Music Groups and Alexa Routines Test Drive

10/31/17 • 9 min

Alexa Cast | An Unofficial Journey of an Amazon Echo User

How to Make Music Groups Work I was having an issue after creating a music group (Go to Smart Home in the Alexa App > Groups > Add Group I talked about this in a previous episode that you can use Spotify with this feature, but you can use the following: Amazon Music Unlimited (Individual plan or Family plan) Prime Music Amazon Music Some third-party music providers I found out one of the third party features is iHeart Radio and Pandora Once enabled, say, "Play [music selection] on [group name]," to play your music on the selected devices. Amazon has a TON of built-in playlists for those on Amazon Prime. I might start checking these out. The bad news is Alexa won't play one of your custom playlists. Using Alexa Routines I was excited when I heard about Alex routines. This is where you could say one command and Alexa would do multiple items. For example, I have one called "Start My Day" it turns on my bedroom light, give's me the weather, and plays my news brief. This is good, but that's just about everything Alexa will do. She can control smart home devices, tell you about traffic, weather, and the news. I was really hoping she could tell me my calendar and then start a random song from a playlist. You can have routines set up to be voice activated or be activated by a timed event. For example, you could have it kick off weekdays a 7:30 am. Alexa Has a Spooky Song As Halloween is tomorrow, ask Alexa to sing a spooky song.

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Previous Episode

Amazon Alexa Now Has Custom Lists and Recognizes Different Voices

One of the great things about the Amazon Echo is it is constantly getting smarter. Today we talk about two new features being added to the Amazon Alexa platform. Amazon Echo Custom Lists Comes to Alexa Alexa comes built in with a shopping list and a todo list. Now you can create your own lists. For example, you can create a list for a certain store (i.e. Walmart). You could have a certain project (packing for vacation). To use the new feature, you’ll say, “Alexa, create a list.” And Alexa will then prompt you to the name the list. The list, once created, is saved in the Alexa companion mobile app for easy access. Alexa Now Recognizes Different Voices Amazon will is rolling out customized voice detection. That means users in multi-person homes will be able to get individualized experiences, based on voice recognition. So each user gets their personalized shopping list, music selections and the like. At launch, the feature is compatible with Flash Briefings, shopping, Amazon Music’s family plan and Alexa to Alexa calling, adding the name of the specific user to incoming calls. Using the mobile app, users select “Your Voice” in settings and then walk through a series of demo commands to familiarize the software with your voice. Full instructions can be found on Amazon’s help page. Support the show by clicking this affiliate to shop at Amazon http://amzn.to/2zmkGbv

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Next Episode

Best Buy Deals of the Day on Alexa

What's Up Alexa? Today we learn a way go get a quick update (alexa, What's up) How to get a 7-day forecast (Alexa what's the 7-day forecast?) Best Buy Deals Use the Best Buy skill to: - Hear and purchase deals from Best Buy's Deal of the Day - Research products and get recommendations - Learn about our return policy Alexa asked me if I wanted to buy each deal. On days where there are a lot of deals, this could be very annoying. More information A Love Song Alexa, sing me a love song." Support the show at www.alexacast.com

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