Whether you’re outfitting your entire home with Echo Dots, or just diving into the world of Alexa, it can be tough to know where to start. After all, Amazon offers nearly 60,000 Alexa skills to choose from. Each one varies in quality and usefulness, making it difficult for the best ones to float to the top. That said, if you’re not using these nifty add-ons, you’re not taking full advantage of your Echo speaker. Head below for the top five Alexa Skills that you should install on your new smart assistant speaker.
Play Music with Alexa: Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify
It’s time to play some music. After all, your Alexa device is a speaker. Thankfully, and unlike other smart speakers out there, Amazon has opened its Echo platform up to most of the competitors its own in-house service goes to battle with.
Amazon’s own streaming service comes automatically enabled on all Echo speakers. But you can easily add Apple Music or Spotify to the mix by using these commands:
“Alexa, play [song] from Spotify” or visit the Alexa skill storefront.
“Alexa, play [song] on Apple Music” or visit the Alexa skill storefront.
Now that Echo speakers include multi-room capabilities, having these skills on-hand is a no-brainer for any Alexa-focused smart home setup.
Play Jeopardy at home
Did you know there is a Jeopardy skill? Now you do! Jump into the classic gaming with a single voice command and play the same categories that were just on recent episodes. This is a no-brainer on our list of the top five Alexa skills out there. Learn more here.
Get your daily news briefing from the New York Times
One of the beauties of Amazon’s Echo speakers is that you can customize where you want your news to come from. For me, that’s the New York Times. Simply enable this skill and ask for your flash briefing to catch up on the latest happenings around the world:
“Alexa, what’s my Flash Briefing?”
“Alexa, what’s in the news?”
Control your Philips Hue lights
If you have an Alexa speaker, changes are, you also have a smart home going as well. Amazon has a Philips Hue skill which enables voice control over all the smart lights in your home. Notable voice commands include:
“Alexa, turn on Living Room lights”
“Alexa, turn on Relax in the Kitchen”
Alexa, set the Kitchen light to Green”
Fall asleep or concentrate with Ambient Noise
While Echo speakers are great at relaying information, news and controlling your smart home, there are plenty of other uses as well. One of these is the Ambient Noise skill. This popular add-on plays soothing sounds from a wide range of sources, including thunderstorms, airplanes, fans, and rivers.
What are your favorite Alexa skills? Let us know in the comments below.
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