Amazon’s voice assistant and smart hub, known as Alexa, has gained serious traction. Having support for Thread and Matter means it supports a huge ecosystem of other smart device brand; and Amazon’s own brands—Blink, Ring, and Fire TV—round out the functionality.
Connect to Alexa by downloading the app
The first step to setting up Alexa is to download the app for Android or iPhone. The first time you sign into Alexa, it’ll ask for your Amazon credentials. If you don’t have an Amazon account, it’ll guide you through setting one up. Remember, there are no charges for just having an Amazon account; you have to subscribe to services to be charged. Next, it’ll confirm your identity and ask if it's pronouncing your name right. Next, it’ll ask to set up the features of your account, and this is where you start to have fun.
How much access you give Alexa to information about you determines how much Alexa can help. Alexa will ask for access to your contacts, and you can choose to share them or not with the understanding that if you do, they get uploaded to the Amazon server. If you don’t, Alexa loses some functionality.
Choose whether you’d like notifications; while this is optional, notifications are part of Alexa’s functionality.
Parental controls in Alexa
Finally, you’ll be asked about other members of the family, so you can set up profiles for them, as well. If that person is an adult, they’ll be in control of what happens to their account. For kids, this is where you’ll start to set parental controls. For each child, you’ll enter a birthday, and then be asked to verify that you are the adult, by confirming a CCV code on your phone. Then you will be guided through all the experiences Alexa will give the child, whether it will respond to their voice, etc.
Personalizing Alexa based on your interests and preferences
Next, it’s time to tell Alexa a bit about yourself. From a long list of possible services, including music, podcasts, movies, TV, sports, books, finance, food and restaurants, video games, and news, you’ll be asked what your interests are. For instance, if you select TV, it will ask you a series of questions about what shows you like. Next, you’ll connect your news sources and calendars.
From here, you can connect services to your account. Imagine you’ll ask Alexa to play a song: What service should it play it on? Amazon music, Tidal, or Spotify? Add your streaming services, podcasting subscriptions, and phone services like Skype or T-Mobile. Remember, Alexa can even call people.
Alexa also has a number of voices to choose from, so if you prefer to talk to a male-sounding voice, you can. If you whisper to Alexa, a setting will make sure it whispers back. The settings panel will give you the ability to modulate accessibility, notifications, your location, and even privacy.
Extend Alexa through a hub
Up until now, everything you’ve set up is just for Alexa, a service that lives on your phone or other devices. If you’re near your phone, you can call Alexa to your attention. If you want to extend those services, though, particularly away from your phone, you need to add a device, like an Amazon Echo.
There are two kinds of hubs to consider: a display hub that includes video, or a speaker. While a speaker can make calls, only a display hub can make video calls and show you streaming services. Amazon has a huge library of Echo devices to consider.
Once you install an Echo device, you can activate Alexa Emergency Assist, a $5.99 per month service that allows you to ask Alexa to call emergency services. Alexa will dial e911, a really valuable service if you imagine someone unable to get to their phone.
How to add an Echo hub to Alexa
To install an Echo device, make sure you have the device with Alexa loaded onto it, with Bluetooth and wifi enabled. Unbox and plug in your Alexa Echo device. Back in the Amazon app, click on the “Add Device” button. Alexa will ask what kind of device it is, and you would choose Amazon Echo. It will then drill down into what kind of Echo device, and from there, take you through a guided installation. With your Bluetooth, it’ll search for any nearby devices and try to connect to them. At some point, it will ask for your wifi password, so it’s important to have it on hand.
Once the hub is connected, it will give you a quick setup walkthrough to help it recognize your voice and to understand the services it can provide. In the future, instead of speaking to your phone, you’ll only need to be within earshot of the Echo device for it to recognize you’re talking to it.