Thanks tosmart home devices, you’re able to build a new level of automation into your house and integrate various gadgets into intelligent scenarios. These can include smart lights, thermostats, and more devices.
There are many ecosystems, platforms, and communication protocols, which may make interoperability between devices a challenge. Although manufacturers used to favor this strategy to lock you into their ecosystem, theMatter standardmakes communication seamless across devices.
Regardless of how your devices connect, Amazon Alexa is a robust tool for crafting and personalizing automated routines. Let’s explore what they entail and how to create routines.
How to set up Alexa smart home automation
Alexa Routines are a free and powerful way to automate your smart home devices
What are Alexa Routines?
Alexa Routines are actions that can be performed according to various conditions and settings, including a voice command spoken to an Alexa device, such as an Echo speaker like an Echo Dot, an Echo Show smart display, or a Fire TV. These can be launched using a preset schedule, at a specific time and a particular input from a smart device.
This last option is the most interesting, as it implies a device can send information to Alexa, which, in turn, can perform an action based on that trigger. These are particularly powerful, as they include many options, such as saying something out loud, triggering another smart home device, and waiting a specific amount of time before performing an action.
Routines can be complex in that they can perform several actions at once, include various conditions, and pause between each action. Routines can integrate with IFTTT, meaning you may include services and devices that do not work with Alexa.
You don’t need Amazon smart speakers at home or use Alexa daily to use Routines. All you need is compatible devices and services to build your automation routines while continuing to use your devices the way you want. For instance, if you prefer to use Google Assistant speakers at home, you can use Alexa’s powerful Routines without having an Echo speaker.
Think of Alexa Routines as scenarios to control your smart home devices that run based on conditions you define. For instance, you can create several Alexa Routines to make your home smarter, such as turning off the lights when you arm the alarm, pausing the heater when you open a window, turning off the heating at night, opening the windows for 20 minutes, and closing them and turning the heating back on, which automates the ventilation process.
Simpler examples include a Good Morning routine to receive traffic reports and play your favorite podcasts, while a Good Night routine can turn off the lights and start a relaxing playlist.
The possibilities are endless and do not require much effort to set up. You only need a smartphone, the Amazon Alexa app, and compatible devices.
How to create an Alexa Routine
Now that you know what Alexa Routines are, let’s create a new routine. The process is simple and only takes a few minutes. Before getting started, download the Amazon Alexa app, create an account, and link your smart home devices if you haven’t done so.
After configuring your Alexa account and devices, configure Routines with your smart home devices using Alexa.
Let’s look at a concrete example to make it easier to understand. Suppose you want the lights to turn off automatically when there is no motion in the dining room. In this case, do the following:
Congratulations, you’ve created your routine. You can use the above example and adjust it according to your needs by replacing the devices with yours, depending on what you want to achieve. If you want Alexa to wait before performing an action, pickWaitas an action and specify how long it should be before doing what you asked it to do. Finally, keep in mind that one routine can include many actions.
Use Alexa to bring your smart home to the next level
With Alexa Routines, you can build advanced automation scenarios without much complexity. They’re a great way to make smart home devices interact with each other seamlessly or automate tasks for added convenience. You can use Alexa skills and routines to build yourown theft-deterrent systemwithout investing in an expensive security system.
The possibilities are almost endless, and the best part is that you only need compatible devices to get started without buying additional hardware or Amazon Echo devices. Routines can be triggered manually on Alexa-powered smart speakers or smart displays. To do so, say, “Alexa, [Routine name],” and it performs the action for you, even if it hasn’t been triggered automatically.
