How to Use Alexa to Control Smart-Home Devices

All Fire TV devices are Alexa-friendly, which means you get access to the world of voice control of Fire TV devices without needing to buy anything extra. Even better, you can also use your Alexa-enabled Fire TV device to dive into the fascinating realm of smart-home automation, which enables you to use voice instructions to control lights, turn devices on and off, and much more.

Unless you’re under 5 years old, you probably grew up in a home that was, well, dumb. You turned on lamps with a switch (or perhaps a clap), the thermostat told you only the current temperature, and the only task you could automate was setting your alarm clock. All that seemed perfectly normal at the time, but that dumb home is starting to look quaint when placed next to the modern idea of a smart home.

What, exactly, do people mean when they add the smart adjective to the word home? The simple — and not all that helpful — definition of a smart home is a home that contains one or more devices that enhance your home life in some way. That word enhance is vague, I know, but it’s really the key to everything. How does a smart-home device enhance your home life? It comes down to three things:

• Convenience: You operate most dumb-home devices manually, meaning you have to walk up to the device and then flip a switch or adjust a dial. If someone’s at the door, the only way to see who’s there is to open the door or peek through the peephole. By contrast, you operate smart-home devices from a distance using an app or a voice assistant such as Alexa. If someone’s at the door, your smart security camera lets you see who’s there using an app or an Alexa device with a screen.
• Information: Dumb-home devices tell you either nothing about themselves or just the bare minimum. A dumb dimmer tells you nothing about the current light level, while a dumb thermostat shows only the current temperature. By contrast, smart-home devices are bristling with information — such as current settings, status indicators, and power usage — that gets relayed to an app or device for easy reference.
• Automation: Dumb-home devices just sit there until you do something. A dumb lamp goes on when you flip the switch and will stay on until you flip the switch back. A dumb thermostat will keep the house at the temperature you set, no matter what the time of day. By contrast, smart-home devices can be programmed. You can program a smart lamp to turn on and off automatically at specified times. You can program a smart thermostat to use your preferred temperature during the day, and to use an energy-saving lower or higher temperature overnight.

Installing a Wi-Fi smart-home device

1. Plug in and, if required, turn on the smart-home device.
2. Open the smart-home device manufacturer’s app.
3. Initiate the procedure for setting up a new device. Look for a request named Add or Add [manufacturer] Device (where manufacturer is the name of the company), or just a big plus sign (+). The setup routine will tell the device to broadcast its Wi-Fi network.
4. Open your mobile device’s Wi-Fi settings and look for the device’s Wi-Fi network. The figure shows a collection of Wi-Fi networks that includes WeMo.Insight.03C, which is a network broadcast by a WeMo Insight smart switch.
   Open your Wi-Fi settings and look for the smart-home device’s Wi-Fi network.
5. Tap the device network to connect to it.
6. When the connection is complete, return to the device app. The app automatically detects the new network and uses the connection to set up the device. This usually involves giving the device a name. You’ll often have to set up an account with the manufacturer, as well.
7. The app will usually ask for your Wi-Fi credentials, which enable the device to connect to and operate over your network. Having the device on your network is also how Alexa discovers and operates the device, so this step is important.
8. If you see a notice asking whether you want to upgrade the smart-home device firmware, by all means tap Yes or Allow or Update or whatever button answers in the affirmative. The firmware is internal software that runs the device. Keeping all your smart-home devices updated with the latest firmware is highly recommended because new versions of the software are often needed to patch security holes and improve performance.

How to make automatic network connections with Wi-Fi Simple Setup

• An Echo device compatible with Wi-Fi Simple Setup — that is, a second-generation or later Echo, Echo Plus, Echo Dot, or Echo Show — that’s already connected to your Wi-Fi network
• The password to your Wi-Fi network saved to Amazon

The ridiculously easy setup comes your way if you purchased your Wi-Fi Simple Setup device from Amazon. In that case, Amazon automatically associates the device with your Amazon account, which means that when you plug in the device, it will connect to your network automatically using your saved Wi-Fi password. Now that’s ridiculously easy!

