Echo & Alexa Forums

General Category => Alexa Tips & Tricks => Topic started by: RWestman on April 03, 2015, 08:16:59 pm

Title: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: RWestman on April 03, 2015, 08:16:59 pm
I have been playing the Echo I bought my wife as a present.

I would like to have a list of commands or a good user manual I can give her to help her to use the device better. Can anyone provide a link or something to help me?

Thank you
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: robertcassidy on April 04, 2015, 04:05:35 pm
get the Echo App. it has a list and many suggestions on how to use the Echo. and don't forget to check the settings to enable things like alarms and reminders. Have fun.
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: jwlv on April 05, 2015, 05:27:22 pm
I've compiled this list of commands from the Amazon Help Pages.

Do more with your Echo
Follow the tips below to finish setting up your account and services so that you can start having fun with your Amazon Echo.
Play custom stations from iHeartRadio
Set up or link an iHeartRadio account to listen to commercial-free custom stations based on artist, mood, or genre. Link an iHeartRadio account.
Get location-specific information
Confirm your ZIP code to set the correct time zone and provide location for local news and weather forecasts. Go to Settings > select your Echo > Echo device location.
Customize your news updates
Select news categories and programs you will listen to when you request your Flash Briefing. Customize your Flash Briefing.
Add your music to play on Echo
Importing your music to Amazon Music allows you to play your songs, albums, and artists whenever you choose. With Amazon Music you can import your music from iTunes, Windows Media player, or your computer's music folders. Learn more about adding your music.

Bluetooth voice requests
Before you can stream audio from your smartphone or tablet to Amazon Echo, you need to pair it. After you pair your mobile device with Amazon Echo, you can immediately connect it to Amazon Echo when Bluetooth is turned on and your mobile device is in range.
Alexa, pair Bluetooth.
Alexa, disconnect my phone / tablet.
Alexa, connect my phone / tablet.
You can also use your voice to control the audio from your smartphone or tablet when it's connected to your Amazon Echo via Bluetooth. After you connect your mobile device to Amazon Echo, open one of your favorite music or audio apps (for example, Audible), press play, and then speak to your Amazon Echo.
Alexa, play
Alexa, pause
Alexa, previous
Alexa, next
Alexa, stop
Alexa, resume
Alexa, restart
Note: If you request songs, albums, artists, or playlists, Amazon Echo will pause playback on your mobile device and disconnect from it. Music from your Amazon Music library will play instead. To play music over Bluetooth again, say "Alexa, connect" and press play on your mobile device.

Clock & Timer
You can create one timer or one alarm by voice. You can also adjust the alarm or timer volume independent of other sounds by going to Settings > select your device > Sounds > Alarm and Timer Volume.
Alexa, wake me up at 6 in the morning.
Alexa, set the alarm for 7:30 a.m.
Alexa, set the timer for 10 minutes.
Alexa, how much time is left on my timer?
Alexa, what time is it?
Alexa, what's the date?
Alexa, when's my alarm set for?
Alexa, cancel the alarm.
Alexa, stop. (when alarm or timer is sounding)
Alexa, snooze. (when alarm is sounding)

Discover & buy music
Easily find songs and albums using your voice. While listening to samples, say "Alexa, buy this." Manage voice purchase settings.
Alexa, shop for new music by David Guetta.
Alexa, what's popular from Regina Spektor?
Alexa, sample songs by The Black Keys.
Alexa, play samples by Louis Armstrong.
Alexa, find Walking with a Ghost by Tegan and Sara.
Alexa, buy Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.

