AARP Hearing Center
Your Smart Speaker Can Tell You More Than the Weather Report
Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant can control your smart home or answer trivia
Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Getty Images (4))
My mom has a smart speaker but rarely uses it beyond asking for a weather forecast. She recently asked me for suggestions on what to do with it. Can you offer any?
Your mom’s question has no one-size-fits-all answer. The tasks and skills that make sense for her may not appeal to her neighbor.
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You didn’t say what kind of smart speaker she has, but the mainstays in the space are the Echo family of speakers built around Amazon’s Alexa, HomePods for Apple’s Siri, and Google’s Nest devices for Google Assistant. Google’s Gemini AI is presumably waiting in the wings but hasn’t yet made its mark inside smart speakers.
Each of these smart speakers and assistants listen for wake words — typically “Alexa” for Amazon devices, “OK, Google” on Google gear, or “Hey, Siri” for Apple HomePod — and then respond to voice commands.
Nor did you specify whether her speaker is audio only or has a display. A screen increases the kinds of things she can use it for, including making video calls, looking at recipes and watching videos.
Video: How to Use Your Smart Speaker to Find Your Phone
How I use my own smart speakers
I own models from Apple, Amazon and Google, which is important for a tech writer. But others with a smart speaker on their holiday shopping lists are probably thinking about one digital assistant, one family of speakers.
Even though I play with all three, my usage is rather conventional. Like your mom, I ask most about the weather.
An inexpensive speaker with a screen doubles as my bedside alarm clock, and I’m guilty too often of asking it to snooze the alarm.
In the kitchen, I ask a speaker to set timers and will sometimes request help measuring ingredients if I’m preparing a meal. Otherwise, I would have no idea how to convert garlic cloves into teaspoons of garlic powder, or cups and grams to ounces.
I sometimes ask a speaker for a quick check of the news or to turn on a podcast or sports-talk radio. Often, I’ll have one of them play a specific genre of music or an obscure tune that comes into my head.
Smart speaker suggestions from social media
I recently put a post out on Facebook asking how others employ smart speakers. Answers ranged from the typical to “Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that.”
A few suggestions:
Add items to a to-do list. Using your voice to remember something is easier than searching for pen and paper or adding a reminder to an app on your phone. And a speaker can remind you when it’s time to take your medications or make doctors’ appointments.
Call for assistance. A smart speaker can help you make hands-free phone calls. Older adults might appreciate reaching out to designated emergency contacts, though 911 generally is not available unless perhaps a HomePod is connected to a nearby iPhone. Amazon offers a subscription-based 24/7 Alexa Emergency Assist service. Say, “Alexa, call for help,” to dispatch a first responder.
Create a running shopping list. Use your voice to remember to buy eggs, milk and whatever else you need and make it available the next time you’re at the grocery store.
Help with math. Granted, you probably haven’t had to think about square roots or other math problems for decades. But your kids or grandkids surely have. If you’re helping with homework, maybe a digital assistant needs to help you first.
Listen to sleep sounds. If you’re having trouble getting shut-eye, ask your speaker to play the soothing sounds of a babbling brook or gentle rain when you get into bed, just like a freestanding sound or white-noise machine. Such sounds may drown out distracting ambient noises or a snoring spouse.
Look something up. One Facebook friend says he’s asked Alexa how to spell Jabberwocky, what the capitol of Laos is, and what year the movie Rosemary’s Baby was released. As he put it: “I can keep my train of thought from derailing by asking Alexa instead of opening yet another browser window and often stumbling down a rabbit hole of unrelated search results.”
Play games. Games on a smart speaker may help keep you engaged and mentally sharp. You’ll have fun, too. As a family, we often play Jeopardy on a speaker in the kitchen.
Tell a joke. Dad jokes are especially lame, but they may bring a smile just the same.
Track your package. As part of the Amazon family, Alexa can let you know when your Amazon package is expected, which also helps thwart porch pirates. Some other speakers can check the status of your incoming purchases when you give them the tracking numbers.
A smart speaker can control the smart home
You can benefit from allowing your smart speaker to chat with your internet-connected thermostat or security systems, including cameras and smart door locks. Your holiday lights also will be easier to control.
Set up “routines” that work with other smart home devices you may have or subsequently add.
- One respondent says he makes use of an Alexa occupancy function. If no one is detected in a room for a time, the lights will go off to save energy.
- Another Facebook friend makes sure to tell the smart speaker, “Good night,” before hitting the sack. That automatically turns off all the lights in the house.
Bonus tip: Name your timer
If you set multiple timers by voice when cooking, don’t forget to name them.
You might say, “Alexa, set chicken timer for one hour,” “Set rice timer for 20 minutes,” and “Set pizza timer for 6 minutes.” You don’t want to ruin an otherwise yummy meal due to confusion over which timer went off in a busy kitchen.
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