Get CPR certified in 30 minutes at CPR Test Center.
Echo & Alexa Forums

Can I make a routine perform multiple tasks involving different skills?

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

AttilaThePun

New guy here. 75-year-old "gadget freak"

Want to make Alexa do something I can't figure out how to set up.

I've done several things with the 7 echos (1 echo, 1 show, 5 dots) scattered around our house. Mostly several combinations of lights (some Tuya, some Smart, some Hue) in various rooms.

Got a "cute" routine where I say "Alexa, intruder alert" and she turns all the lights on and red, sounds a siren, and says "Intruder alert! Releasing toxic nerve gas in 10 seconds"

On a more serious note, I have a couple of Govee thermometers (cleverly named "porch" and "deck"), and can ask Alexa "what's the temperature on the deck (or porch)?" and she'll tell me.

Also have a Honeywell smart thermostat (named "house"), and can have Alexa set it hotter or cooler, or tell me the temperature in the house

And I can just ask Alexa "what's the temperature" and she tells me what it is in my zipcode.

Here's what I would LIKE to do:
I want to get all 4 responses from a single request. Like, set up a routine (call it "temps") such that I say "Alexa, temps" and she responds as if I had said
Alexa, what's the temperature on the porch?
Alexa, what's the temperature on the deck?
Alexa, what's the temperature in the house?
Alexa, what's the temperature?

Is this possible? And, if so, how?

Thanx

Offline jwlv

  • *
  • 1484
Yes, you can now combine several commands in a single routine. This was an update that came about 3 months ago.

In the Alexa app, go to Routines. Create a new routine or edit an existing routine. Under "Add action" choose Custom. Then just type the text of exactly what you would say in a voice command. In your case, you would type in:
What's the temperature on the porch

Then for the next action, do the same thing and type in:
what's the temperature on the deck
 
Etc.

Keep in mind that some common commands and words take precedence over any routine trigger that you might use the same command or word.

BTW which Govee thermometer do you have? I have the Govee Bluetooth ones and they do not work with Alexa.

AttilaThePun

That doesn't work for me.

I have no trouble adding the first custom action. But when I then hit "Add action" for the second item, custom is greyed out and won't let me select it. How do I get around this?

BTW, my Govee thermometers are the "Govee WiFi Thermometer Hygrometer H5179", about $38 on Amazon.

Offline jwlv

  • *
  • 1484
Oh my fault. I didn't realize that the custom action is limited to only one. That kind of puts a damper on things. :(

AttilaThePun

Sure does. Another approach would be for the system to allow one routine to execute another routine. Then I could set up a string of routines - each of which does one custom thing and then executes the next routine.
Either that or allowing multiple custom actions in a routine would be a slick addition to Alexa's flexibility and usefulness.