# What do you ask your Amazon Echo/Google Home/Other type device to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 12, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970 "2019-07-12T14:24:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970/21 "2019-07-13T13:59:49Z")
Another handy feature that I use often: at the office I use both a paper calendar and electronic. As I’m writing the appointment in my paper calendar I say, “Alexa, add event for July 23 at 9:00 am.” “What’s the name of the event?” “Smith hearing in River City.” “Smith hearing in River City added for July 23, 2019 at 9:00 am. Is that right?” “Yes.” I can open my electronic calendar and there it is. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970/22 "2019-07-13T14:48:05Z")
We have Philips Hue lights throughout the house so we use it to voice control all the lights. We also use it to play Spotify, watch Netflix through the chromecast (just saying “watch Stranger Things on the bedroom TV” will have it turn on the TV, set it to the correct input, and start at the episode we left off with.), keep grocery lists, find the weather, ask for driving directions that are then sent to my phone, ask for recipes which it will go through step by step. My wife was skeptical when we first got it but was bemoaning the fact that we didn’t have it last weekend in the hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970/23 "2019-07-13T17:04:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I also use a skill called “Burglar Deterrent.” When you enable it and tell Alexa to play it, the Echo produces sounds that make it seem that someone is home. It will ask you what time of day and what room. So you can get kitchen sounds, music, dog barking, someone stirring a cup, coughing-- all normal background noises. Will it also turn on and off lights while you’re gone (assuming you have smart plugs)? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970/24 "2019-07-13T17:27:35Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Will it also turn on and off lights while you’re gone (assuming you have smart plugs)? No. Burglar Deterrent is a pre-packaged skill. But I can say, “Alexa, lights out. Open Burglar Deterrent.” _Lights out_ is my own routine for turning off my smart plugs (6 lamps). Go to [Alexa at Amazon](https://alexa.amazon.com/spa/index.html#cards) on your computer and browse through the Skills. There are a lot of pre-packaged ones that you can “enable” right from there. Back to the OP: something else I do is tell Alexa to remind me to watch a TV program. I don’t have a DVR-- don’t even have cable. But when I see a promo for a show I want to watch, I’ll set a reminder for that date and time (about 10 mins before the show starts). Sometimes I want to watch a certain show and then completely forget about it. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970/25 "2019-08-11T02:39:49Z")
Now that I’ve had my Google Home for a month, I can report back that when coupled with Chromecast, it makes a great TV remote control. I like it enough that I bought a used mini off of eBay for my bedroom TV. I’ve also used it to make grocery lists and ask about the weather and to do simple Google searches. I eventually plan on using it to control lights around the house but that’s a pretty costly feature. I do love it for the TV though. I find myself wanting to tell it to do things that I know it won’t do (currently) like turning the ceiling fan on and off. I’m pretty lazy and this fits right in my wheelhouse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-ask-your-amazon-echo-google-home-other-type-device-to-do/836970.md?page=1)