Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

judeboy101 · 16-12-2016 9:42am

Kids got upset this morn as Alexa was speaking with a bbc accent instead of her usual sexy American one. Any reason for this? I haven't changed settings on app to uk voice.

oinkely · 16-12-2016 11:06am

fionny wrote: »

Anyone know of any smart light switches which would work with echo? Something that could replace an existing switch? 1 gang 2 gang or even 3 gang?

Seems to be a gap in the market?

Livolo have "smart" switches but for a remote control

Just received an energenie mihome smart switch in the post this morning. You need the hub too, and then you can operate it through alexa I believe. Got 1 and 2 double sockets. Already have the hub and 3 plug in adaptors sitting at home waiting for installation.

It doesn't do dimming and they don't have any multi gang switches, so a bit limited at the moment.

I'll update how it all works when set up. Probably over christmas......

flangemeistro · 16-12-2016 11:15am

oinkely wrote: »

fionny wrote: »

Anyone know of any smart light switches which would work with echo? Something that could replace an existing switch? 1 gang 2 gang or even 3 gang?

Seems to be a gap in the market?

Livolo have "smart" switches but for a remote control

Just received an energenie mihome smart switch in the post this morning. You need the hub too, and then you can operate it through alexa I believe. Got 1 and 2 double sockets. Already have the hub and 3 plug in adaptors sitting at home waiting for installation.

It doesn't do dimming and they don't have any multi gang switches, so a bit limited at the moment.

I'll update how it all works when set up. Probably over christmas......

I was also looking at this switch but didn't bother purchasing when I did a bit of research and discovered it needs a neutral at the switch which in Ireland is unheard of.

JAMM222 · 16-12-2016 11:38am

Uk version now working with IFTTT

Zascar · 16-12-2016 11:42am

What recipes are people using?

oinkely · 16-12-2016 11:50am

flangemeistro wrote: »

I was also looking at this switch but didn't bother purchasing when I did a bit of research and discovered it needs a neutral at the switch which in Ireland is unheard of.

It doesn't. The terminals on the back of the switch are L, L1 and Slave. Straight swap for your current switch. You just need the hub to communicate with it.

mossym · 16-12-2016 1:11pm

glasso wrote: »

that's not true. it gives you the option to group items into as low as a number of shipments as possible, not one.
I always select this option, yet have had multiple shipments.

I stand corrected so, any time in the last 10+ years of ordering from Amazon I've selected the minimal packages option it's resulted in one package.

maybe they don't try so hard on echo's as they know full well any of them going to Parcel motel or parcel wizard are Ireland bound and officially they don't sell them here?

16-12-2016 2:04pm

mossym wrote: »

I stand corrected so, any time in the last 10+ years of ordering from Amazon I've selected the minimal packages option it's resulted in one package.

maybe they don't try so hard on echo's as they know full well any of them going to Parcel motel or parcel wizard are Ireland bound and officially they don't sell them here?

nothing to do with echos in particular. I find that it especially happens where you have small items in your order that can be cheaply (low postage cost) sent on their own - e.g. glass phone screen protector that will be sent out separately. I think that it's mainly due to amazon's shipping cost algorithm / rule-set.

as I said you can try to stop this by going to amazon chat straight away after completing your order and ask svc to only send one package.

ROS123 · 16-12-2016 3:10pm

Anyone try IFTTT yet, any good recipes you'd reccomend ?

Zascar · 16-12-2016 3:27pm

Here are a few links I've seen - let us know if any of these work well for any of you.

https://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/essential-ifttt-recipes-for-the-amazon-echo/
https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/15/amazon-echo-ifttt-uk/
http://www.androidcentral.com/our-favorite-ifttt-recipes-amazon-echo

What I need to figure out how to do be able to add to-do's and shopping list items, and get them to appear in my Google Tasks. So far I've only been able to link it to evernote - I think I can then get evernote to sync with Tasks, but that's an unnecessary extra step.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie · 18-12-2016 3:08pm

Wheres test place to download the app onto your laptop?

degsie · 18-12-2016 3:18pm

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

Wheres test place to download the app onto your laptop?

Try http://alexa.amazon.co.uk

Orion · 19-12-2016 10:42am

I noticed yesterday IFTTT is now available in the UK

degsie · 19-12-2016 10:44am

Orion wrote: »

I noticed yesterday IFTTT is now available in the UK

Welcome to 5 days ago

fionny · 19-12-2016 10:48am

My Echo is on the way down with Parcel Motel

hoping i'll get it this evening with some luck! Looking forward to tinkering with it.

