Alexa getting started guide: what it is, how it works and what you can do with it

If you have been given a device based on the Alexa assistant, such as an Amazon Echo speaker, a headset or a TV among others, we bring you a small startup guide so you can understand what it is and what you can do with it. We are going to try to explain things in a summarized way so that you don’t spend too much time on these guides, and you can focus on enjoying your device.

We are going to start the article trying to explain you in a brief and simple way what exactly this Amazon program is. Then, we will finish by explaining you in a summarized way some of the main functions of this assistant, so you can start asking it questions. Although it is always best to spend some time looking for new commands and functions, you may be surprised.

What is Amazon Alexa

Alexa is a virtual assistant created by Amazon. This assistant works mainly by voice, so you can ask her questions and the assistant will give you back the answers to what you have asked her. If you want to know the weather information of the city, you can ask it what the weather is doing there and it will answer you.

The assistant also has another function, and that is to allow you to control accessories and other devices using voice commands. For that, Amazon has been forging together with other manufacturers a wide repertoire of Alexa-compatible devices, ranging from smart speakers to televisions, through light bulbs and other types of accessories.

Therefore, it is a very versatile assistant that you are going to find in various types of device, allowing you to control one with another. In addition, in all devices it will be used with the same voice commands, although some may have a screen and offer the extra of displaying images in addition to spoken responses.

How Alexa works

Amazon’s assistant, like other voice assistants, works based on voice commands. You have to say a specific command to ask her a question, although some requests for information may have more than one command, as it is sought that the commands are natural, and we do not always ask a question in a single way.

But the important thing is that we have to use concrete formulas, and depending on how refined we want the result we will have to be more specific. For example, we can ask it what the weather is going to be so that it will tell you the weather for the location it detects as yours, but we can also ask it what the weather is going to be on a certain day and in a certain city.

To these commands you always have to add another activation command. On some devices like smart speakers, the speaker will always be listening, but it will only activate the assistant if you initiate the question with the Alexa command. However, it also gives you the opportunity to rename it in case you prefer to use another name.

This assistant centralizes your information through a personal account, so you have to link your Amazon account. In addition, depending on the device on which you use it, it may need other permissions such as access to your location or your microphone to listen to you. But the point is that thanks to using the same account on all devices, Alexa will know it’s you and will offer you the same information on all of them.

Unlike Google’s assistant, Alexa does not centralize its searches through a specific search engine, and does not use it as a resource. That means that if it doesn’t find the information you’ve asked for it will tell you that it doesn’t know, although it will always try to give you some information about anything you ask it for, even the results of the last match of your 2ªB team.

Setting up Alexa is quite simple. Although everything is centralized in your Amazon account, you will first need to download the Alexa app on your mobile, which is available on Google Play for Android, and on the App Store for iOS. In this app you will be able to configure the connected devices you buy that are compatible with Alexa.

What you can do with Alexa

Alexa is going to let you do a lot of things, and one of the first things you’re going to play with is its queries. You can ask her almost anything, and the assistant will look up an answer for you. In ToastyBits Basics we have compiled 137 commands for Alexa, with which you will be able to get an idea of all the queries you can make.

You can ask about the weather, sports scores, the time in your city or anywhere else in the world. You can also ask who is this or another person, the meaning of words or specific data of what you want. Like how old Jordi Hurtado is. You can even ask how far away is the moon or any city, the height of mountains, the inhabitants of countries or cities, or to make currency or unit conversions.

The assistant will allow you to manage alarms and reminders. You only have to tell it to set an alarm specifying the time, the day or even its name, or you can also tell it to set a reminder to schedule alerts. Then, you can ask it which alarms and reminders you have and manage them, deleting the ones you want or postponing them.

You can also set timers, telling it for example to set a 10-minute timer for pizza, or add events to your calendar. And speaking of calendar, you will also be able to synchronize your different calendars, such as Microsoft or Google, so that all the information is there.

The good thing about this is that the alerts are centralized in your account, which means that they will sound on the Alexa-connected devices that you have closest to you. So, if you have an Amazon Echo speaker in your bedroom and another one in your office, you can set the alarm clock in the office and have it ring in the bedroom.

Alexa is able to manage lists, so you can tell her to add things to your to-do list, shopping list, or any other list you want to create. Then, you’ll just have to ask her what you have on the particular list you want to check, and she’ll tell you all the products, and you can remove the one you already have or add others.

And if you are an active Amazon user, Alexa will also help you with your Amazon shopping. For starters, you can tell her to buy a certain product and she will do it automatically. In addition, when that product or others that you have purchased from the web or from the mobile are coming to you, Alexa will send you notifications telling you that today you will receive this or that purchase.

The assistant can also help you make calls. It has an internal address book with other contacts in your address book who have an Amazon Echo device, and you can ask it to call that contact to make the call through the speaker. If you have multiple devices connected in the Alexa app, you can send content from one device to another through the assistant, or talk to it from one device to another.

In case you have a device connected to Alexa with a display such as an Echo Show, all the answers you get from Alexa will be accompanied by images or videos, and you can ask it to play videos from YouTube or other sites. You’ll also be able to use it as a digital picture frame, viewing all or a selection of the photos you have in your Amazon Photos account.

And if you can watch or listen to YouTube videos, you can also listen to streaming music on Alexa. You can use Amazon Music, or link Spotify to listen to it from there. Then, you’ll just have to ask her to play you a certain band, album, playlist or song. You will also have controls to listen to the next song, the previous song, or pause playback. It also serves to listen to audiobooks or podcasts.

You will also be able to ask Alexa to tell you a number from 1 to 100, flip a coin or roll a dice. You will be able to ask her to tell you jokes, to sing to you, riddles and other types of games. And even more complicated things, since the Alexa team is still working on functions such as detecting when your washing machine has finished being able to hear its warning beeps. The possibilities are as endless as its hundreds of commands.

Alexa will also allow you to set up routines, which are like programmed actions. You will do this from the app, and you will configure your own voice command and all the things you want Alexa to do when you say that command. This way, you’ll be able to create slightly more complex and customized actions.

And if all this is not enough for you, Alexa allows you to install skills, which are like third-party applications with which the assistant gains new voice commands and new functions. You have all kinds of skills, from information services that add new news sources to recipes, or even games like trivia or Akinator. There’s even a way to ask Alexa the price of electricity.