexa, how much is 100 dollars in Australian dollars?" (How much is 100 USD in AUD?)
Ask general knowledge questions. Try asking about topics like geography, celebrity or historical figure facts, movies or TV shows, nutritional information, and other interesting facts or statistics. You can also ask Alexa to look up Wikipedia articles, and she will read a few lines from the entry.
- "Alexa, what's the population of Chicago?" (What is the population of Chicago?)
- "Alexa, where was Abraham Lincoln born?" (Where was Abraham Lincoln born?)
- "Alexa, what year was '12 Angry Men' released?" (What year was “12 Angry Men” released?)
- "Alexa, when does 'Game of Thrones' air?" (When does “Game of Thrones” air?)
- "Alexa, how much saturated fat is in a steak?" (How much saturated fat is in a steak?)
- "Alexa, how far away is the moon?" (How far away is the moon?)
- "Alexa, how tall is a giraffe?" (How tall is a giraffe?)
- "Alexa, Wikipedia 'fractals.'" (Look up “fractals” on Wikipedia.)
Entertainment
Listen to music. Stream music from Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Prime Music, iHeartRadio, or SiriusXM.
- "Alexa, play dance music on Pandora." (Play dance music on Pandora.)
- "Alexa, play Post Malone." (Play Post Malone.)
- "Alexa, play Maggot Brain by Funkadelic on Spotify." (Play “Maggot Brain” by Funkadelic on Spotify.)
- You can now stream music across multiple devices if you have more than one Echo speaker.
Listen to Podcasts. Alexa will play the latest episode of the podcast you request. While you can play/pause, fast forward, or rewind, asking Alexa something while listening will cause you to lose your place in the podcast.
- "Alexa, play Radiolab." (Play Radiolab)
Play Audible Audiobooks. As long as you're logged into your account, your playback position will sync between your Echo speaker and any other device you use.
- "Alexa, play Ready Player One." (Play Ready Player One)
- "Alexa, resume my book." (Resume the most recent audiobook you were listening to)
- "Alexa, go back/forward." (Rewind or fast forward by 30 seconds)
Play Most Kindle Books. Alexa's text-to-speech feature can continue reading many Kindle books from where you last left off and save your progress.
- "Alexa, play the Kindle book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry." (Play the Kindle book titled: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry)
- "Alexa, pause/resume." (Pause or resume playback)
- "Alexa, set a sleep timer for 15 minutes." (Set a sleep timer for 15 minutes)
Play Music via Bluetooth. Simply pair a Bluetooth-enabled device (e.g., your phone) to play any content through Alexa.
- After the device has been previously paired, just say: "Alexa, enable Bluetooth" or "Alexa, connect" to pair the device again.
- This option is better for playing podcasts compared to Alexa's native capabilities, as it gives you more playback control and doesn’t lose your listening position.
Play Games. There are many skill-based games available for Alexa in the Skills Store. Popular choices include:
- Jeopardy! This game also has Sports and Teen versions. Remember to answer in the form of a question! Say: "Alexa, play Jeopardy!"
- Song Quiz. This popular game pairs you with an opponent and asks you to identify music clips. Start by saying: "Alexa, start Song Quiz."
- Twenty Questions. Try this classic game and beat Alexa. Request: "Alexa, play Twenty Questions."
- The Magic Door. Essentially, this is a Choose Your Own Adventure-style novel read aloud by Alexa. Say: "Alexa, open The Magic Door."
- Visit the Skills Store to browse through many other skill-based games.
Practical Features
Use Timers. You can manage and pause timers through the Alexa app.
- "Alexa, set a timer for 12 minutes and 30 seconds." (Set a timer for 12 minutes and 30 seconds)
- "Alexa, set a 'chicken' timer for 15 minutes." (Set a “chicken” timer for 15 minutes)
- "Alexa, check timers." (Check timers)
Set Alarms. You can even set alarms with specific artist ringtones, songs, or music genres. Alarms can be managed through the Alexa app.
- "Alexa, set an alarm for 4 pm." (Set an alarm for 4 PM)
- "Alexa, set an alarm for 7 am to the Beatles on Pandora." (Set an alarm for 7 AM with the Beatles on Pandora)
- "Alexa, set a repeating alarm for 8 am every weekday to 80s music on Spotify." (Set a repeating alarm for 8 AM every weekday with 80s music on Spotify)
Set Reminders. Alexa can remind you of tasks at specific times or after a certain duration.
- Reminders are also sent to your phone via the Alexa app, ensuring you’re notified even if you’re not near your Echo device.
- "Alexa, remind me to take out the trash in 1 hour." (Remind me to take out the trash in 1 hour)
- "Alexa, remind me to go to the bank at 4:30 pm." (Remind me to go to the bank at 4:30 PM)
Connect to Calendars. Open the Alexa app, tap the ☰ icon, go to Settings, and select Calendar. Follow the steps to link your account. Currently, Google, Microsoft (Outlook, Office 365, or Exchange), and Apple accounts are supported. Now you can ask Alexa about upcoming events or add new ones to your calendar.
- "Alexa, add an event to my calendar." (Alexa will prompt you to add the date, time, and event name)
- "Alexa, what's next on my calendar?" (What’s next on my calendar?)
- "Alexa, what's on my calendar for Thursday?" (What’s on my calendar for Thursday?)
Track Amazon package deliveries. Alexa will notify you if your package arrives the same day or provide an estimated delivery time.
- "Alexa, check my packages." (Check your packages)
Listen to daily news highlights. Set up your preferred news service for daily updates by opening the Alexa app, tapping the ☰ menu, selecting Settings, and choosing Flash Briefing. Alexa will read brief news updates from these services whenever you ask.
- "Alexa, read my flash briefing." (Read the daily news highlights)
Make calls using voice commands or through the Alexa app. Alexa can make outbound calls to any number in the U.S., Mexico, or Canada. If the number is saved in your Alexa app contacts, you can also make voice calls, send text messages (via the Alexa app), or use the Drop In feature if enabled.
- "Alexa, dial 555-555-5555." (Dial 555-555-5555)
- "Alexa, send a message to Susan." (Alexa will then prompt you for the message to send)
- "Alexa, call Susan." (Call Susan)
- You can also make and receive Alexa voice calls and messages through the Alexa app. Tap the conversation bubble icon at the bottom of the screen. If you haven’t set up messaging, the app will guide you through the process.
Tips
- Get comfortable giving commands without stopping what you’re doing or looking at the Echo speaker. This will help you integrate Alexa’s capabilities into your daily life. You can ask about the weather or traffic while tying your shoes, play music while washing dishes, or set an alarm while lying in bed.
- If you’re a Prime member, you’ll have access to millions of songs through the Prime Music library, where you can search and play by requesting Alexa to play a specific artist, song, or genre. Say: "Alexa, play rap music." (Play rap music)
- Access free Audible audiobooks by saying: "Alexa, what's free on Audible?"
- If you’re having trouble controlling Alexa, try resetting it and starting over. This process can clear tasks that may have caused the assistant to malfunction, but it will also erase previous settings, requiring you to set it up again.
