How to set up and use Alexa Routines for a smarter home

Alexa Routines give you unique, built-in command controls for your smart home… in other words, the kind of features you really want from your smart home.

Instead of simply turning devices on and off, which has long been a Groups feature within the Alexa app, Routines are more about how those devices act on your commands.

That means dimming some lights, changing the color of others, or maybe turning on the heat at a certain temperature based on a message.

In fact, it doesn’t even need to be a warning. Routines can be started using a variety of methods including motion sensors, time of day, temperature, humidity, and more.

Here’s everything you need to know about Alexa Routines, including how to set them up and what you can do.

What is an Alexa routine?

Routines in Alexa are a series of automated events that occur based on a single command. That could be all your lights turning off, your electric blanket turning on (thanks to a smart plug), and your upstairs TV turning on for some pre-bedtime watching when you say “Alexa, time for bed,” for example.

Amazon also offers music, podcasts, and radio in the Routines mix, so your scenarios are really only limited by your imagination. In recent years it has also become easier to create routines. You can simply type into a routine the voice command that you would use for something that could not otherwise be selected as a routine step.

The obvious ideas for Routines are “movie time” and “bedtime”, the latter of which could have genuine benefits for a good night’s sleep. Setting the lighting and temperature at bedtime can help you get more restful sleep, for example, making Alexa Routines not only fun, but also great for your health.

But there is room for much more fun and freedom, as users can perform actions and reactions from a wide range of smart home devices, smart sensors and digital services.

Essential reading: Complete guide to Amazon Alexa

How to set up Alexa routines and start a routine

Fortunately, it’s easy to set up and start an Alexa routine. Really, the biggest hurdle is figuring out what devices you have in your home and what might be useful within a routine, as well as what you should actually do with your devices and when.

Once you’ve figured it out, follow the instructions below and enjoy having a smart home that’s really smart.

what you will need

• The Alexa app
• Your smartphone or tablet
• Alexa Compatible Devices

The short version

• Open the alexa app.
• Touch ‘Further‘.
• Touch ‘Routines‘.
• Press ‘+’ at the top right.
• Select ‘Add an event‘ low ‘When’.
• Select ‘Add an action’ low ‘Alexa’.
• Select ‘Rename’ and name your routine.

What does an Alexa routine entail and how to set one up?

When you get to the Routines portion of the Alexa app, a list of your current Routines will appear. Amazon will also recommend a couple in the Featured tab to get you started and there’s also an Activity tab for Routines that have happened in your home.

There are two main elements to Alexa Routines: When (which is an event you select) and Alexa Will (which is the action that happens). You can read more details about the different children’s events that you can add below, as well as the different types of actions.

Alexa Routines: Smart Home Events

There are also several events you can choose from when you select “When,” including Voice, Scheduling, Smart Home, Sound Detection, Alarms, and Echo Buttons.

If you chooseVoice It means that a routine will be started based on an Alexa voice command. You just have to type it manually. Whatever you want to say, keep it natural and clear.

smart homeGoogle-based routines use smart sensors and device status to trigger an action. For example, if a temperature is above or below a certain point, you can activate certain things, like a smart plug connected to your fan when it gets too hot. Or, a smart lock left open late at night can cause smart lights to flicker.

sound detection Routines use various sounds to trigger an action, with options including a dog barking, snoring, a beeping device, coughing, water sounds, and a baby crying. They mean you can create a routine so that an Alexa smart speaker starts playing soothing music if your dog starts barking, for example.

Echo buttons activate routines when, well, you press an Echo button; You can also use the Flic 2 smart start buttons to activate a routine. And there is no need to explain schedules, right?

Alexa Routines: Smart Home Actions

Once you’ve selected how to activate your Routine, you’ll build it out and that’s where the actions come in. The actions you add to your Routine are the smart home items and devices that will be controlled when you say your chosen command. . Again, there is a long list of actions you can choose from here.

We’ve quickly looked at some of the possibilities below, but it’s worth noting that you don’t have to create them from scratch. If you have specific groups or scenes set up in the Alexa app, you can access them to run them.

