For entertainment…
If you are looking for film recommendations, the “Valossa Movie Finder” skill can help you find films by genre and date. You can say things like, “Alexa, use Movie Finder to find comedies from the 1980s” or “Alexa, ask Movie Finder, what are the best war movies?”
For a similar experience finding television shows and the times that they air, try using the “TV Guide” skill.
If you are someone who likes to listen to music, you can ask your Amazon Echo to play a variety of radio stations. You can say “Alexa, play BBC Radio 2” or “Alexa, play “Classic FM”, for example. You can also ask your device to play music from a particular era or with a particular mood, for instance “Alexa, play music from the eighties” or “Alexa, play Sunday morning music”.
If you are subscribed to a streaming service such as Spotify or Apple Music, you can link this to your Amazon account to have greater variety and control over the music you are listening to. Amazon itself also has a music streaming service (Amazon Music) which you can subscribe to for a monthly fee. If you are thinking of subscribing to a music streaming service, it can be a good idea to compare features and prices on the different options available to you.
You can also use your Amazon Echo to play games such as trivia quizzes. You can enable skills such as “Mastermind”, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and “Trivial Pursuit”. Alexa’s library contains a huge range of games and quizzes, so it is definitely worth exploring what’s available if this is something you enjoy.
Some examples of useful Skills
Alexa has over 100,000 Skills in her library. Here are just a few of them:
For Health and Wellbeing
If you are looking for recipes and food recommendations, try the “Best Recipes” skill. You can find recipes based on up to three ingredients and narrow the results to breakfast, lunch or dinner. To get started, try asking, “Alexa, tell Best Recipes I’m hungry” or “Alexa, ask Best Recipes what’s for dinner.”
In a similar vein, the “Meal Idea” Skill (“Alexa, give me meal ideas”) will provide recipe ideas that use common, everyday items you likely already have in your cupboards.
“Guided Meditation” is a Skill which is all about taking a break from your busy life. Each session is short, between three and eight minutes in length, and there are more than 60 available sessions at the moment.
Similarly, there are a range of Skills for ambient sounds which can help you to relax or drift off to sleep. You can say “Alexa play [enter sound]” to get started. Some ideas are:
“Alexa, play Thunderstorm Sounds”
“Alexa, play Ocean Sounds”
“Alexa, play Rain Sounds”
“Alexa, play Fireplace Sounds”
What is the difference between “Skills” and “Features”?
Skills are like apps that help you do more with Alexa. You can use them to play games, listen to music or podcasts, and more. There are thousands of skills available in the Skills Store, many from popular providers you already know and love. Some “Skills” are free while others require a purchase or a subscription. Your device will always tell you if a purchase or subscription is required.
A feature is something Alexa is able to do from the moment you turn on your device. For example, Alexa can answer questions, give you the weather forecast, tell jokes, and more. Some features—like smart home control and voice/video calling—will require other compatible devices. A skill, on the other hand, is something you need to select from the Skills Store and enable on your device, just like adding apps to your smart phone or tablet.
