Gadgetory

one of the biggest inconveniences of smart speakers to date is having to speak multiple commands to perform a simple task for instance changing the color of smart bulbs locking the door and adjusting the thermostat temperature used to take three separate commands now you can do it with just one using routines on your Alexa speaker here's how to set it up start by opening the Alexa app on android or iOS tap the hamburger button in the top left corner and select settings scroll down to accounts and tap routines next tap the plus sign in the top right corner here you can choose between when you say something or at scheduled time if you select when you say something type in a phrase such as good morning or movie time if you select at scheduled time set a time and choose which days it should repeat then click done to continue next tap add action for actions you can choose between news traffic and weather which will play just like in your flash briefing however you can also choose smart home actions these actions include turning on a scene or controlling individual devices such as turning on or off smart lights or locking a smart lock click Add to finish adding an action and repeat until all actions are added to the routine finally choose which speaker the routine will play audio from if you use a scheduled routine you will have to select a specific speaker but if you create a routine based on a phrase you can select a specific speaker or you can specify that you wanted to play audio from whichever speaker you speak to to finalize the routine click create once a routine is created you can edit it by going back to settings and routines in the Alexa app and tapping on a routine there you can remove or rearrange actions add new actions change the time or day the routine runs or change the phrase you can temporarily disable the routine by tapping the toggle next to enabled and if you tap the three dots on the top right corner you can manually play a routine or permanently delete it sadly there is one unfortunate caveat with routines you can't have a routine where you say something like storytime and dim the lights and listen to an audio book or your favorite podcast you can't have a routine stream music or start a skill either still this should reduce the overall number of commands you have to issue to Alexa to accomplish what you want and if nothing else it's a huge win for Alexa users everywhere for more Alexa tips and tricks and other how-tos check out cnet.com forward slash how to