10 Unexpected Uses For Your Smart Speakers
In the age of ever-increasingly intelligent technology, your trusty smart speaker can do much more than play music or tell you the time — it can be transformed into any number of helpful implementations, from an endless cookbook to a fashion guide. With a smart speaker alone, there are already plenty of available functions that can have a huge impact on your day-to-day life. However, your smart speaker can be combined with a plethora of other smart devices to automate and simplify any number of chores and tasks.
Research from last year holds that 35% of Americans over the age of 18 own a smart speaker, roughly putting the number of smart speaker owners in the country at 90 million. With that many in circulation, it's not hard to imagine that a few smart speaker owners out there don't know some of the more outside-the-box uses for their speakers. In that same study, 86% of smart speaker owners agreed their speaker made life more convenient.
But the sky is truly the limit on exactly how convenient a smart speaker can make life for you. With some creativity and outside-the-box thinking, there are plenty of unexpected uses for your smart speaker that you can integrate into your daily life.
The ultimate alarm
With a steady internet connection, it's no surprise that a smart speaker boasts impeccable timekeeping accuracy. You can seamlessly set your alarm by issuing voice commands such as "Hey Google, wake me up at 7 a.m." or "Alexa, set an alarm for 8:30 a.m.," or by simply opening the app that corresponds with your smart speaker and manually setting one from there.
However, your smart speaker can do more than help you wake up — it can help you get to sleep. For a restful night's sleep, leverage your smart speaker's white noise capabilities. With voice prompts like "Hey Siri, play white noise," you can select from a vast array of soothing sounds, including ocean waves, rainfall, or a gentle breeze. Fine-tune the volume and duration to align with your preferences and help yourself to get a restful night's sleep.
However, you don't have to stop at white noise. For waking up, your smart speaker can go so much further. You can set your speaker up to play soothing nature sounds to start your morning or give you the latest news if that's more your style. With a bit of creativity and smart home synergy, you can turn your smart speaker into an access point for the perfect morning. This can extend to having a smart coffee maker synced up to your smart speaker so you can get coffee brewing with a simple voice command.
Perhaps even further, your smart speaker can be hooked to smart light bulbs to slowly turn up the lights during your morning wake-up, or maybe even smart blinds to bring in the sun to start your day. There's truly no shortage of things your smart speaker can do to help start your morning.
Language learning
One of the key components of any smart speaker is the voice behind it. Whether you're talking to Siri, Google, or Alexa, there's no shortage of interesting conversations you can have with your virtual assistant of choice. One thing they can help you with beyond setting timers or checking the weather is to help you learn a foreign language. And there's a ton of ways in which they can help.
Mastering pronunciation is one of the crucial challenges in language learning. Smart speakers excel in this regard. They can articulate words and phrases accurately, helping learners grasp the nuances of native speech patterns. Simply ask your smart speaker to pronounce words or sentences, and it will respond with impeccable enunciation, allowing you to mimic and practice effectively.
Engaging in conversations with a native speaker is invaluable for language acquisition. Smart speakers can help to simulate these dialogues through voice-activated interactions. They can act as your conversational partner, responding to your questions and statements and even correcting your mistakes in real-time. This immersive experience hones your conversational skills at your own pace.
Additionally, many smart speakers are equipped with language learning skills or apps that provide structured lessons and exercises. These modules cover grammar, vocabulary, and cultural insights, offering a comprehensive learning experience. You can progress through lessons, take quizzes, and receive feedback — all through voice commands.
Another one of the most invaluable language learning opportunities your smart speaker can provide is through immersion and cultural insights. With your smart speaker, you can listen to music or news in the language you are wishing to learn. Exposure to this authentic brand of content can help your understanding, and any confusion over small things like foreign idioms can be cleared up with a quick query with your smart speaker.
A limitless cookbook
Gone are the days of sifting through cookbooks or typing on a screen with flour-covered hands. Smart speakers allow you to search for recipes with voice commands like "Hey Google, find a chicken curry recipe" or "Alexa, suggest a vegetarian pasta dish." Instantly access an array of recipes tailored to your cravings and dietary needs. Once you've chosen a recipe, your smart speaker can guide you through the cooking process step by step. It will read out instructions and ingredient quantities and even provide tips, ensuring you create dishes with culinary finesse.
