Remember, the point of a routine is to set it and forget it — so you use routines for things that repeat, not for one-time tasks. and get your weather, news, traffic and calendar update for the day. This won’t interfere with your alarm — it will still go off, even if it’s set for a time when Do Not Disturb is still on (before 6:30am in this example). H. You could set the routine to run only on Saturdays and Sundays between 4pm and 8pm, for example. Tap the menu icon in the top left corner of the screen. C. Make sure your routine’s “Wait” actions are in the correct order. Alexa, Open Meditation Timer: Assists in your meditation routine by playing relaxing sounds for the desired duration, and ringing a bell when your time is up. Then tap the “Save” button. I used to have multiple routines to turn the lights on, play music and report weather as part of my wake-up, but now I can do it with one routine that kicks off at 6:30am using Wait. Schedule is great for a wake-up routine that turns on your lights. This is what will trigger the routine. Follow the on-screen instructions to set it (for example, you could set the routine to kick off at 6pm, when you say “Alexa, I’m home” or when you leave the office). D (option i). G. Tap “Change” to the right of “Anytime” if you want to specify the days of the week and time window for when the routine is active. Select Add action, and follow the steps in the app to choose the action of your routine. For example, you can already create a routine which has Alexa start playing music at a certain time each day, or reads out the news headlines and weather forecast, then switches on a light or smart plug when you say "Alexa, good morning". When adding music to an Alexa Routine, in addition to specifying what music should be played and from which music service, there is now a third optional option to set a sleep timer. Beyond lights, there are so many other awesome Alexa smart home devices to check out. With this awesome new feature, you can now open an Alexa skill via an Alexa routine! Alexa routines can be funny too! The new feature is called Wait, and it lets you add a timed delay to either an entire Alexa Routine or … If you selected a smart light (or another adjustable smart device like a thermostat) in step C, you can adjust multiple settings. The action could be the lights coming on, Alexa reporting weather or lots of other things. Be sure to link your calendar to Alexa so she can access it. When do not disturb is on, messages, alerts, calls and drop-in are temporarily stopped. If you don’t know how to do an exercise, it can talk you through it, or you can look at the Alexa app for tips. The routine shows you the different actions that occur when you say "Alexa, start my day." But routines based on your location or with lots of actions take a few extra steps and may take a just a little longer, 1. That wouldn't be good for anybody. If you select “At Time” you’ll then be promoted to select the time and repeat frequency. All I want it to do is turn off the TV via Harmony Hub, and turn off all Hue lights in the house except one lamp in the bedroom which I keep at 1% as a nightlight. It’s definitely not a bad idea to set your Echo devices to do not disturb while you’re sleeping. “Next” will take you back to the New Routine tab where you’ll select which of your Echo devices you want to tell you the weather (under “From” at the bottom) and then tap “Save” to create your new Alexa routine (note that “Save” will [be grayed out until you select a device). Check out VoiceBrew’s guide to Alexa speakers! Just follow the steps below to get started with this awesome new feature. RELATED: How to Set Up Alexa Routines to Control Multiple Smarthome Devices at Once. Pro Tip: Performing specific skill actions within a routine (other than opening the skill) is not yet supported. These routines take place when you give Alexa a specific command. This will take you back to the New Routine tab where you can add an action. You can add multiple actions to a single routine. Say: "Alexa, set an egg timer for 3 minutes" if you're boiling an egg or "Alexa, set a laundry timer for 30 minutes." D (option ii). “Next” will take you back to the New Routine tab where you’ll select which of your Echo devices you want to hear what Alexa says (under “From” at the bottom) and then tap “Save” to create your new Alexa routine (note that “Save” will be grayed out until you select a device). You can even open up your favorite Alexa game if that kind of thing helps get you up and going (my husband did a movie quiz the other day to help him wake up and really enjoyed it! If you want to add actions to / update a routine, make your edits and then tap the “<” in the upper left corner to save them, 3. Use Timers with Alexa. Maybe that’s when you’re about to arrive home and want all the lights on when you enter. B. It’s super helpful that Alexa lets you customize the repeat settings to weekdays, weekends or even a specific day of the week. If you do this, you’ll need a separate routine that runs