“alexa, control my home”
The key to controlling your smart devices are ‘Skills’. Let’s look at how to use them to control Hive…
1 activate skill
The first thing to do is open the Amazon Alexa app and sign in. Hit the menu top-left and choose Skills from the list. Here you’ll see a shopfront of all the ‘skills’ Alexa can link to. There are loads here, from knowledge-based services (such as chemistry facts) to games, quizzes and much more. But we’re going to focus on smart home.
2 link account
We’re going to be setting up our Hive devices, so search for Hive and choose the Hive skill. Hit the Enable Skill button and wait while it activates. Next you need to link your Hive account to authorise Amazon Echo to control your devices. Hit Link Account, add your Hive details and wait for the confirmation.
3 add devices
Next you need to add your Hive devices. Once you’ve got your account linked you can either do this from the Smart Home menu in the Alexa app or simply say, ‘Alexa, add my devices’. You’ll then see a list of all your Hive devices appear, including any ‘recipes’ for lighting that you’ve created in the Hive app or your account.
4 rename devices
If you haven’t done so already, it’s a good idea to name your Hive devices after the room they’re in. You need to do this via the Hive app itself, and then go back to the Alexa app and repeat the Discover Devices step. This makes sure everything is linked properly to Amazon Echo.
5 create groups
OK , now all of your Hive smart devices are linked you can control them. But it’s also a pretty cool thing to add groups. This means you can turn the whole of your downstairs lights off at once, for instance. Hit the Create Group button in the Smart Home section of the Alexa app and follow the steps.
6 ask alexa
It’s time to test everything out. To do this, simply say, ‘Alexa, tell Hive to turn on my bedroom lights’. Or maybe, ‘Alexa, turn on the downstairs lights’. Or even, ‘Alexa, tell Hive to turn my iron off’. Essentially, you can now control all of your Hive devices without lifting a finger.