Facts & fun
You can ask your device all kinds of questions. Try asking about famous people, dates and places.
Alexa, why is the sky blue?
Alexa, who wrote Game of Thrones?
Alexa, tell me a joke.
Alexa, Simon says, "Jump."
Alexa, how many ounces are in a cup?
Alexa, how tall is Mount Everest?
Alexa, what's the capital of Spain?
Alexa, how far is the moon?
Alexa, what was Bruce Springsteen's first album?
Alexa, what's the square root of 64?
Alexa, who is the lead singer of Green Day?
Alexa, Simon says + words you want Echo to repeat.
Alexa, how far is it from here to the North Pole?
Alexa, what's the definition of paradox?
Alexa, how many people live in New Orleans?
Alexa, what is 5 miles in kilometers?
Alexa, when is Thanksgiving this year?
Alexa, how old is Barack Obama?
Alexa, Wikipedia: Fantasy Football.
Alexa, Wikipedia: Boardwalk Empire.

Flash Briefing
Listen to the latest news programs, hear customized news read by your device, and receive weather updates in your Flash Briefing. Customize Your Flash Briefing.
Alexa, what's my Flash Briefing?
Alexa, what's in the news?
Alexa, next.
Alexa, previous.
Alexa, pause.

Household profiles
Add another adult to your Amazon household so your device will be able to play music from both accounts, access joint shopping and to-do lists, and set individual preferences for Flash Briefing.
Alexa, switch accounts.
Alexa, which profile is this?

Music commands
Alexa, what's playing?
Alexa, turn it up.
Alexa, softer.
Alexa, volume 4.
Alexa, mute.
Alexa, stop the music.
Alexa, pause.
Alexa, resume.
Alexa, next song.
Alexa, loop.
Alexa, buy this song. (Amazon Music)
Alexa, buy this album. (Amazon Music)
Alexa, add this song. (Prime Music)
Alexa, I like this song (when a Pandora / iHeartRadio song is playing).
Alexa, thumbs down (when a Pandora / iHeartRadio song is playing).

Music requests
You can play your own music by importing songs to your Amazon Music library. Import music.
Alexa, play music by Johnny Cash.
Alexa, play Sail by AWOLNATION.
Alexa, shuffle my lounge playlist.
Alexa, play my new music by Mariah Carey.
Alexa, play Skrillex.
Alexa, play the song Thrift Shop.
Alexa, play the album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits.
Alexa, play some blues.
Alexa, shuffle my new music.
Alexa, play the song I just bought.
Alexa, play some music.

Prime Music
Prime members can enjoy over a million songs and hundreds of playlists for free.
Alexa, play some Prime Music.
Alexa, play music by Icona Pop.
Alexa, play the Sunny Day Classical playlist.
Alexa, add this song.
Alexa, play Santana on Prime music.
Alexa, play I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz.
Alexa, play some jazz from Prime Music.

Shopping & To-Do Lists
Alexa, add bread to my shopping list.
Alexa, I need to make a dentist appointment.
Alexa, put change oil on my to-do list.
Alexa, I need to buy paper towels.
Alexa, create a to-do.

Sports
Ask Amazon Echo the score for last night's game, or find out when your favorite team plays their next game. Amazon Echo provides scores for NBA, NHL, NCAA, NFL, MLB, and MLS games.
Alexa, what was the score of the Toronto Raptors game?
Alexa, did the Dallas Stars win?
Alexa, when do the Arizona Wildcats play next?

Stations, shows & more
Listen to podcasts, shows, and live radio from TuneIn or iHeartRadio. Create custom radio stations from iHeartRadio or Pandora. Link your iHeartRadio and/or Pandora account with Amazon Echo.
Alexa, play a Coldplay station from Pandora.
Alexa, play the program Radiolab.
Alexa, play the station NPR.
Alexa, play 97.3 FM on TuneIn.
Alexa, play Fox Sports on iHeartRadio.

Traffic
Amazon Echo can tell you about the traffic conditions on your daily commute. First, enter your starting point and destination in the Amazon Echo App. Then, ask your Amazon Echo about the traffic on your route.
Alexa, how is traffic?
Alexa, what’s my commute?
Alexa, what’s traffic like right now?