What are the suggestions for getting locations to work. Bing Maps is just plain awful....

phantom_lord · 19-12-2016 2:53pm

Has anyone found any useful skills for Ireland?

Is there a reason why I've to still say "on spotify" every time I play music even though I have spotify set as the default service?

uck51js9zml2yt · 19-12-2016 2:57pm

Try asking alexa if she knows father Christmas or how old she is.
My 6 year old did it with some interesting results:)

degsie · 19-12-2016 2:57pm

phantom_lord wrote: »

Has anyone found any useful skills for Ireland?

Is there a reason why I've to still say "on spotify" every time I play music even though I have spotify set as the default service?

Is your amazon account set to US or UK?

coley · 19-12-2016 3:20pm

I just see the harmony skill is now available for UK too.
Will have to wait until I'm home later to check it out

chasm · 19-12-2016 6:32pm

Ariel Big Schwa wrote: »

Try asking alexa if she knows father Christmas or how old she is.
My 6 year old did it with some interesting results:)

Telling alexa she is the weakest link gets interesting results too lol The kids love telling her to make them laugh - they find to jokes funny anyway Lol

Jaden · 19-12-2016 6:58pm

For Kids, ask:

* Do you want to build a snowman?
* What does the fox say?

For Bigger kids:

* Tell Alexa "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe".
* Tell Alexa "Live long, and prosper".
* Ask: "Is this real life?"
* Ask "Are you skynet?"
* Ask "Could you pass the Turing test?"

Silverfluffs · 19-12-2016 8:26pm

NomadicGray wrote: »

Cheaper, and in stock, at the moment in PowerCity
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=20-27-HS100

They work well just for turning things on and off from home with voice or when away through the app.
Im going the Hue route for lights and then using SmartThings for any other home automation. That is not the cheap way to do things but I like the potential of those two products.

Thanks very much for this. I bought 4 today. They also have the ones with Energy Monitoring for €34.95. Those ones alone are £34.99 on Amazon & out of stock!

I set up two straight away connect to an old two bar electric fire & to a Harman Kardon set of speakers that I use for a PC connected to my TV. It's great to be able to tuck the extension cord out of the way now & leave the devices plugged in. No more getting up & down to plug/unplug them. I was always forgetting about the speakers too & leaving them on. I can't wait to be able to just say Goodnight Alexa!

My Echo was shipped today & I am so excited to try it out. I'm like a little kid at Christmas! Santa is really coming this year for me!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie · 19-12-2016 8:41pm

I've got my Spotify account set up on the app on my phone but echo still doesn't seem to pick up Spotify?

It's premium too.

fionny · 19-12-2016 8:45pm

Dr.Winston O'Boogie wrote: »

I've got my Spotify account set up on the app on my phone but echo still doesn't seem to pick up Spotify?

Is Spotify set a default media player?

NomadicGray · 19-12-2016 8:58pm

Jaden wrote: »

For Kids, ask:

* Do you want to build a snowman?
* What does the fox say?

For Bigger kids:

* Tell Alexa "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe".
* Tell Alexa "Live long, and prosper".
* Ask: "Is this real life?"
* Ask "Are you skynet?"
* Ask "Could you pass the Turing test?"

Dont forget about opening the pod bay doors, or initiating the self destruct sequence

fionny · 19-12-2016 9:03pm

So is there any must have skills?

The only "home" address I managed was the o Connell street tip... I live in cork though

bk · 19-12-2016 9:30pm

fionny wrote: »

So is there any must have skills?

Just the Big Sky skill for weather forecasts.

Other then that, any skill related to any Home Automation products you might have, Logitech Harmony, Philips Hue, etc.

NomadicGray · 19-12-2016 9:40pm

Anyone get The Wayne Investigation?
I installed the skill but it won't trigger for me.

phantom_lord · 20-12-2016 2:58pm

degsie wrote: »

Is your amazon account set to US or UK?

UK

davo2001 · 20-12-2016 3:01pm

phantom_lord wrote: »

UK

How can you check this?

degsie · 20-12-2016 3:46pm

davo2001 wrote: »

How can you check this?

http://amazon.co.uk/mycd

Go to the settings tab and check country settings

degsie · 20-12-2016 3:51pm

phantom_lord wrote: »

UK

What exactly happens when you request a song/artist? I just have to say 'Alexa, play Justin Beeber' and I hear god-awful music

Irish Gunner · 20-12-2016 8:34pm

Anyone tried the yonomi app with Echo. Just download it and trying to link routines.

ceegee · 20-12-2016 8:39pm

Has anyone else had difficulty pairing a boom2 to the dot? ive tried adding it in the app but it doesn't detect it

Edit: nevermind, decided to work immediately after posting

adox · 20-12-2016 9:35pm

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Anyone tried the yonomi app with Echo. Just download it and trying to link routines.

