Smart Speaker Secrets
Everyone knows you can use your smart speaker to control your lighting and music, but there are many fun features that you may not know about that can provide great entertainment.
2 minute read
Play time
There are many variations on games that are available on smart speakers. Both Google and Amazon devices have a huge variety of quizzes and trivia games to play, and will call out your bingo numbers for you. Other games to try include ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock’ (as made popular by the TV show The Big Bang Theory), ‘Ding Dong Coconut’, ‘Escape the Room’ and a choose your own adventure game such as ‘Magic Door’.
Fun quirks
Ask your smart speaker to beatbox or rap and the results can be quite amusing, with subjects ranging from cakes to science. If you need a laugh, you can ask your device to tell you a joke. These might be standard, corny jokes, but you can also find some hidden gems by asking questions such as “How was your day?” or “Can you give me some money?”. Kids absolutely love to hear the repertoire of fart sounds available, ranging from wet and squeaky to silent or spicy. Once you are done for the day, don’t forget to say goodnight to your AI assistant, and if you tell it not to let the bed bugs bite, you might get a longer response than anticipated!
Helpful choices
Sometimes you may need some help with everyday choices, or to settle an argument. You can ask your smart speaker to roll the dice (to come up with a number between one and six), flip a coin (to get heads or tails) or even generate a set amount of random numbers in a specified range. If a conversation gets too heated, or you are struggling for conversation, you can always make use of the Amazon Echo ‘Change the Subject’ feature, where Alexa will ask questions to generate conversation or entertain you with facts.
Chill out
When you’ve had enough fun and you need some wind down time, you can ask your device to tell you a story or even sing you a lullaby. Or you can opt for some guided meditation, with deep breathing exercises to help you unwind before bed, fall asleep easier, try to be happier, or just relax. And if things are really quiet and relaxed, you can whisper to your AI assistant and they will reply in a whisper too.
In short, your smart speaker can be there to entertain you, as well as make life easier for you. To show your appreciation for all these functions, try telling your virtual buddy that you love them and see what response you get!
Some of these features may not be available on all models or in all territories, or you may need to download additional software to enable them to work.