around your morning wake-up time to set the volume back up again (otherwise volume will be weirdly low all the time). And Alexa wishes me a good night every evening. I selected “Leaves” in the below example. To choose the device, tap “Choose Device” then tap the device name from the list. The beauty of Alexa routines is that you set up an Alexa routine once and then it runs every time you need it to. They set the thermostat to my preferred temperature when I’m almost home. A look at my “alarm routine” is below. Ask Alexa the status of your timers. B. To make it happen, open up the Alexa app and either create a new routine or edit an existing one. Wouldn't it be nice to arrive home to a well-lit house, rather … Hopefully, that will come soon! This will take you back to the New Routine tab where you can add an action. Try saying something like, "Alexa, set a sleep timer for one hour." When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. My Pregnancy provides detailed medical information along the way as you move toward your due date. You will tell Alexa what time the routine … You can pick a specific time (like 4pm) by tapping “At Time” or sunrise / sunset (a very helpful new feature!). When you go to add an action, you can select “Wait” from the options. Awaken as the lights gradually come on and the room warms up, let Alexa brew your morning coffee (all you need is an Alexa smart plug!) You’ll see one of the two screens below depending on whether you went with option 1 or option 2 in the previous step. Pro Tip #2: If you want to easily summon multiple playlists, create a few routines with different Alexa command triggers. Jimmy Fallon is currently telling the jokes (if you let him), so that’s a good option too! Or maybe it’s when you’re ready to tuck in with an “Alexa, good night” and want all the lights to turn back off. After that, arrange the Wait action in the order you want it in. The last item in my Goodnight routine is a white noise skill. If you haven’t already, link your preferred music service account to Alexa (Spotify, Apple Music, SiriusXM, Pandora, etc.). ), setting a bedtime routine with Alexa, or even using fun, advanced integrations with IFTTT. Then tap “Delete Routine”, 4. Alexa Routines are a great way to automate all sorts of actions around the house at once, but thanks to a heavily-requested new feature, you can now add a delay to certain actions in those Routines. Tap “Save” to create your new routine! I set up a routine so that when I say “Alexa, good night” she turns off the lights, turns on do not disturb and says “Good night, Katherine.”, B. You can select multiple actions for the same routine… Now, also inside the Alexa app, go to the Routines menu and add a new routine. All Rights Reserved. VoiceBrew can help you discover even more ideas for how to make the most of your new Alexa device, from learning how to set it up for the first time, to setting helpful alarms, enabling skills (flash briefings, anyone?! Then tap the Add Action + icon and select Wait A. Scroll down to tap “Wait” at the bottom, B. A lot of people have trouble playing their Spotify playlists on Alexa or a Pandora station on Alexa (or playlists from Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc.) "Set a sleep timer." You could use Wait to make Alexa play your music and then wait 5 minutes to turn the lights on. I named this one Metropolitan Museum. This will take you back to the New Routine tab where you can tap “Save” to create your new routine! To edit a routine, go to your Alexa App and click on Your Routines, select the routine you wish to edit. C. Toggle “Enabled” on, make sure “On” is set to “All Devices” and then set “Until” (the time when you want Do Not Disturb to turn off) or select a “Duration”. If you want to be fancy, set up different routines for different days of the week so the routines look less automated to onlookers. C. Tap the skill you’d like to add to the Alexa routine. You might find that the routine triggers before you actually walk through the door since location-based routines usually register you arriving or leaving a location plus or minus a few hundred feet. Open More and select Routines. Delete, edit or add more actions to an Alexa routine, Schedule an Alexa routine for a specific time, Use an Alexa voice command to kick off an Alexa routine, Kick off a routine when you arrive at or leave a location, Kick off a routine when you dismiss your morning Alexa alarm, A routine that lets loved ones know you arrived safely at work, Make an announcement across your Echo speakers, link your preferred music service account to Alexa, select which of your Echo devices you want to play the music, select which of your Echo devices you want to adjust volume for, select which of your Echo devices you want to play your flash briefing news, select which of your Echo devices you want to tell you the traffic, location associated with your Echo device, select which of your Echo devices you want to tell you the weather, select which of your Echo devices you want to hear