Alexa allows us to make our home something more intelligent through compatible devices or appliances. Surely you have heard about the Amazon Echo and that we can ask it to turn on the lights through our voice or to turn on the vacuum cleaner or tell us what the temperature is. Yes, you can but you need to configure compatible devices , add devices to Alexa from the Amazon application to be able to use them in your day to day.

Alexa app

The first thing we must do if we have an Amazon Echo is to download the application on our mobile phone to be able to control the devices we have at home. Whether we only have one or if we have one in the living room and another in the bedroom, for example, from the application we can manage skills, games, check lists and notes, see reminders and alarms, etc.

You can download the Alexa app on iOS and Android devices, mobiles and tablets. Just go to the app store, Google Play or App Store, and search for Alexa . Once you have found it, download it and log in with your username and password linked to the Amazon account you are using.

Add new device

Once you have linked your application to your Amazon Echo, we can add devices to Alexa to control them from the speaker itself. That is, the Echo (regardless of the model you have) uses the microphones to listen to our command and executes the command directly to whatever device it is. For example, to the smart light bulbs you have at home, a smart lock, a video surveillance camera, vacuum cleaners … But before you can give it orders you will have to link or configure these compatible devices from the Aazon app.

In general, when we buy a smart device, it will tell us if it is compatible with Alexa or not. It happens, for example, with smart fans. Or also with a vacuum cleaner like the Roomba from iRobot. As long as it is compatible, we can add or register it by following the steps that we explain below.

The first thing we have to do, as we have said in previous paragraphs, is to download the Alexa application on our mobile phone. Once you have it, it will only take a few seconds to register a new device:

• Open the Alexa app
• Go to your profile and the lower menu
• Tap on “More” next to the three horizontal lines
• At the top, choose “Add device”
• You will see a list of available device types
• Choose the one you want to register and follow the steps in the app

Types and how to configure

When adding a device to the Alexa app we have to choose the type that it is. It can be another Amazon Echo that you have bought for another room, for example, but also all kinds of home appliances or home automation devices. In that case, you will see a complete list of device types:

• Amazon Echo
• Light
• Plug
• switch
• Camera
• Lock
• Controller
• Car accessory
• Thermostat
• Vacuum cleaner
• TV
• Bluetooth speaker
• Speaker
• Headphones
• Other

If you tap on “Other” because it is not on your list, you probably need to go to the Amazon Skills Store to download a Skill that will allow you to use your device.

Within each of the previous sections we will find subsections to refine with the pairing. For example, if you want to add a new Amazon Echo device and tap on the first option, you will see a new window with all the available speaker models: Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Sub, Echo Auto, Echo Input, Echo Studio, Amazon Tap… You just have to choose the one and follow the steps that the app will indicate and that will help you link one to the other. You will usually have to choose the brand and follow the instructions on the screen, although some devices have Alexa easy setup technology.

Digital home

Another option that Amazon has is that we can create Digital Home groups that allow us to join several devices in the same room to control all of them at the same time in that group. If, for example, you have several bulbs in a room, you can give the order to that whole group of the home so that they all light up.

To add devices to the Alexa Smart Home follow these steps:

• Open the Alexa app on your mobile
• Choose the Devices option in the lower menu
• Select on the plus icon
• Tap on Add group
• Create different names for the Digital Home groups
• Choose the devices you want to include in each group
• Tap on Save

Each Amazon Echo speaker must be linked to at most one Digital Home group. It is useful if you have several. Also, you can choose your preferred speaker:

• Open the Alexa app on your mobile phone
• Select the Devices option
• Choose the group you have created for Smart Home
• Tap on the Preferred Speaker option
• Select the one you want from those available
• Choose Save

What can we configure?

There are all kinds of devices compatible with Alexa that we can find on Amazon to have a smart home little by little and at our own pace. For example, smart bulbs to adjust colors, intensity or ambiences. But also a smart plug that we can turn off or on directly from Alexa if you want not to leave the coffee maker plugged in at night, for example.

Home Connect appliances

Home Connect technology appliances can be connected through a specific skill to the Alexa app. What does this allow us? For example, asking the smart speaker to turn on the coffee maker and make us a cappuccino. They are expensive and for now rare appliances but you will find them from the Bosch, Gaggenau, NEFF and Siemens brands. You can tell the oven to turn off after an hour or turn off the dishwasher through a voice command if it is ringing.

Televisions and TV devices

It is also compatible with some TV brands such as Hisense or TCL , also with Sony or with the Xbox console, in addition to the Fire TV that you can link if you want to put a specific series on Netflix or HBO.

Vacuum cleaners

IRobot vacuums are compatible with Alexa. You can link them to the app and tell Amazon to turn on the vacuum, stop it, or go back to its base.

Thermostats

Netatmo thermostats are the most popular but not the only one. Alexa also allows you to link Google Nest, Somfy, Honeywell Home or tado, for example.

Cameras

Beyond Amazon Ring cameras, Blink, TP-Link, D-Link, Logitech or Netgear video surveillance cameras, among others, can be linked with Alexa if you want to give orders using our voice and without having the phone at hand.