10 Nifty Amazon Echo Features You Need to Try

Amazon Echo devices can do a lot more than set timers and tell you the weather. You can also ask Alexa, the voice assistant that powers Amazon's smart speakers and displays, for the news, traffic information, sports scores, recipe ideas, measurement conversions, math solutions, and a whole lot more.

Alexa has the answers to many of life's little—and big—questions. Is the star of the old movie you're watching still alive? How tall is Tom Cruise? What is the meaning of life? Or, the next time you're bored or lonely, ask Alexa to tell you a joke. We can't promise you'll laugh, but the assistant can likely at least make you smile (or cringe). 

Most Echo owners are already familiar with the aforementioned use cases, but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Alexa's capabilities. Alexa supports tens of thousands of third-party skills that can help you control smart home devices, stay on top of your to-do list, order food, relax, and much more.

If you need some fresh ideas, we've gathered some of the more novel, lesser-known Alexa features you should try on your Echo devices.

1. Test Your Trivia Knowledge With Jeopardy! 

If you enjoy trivia games, the free Jeopardy! skill is a must. Just say "Alexa, open Jeopardy," to test your knowledge across a range of categories including sports, pop culture, travel, world history, and more. It features the voice of Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik, so you can feel like you're right on stage in competition with Ken Jennings. And it offers new clues every weekday, so you can tease your brain for hours on end. PCMag features editor Eric Griffith says the Alexa Jeopardy! skill is a big hit in his house and that his family plays every day. 

2. Check Your Symptoms and Talk to a Doctor

Wondering whether you're sick with allergies, the common cold, or COVID-19? Alexa can help. Just say, "Alexa, check my symptoms," and it runs through a series of questions and shares possible causes for your symptoms. Like a real-life medical professional, Alexa asks for your age, gender assigned at birth, primary symptoms, when they started, the severity of your pain, and more. Then, it uses all of that information to make an evaluation. 

If you prefer to speak to a human with a medical degree, Alexa can connect you with a Teladoc provider 24/7, too. Just say "Alexa, I want to talk to a doctor." The voice assistant takes down the reason for your visit, tells you the expected cost, and schedules an appointment. Teladoc visits on Echo devices cost as little as $0 with insurance or $75 without. 

3. Schedule an Uber or Lyft

Rushing to get ready for a night out on the town? With Alexa, you don't even need to grab your phone to order an Uber or Lyft. Just say, "Alexa, ask Uber to request a ride," and the virtual assistant schedules you an UberX. The Lyft skill works the same way; both are free to enable and conveniently let you check your ride status by voice.  

4. Have a Laugh With Big Fart

As mentioned, Alexa's lame dad jokes often fall flat. If you need an actual laugh, ask Alexa to launch the Big Fart skill. Free to enable, Big Fart is basically a database of every possible sound that can come out of one's backside. It even offers underwater and animal farts. You can thank my neighbor Ali, an Alexa power user, for this tip. "I spent about 45 minutes rolling on the floor," he said. "[It] even suggests what kind of fart I might enjoy listening to." 

5. For Tough Decisions, Flip a Coin

Choosing between Indian or Thai for dinner? Deciding who should wash the dishes? Making a major life decision, like whether to quit your job, have a kid, or move? Perhaps a coin toss is in order (OK, maybe not for really important decisions). Thanks to Alexa, you don't even need to grab a quarter. Just say, "Alexa, flip a coin," to reveal your fate. 

6. Keep Your Dog Safe With Doctor Pooch

For parents of fur babies like me, the free Doctor Pooch Alexa skill is invaluable. It's a well-known fact that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but is Fido fine eating pineapple? How about the raw onions you just accidentally dropped on the floor? Doctor Pooch has answers for more than 700 commonly queried food items. To enable it, just say, "Alexa, open Doctor Pooch," then ask away.  

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7. Order a Pizza

Hankering for a slice of pizza? There's an Alexa skill for that. In fact, pizza enthusiasts have an array of options when ordering via Alexa, including Domino's, Papa John's, and Pizza Hut. You first need to set up an account with your pizza vendor of choice, then link it to the digital helper. But the convenience of ordering a pizza by voice (without having to talk to an actual human) is worth the setup effort. 

8. Play Brown Noise for Better Sleep

Alexa has a skill for just about every noise, from relaxing forests and thunderstorms to dogs barking. If deafening silence is keeping you awake at night, ask Alexa to play white noise, or its deeper cousin, brown noise. According to PCMag's Eric Griffith, "It's not a fave, it's a necessity."

9. Keep the Kids Busy With Hide and Seek

The next time your kids complain of boredom, why not have them challenge Alexa to a game of hide and seek? Alexa will instruct them to find a hiding spot in the same room as the Echo speaker. If the virtual assistant can't guess where they are in three tries, they win. I learned about the free Hide and Seek skill from my niece and nephew, so it's kid-tested and approved. To enable it, just say, "Alexa, launch hide and seek." 

10. Find Your Phone

Your missing phone is probably under a couch cushion, but before you tear up the house, ask Alexa for help. Just say, "Alexa, find my phone," and the virtual assistant calls your mobile. Heads up, though: The first time you use the free Find My Phone skill, you have to link your phone number, so be sure to do this before you need help. The virtual assistant asks for your number, then sends you a four-digit code; all you have to do is tell Alexa the code so it can confirm it's really you.

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