Alexa For Dummies

Make your every wish Alexa’s command with this in-depth guide to the wildly popular Amazon smart speaker You might be thinking, “All I have to do is plug in my Echo device and start using it!” And you’d be right. But if you really want to explore what that compact little device can do, then Alexa For Dummies is your go-to resource. This book shows you how to customize your device to respond to your requests and enhance your life. Alexa For Dummies takes you on a tour of all things Alexa: its capabilities, tools, settings, and skills. Go beyond the basics of playing music, calling friends, reading the news, and checking the weather. You’ll learn how to make Alexa private and secure, connect it to your smart home devices, and even make it sound like Samuel L. Jackson, if you feel like it. You can also extend its capabilities by adding new skills. Customize your device to respond to your voice Troubleshoot when a light is signaling something’s wrong Add skills to play music and audiobooks Create routines to turn on lights, adjust the thermostat, set your security alarm, and lock your doors Sync your smart devices throughout your home Use Alexa to connect to a Zoom meeting or phone call with your friends or family No matter which device you have—Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Studio, Echo Flex, Echo Loop, Echo Buds, or Echo Frames— Alexa For Dummies is the perfect companion. Ready to get started? Say “Hey, Alexa, order Alexa For Dummies!” Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here Part 1 Getting Started with Alexa Chapter 1 Getting to Know Alexa What Is This Alexa That Everyone’s Talking About (or, Really, To)? Meet your new assistant Alexa’s components How Alexa works Where Do You Get Alexa? Figuring Out Which Alexa Device You Need Checking out Amazon’s Echo devices Choosing an Alexa device Learning What Alexa Can Do Playing media Communicating Shopping Getting help around the home Getting news and information Answering your questions Accessing skills Automating your home Having fun Chapter 2 Setting Up Alexa and Your Devices Installing the Alexa App Signing in to your Amazon account Taking a tour of the Alexa app Giving Alexa access to your device microphone Enabling the Alexa app’s hands-free mode Alexa Feng Shui: Positioning Your Alexa Device Adding Your Alexa Device Adding your Echo device Adding a third-party Alexa device Personalizing Your Alexa Device Creating voice profiles Giving the device a fun name Setting the device location Setting the device time zone Changing the device language Changing the measurement units Changing the background images on an Echo Show Connecting External Speakers to Your Alexa Device Connecting speakers or headphones using a cable Connecting speakers or headphones via Bluetooth Disconnecting paired Bluetooth speakers or headphones Chapter 3 Learning Alexa Basics Getting to Know Your Echo Taking a closeup look at the far-field microphone Pushing the Echo’s buttons Getting feedback from Alexa Checking up on Alexa Operating the Echo touchscreen Getting to Know Alexa Getting Alexa’s attention Keeping Alexa’s attention Adjusting Alexa’s speaking rate Ending the conversation Enabling Brief mode Enabling Whisper mode Enabling Multilingual mode Some Useful Alexa Commands Everyday info commands Information requests Audio commands Video commands Alarm and timer commands Calendar, reminder, and list commands Communication commands Shopping commands Smart-home commands Part 2 Having Fun with Alexa Chapter 4 Playing Media Listening to Music on Alexa Playing music through Alexa Linking to a music provider Setting up a default music provider Voice commands for controlling music Accessing Alexa via the Amazon Music app Playing third-party music through Alexa Adjusting music quality Listening to Other Audio Sources on Alexa Tuning in to a radio station Listening to a podcast Hearing an audiobook Having a Kindle book read out loud Streaming Mobile Device Audio through Alexa Watching Video on Alexa Watching a movie trailer Locating and playing web videos Watching Amazon’s Prime Video Watching TV with Alexa Connecting your Alexa device to your TV Navigating Fire TV tabs Locating movies and TV shows Playing movies and TV shows Watching live TV Controlling the volume Taking Photos with Alexa Chapter 5 Communicating with Alexa Managing Your Alexa Contacts List Giving Alexa access to your contacts Inviting a contact to connect via Alexa Giving a contact a nickname Adding a contact Editing a contact Blocking a contact Managing your profile and settings Exchanging Text Messages Sending a text using