Yeah I use it for my Hue lights. Seems a lot more responsive than doing it natively.

bk · 21-12-2016 10:42am

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Anyone tried the yonomi app with Echo. Just download it and trying to link routines.

I do, it is great.

I've a routine called "night time" and it:
- Turns off my TV and all the AV gear (Harmony Hub)
- Turns on the bedside lamps (Hue)
- Gradually turns off all the other lights in the house over 60 seconds (Hue)

dodzy · 21-12-2016 10:44am

degsie wrote: »

What exactly happens when you request a song/artist? I just have to say 'Alexa, play Justin Beeber' and I hear god-awful music

You can be specific with an album request. "Alexa, play xxx by the eagles on spotify". That said, requesting "Now thats what I call music 1" always results in her throwing on Now 95!

Incidentally, if you have a bit of time on your hands, ask Alexa "What is 9 to the power of 100" and get the popcorn......

Irish Gunner · 21-12-2016 11:34am

Anyone using Dot as Alarm clock.Set it up no problem but cannot turn it off by voice activation, I end up pressing buttons.

Tried echo stop etc...but could be just my morning voice been incoherent..

judeboy101 · 21-12-2016 12:16pm

Heading to powercity. Anything worth buying for Alexa and dot? Budget ~100

degsie · 21-12-2016 1:27pm

judeboy101 wrote: »

Heading to powercity. Anything worth buying for Alexa and dot? Budget ~100

Creative wireless speaker + 2 TP-Link smart plugs?

NomadicGray · 21-12-2016 1:59pm

judeboy101 wrote: »

Heading to powercity. Anything worth buying for Alexa and dot? Budget ~100

TP link HS100 sockets. Woodie's might better priced though

chasm · 21-12-2016 2:01pm

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Anyone using Dot as Alarm clock.Set it up no problem but cannot turn it off by voice activation, I end up pressing buttons.

Tried echo stop etc...but could be just my morning voice been incoherent..

I use it for an alarm clock, have had a few occasions where it doesn't switch off when i tell it to stop, but if i repeat the request it usually switches off the second time. I told it to stop the other morning after i had only had a couple of hours sleep and it told me there was no alarm set - turns out it was the alarm on my phone lol

Graham · 21-12-2016 2:02pm

NomadicGray wrote: »

TP link HS100 sockets. Woodie's might better priced though

Picked up 3 of the HS110s for less than €30 each in DID a few days ago.

NomadicGray · 21-12-2016 2:03pm

Graham wrote: »

Picked up 3 of the HS110s for less than €30 each in DID a few days ago.

That's good, I know they're between 25-30 in woodie's but its a mix of 100s and 110s

flangemeistro · 21-12-2016 2:15pm

NomadicGray wrote: »

Graham wrote: »

Picked up 3 of the HS110s for less than €30 each in DID a few days ago.

That's good, I know they're between 25-30 in woodie's but its a mix of 100s and 110s

Main difference between both?

Graham · 21-12-2016 2:22pm

flangemeistro wrote: »

Main difference between both?

110s have built in energy monitoring.

londonred · 21-12-2016 3:39pm

Getting one of these for Xmas , can it be trained to tell you next Dublin Bus at certain stops ?

judeboy101 · 21-12-2016 3:42pm

londonred wrote: »

Getting one of these for Xmas , can it be trained to tell you next Dublin Bus at certain stops ?

Even Dublin bus cant get that right

Irish Gunner · 21-12-2016 4:02pm

chasm wrote: »

I use it for an alarm clock, have had a few occasions where it doesn't switch off when i tell it to stop, but if i repeat the request it usually switches off the second time. I told it to stop the other morning after i had only had a couple of hours sleep and it told me there was no alarm set - turns out it was the alarm on my phone lol

Told it to stop,sleep, Shut up...then expletives and still goes on..have to press buttons on dot to stop it

kennM · 21-12-2016 4:18pm

Irish Gunner wrote: »

Told it to stop,sleep, Shut up...then expletives and still goes on..have to press buttons on dot to stop it

"Alexa stop" or "Alexa shut up" should do the trick...

Other than that threats! "Alexa I've my hand on the plug, if you don't"...

Amazon Alexa and Echo FAQ

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