Amazon Echo – Anyone got one, and some issues…

We were bought an Amazon Echo for Christmas, and despite not really needing it I was very happy to receive it and keen to give it a go.
Set up was easy but I’m struggling to see what I can do with it apart from shopping lists and a few other bits
Because:
I’m a paid up Apple fanboi. iMac, iPad, 2 x iPhones, 3 x Airport Express and a sub to Apple music.
The Echo doesn’t work with Apple Music and I’m not about to change because I like what I’ve got and the way it works – I can stream to 3 different rooms including my Garage/Workshop and in the kitchen where the Echo is I’ve got a Bowers & Wilkins A5, which utterly wipes the floor with the Echo in every way apart from I need to press a couple of buttons rather than talk to it, but it sounds like a £9.99 pocket radio in comparison….
I’ve just tested the Echo by asking it to remind me to make Mrs PP (Working from home upstairs today) a cuppa at 3.30. It added it to my ‘To Do List’ but I didn’t get a reminder. Hmmm. If I ask Siri, Siri makes a fuss at the correct time. Alexa was tight lipped. Maybe I need to be a bit more specific.
Mrs PP and I use iCal and have a shared calendar. I linked this to my Google Calendar account, the same one that Echo/Alexa is logged onto and it can’t pick up my appointments. I can see them online, so I know the link is working, but the Echo can’t pick them up. Anybody know why? can I fix it?

I like the idea of the Amazon Echo, and I want to use it, but I’m struggling to see past shopping lists and weather reports so far….
Any tips?
🙂

You need to see the doctor… http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/alexa-ask-stw-if-they-like-you-or-not

Yeah saw that!

I’m now trying to get it to turn the radio on at a given time, like a clock radio. Not happening so far….

Nope. It can’t be done apparently, and nor can you wake yourself with a Spotify Playlist if you have one. Glaring omission IMO

I’ll buy it off you….

But in seriousness, you need to play about a bit more.

Use the IFTTT app – you can then make your phone ring, or pop up a reminder, when ‘alexa does something’..

For example (i believe), you could set IFTTT (If this then that) to make your phone ring when alexa has a task needing doing… play around really..

I’ve set our up so that when I ask it what’s on my shopping list, it emails the list to me. will be good for when I’m leaving the house, I can just shout to alexa, and then my phone will have the shopping list by the time i’m in the car…

If you’ve phillips hue lights, you can make them flash etc when the timer goes off…

I’m a google fan, and one fault of this seems to be you CAN’T multi room play spotify. However, since the echo came out they have added IFTTT which is a big improvement it seems.

(I’m serious about buying it from you though.)

DrP

A really blunt hack to wake yourself with a playlist is to record your voice saying “ay oop Alexa, play m’ dixie chicks playlist pet” (how pete speaks) as an MP3, then have your phone play that mp3 as an alarm…

I’m confident new things like this will come in teh pipeline though..

DrP

Use the IFTTT app – you can then make your phone ring, or pop up a reminder, when ‘alexa does something’..

So you set the echo thing up with a ‘task’ that you need to be reminded of, you can then set it to make your phone ring or pop up a reminder? So you need to have your phone with you to get the reminder.

And it’ll email a shopping list to your phone that you could have created on your phone anyway.

mmmm I don’t get it.

that’s ok, you don’t need to.

DrP

Convincing argument, I’m sold

You seem confused by my intentions here…. 🙄

DrP

And it’ll email a shopping list to your phone that you could have created on your phone anyway.

That’s on the Alexa app anyway. That works really well, I’ve logged us both into the app on the same account so we see the same lists

A really blunt hack to wake yourself with a playlist is to record your voice saying “ay oop Alexa, play m’ dixie chicks playlist pet” (how pete speaks) as an MP3,

Yep, read about that
But that means I have to have the phone in the bedroom, which it NEVER will be. And it’s a bodge, a glaring omission.

I think I’ve fixed the calendar thing though, I just need to set iCal to default to Google calendar rather than the other way round….

This device makes things easier, right….?

Smart home stuff?
Well, when I can say “Alexa, chuck a match on the log burner” then it might be some use…. 🙂

Well I’ve got the calendar working now. 🙂