voice commands Sending a text using the Alexa app Receiving a text message Making Voice or Video Calls Making voice calls with voice commands Making voice calls using the Alexa app Making video calls with voice commands Making video calls using the Alexa app Answering an incoming Alexa-to-Alexa call Ending a call Dropping In on Other Alexa Users Letting folks drop in on you Dropping in on someone using voice commands Dropping in on someone using the Alexa app Configuring global Drop In settings for your Alexa device Using Your Alexa Device as an Intercom Asking Alexa to Translate Words and Phrases Chapter 6 Using Alexa at Home A Quick Word about Household Profiles Enabling Your Shopping Habit Making sure voice purchasing works Getting helpful product suggestions Ship it: Placing an order Ship it again: Reordering an item Ship them: Ordering multiple items Preventing accidental (wink, wink) voice purchases Did it ship? Checking delivery status Yep, it shipped: Getting delivery notifications Balancing your karma by making a donation Forging To-Dos and Other Lists Creating and managing lists Adding and managing list items Getting the Information You Need Getting the weather forecast Checking traffic Hearing the latest news with Flash Briefing Getting long-form news Configuring Alexa’s sports update Getting sports news from ESPN Setting Up Alexa Care Hub Chapter 7 Being More Productive Letting Alexa Manage Your Calendar Linking your calendar to Alexa Setting the default calendar Unlinking a calendar Managing calendar events Setting Alexa Alerts Getting Alexa to remind you of something Creating location-based reminders Seeing notifications for missed reminders Setting an alarm Running a timer Customizing your alarm sounds Putting Alexa in Do Not Disturb Mode Connecting to Someone Else’s Echo Device Connecting to another Echo device as a guest Enabling Guest Connect on your Echo devices Part 3 Getting More out of Your Relationship with Alexa Chapter 8 Asking Alexa Questions Searching for Nearby Places Asking for Financial Info Getting Symptoms and Other Medical Facts Asking Alexa to Do the Math Converting Units Getting Science Answers Quizzing Alexa about the Culture Bugging Alexa about Books Asking Linguistic Questions Asking Questions about Companies Asking about Dates and Times For Everything Else: Querying Wikipedia Chapter 9 Adding Skills to Alexa Understanding What a Skill Is Checking Out Amazon’s Alexa Skills Store Enabling a Skill Enabling a skill with a voice command Enabling a skill using the Alexa app Working with Skills Invoking a skill Viewing your enabled skills Changing skill settings Disabling a skill Thirty Cool Alexa Skills to Try Building Your Own Skill Chapter 10 Making Alexa Accessible Controlling Alexa If You Have a Speech Impairment Making Alexa more speech accessible Installing a text-to-speech app Using Tap to Alexa Texting without speech Checking Out Alexa’s Features for the Hearing Impaired Making Alexa more hearing accessible Enabling closed-captioning Enabling Alexa captioning Enabling Alexa’s Features for the Vision Impaired Making Alexa more vision accessible Navigating with VoiceView Zooming in with Screen Magnifier Using Show and Tell to identify items Part 4 Controlling Your Smart Home Chapter 11 Setting Up Your Smart Home What’s So Smart about a Smart Home? Working with smart-home devices Understanding smart-home connections How does Alexa fit in? Do you need a smart-home hub? Setting Up Your Smart-Home Devices Installing a Wi-Fi smart-home device Understanding Wi-Fi Simple Setup Discovering smart-home devices using an Alexa skill Discovering Zigbee smart-home devices Managing Smart-Home Devices Viewing your smart-home devices Renaming a smart-home device Changing the device type Disabling or deleting a smart-home device Working with Smart-Home Devices Controlling a smart-home device Working with device scenes Turning smart plugs on and off Working with smart lights Controlling smart thermostats Keeping an eye on things with smart cameras Other types of smart-home gear Chapter 12 Uncovering Some Smarter Smart-Home Techniques Creating Device Rooms and Groups Creating a smart-home room or group Controlling a smart-home room or group Managing a smart-home room or group Alexa in Stereo: Working with Speaker Sets Creating a speaker set Playing music through a speaker set Streaming Music to Multiple Rooms Setting up multi-room music Playing multi-room music Fixing multi-room music sync problems Home Sweet Home Theater: Combining Alexa with Fire TV Automating Alexa with Routines Understanding routine actions Creating a routine Running