It is difficult to choose the best Alexa skills that are right for you. Although almost everyone can benefit greatly from Alexa's weather, traffic, music, and news skills you will want to consider other ways Alexa could help or entertain you as your personal assistant.
The best Alexa skills to use if you have multiple smart home devices are those that can be associated with the top IoT brands. There's an Alexa skill that will allow you to control your smart lights hands-free, whether they are Philips Hue or C by GE. This is also true for the top smart plugs, most secure smart locks, and many other products. There are also tons of automations in your office that Alexa can help you do (whether at home or not).
Some wearable devices have Alexa skills. You can use the Fitbit skill for your health and fitness goals, or the Bose skill on your smart speaker to change the music.
We recently made our first list of awesome Alexa Skills to try in 2022.
Here's a list of another 14 Alexa skills that will make your life a lot easier:
1. Ask Alexa to clean your apartment
Many of the best robot vacuums can be controlled using Alexa to start or stop cleaning. This is the first time vacuuming has been so hands-off.
The iRobot Roomba range has built-in support for Alexa - so connecting it and getting it started is super quick and simple.
2. Play games
Alexa can provide the fun. There are many trivia skills, but the most useful Alexa skills for games include Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock, 20 Questions, Bingo, Jeopardy, and Tic-Tac-Toe. It can be great fun to play games with Alexa, especially if there are children participating!
3. You can watch TV
You can control your TV with Alexa in several ways.
If you have an Alexa-compatible smart remote control, you could link it up with Alexa and have it accept voice commands.
For example, you could link your Logitech Harmony Hub to Alexa using the Harmony App. The remote can then be controlled via Alexa by simply saying commands like "Alexa turn on my TV" and "Alexa, pause". Tivo Bolt, Roku Express and a few other streaming media players can also connect to Alexa to for voice control.
Alternatively, if you own an Amazon FireTV or FireTV Stick, you can have it listen to commands from the voice button on the remote, and also link it to your existing Echo devices.
4. Set up a meeting
You can set up meetings with your contacts by using Alexa, provided you have access to their calendars. Amazon's Assistant will recommend meeting times based on your schedules. You can ask Alexa for a change of time to accommodate a conflict after you have scheduled a meeting. You can use Alexa for Business to access supported calendars such as iCloud and Gmail, G Suite, or Microsoft Office 365.
5. In an emergency, get help
When you are in an emergency situation and cannot reach your phone, the Ask my Buddy skill will send you a message (text, SMS or telephone call) to notify your chosen contact. This feature does not replace 911 but it allows you to tell your loved ones that you need assistance.
6. Get first aid
The Mayo Clinic skill offers basic first aid information, including instructions for CPR and minor scratches. This skill is only for instruction purposes. If you are in an emergency or life-threatening situation, please call for assistance.
7. Teach Alexa everything you know
Alexa answers is the voice-assistant's crowd-sourced skill. It allows users to share their knowledge on favorite topics with Alexa by answering questions that Alexa hasn't answered yet. After you submit an answer, badges will be awarded based on how many times you have shared your answer with Alexa customers, and other factors.
The Teach Alexa skill lets you teach Alexa things that it doesn't know yet.
8. Start your car
You want to warm up your car before you go? Try these smart car skills: Hyundai Blue Link, Toyota, and Tessie for Tesla. For everyone else, the Echo Auto device can also be used to make your car have smart voice-control functionalities.
9. Connect to your Fitbit
You can ask Alexa using the Fitbit skill to see how close you are to reaching your daily step goal, how much sleep you got, and other metrics from your Fitbit activity tracker. To help you choose the best- Fitbit Versa 3 device, we have reviewed them all.
10. Receive the most recent news
The Spokata real-time news skill provides updates on breaking news. It is updated in real-time.
11. Your thermostat can be controlled
Many smart thermostats can be connected with Alexa. These include the Honeywell Home RTH9585WF1004 WiFi Thermostat and Honeywell Lyric. The Ecobee Thermostat has to be our favorite smart thermostat. It's lean, sleek and has Alexa integrated right into it.
The bestseller however has been the Google Nest thermostat. It works with Alexa and can be controlled via voice commands just as easily as the others.
12. Turn on and off your lights
You don't have to reach for your phone or light switch when Alexa can turn off all your connected lights. This skill requires a smart plug or smart light to work. There are many smart-home platforms that can be used, including Phillips Hue, Cync by GE, Lutron, Kasa Smart and more.
13. Follow your favorite teams
Alexa will help you keep up with your favorite teams and sports. Tap Settings in the Alexa app's menu. Sports Update allows you to search for and save your favorite team. The digital assistant will provide information such as scores and upcoming schedules, including details about the NFL, NBA, MLS and NHL. After you have entered your team, all you need to do is say "Alexa, please give me the latest sports updates".
You could also try other Alexa skills like the Sports News Minute.
14. Ask Alexa for an explanation
This skill is designed to make the voice assistant's behavior a little less mysterious. Ask Alexa "Alexa, why are you doing that?" You'll get an explanation of why Alexa answered the way it did to your previous voice command. The feature should improve communication between you, your voice assistant, and the future. Get a visual Alexa experience with Echo Show
The Bottom Line
We've been testing Alexa skills and going through user reviews before making confident recommendations for certain Alexa skill categories. Which skills did you think were the best?
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