They say technology has made our lives easier and I certainly agree. Most of those reading this right now have a pretty good idea of what Alexa is and does. For the rest of you who are reading this out of curiosity, then I want to assure you that these easy-to-do hacks will turn you into an ultimate Alexa fan!
Alexa Account Hacks Everyone Should Know
Few people know that their virtual assistant Alexa can provide individualized experiences to people in the home. In fact, most people I know who have an Alexa assistant are unaware of these little tricks to help enhance their smart home experience. Amazon is always creating new capabilities to expand on these themes. It’s one of the innovative traits I love about the company. Here are some of my favorite, easy-to-do Alexa hacks that will improve your user experience!
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Set Up Multiple Accounts
Did you know you can set up multiple accounts using a feature available with Alexa? Okay, okay. I think most people know this feature exists, but it would shock you how many just have one account set up. Using the built-in “Household Profiles” feature, you may effectively have many users, each with their own profiles, whom you can switch between as necessary on your Amazon Echo device.
The Alexa app allows the device’s registered owner to add numerous profiles of other family members to the household profile. However, you must first enter your password before anybody else may sign in or change profiles. Each profile owner can access customized content libraries, including playlists and shopping.
It’s crucial to remember that only the device’s registered owner may make new profiles. You may do this if it applies to you by selecting Household Profile under Settings in the Alexa app and inputting your password. After completing this step, you may link the accounts by having the other users log in on the same computer.
Parental Control
As a parent, you are responsible for monitoring what your child is watching. Let’s be honest, you cannot supervise them 24/7 and so Amazon has a solution for you. You can always use parental control to see what kind of videos and shows are being watched by your children.
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Amazon’s FreeTime program is also accessible via Alexa. It allows you to establish parental controls, such as restrictions on certain materials, shopping features, and use hours. To activate this service, you must choose which device to limit.
Alexa Voice Profiles
Alexa Voice Profiles are a fantastic feature. It’s another one of those often overlooked things that can impact user experience. Your Alexa can be trained to identify your voice through a simple exercise involving the repetition of words. In my opinion, I think the best sound engineers are working for Amazon.
To get Alexa to recognize your voice, the first phrase is displayed on the screen for you to pronounce. When you say the word, Alexa will automatically display the next word.
Continue speaking until you’ve used every term Alexa has to offer. You’ll be asked to repeat a phrase if Alexa doesn’t comprehend it the first time. Alexa notifies you that your Voice ID has been created once you have completed the process.
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While Amazon Music and Spotify are treated similarly in the Alexa experience, Amazon’s own service benefits from voice match. I really like Spotify as a music service, but we’ve talked about issues with Spotify when it comes to your family having access to it.
Furthermore, shopping becomes easier with the help of the voice match feature. If you’ve never bought anything via Alexa using your voice, you should try it. It’s kinda cool. And don’t worry…if you buy something accidentally, you can go into your Amazon account and get a refund. Training your voice will enable you to confirm purchases using only your voice and prevent children from adding one hundred unicorns to your shopping cart.
Find your iPhone
Have you ever misplaced your iPhone or Android and absolutely panicked because of what that would mean? Your personal info, maybe financial data, and other privacy-related data could all be on there (and your personal photos). What would happen if it had actually gotten lost? With Alexa and the Find Your Phone features, there’s no reason to worry about this issue.
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Alexa can assist you in resolving this all-too-common problem. Once you save/confirm your number in the app, it gives you the option to have Alexa contact it when you ask her to “find my phone.” You’ll have to connect the Find My Phone Alexa Skill to your account, but it’s well worth it.
The 7-Minute Workout
This is one of my favorite Alexa tips. It’s one thing to say you’re going to work out, but quite another to really do it when you’re working from home or spending the weekend relaxing.
7 minutes of bodyweight high-intensity exercise can reportedly improve your muscular strength, V02 max, and insulin sensitivity, which is why many people prefer to do it.
Even if the 7-Minute Workout won’t completely undo the damage your weekend of eating burgers and fries did to your waistline, it’s still preferable to doing nothing at all. This is another feature that you’ll have to connect as an Alexa Skill.
Your favorite AI will initiate the 7-Minute Workout when you tell her what music you want to listen to. You can then have a satisfying workout while your preferred workout music plays in the background.
Create a Routine
If you routinely give Alexa the same set of instructions (for example, “turn on the lights,” “turn on the TV,” and “read the news”), you may build up a “morning” routine to have her carry out the instructions automatically. They work very similarly to Google Routines
To create a routine with Alexa, here are some steps you need to follow:
- Open the app and select Settings.
- Go to the Routines section, followed by the plus (“+”) symbol.
- Enter the trigger phrase.
- Click “When this happens,” then “When you say something.”
You can create a routine for basically any smart home device connected to your Alexa.
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Alexa Hacking Homework Assignment
If you have an Alexa account and are looking for some hacks to improve your experience, what I mentioned above is a great start. Your homework assignment: Go and try at least one of these Alexa account hacks right now. Oftentimes, I find that if I start small with just one and then build on it, get comfortable with it, then adding more and more are a breeze.
