SKILLS FOR THRILLS

TO USE THE ECHO TO ITS FULL POTENTIAL, YOU’LL NEED TO ENABLE ITS SKILLS…

Skills are what Alexa needs to be more useful – tapping into third-party sources to bring you even more functionality. Everything is accessed via the Amazon Alexa companion app for iOS or Android – just open it up and use the menu to select Skills. Here you’re presented with everything the Echo can access, from news feeds to Dog Facts. There’s even a BMW Connected skill that enables you to use Alexa to open or lock your doors or turn on the climate control.

Enabling skills is simple – just go to the desired skill, tap on it and hit Enable. If you’re setting up a smart home skill, such as Hive, there’s a bit more work to do. After enabling the skill you’ll need to discover devices by going to the Smart Home section and tapping Discover Devices, or by asking Alexa to do it. You’ll get a list of devices found, which you can then control individually by naming them up in a logical way (‘Alexa, turn on the living room light’). You can also create groups in the Smart Home section, meaning you could group all of your lights into a ‘Downstairs Lights’ group and then ask Alexa to turn them all off at once.