6. Whisper
The newest whisper mode is probably the most helpful tip in order not to drive any family members or roommates completely crazy with the new Echo Box. The assistant recognizes when you are speaking in a muffled voice and responds quietly. To activate the mode, you just have to say: “Alexa, activate whisper mode. ” You can also activate it in the app. Until recently, the whisper only worked if you had set the device in US English, now you can speak quietly in German without restrictions.
7. Control smart home
One of the central functions of digital language assistants is the control of smart household appliances, such as networked thermostats or lights and vacuuming robots. In the latter, almost all of them are currently compatible with Alexa. If you own an Echo Plus (2nd generation) or an Echo Show, you can even control lights with the Zigbee radio standard directly and without a hub.
To set up the control of smartphone devices, you have to select the “Devices” item in the Alexa app below and then add devices using the plus symbol at the top right. Then you can choose between different smart home devices. For networked lighting Philips Hue has its own skill that you can easily add.
8. Announcement
You can also let the smart boxes announce something via the Alexa app. If you are on the way home and want to tell the family at home via the echo boxes that you will be there right away, you can do this in the app under the “Communication” section. There you only have to select the “Announcement” item and then you can either speak or type in the desired message.
9. Routines
One of the most powerful tools for the smart box are the so-called routines. To create a routine, select the Routines menu item in the app. You can determine what Alexa determines for you command makes. A whole chain of is also possible Command,
An example: With the voice command, “Alexa, good morning“You can set that Alexa not only reveals the current time and date, but also reads the weather report directly, simultaneously activates the lighting in the kitchen, switches on the coffee machine and sets the thermostat to 21 degrees. The prerequisite is, of course, that you have appropriate smart home devices and have linked them to Alexa.
10. Data protection
Anyone using Alexa should be aware that everyone commands also saved as an audio recording and possibly also listened to for quality assurance by Amazon employees. Here you read how to prevent the latter, If you want to delete individual recordings directly, Alexa has recently been able to say it using a voice command. The command “Alexa, delete what I just said,” explains exactly that.
It is also possible “Alexa, delete everything I said today”. To use this function, you have to activate the deletion by voice command in the Alexa app. You can find the relevant item under “Settings”, “Alexa data protection” and “Check voice recording history”.
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