Smart speakers can also provide valuable help with recipes where you may need to substitute. With a quick ask, your smart speaker can search for any number of ingredients you can use in place of another. Furthermore, if you need to quickly convert units, a smart speaker can do that for you in an instant. Or, if you just need advice on something as simple as "how to cut an avocado," a smart speaker will have you covered.
This can also be combined with more well-known smart speaker usage, such as reminders and setting timers. With a smart speaker, you can easily set a timer for anything that needs to simmer or bake. Using reminders and your smart speaker's ability to make a shopping list, you can easily add anything you run out while cooking to your grocery list at the exact instant you run out.
With your smart speaker as your culinary companion, your recipe repertoire becomes virtually limitless. When standing in as your sous chef, your smart speaker becomes less of a "cookbook" and more of a "cook Swiss army knife."
Transforming your home into a hands-free smart home
There are a lot of devices available to hook up to your smart speakers. Just about any task you can think of around your house that you would like to make hands-free can be made hands-free. Some smart devices stand out as must-haves, and some you might not even know exist.
Starting with your smart speaker, you can begin to transform your home into a hands-free web of interacting devices. Some of the most well-known smart options available are doorbells, thermostats, and light bulbs. With smart bulbs, you can easily turn on or off any light in your home by just asking your speaker. With a smart thermostat, if you wake up to find a sudden and uncomfortable temperature change, you can quickly ask your speaker to adjust the temperature to your liking. Smart doorbells can let you view and talk to anyone at your door, and when combined with a smart lock, you can remotely let in a guest if you're otherwise preoccupied.
And that's only scratching the surface of what you can do through your smart speaker when you combine it with other products. With the use of smart plugs, you can make any electronic in your house triggerable with your smart speaker. When you combine all of these potential tie-in devices with routine functions, you can quickly set up a simple phrase that can allow you to quickly set any number of tasks off at the same time. When it comes to smartening up your home with your speaker and other devices, the only limit is your creativity.
A personal trainer
Just as you can use your smart speaker to help train your brain, you can use your smart speaker to train your body. Your smart speaker can help you to curate workout routines through the use of any number of apps available through Amazon's Alexa or without any extra skills on Google Home. Unfortunately, it isn't currently possible for Apple HomePod users to take advantage of a potential Apple subscription in this context, as Apple Fitness+ doesn't currently support use with the HomePod.
However, on Google Home and Alexa, through voice-activated commands, your smart speaker can guide you through exercises with precision. It can provide step-by-step instructions for various workouts, ensuring proper form and technique to maximize effectiveness while reducing the risk of injury.
Going further, your smart speaker can help you keep up with how you're doing with your goals throughout the day if you own a Fitbit. By connecting Alexa and your Fitbit, you can ask your smart speaker a plethora of questions, including how far you've walked in a day, how many calories you've burned, or what your resting heart rate is.
Achieving fitness goals isn't just about exercise; it also involves proper nutrition. Tying back to using your smart speaker as an infinite cookbook, your smart speaker can provide dietary advice, suggest healthy recipes, and even create meal plans that align with your fitness objectives.
By connecting all of these separate pieces, your smart speaker can quickly become a hand-in-hand companion for helping you to stay on top of your fitness goals. Whether it be through reminders for workouts and meals or just staying up to date on your progress toward your goals on any given day, your smart speaker can have your back for all of your fitness needs.
Add some zest to your next game night
If you find yourself running a "Dungeons & Dragons" campaign and are looking for ways to add something to your campaign, a smart speaker can be a gateway to an elevated and immersive tabletop adventure. And depending on any other smart devices you own, your smart speaker can really help you take things to the next level.
One of the more obvious uses in this department is using your smart speaker to easily add sound to your campaign. Your smart speaker can play background sounds of dungeons, forests, bustling cities, or even the eerie silence of an abandoned castle. These sound effects add depth and atmosphere to your storytelling. Or there's the option to use music for certain scenarios and settings. Be it for using an emotional piece to underpin a sad moment or epic boss music to further the hilarity of a joke battle, your trusty smart speaker can provide.
Beyond just music, your smart speaker can speed up several processes throughout gameplay. Should you need to quickly lookup a rule or a spell, skills available for Alexa can make your smart speaker a quicker option than thumbing through a book. Or, if you want to expedite a dice roll, a smart speaker can quickly be made to roll any die you need.