Use these anytime
Alexa, stop.
Alexa, volume six. (0-10)
Alexa, mute.
Alexa, unmute.
Alexa, repeat.
Alexa, cancel.
Alexa, louder.
Alexa, turn it down.
Alexa, help.

Voicecast & Autocast
Send additional details about news, weather, and more to your Fire tablet. You can also turn on Autocast to see the requested content automatically on your tablet. Go to Settings > Amazon Echo, and then use the switch to turn Voicecast and Autocast on.
Alexa, send that to my Fire tablet.
Alexa, send that to my tablet.
Alexa, show this on Sarah's Fire.

Voice Training
Train your device to better recognize you by completing a voice training session. Start voice training.

Weather
Confirm your device has a zip code for local weather. Visit device settings.
Alexa, what's the weather?
Alexa, will it rain tomorrow?
Alexa, what's the forecast this weekend?
Alexa, what's the weather in Dallas?
Alexa, what will the weather be like in Boston tomorrow?
Alexa, what's the weather in Silver City, New Mexico?
Alexa, what's the extended forecast for Chicago?
Alexa, what will the weather be like in San Diego on Thursday?
Alexa, is it going to snow on Monday?

Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: alot2do on April 08, 2015, 09:59:32 pm
What a fantastic list! Thank you for going to all that work. I will print it out!
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: BeesKnees on May 29, 2015, 12:12:24 pm
It will also do:

Sunrise and Sunset times
Famous quotes by just about anyone I have tried and I have tried many
Rock Paper Scissors
Goofy things like asking about Hal, Chicken crossing the road, Do you like green eggs and ham, Who is the Lorax, meaning of life, etc.
On Movies and TV shows I have about a 50 percent success rate on getting her to tell me who starred in them.
She can do spellings, definitions, synonyms, and antonyms.
She can perform any mathematical equation limited to two operands.
Who invented and who created she does pretty well although She got Superman wrong.
Birth and Death of famous people
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: ac7ss on June 06, 2015, 12:53:17 am
One of the recent updates improved her jokes.
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: jwlv on June 13, 2015, 02:24:47 am
Just out of curiosity I asked, "Alexa, when is the next solar eclipse?"
She said, "Sunday, September 13, 2015." 
I was quite surprised she had an answer. I checked on NASA's website just to confirm. However, this solar eclipse is only visible from the very south parts of the earth, such as Antarctica, South Africa, Indian Ocean, etc.
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: onaccountof on June 17, 2015, 06:19:56 pm
Question: Is there a command for Echo to turn music off after a set amount of time? I like to have some relaxation music on when I go to sleep, but stop after 15min/30min/ an hour or so ( so it's not playing all night).
 Thanks ahead all :).
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: ScarlettPhoenix on June 18, 2015, 11:23:37 am
As far as I know, not right now. What others have suggested is to make a particular playlist to the length of time you want and then ask Echo to play that list.  :)
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: ken on June 18, 2015, 04:25:41 pm
I found this one.  Needs to be added to everyone's list of questions:

Alexa, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: onaccountof on June 18, 2015, 04:45:17 pm
As far as I know, not right now. What others have suggested is to make a particular playlist to the length of time you want and then ask Echo to play that list.  :)

Yeah, I guess that would be a ok workaround, for now (hopefully, they can make an actual "timer" for us in the future.).
Thanks!!
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: jbud on September 13, 2015, 04:15:34 pm
Alexa seems to know nothing about NASCAR.  I asked her who won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race yesterday and she said "Sorry, I can't find the answer to the question I heard".  I've tried other variations on the question with similar results.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: skrause on September 14, 2015, 11:19:09 pm
I listen to tech podcasts, many on leo laporte's TWIT network.

I have found that these two commands are useful:

"Alexa, play the station Tech News Today on TuneIn Radio"

and

"Alexa, play the podcast This Week In Tech on TuneIn Radio"

If I use just use "Alex, play Tech News Today" or "Alexa, This Week in Tech" I get a Flash Briefing from NPR.

