Alexa skills are voice-activated capabilities that enhance the functionality of Amazon’s intelligent voice assistant. Think of them as apps for your Alexa-enabled devices, allowing you to customize your experience and make Alexa even more helpful in your daily life. Alexa powers a wide range of devices, from Amazon Echo smart speakers and smart displays to smartphones and even wearables. While Alexa comes with a set of built-in features, skills dramatically expand what it can do.
With over 100,000 Alexa skills available, the possibilities are vast. These skills cover a huge spectrum of tasks and interests, from controlling your smart home devices and ordering food to playing interactive games, getting news and weather updates, shopping, and much more. You can even find skills that let you interact with generative AI, manage your plants, or get personalized recommendations.
This guide explores the best Alexa skills that can help you get the most out of your Amazon assistant, turning it into a truly personalized and indispensable tool. We’ll delve into a variety of skills, highlighting their benefits and how they can seamlessly integrate into your routine.
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Top Alexa Skills to Supercharge Your Alexa Experience
To truly understand what Alexa skills are capable of, let’s explore some of the most useful and innovative skills available. These are categorized to help you find skills that align with your specific needs and interests.
Skills for Safety and Emergency Preparedness
1. Alexa Emergency Assist: For $59.99 per year, Amazon’s Emergency Assist skill transforms your Echo devices into a comprehensive home monitoring system. This subscription-based security feature offers 24/7 agent support, enabling you to call emergency services through your Alexa devices. It also passively listens for sounds of distress like breaking glass or smoke alarms. If trouble is detected, you’ll receive a notification on your Alexa app, connecting you to a monitoring agent who can dispatch help if needed. This skill is particularly valuable for peace of mind when you’re away from home.
2. Ask My Buddy: In urgent situations where reaching your phone is difficult, the Ask My Buddy skill can be a lifeline. It sends notifications – via text, SMS, or phone call – to your designated emergency contacts with a simple voice command. While not a replacement for emergency services like 911, it’s a quick way to alert loved ones that you need assistance.
Skills for Daily Convenience and Assistance
3. Find My Phone: Misplacing your phone is a common frustration. The Find My Phone skill offers a simple solution. Just say, “Alexa, find my phone,” and your Echo device will call your mobile, allowing you to locate it by sound. This is a time-saving skill, especially when you’re in a hurry.
4. Get a more accurate weather report with Big Sky: While Alexa provides basic weather forecasts, Big Sky offers hyper-local, up-to-the-minute weather information. Utilizing data from Dark Sky, this skill delivers precise forecasts based on your street address, including details like wind speed and humidity. For those who need detailed and accurate weather updates, Big Sky is a significant upgrade over the built-in forecast.
5. Recipe Ideas and Cooking Assistance: Alexa offers a wealth of cooking skills to assist in the kitchen. Easy Meal Ideas provides quick and simple recipe suggestions. America’s Test Kitchen Daily Cooking Q&A shares daily recipes and cooking tips. Morton’s Salting Sous Chef offers precise salting advice for your dishes. For visual guidance, on Echo Show devices, you can say, “Alexa, show me recipes” and follow step-by-step instructions. You can even ask for nutrition tips sourced from the Mayo Clinic by saying, “Alexa, give me a nutrition tip.”
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6. Stay Updated with News from NPR Hourly News Summary: For quick news updates, the NPR Hourly News Summary skill delivers a concise 5-minute briefing of the day’s headlines, updated hourly. For a more engaging news experience, NPR’s Wait Wait Quiz tests your news knowledge with fill-in-the-blank trivia questions based on the comedy news show “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.”
7. Restaurant Information: Need to know restaurant details? Alexa can provide information about nearby businesses. Ask “Alexa, what time does Taco Bell open?” or “Alexa, what’s the address of Wendy’s?” to get hours, location, phone numbers, and addresses. This is handy when you’re on the go or planning a meal out.
Skills for Entertainment and Relaxation
8. Sleep Sounds: Wind down before bed with the Sleep Sounds skill. Alexa can play over 125 relaxing audio clips, from classic nature sounds like ocean waves and thunderstorms to white noise, pink noise, and even unique sounds like a space deck. For more options, explore other ambient sound skills for Alexa.
9. Play Music from Various Services: Alexa seamlessly streams music from a wide array of services including Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Sirius XM, and more. You can control playback, upvote/downvote songs, and select playlists by voice. Amazon Music even allows you to launch playlists based on activities, eras, artists, or moods. You can even ask for specific mood-based playlists like “80s music for running” or “hook-up music.”
10. Audible and Audiobooks: If you enjoy books, Alexa skills enhance your audiobook experience. The Audible skill lets you play audiobooks from your Audible library through your Alexa speaker and control playback with voice commands. You can also listen to select Amazon Kindle books through Alexa, even without a Kindle device.
11. Skyrim Very Special Edition: For a unique entertainment experience, enable the Skyrim Very Special Edition skill. This text-based RPG version of Skyrim allows you to play using voice commands. Navigate the game world, make choices, embark on quests, and engage in combat, all through voice interaction with Alexa. Your progress is saved, allowing you to return and continue your adventure anytime.
12. Classic Games: Alexa offers a variety of classic games to play solo or with family and friends. Popular game skills include Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, 20 questions, bingo, Jeopardy, and tic-tac-toe. Explore the Games, Trivia & Accessories section in the Alexa app for an ever-growing selection of games.
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Skills for Smart Home Automation
13. Smart Home Control (Lights, Thermostats, Robot Vacuums): One of the most powerful aspects of Alexa skills is smart home integration. Control compatible smart devices with voice commands. Turn lights on/off using skills for Lutron, Philips Hue, Cync by GE, Lifx, and Control4. Adjust your thermostat with skills for Nest, Honeywell, Ecobee, and Bosch. Start and stop robot vacuums like Shark IQ and other compatible brands for hands-free cleaning.
