7 Cool Amazon Echo Tricks You Should Try With Alexa

Amazon Echo is a great device, there is no doubt about that. While the plethora ofAlexa commands, and its compatibility with a variety of smart devices makes it even better, there are certain hidden features, and tricks in the Alexa powered smart speaker that you might not be aware of. So,here are 7 Amazon Echo tricks that you should definitely try on your Amazon Echo, Tap, or Echo Dot device:

1. Use Echo Outside US

As great asAmazon Echois, it’s a shame that it is not available anywhere other than the US and UK (at least, as of now…). However, if you just can’t wait for Amazon to release the Alexa powered smart speaker in your country, you canchange the location to your city and country, as well. It requires some amount of tinkering with the API, but it’s not too much work. If you want to change the location on your Echo device, you can read ourdetailed articleabout it.

2. Sort Skills By Release Date

If you head on over to the Skills section in the Alexa app, you will notice that there is no way to sort the (almost 3000) skills. However, if you want to sort the Skills by, say, their release date, you can easily do that using a simple work-around.

3. View Command History

Let me just say that I am absolutely awed by Alexa’s recognition accuracy on the Amazon Echo. It’s incredibly accurate, and hears my commands correctly (almost) all the time. However, as it is with every piece of technology, there are issues, and sometimes the Echo doesn’t quite respond the way one would expect it to. In such cases, there is an easy way to see exactly what Alexa heard when you issued the command.

4. Force Software Updates

The Amazon Echo automatically updates whenever it gets the time to do it, however, if you don’t always keep it connected to the internet, or use it so often that it doesn’t get enough time to update, chances are that it’s still running an older software.

5. Configure Flash Briefing Content

Alexa makes sure you are updated on the weather, and the latest news every day, by means of a Flash Briefing that you can trigger by saying a command like “Alexa, what’s up?“. However, if the content that the Amazon Echo tells you about in its Flash Briefing is not important (or useful) enough for you, there is an easy way to configure it.

6. Short Commands

While it might feel more natural to say things like “Alexa, add take the garbage out to my to-do list“, or “Alexa, what’s the weather like?“, there are situations when you don’t have the time to say the entire sentence, and you just want to schedule things, or get information in a hurry. Fortunately, Amazon Echo can understand short commands as well. So, the next time you want to add “take the garbage out” to your to-do list, simply say “Alexa, take the garbage out“, and Alexa will add it to your to-do list. Similarly, for weather updates, you can simply say “Alexa, weather“, and Echo understands that you are actually asking it for an update on the weather.

These short commands come in extremely handy when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, and you just want Alexa to get the job done, without having to speak out the entire command.

7. Teach Alexa New Responses

If you have been using Amazon Echo, chances are you’ve wanted to get Alexa to respond to custom commands as well. Fortunately, you can! Using a Skill called“EveryoneAround“,  you can create custom commands for Alexa, and get it to respond to them, the way you want.

Note:The actual name of the Skill is “Teach Alexa new responses – Prank your friends”, but I have used its “invocation phrase” for clarity.

There are a lot of other useful, and funSkills for Amazon Echo, and you should definitely check them out.

SEE ALSO:Amazon Echo vs Tap vs Echo Dot: Which One Is For You?

Use These Tricks to Get the Most out of Alexa

Well, those were the 7 Amazon Echo tricks that we really liked. You should definitely try them out with your Amazon Echo, Tap, or Echo Dot devices. As always, we would like to know your opinion about these tricks, and your experience with the Amazon Echo, as a whole. Also, if you know of a great Alexa trick that we didn’t include in this article, do let us know about it in the comments section below.

Akshay Gangwar

Greetings, tech titans and fellow literary time-travelers! I’m Akshay, your tech-whisperer and Harry Potter’s number one stalker – seriously, don’t ask me how many times I’ve read those books; it’s borderline unhealthy.

Working in the tech journalism industry since 2016, I have 7 years of experience covering everything from technology news, to well-researched resource articles. Now the Content Strategist at Beebom, I often pen down op-eds for our website, sharing expert commentary on the latest in technology, AI, and electric cars.

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