“Alexa, time to sleep” For example, you could turn off the existing group of lights downstairs and then turn on the lights in your bedroom, but at 50% brightness. If you want to develop this on a device-by-device basis, here is an example of what you can do.

Lights

Smart lights can be added to your routine, and it’s not just about on/off control. You can set the brightness, hue, hue and color of compatible smart bulbs.

Thermostats and smart heating

You can control the heating zones within your home, either with an on/off setting, which will refer to the default temperature in the Smart Home list, or by selecting custom temperatures for the Routine, if your smart heating brand supports it. .

smart plugs

You can choose to turn smart plugs on or off from your routine, which is useful for things like lamps (without smart bulbs), games consoles, kettles and more.

Speakers/music

Now you can add music, podcasts and radio to a routine. That’s a big part of creating improved wake-up and bedtime recipes.

robotic vacuum cleaners

A great nighttime routine could have your robot cleaner doing its job while you sleep.

Air-conditioning

Another great idea is to use a smart humidity sensor that activates the power of a connected smart air purifier or dehumidifier.

Delay steps with the ‘Wait’ option

You can also add a ‘sleep option’, which allows you to add a block of time between steps, so you can have the alarm wake you up at 7am, for example, with your favorite radio station, but then delay the turning on the lights. and the kettle on, until 7.15.

Add complex/unnumbered instructions

Sometimes (often when device manufacturers haven’t sorted device status based on their connected technology), their smart home devices don’t work natively with Alexa. Or you want to do something that isn’t listed in your device’s native options.

The good news here is that there is a Personalized option where you use Alexa’s typing feature to literally spell out what you want the digital assistant to do.

For example, you could have a step in a routine that has a specific instruction for a connected device, such as “Alexa, ask Abode to activate the alarm.”

The big caveat here is that these complex instructions have to be the last action of a routine.

Other Alexa Action Types

In addition to activating smart home devices, you can also add features to Alexa routines, such as those listed below:

News – You can have Alexa read you your quick summary, which is made up of news skills. It’s like receiving a personalized newsletter according to your tastes.

Climate – Have Alexa read the weather to you, probably best as part of a wake-up routine. Remember, these can be programmed to go off with the alarm, and if you connect your coffee machine to a smart plug, you’ll be a winner.

Calendar – Alexa will check your calendar, either today or tomorrow. You can also set it to tell you the next event in your record.

Messaging – No, Alexa will not send text messages for you. Instead, you can have Alexa send you a notification through the Alexa app or an announcement through Echo devices.

Traffic – Get a traffic report for your daily commute. Again, best as part of a morning routine.

Music – Alexa will play a song of your choice, which is great when you need a certain song to get you in the mood for something. For example, one could say “Alexa, cheer me up” and have that link to Eye of the tiger. You will be able to choose the song to play from various music services, such as Pandora, TuneIn, iHeartRadio and Amazon Music.

alexa says – This is a little strange, but you can have Alexa say a phrase as part of a routine. Options include saying “good night” or “good morning,” eight different happy birthday messages, and a ton of compliments, which are downright bizarre.

Share your Alexa routines with URL

It is also possible to share your Alexa routines; allowing you to create URLs for your custom routines and then share them with your contacts.

For example, let’s say you have a morning routine in which you “Alexa, I’m awake” Voice command opens your smart blinds, turns on a couple of lights, starts your favorite morning playlists, and disarms your smart security system. You can just go into the Alexa app and get a shareable URL for that routine, saving your friends and family having to start building it from scratch.

To get the shareable URL, go to Routines In the Alexa app, tap the desired Routine, and then tap the three dots in the top right corner.

Tap Share and simply select whether you want to share via text, email, or social media.

When they receive the URL, they will be guided through some on-screen instructions in the Alexa app and will see some fields in yellow text, where they will have to select which device they want a Routine step to be performed on.

You might have, for example, a Lifx light on your bedside lamp and an Abode security system, while your contact uses Innr smart lights and a SimpliSafe system.