Bedtime Story and Sending Money: 20 Useful Alexa Voice Assistant Features

If you have a built-in Alexa device, you know how useful a virtual assistant is. You can ask her anything, for example, "What will the weather be like today?" or "How many ounces are in a pound?" and get a quick response. Did you know that you can upload new skills to your assistant. These skills will help you easily access services and products using Alexa. These skills can be lifesaving, especially if you have no leeway or are on the go. Edition Reader's Digest has collected some of the best Alexa skills that will make your daily life a lot easier.

Find phone

We've all experienced the disappointment of losing our phone somewhere in the house. Now you don't have to worry if no one calls you, because Alexa can. Just say, “Alexa, open“ Where is my phone? ”And she will call him.

Drive your car

One of Alexa's best skills is driving from the comfort of your home. Brands like Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai all have subscriptions available that let you tell Alexa to start your car, unlock it, and even check how many miles your car has. Just make sure you have a suitable subscription associated with your vehicle before you tell Alexa what to do.

Send alarm

If you have a Ask My Friend account, you can enable the Ask My Friend skill in Alexa and send an alarm if needed. For example, if you fall and need help, you can say, “Alexa, ask my friend for help,” or “Alexa, send a notification to (person's name),” and they'll get a warning to check on you. Keep in mind that while this skill is useful, it should not be used as a substitute for dialing 911 in an emergency.

Plan meals

Between work, family, and other daily chores, it can be difficult to plan meals for the entire week. However, Alexa can help with this. Say, “Alexa, find some easy dinner recipes,” and she will quickly find delicious recipes. She will then read what ingredients you need and even read out the steps of the recipe. This skill is a game changer if you are short on time and need a hands-free guide in the kitchen.

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Talk to cats

It is difficult to leave your cat alone at home all day. Well, Alexa lets you tell your cat how much you love and miss her when you get home. Just turn on Meow! skill on your device. All you have to do to get started is say “Alexa meow” and she will start talking to your furry friend.

Comfort the dogs

If you have puppies at home that are worried, don't worry - Alexa can help comfort them. Say, “Alexa, open Relax Dog,” and Alexa will play music to relax your four-legged friend. There is also an option for cats - just say, "Alexa, relax the cat."

Make phone calls

You don't even need to pick up the phone. Just say, "Alexa, call [name one of your contacts]." This is a great feature if your hands are busy or you are preparing dinner and need to call.

Check your email

Yes, Alexa can check your email and even help you reply to messages. Say, “Alexa, check my email,” and she will find emails you received in the last 24 hours. Once you open them, you can ask her to respond, delete, archive, or perform any other task related to that email. If you're looking for a specific email from someone, you can say, "Alexa, [person's name] sent me an email?" This is a great skill if you need to multitask but have no hands to answer emails.

Plan your vacation

For this skill, you will need a little help from the KAYAK travel site. First you need to create an account and then enable KAYAK on your device. Then say, "Alexa, ask KAYAK [travel question]." She will be able to find you special deals on flights, book hotels and provide information on car rental. To begin exploring this feature, ask Alexa the following questions:

• "Alexa, ask KAYAK where I can go for $ 700."
• "Alexa, ask KAYAK to track JetBlue 5983."
• "Alexa, ask KAYAK how much it costs to rent a car in Boston."

Order a car

Link your Alexa to your Uber or Lyft account and then just say, "Alexa, ask Uber / Lyft to ride." You don't even need to lift your finger. And this is especially useful if you are running late and do not have time to manually enter your destination.

Rent a cars

Connect CarRentals and just say “Alexa, open CarRentals” and order your car rental immediately. Tell Alexa when and where to pick up your car and she will list which cars are available and at what price. Then ask her to book a car and you're done.

Tell a bedtime story

One of the best ways to end the day is to watch your child fall asleep while you tell him a bedtime story. But sometimes there are a million other chores around the house and you just don't have time. Do not worry; Alexa can do it for you. Turn on the Bedtime Story feature on your device and ask, "Alexa, tell (child's name) a bedtime story."

Play Jeopardy!

Learn new facts every day by playing Jeopardy! with Alexa. Just say, "Alexa, play Jeopardy!" and she will start asking you questions. Questions about sports, pop culture, travel and world history await you. If you are an Amazon Prime member, you get a free Double Jeopardy subscription! which gives you six additional tips every week.

Find out what happened on this day in history

Say, “Alexa, launch This Day in History” for a rundown of what historical event happened on a particular day, regardless of date. For example, you can say, “Alexa, ask on This Day in History what happened on July 15th,” and you get an answer.

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Control your home

To take advantage of this handy feature, you need to purchase smart home devices such as Nest thermostats, Philips Hue bulbs and August locks. With a simple setup, Alexa can help you manage your home. When you get home from work, say, "Alexa, turn on the lights." Or, if you wake up too hot in the middle of the night, you can say, "Alexa, set the thermostat to 65 degrees."

Play music

Alexa can play any music you like. If you have Amazon Prime, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Pandora, or SiriusXM, you can ask your device to play any song, artist, or genre you want. Just say, "Alexa, play Somewhere Over the Rainbow on Spotify." If you want your favorite music to wake you up, you can say, "Alexa, wake me up with a John Mayer song at 07:00."

Get a quick workout

Say "Alexa, open Five Minute Workout" and she will offer you a quick basic and cardio workout. You will be surprised what such a quick workout can do for your body.

send money

If you use PayPal, Alexa can help you send and request money. Link your PayPal account, open PayPal and say “Alexa, let's go (person's name) $ 10”. You can also say “Alexa, tell me my PayPal balance” to see how much is in your account. This comes in handy when you're stuck and need to send money quickly, but don't have the time or opportunity to log into PayPal on your computer or phone.

Add / remove to-do list

You can create lists in your Amazon Alexa app on your smartphone and then ask her to add or remove items from them when they are complete. Ask, "Alexa, add apples and almonds to my shopping list." Alexa can also set reminders for you. Say, "Alexa remind me to pay my rent at 15:00 pm today." And when you're done, say, "Alexa, remove pay to rent from my to-do list."

Ask Gordon Ramsay to criticize your cooking

This is for everyone who needs to laugh in the kitchen. In fact, you can tell Alexa to ask Gordon Ramsay about the dish you cooked, and his voice matches the strong opinion. Just say, “Alexa, ask Gordon Ramsay about the lasagna I made” or “Alexa, ask Gordon Ramsay to try my omelet,” and listen to the legendary chef tell you the harsh truth.