14. TV Control: Control your TV using Alexa skills. If your smart TV has an Alexa skill (like Roku) or you use a Logitech Harmony remote, you can link them to Alexa. Use voice commands to turn your TV on/off, pause, change channels, and more. Skills are available for Roku, Logitech Harmony, TiVo, and Dish.
15. Start Your Car Remotely: For added convenience, certain car brands offer Alexa skills that allow you to remotely start your vehicle, lock/unlock doors, adjust climate control, and turn on lights. These skills include Hyundai Blue Link, MyFord Mobile, and EV Car for Tesla vehicles.
Skills for Health and Fitness
16. 7-Minute Workout: Get a quick workout with the 7-minute-workout skill. Alexa guides you through a series of exercises designed to boost metabolism, improve energy, and burn fat. The workout is voice-guided, and you can take breaks as needed. Combine this with fitness tracking skills for a more comprehensive health routine.
17. Fitbit: If you use a Fitbit activity tracker, the Fitbit skill lets you access your fitness data through Alexa. Ask Alexa about your step count, sleep quality, and other metrics tracked by your Fitbit. This provides a hands-free way to monitor your fitness progress.
18. Mayo Clinic First Aid: The Mayo Clinic skill provides voice-guided first aid instructions for minor injuries and emergencies, ranging from cuts and scrapes to CPR guidance. While informative, this skill is for instructional purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical help in emergencies.
19. Plant Whisperer: For plant enthusiasts, the Plant Whisperer skill offers unique features. Alexa can “whisper” positive affirmations to your plants. It also has a companion routine to remind you to water plants, control smart lights for plant lighting schedules, adjust temperature, and play plant-friendly music. This skill also expands Alexa’s plant knowledge, allowing you to ask questions about plant care.
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Skills for Productivity and Organization
20. Schedule Meetings: If you use online calendars, Alexa can help schedule meetings. With access to your and your contacts’ calendars (iCloud, Gmail, G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Outlook, Exchange), Alexa suggests meeting times based on availability. You can also ask Alexa to reschedule meetings if conflicts arise.
21. Birthday Tracker: Never miss a birthday with the Birthday Tracker skill. It sends birthday reminders, tells you upcoming birthdays, and can even recall the day of the week a birthday fell on in past years. The free version allows tracking up to 10 birthdays.
22. Generative AI Apps (Character.AI, Splash Music, Volley Games): Explore the emerging world of generative AI through Alexa skills. Character.AI is a chatbot platform for conversations with fictional characters or personas. Splash Music lets you create AI-generated songs using voice prompts. Volley Games updates classic games like 20 Questions with AI-powered interactions. These skills showcase the innovative potential of AI integration with Alexa.
23. Alexa Answers: Contribute to Alexa’s knowledge base with the Alexa Answers skill. This crowd-sourced skill allows users to answer questions that Alexa doesn’t yet know. By submitting answers, you can earn badges and contribute to the Alexa community’s collective knowledge.
24. Multilingual Mode: For multilingual households, Alexa’s Multilingual Mode is a valuable skill. It enables Alexa to understand and respond in two different languages (e.g., English and Spanish in the US, English and Hindi in India, English and Canadian French in Canada). This allows seamless interaction with Alexa for speakers of different languages within the same household.
25. Amazon Deals: Stay informed about exclusive Amazon Prime member deals with the “Alexa, what are your deals?” command. You’ll hear a series of Alexa-exclusive deals. You can also use Alexa to make purchases, get delivery updates, and reorder items through voice shopping.
26. Make Donations: Easily donate to charities through Alexa. Say, “Alexa, donate $20 to the American Cancer Society,” or “Alexa, make a donation,” to choose from over 270 supported charities, including major organizations like the American Heart Association and Doctors Without Borders.
27. Send a Hug: Connect with loved ones by sending a virtual hug through Alexa. Say, “Alexa, send a hug” to send a comforting message to your Alexa contacts.
best Alexa skills
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Choosing the Right Alexa Skills for You
Selecting the best Alexa skills is a personal process. Start by considering your needs and interests. Think about areas where Alexa could simplify your daily routine, provide entertainment, or enhance your smart home.
If you have smart home devices, prioritize skills that integrate with your brands of smart lights, plugs, locks, and thermostats. For fitness enthusiasts, explore health and fitness skills that connect with wearable devices and provide workout guidance. Consider safety and emergency skills for added security and peace of mind.
Explore skill categories within the Alexa app to discover new and interesting skills. Read user reviews and ratings to find high-quality skills. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different skills to find those that best suit your lifestyle.
How Alexa Skills are Tested and Evaluated
The Alexa skills ecosystem is constantly growing, and ensuring quality is important. Skill developers and Amazon both play roles in testing and evaluation. User reviews and ratings provide valuable feedback on skill performance and usefulness. Tech reviewers also regularly test and recommend top Alexa skills across various categories, helping users discover the most reliable and helpful options. Focus on well-reviewed skills and those recommended by trusted sources to ensure a positive Alexa skill experience.
Conclusion: Expand Alexa’s Potential with Skills
Alexa skills are the key to unlocking the full potential of your Alexa-enabled devices. By adding skills, you transform Alexa from a basic voice assistant into a personalized, multi-functional tool that can simplify tasks, provide entertainment, enhance your smart home, and much more. With a vast and ever-expanding library of skills, there’s something for everyone. Explore the Alexa skills store, experiment with different skills, and discover how these voice-activated capabilities can enrich your daily life and make Alexa an indispensable part of your connected world.