Oops, now i was just testing this before I posted this and it seems it does understand "Alex, play This Week in Tech".   It seems to have learned that it doesn't need the "podcast" and the "Tunein radio" part for that command.  Not sure what it is learning... my listening habits or the general user base's listening habits for that relatively popular podcast?

Anyway it's nice to be able to call up those podcasts. 

A few problems though:
- The TuneIn radio server doesn't get the podcasts very quickly.  There is a day delay between when they would be available on a podcast app.
- There is no way to jump forward or backward on the podcast when using TuneIn radio.  I don't see a way to jump forward or back on their Android app so I can't imagine it would be available on the Echo.

Makes me wonder if there are ways to listen to podcasts without going through TuneIn.

Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: ahlanderj on September 23, 2015, 10:57:35 pm
Try echotricks.com
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: echouser on October 26, 2015, 04:56:54 pm
Question: Is there a command for Echo to turn music off after a set amount of time? I like to have some relaxation music on when I go to sleep, but stop after 15min/30min/ an hour or so ( so it's not playing all night).
 Thanks ahead all :).

You can now ask Alexa, set a sleep timer for x
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: Legenderry on October 31, 2015, 09:04:58 am
Question: Is there a command for Echo to turn music off after a set amount of time? I like to have some relaxation music on when I go to sleep, but stop after 15min/30min/ an hour or so ( so it's not playing all night).
 Thanks ahead all :).

Just ask Alexa to turn of in "X" minutes or seconds and she will.

Enjoy
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: bukzin on November 29, 2015, 12:20:33 pm
I listen to tech podcasts, many on leo laporte's TWIT network.

I have found that these two commands are useful:

"Alexa, play the station Tech News Today on TuneIn Radio"

and

"Alexa, play the podcast This Week In Tech on TuneIn Radio"

If I use just use "Alex, play Tech News Today" or "Alexa, This Week in Tech" I get a Flash Briefing from NPR.

Oops, now i was just testing this before I posted this and it seems it does understand "Alex, play This Week in Tech".   It seems to have learned that it doesn't need the "podcast" and the "Tunein radio" part for that command.  Not sure what it is learning... my listening habits or the general user base's listening habits for that relatively popular podcast?

Anyway it's nice to be able to call up those podcasts. 

A few problems though:
- The TuneIn radio server doesn't get the podcasts very quickly.  There is a day delay between when they would be available on a podcast app.
- There is no way to jump forward or backward on the podcast when using TuneIn radio.  I don't see a way to jump forward or back on their Android app so I can't imagine it would be available on the Echo.

Makes me wonder if there are ways to listen to podcasts without going through TuneIn.

Maybe the paid (Pro) version of TuneIn would do that.  I have it on a Android phone and will test it when my Echo arrives next week.

Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: StandardModel on December 20, 2015, 06:50:44 pm
I wish that Alexa had a simple command like "help" which would list all installed programs and the phrases necessary to start them.
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: Gerfnad on June 01, 2016, 11:16:16 am
Question: Is there a command for Echo to turn music off after a set amount of time? I like to have some relaxation music on when I go to sleep, but stop after 15min/30min/ an hour or so ( so it's not playing all night).
 Thanks ahead all :).

You may already know this, but now you can start your music then say:
Alexa sleep xx minutes (hours etc).  Alexa will turn the music off at that point.
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: mike27oct on June 01, 2016, 12:56:46 pm
Online help for devices is available at Amazon site, here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_ss_v3_ds_t4?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200127470
Title: Re: List of commands or a GOOD user manual
Post by: JoelD on December 01, 2016, 06:04:32 pm
If you live in Chicago, Houston, New York, Austin, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Indy,Jacksonville, LA , Philly, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Fran, San Jose, Seattle or DC, you can find local news reports, just search Virtual News Center in flash briefings.