a routine Getting to Know Alexa Guard Working with IFTTT Applets Connecting your IFTTT and Amazon accounts Enabling an IFTTT applet Checking out some Alexa applets Part 5 The Part of Tens Chapter 13 Ten (Times Ten) Ridiculously Fun Alexa Tricks Ten Ways to Ask Alexa to Tell a Joke Ten Alexa Wordplay Tricks Ten Ways to Get Alexa to Sing Ten Oddball Things to Ask Alexa to Do Ten Funny Questions to Ask Alexa Ten Ways to Get Alexa to Tell a Story Ten Ways to Get Personal with Alexa Ten Movie Easter Eggs Ten TV Easter Eggs Ten Music Easter Eggs Chapter 14 Ten Things That Can Go Wrong (and How to Fix Them) Troubleshooting 101 Restarting your Echo Updating your Echo Resetting your Echo Alexa or Your Echo Device Is Unresponsive Your Echo Device Isn’t Using the Latest Software You Can’t Connect to Your Wi-Fi Network You’re Having Trouble Streaming Media You’re Having Trouble Connecting a Bluetooth Device You don’t see a Bluetooth device You can’t pair with a Bluetooth device You Ordered Something Accidentally Alexa Doesn’t Understand Your Commands You’re Having Trouble Making Calls You Changed Your Wi-Fi Network Password A Smart-Home Device Doesn’t Work Properly Chapter 15 Ten Ways to Beef Up Security and Privacy Make Sure Your Wi-Fi Network Is Locked Up Tight Delete Your Saved Wi-Fi Passwords Change Alexa’s Wake Word Stop Alexa from Listening (and Watching) Trash Sensitive Alexa Recordings Enabling and using deletion by voice Configuring Alexa to delete your recordings automatically Deleting selected recordings Configure Alexa Not to Use Your Personal Data Shut Down Alexa’s Communications Turn communications off Revoke access to your contacts Secure Your Amazon Account Give your Amazon account a bulletproof password Turn on Amazon’s two-step verification Revoke a Skill’s Permissions Deregister Your Alexa Device Index EULA "Make your every wish Alexa's command with this in-depth guide to the wildly popular Amazon smart speaker...You might be thinking, 'All I have to do is plug in my Echo device and start using it!' And you'd be right. But if you really want to explore what that compact little device can do, then Alexa For Dummies is your go-to resource. This book shows you how to customize your device to respond to your requests and enhance your life. Alexa For Dummies takes you on a tour of all things Alexa: its capabilities, tools, settings, and skills. Go beyond the basics of playing music, calling friends, reading the news, and checking the weather. You'll learn how to make Alexa private and secure, connect it to your smart home devices, and even make it sound like Samuel L. Jackson, if you feel like it. You can also extend its capabilities by adding new skills. Customize your device to respond to your voice; troubleshoot when a light is signaling something's wrong; add skills to play music and audiobooks; create routines to turn on lights, adjust the thermostat, set your security alarm, and lock your doors; sync your smart devices throughout your home; and use Alexa to connect to a Zoom meeting or phone call with your friends or family. No matter which device you have-- Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Show, Echo Studio, Echo Flex, Echo Loop, Echo Buds, or Echo Frames-- Alexa For Dummies is the perfect companion. Ready to get started? Say 'Hey, Alexa, order Alexa For Dummies!'" -- Description provided by publisher **Make your every wish Alexa’s command with this in-depth guide to the wildly popular Amazon smart speaker** You might be thinking, “All I have to do is plug in my Echo device and start using it!” And you’d be right. But if you really want to explore what that compact little device can do, then __Alexa For Dummies__ is your go-to resource. This book shows you how to customize your device to respond to your requests and enhance your life. __Alexa For Dummies__takes you on a tour of all things Alexa: its capabilities, tools, settings, and skills. Go beyond the basics of playing music, calling friends, reading the news, and checking the weather. You’ll learn how to make Alexa private and secure, connect it to your smart home devices, and even make it sound like Samuel L. Jackson, if you feel like it. You can also extend its capabilities by adding new skills. * Customize your device to respond to your voice * Troubleshoot when a light is signaling something’s wrong * Add skills to play music and audiobooks * Create routines to turn on lights, adjust the thermostat, set your security alarm, and lock your doors * Sync your smart devices throughout your home * Use Alexa to connect to a Zoom meeting or phone call with your friends or family