If you don't want immersion for your players to stop at sound, consider setting up some smart bulbs. With a bit of setup, your speaker can trigger lighting and sound for any location or event you need it and truly help you create a memorable campaign experience.
A dedicated phone finder
It's really easy to lose track of your phone. No matter how conscious you are of your phone's location, it just takes a moment for your phone to fall between couch cushions or for you to leave it lying in another room.
Luckily, this is one of the features built into every major smart speaker on the market. However, those who own an Alexa device may get the short end of the stick on this particular function, as finding your phone with an Alexa device can be dependent on your ringer being on. However, with a Google Nest device or a HomePod, finding your phone can be very simple. With the Find My Device settings enabled on an Android phone or Find My enabled on an iPhone, your phone can be tracked down pretty quickly. On either device, the speaker can be made to ping the equivalent phone, no matter what its ringer is set to.
Even with an Alexa device, as long as you keep your phone's ringer on, your Alexa can ping your phone for you and help you find it in no time. So, if you own a smart speaker and find yourself losing your phone at home frequently, the solution to your issue is already in your grasp.
Helping to get dressed
Have you ever found yourself running late in the morning and running out the door wearing something completely ridiculous? Be it looking like a crazy person or not being dressed for the weather. A smart speaker can help you quickly put together something to wear for any day and ensure you're dressed properly.
You can begin your day by asking your smart speaker for the weather forecast. Knowing the day's conditions can guide your clothing choices. For example, if it's going to be sunny, it will recommend lighter fabrics, while a cold day might call for layering. Some skills can go so far as enabling your speaker to directly tell you the kind of clothes to wear for the day's weather.
Amazon previously released the Amazon Echo Look, a smart speaker equipped with a camera that was expressly meant to help you decide between outfits and find new clothes on Amazon. Unfortunately, the device was discontinued last year. However, even without the visual element, skills such as Style Check can still help you pick an outfit for the day.
On a more basic level as well, your smart speaker can help you fill gaps in your wardrobe. Notice you're missing too many socks or that you need to replace a few shirts? A smart speaker can help you keep track of those things on a shopping list and can be set to remind you the next you go shopping.
Keeping track of your schedule
It isn't exactly a secret that your smart speaker can send you reminders for any number of things you've set it for. However, the scheduling capabilities of your smart speaker are so much more robust than just simple reminders. With a synced calendar, your smart speaker can kick your scheduling up a notch.
By integrating your smart device with your calendar, be it Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, you can add any number of reminders to your calendar that you can look at from any device. On your speaker itself, you can also set up a recurring daily to-do list to help you keep track of any daily tasks you need to do. When putting these features together, you can quickly ask your smart speaker to summarize your schedule to you at the beginning of any day. This is all in addition to your smart speaker being able to verbally remind you of any of these tasks throughout the day at the exact time you choose to be reminded of them.
And for helping you to stay on top of your schedule, a smart speaker has several features available to help you make the most of your time. If you need to be on time for an appointment across town, a smart speaker can help you get an idea of the traffic between you and your destination. Your smart speaker can also stay on top of any adverse weather that might affect anything you have scheduled, and you can quickly ask your speaker to reschedule something for a different day. When taken in conjunction with meticulous reminders and calendar management, your smart speaker can help you stay on top of anything in your life.
Home security
Home security systems can be wildly expensive. However, if you own a smart speaker, you can set yourself up with some peace of mind for considerably less money than what a full security system would cost. Or, if money is no concern, you can add products alongside your speaker to make a more thorough security set-up.
The Alexa Guard functionality stands out in particular, with several options for security available on your smart speaker with no need for additional devices. With Alexa Guard, your smart speaker can notify you of certain noises within your home, such as glass breaking or a smoke alarm. With the function turned on, you'll immediately be notified of such noises on the Alexa app. From the notification, you can choose to flag the situation as an emergency.
Going beyond just owning the smart speaker, Alexa Guard can also be linked up with an ADT Subscription to alert the company of any suspicious noise while you're away. Going further, in a move that would make Kevin McCallister proud, your Alexa can periodically turn your lights off and on while you're away to make it seem as though someone is home.
Security-wise, other devices, such as smart doorbells and smart locks, can be thrown into the mix for an extra layer of security at your door. And, if monitoring your front door isn't enough, cameras made to link up with your smart speaker can be purchased to add one more level of security to your home.