what Alexa says, select which of your Echo devices you want to hear calendar information on, To disable the routine, toggle “Enabled” off (it will then show up as “Disabled”), To remove an action, long tap on the “-” next to the action (the action will disappear), Set the color temperature by tapping “Color”. Tap “Next” again to back to the New Routine tab where you’ll select which of your Echo devices you want to adjust volume for (under “From” at the bottom) and then tap “Save” to create your new Alexa routine (note that “Save” will be grayed out until you select a device). You can select “Custom” if you have something original in mind. You can also change, add or delete actions associated with the wake phrase. Join 350,000 subscribers and get a daily digest of news, geek trivia, and our feature articles. Select whether you want to hear today’s calendar, tomorrow’s calendar or just your next calendar event. Open the Alexa app from your iOS, Android, or FireOS device; Tap on Routines in the menu; Tap on the plus (+) button to the top right of the screen; Tap on the plus (+) next to when When This Happens; Tap on Schedule; Choose the day and time that you want to Routine to occur at; Tap on Done; Tap on the plus (+) next to Add Action; Tap on Smart Home Toggle Power on or off. A. VoiceBrew is reader-supported. Awaken as the lights gradually come on and the room warms up, let Alexa brew your morning coffee (all you need is an Alexa smart plug !) 2. (Note this feature is currently available only in the US. Select “Arrives” if you want the routine to kick off when you enter the blue circle area and “Leaves” if you want it to kick off when you leave from it. A list of your current Routines will be listed, and Amazon will recommend a couple under Featured, just to get you started. While you’re at it, you could consider turning the volume down during those sleeping hours too. I believe you can give Alexa a sleep timer command after you invoke the routine. (For instance, you could program an Alexa routine to open the ADT skill, but you wouldn’t be able to arm your ADT security system.). Tap “All Devices” or “Lights” to control one device at a time, B (option 2). In the below example for smart lights, you can set the routine to: There are lots of reasons you might want to play music as part of a routine. B. Starting today, customers in the U.S. who’ve connected their lights with Alexa can set wake-up lights or sleep timers and create new Routines that dim or brighten their lights over a … Tap “Add action” to set the actions you want to happen in response to the trigger. Use them to remind each of your kids about their various activities — like when to get ready for soccer practice on Sunday mornings or violin lessons on Thursday evenings.Here’s an example of what Alexa can do via a basic routine: Thinking of getting Alexa speakers for your kids’ rooms? Here’s another extremely helpful use. Despite these limitations, Alexa Routines continue to get more useful on a regular basis, with music timers, wait times, and location-based Routines among the most recently added features. When you’re playing music or adjusting volume or getting traffic and news updates, you’ll need to select a device before you can save the Alexa routine. You’ll probably need to manually update the order of the actions to get it right. Whether you’re looking for a general Alexa guide or to upgrade your smart home with Alexa-enabled lighting, or just wondering which products have Alexa integrations, you’ll find the information here. That way you can easily use the location again. But I can never remember the exact playlist name to summon it with Alexa. This request turns off lights in the same group as your Alexa-enabled device. Enter a location (or address) or select one of your saved addresses, C. Once the location you want comes up as an option, tap it, D. This will bring up a map with a light blue transparent circle around your location pin that you can adjust. First, you speak to Alexa a trigger phrase and she will execute the actions you assigned. Use your voice to create, manage, and cancel timers. Timer DOES NOT go off as expected. Be sure to check your phone’s location settings and set a few locations in the Alexa app to more easily set routines based on your location. “Next” will take you back to the New Routine tab. As well as playing a generic alarm sound at the right time, Alexa can also be set to play music or a radio station, read out the morning news headlines, and go on to adjust the lights and fire up your coffee machine. B. Scroll down to see all the options, and pick one! “Next” will take you back to the New Routine tab where you’ll select which of your Echo devices you want to hear calendar information on (under “From” at the bottom) and then tap “Save” to create your new Alexa routine (note that “Save” will be grayed out until you select a device). Reason #2: Say you want to set up a routine that plays your favorite playlist when you get home. 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