10 things you didn’t know you could ask Alexa

It’s one of the simpler things you didn’t know you could ask Alexa, but you can ask Alexa to wake you up with an artist or song at a set time. 

Alternatively, choose your favourite radio station or playlist from your Amazon Music app to help you get up in the morning. 

We asked Alexa to wake us up with some Kylie Minogue at 6.30am, and after a little beep, her latest song played, which certainly made for a more pleasant awakening than the usual alarm.  

If you’re facing conversation stalemate at home, get Alexa to suggest a new topic to chat about by simply asking it to change the subject.  

We asked Alexa this question a variety of times and got a real mixture of topics, from “Is ‘Die Hard’ a Christmas movie?” to “What’s been the highlight of your year, and why?” They certainly got the conversation flowing – and may or may not have created a household divide over “Die Hard”. 

If you have more than one Echo device, you can play music in multiple rooms at the same time. Before you can ask Alexa to play music across your home, you’ll need to create speaker groups in the app.  

You can also ask Alexa for help with this by saying: “Alexa, how do I play music in multiple rooms?” 

Otherwise, go into your app and… 

1. Choose “Devices” at the bottom of the app 
2. Click on the plus sign at the top right-hand corner
3. Select “Combine speakers” 
4. Choose “Multi-room music” 
5. Select the speakers you want to combine  
6. Choose a name. You can either go for a pre-set name such as “Upstairs” or choose something more personalised. This is where you will ask Alexa to play your music; for example, “Alexa, play music upstairs”, so make sure it’s something you can remember easily.  

Once you’ve sorted out your groups, it’s simply a case of saying something like “Alexa, play the latest hits upstairs” to get that particular group of speakers playing the same thing at the same time. 

We all know the benefits of exercise, but sometimes life can be too busy to fit it in. Cue Alexa and the seven-minute workout. While Alexa can never beat a real-life personal trainer, if you’re looking for a little daily exercise routine, this command is a pretty good substitute.  

On first asking Alexa to start the workout, you’ll be asked some set-up questions, including the level of workout and the type of music you’d like to hear while exercising. Alexa will then instruct you to do an exercise, such as abdominal crunches, for a minute, counting down until your time is up. 

If you don’t know how to do the exercise, you can ask for help and Alexa will explain the move. It’s probably better if you have a basic understanding of core moves, such as push-ups, before you start.  

If you need a breather, when Alexa asks you to start another exercise just say you’re not ready. Alexa will then ask you again in ten seconds. You also get a little Alexa pep talk. All-in-all it’s a fun and easy way to add exercise into your daily routine. 

Are you at a loss for what to wear? Alexa can help you decide. For this one, you’ll have to enable the Wear Assistant skill on your app.  

1. In the Alexa app, go to “More” at the bottom right-hand of the screen
2. Click on “Skills & Games”
3. Search for “Wear Assistant” in the grey search box at the top 
4. Click on the top result and then choose “Launch” 
5. You can then choose which device to use it on
6. Once chosen, click “Launch” again

On that chosen device, Alexa will immediately tell you some clothing recommendations based on the forecasted weather at your location. 

In future, you can ask Alexa directly – just remember to include “ask Wear Assistant” in your command. While she can recommend you wear shorts rather than trousers to fit in with the forecasted weather, sadly she can’t tell you what colours go well or what style will suit you best. 

Ever had one of those moments when you just can’t remember where you left your phone? Alexa can help with that.  

Just ask Alexa to find your phone and it will call you. If it’s on silent, this might not help much, but Alexa is an AI assistant not a magician. 

To make sure this command works properly, double-check you have the correct mobile number associated with your account. It’s easy to change if not. In the Alexa app, click the “More” button and choose “Settings”. From there, you can change your number.   

One of the things you didn’t know you could ask Alexa is receiving your own personal news briefing. With the BBC News skill, you can stay up to date with everything that’s happening without spending hours reading a newspaper or watching the news.   

Make sure you enable the skill first in the app and then just ask Alexa to either “Play my flash briefing” or “What’s my flash briefing?”. You’ll then have the latest news bulletin read to you by a BBC newsreader. You’ll also hear the latest weather direct from Alexa. 

Not keen on BBC News? You can also enable this skill from BBC Sports News, or from other broadcasters such as Sky News and RTE News.  

Struggling to find some dinner inspiration? Turn to Alexa. Thanks to teaming up with BBC Good Food, Alexa has countless recipes to brighten up teatime.  

Once you’ve asked for an easy recipe, Alexa will ask you for either a type of dish or some ingredients that you want to use. Once you’ve chosen your recipe, you can either begin, with Alexa narrating the ingredients and method, or get it sent to your phone. There are also options to add it to a list or hear another recipe. 

You can also be quite specific, for example, asking Alexa “How do you make chocolate chip cookies?” 

If you aren’t planning to cook right away, you can also add any ingredients to a shopping list by saying, “Alexa, add eggs to my shopping list”. You can find the list in your app and if you want to check what’s on it at any time, just say: “Alexa, what’s on my shopping list?” 

Alexa can be a wonderful companion when it comes to relaxation, offering a range of features to help you unwind, from soothing sounds to guided meditation. 

If you need assistance going to sleep, you can literally ask Alexa to help. You’ll be offered a variety of sleep sounds to choose from, the full list of which is helpfully sent to the app. Just choose one, close your eyes and let the soothing sound aid your slumber. 

Aside from sleep, Alexa can also offer a guided meditation. We tried Minute Meditation. Just say “Alexa, minute meditation” and after an introductory “Namaste” from Alexa, the guided 60-second meditation then follows. Now if only there was a way for Alexa to also give you a massage… 

Who would have thought that Alexa would make the perfect sommelier? Alexa will help you choose the best wine to pair with whatever you’re eating when you use the Virgin Wines Advisor. 

We asked Alexa to recommend a wine to drink with chicken. The suggestion of an Aussie Chardonnay was followed up with a specific recommendation from Virgin Wines, with further information about the wine sent to the Alexa app. On the app, you can find this in the “Activity” section under “More”. 

If our round-up of things you didn’t know you could ask Alexa has whet your appetite to try them out, but you haven’t got a device yet, Amazon has a range of smart speakers (Echo devices) and smart displays (Echo Show devices) which you can easily add to your home.