If you purchased the Wi-Fi Simple Setup device from a retailer other than Amazon, then the device won’t be associated with your Amazon account, so it can’t connect to your network automatically. That’s okay, though, because you can still use the Alexa app to add the device: Choose Devices-->Add (+)-->Add Device.

Discovering smart-home devices using an Alexa skill

Alexa can locate and connect to some smart-home devices without requiring a skill. For example, Alexa can work with a Philips Hue Bridge to control lights without needing a skill. Say, “Discover devices,” and then press the button on top of the Hue Bridge to put it into pairing mode.

1. Install the manufacturer’s app and use it to get your smart-home device on your Wi-Fi network.
2. In the Alexa app, tap Devices.
3. Tap the Add button (+) that appears in the upper-right corner.
4. Tap Add Device. The Alexa app displays icons for some popular brands and some device categories.
5. Tap the category that fits your device, and then tap the manufacturer. The Alexa app prompts you to perform the duties I outline in Step 1. You’ve done all that, so proceed.
6. Tap Continue. The Alexa app opens the information page for the manufacturer’s Alexa skill.
7. Tap Enable. At this point, what happens next depends on the skill, but you’ll usually have to perform one or both of the following:
   • Use the smart-home device app to give Alexa permission to access the device.
   • Link Alexa to the user account associated with the smart-home device.
8. When you’re done, tap Close (X) to return to the skill page.
9. Tap Discover Devices. The Alexa app uses the manufacturer’s Alexa skill to search for available devices.
10. Tap Done.

“Discover my devices.”

The sections that follow outline the Alexa voice requests that are generally available for each type of device. Keep in mind, however, that the ways you can control a smart-home device through Alexa are almost always only a subset of what you can do using the manufacturer’s app. With a smart plug, for example, Alexa can only turn the device on or off, but the manufacturer’s app will usually let you schedule on/off times, turn the plug off automatically after a set time, and more.

Controlling a smart-home device with Alexa

• Voice requests: This is how you’ll operate most of your smart-home devices. The rest of this section takes you through the most common voice requests for a selection of smart-home devices.
• Alexa app: If you have your Alexa device microphone turned off, you can still use the Alexa app to control your smart-home devices. Tap Devices, tap the device type (or All Devices), and then tap the device you want to mess with. The screen that appears contains the controls you can use. For example, the figure shows the device screen for a smart lightbulb, which includes two controls: a button for turning the device on and off and a slider for setting the brightness.

The device control screen for a smart lightbulb.

• Alexa device with a screen: Swipe down from the top of the screen to open the status bar, and then tap the icon for the device type (such as a bulb icon for your smart lights, plugs, and switches). Note, too, that after you issue a smart-home-device-related request to an Alexa device with a screen, you see some device controls on the screen for a few seconds.

How to turn smart plugs on and off

Do you have a bunch of nearby dumb devices that you want to control via Alexa? In that case, instead of getting multiple smart plugs, buy a single smart power strip.

• “Turn [device name] on.”
• “Turn [device name] off.”

How to work with smart lights

What if you have a large collection of lights in, say, your kitchen or living room? Swapping out all those dumb bulbs for smart versions would cost a fortune, so a better choice is a smart light switch that you can turn on and off with Alexa. For more control, you can get a smart dimmer switch that enables you to control the brightness with voice requests.

Although a smart lightbulb is easy to install, a smart light switch is another matter because it needs to be wired to your home’s electrical system. Unless you really know what you’re doing, hire an electrician to do the installation for you.

• “Turn [device name] on.”
• “Turn [device name] off.”

• “Brighten [device name].”
• “Dim [device name].”
• “Set [device name] brightness to [number] percent.”

• “Set [device name] to warm white.”
• “Set [device name] to cool white.”
• “Set [device name] to [color].” (For example, “Set Chill Room to blue.”)