Smart speakers and voice assistants on smartphones can perform multiple actions with one simple command. For example, with these Routines you can automate your evening and morning rituals. Google Assistant, on smartphones and Nest Home speakers, as well as Amazon Alexa, on Echo speakers and in the app, support this function. That’s how it works.
Now that more and more devices in our house are connected to the home network, it is possible to perform multiple actions simultaneously. In the evening you can lock the door from your bed, close the curtains, switch off the lights, set an alarm clock and set your phone to Do Not Disturb. In the morning you can turn things around, have the weather forecast read aloud, hear the latest news and play a wake up music. Via Routines you can put all these actions in one command, such as Sleep tight or Good morning.
Routines with the Google Assistant
Routines work via the Google Assistant on your smartphone as well as via the smart speakers Nest Home, Nest Home Mini and Nest Hub. Open the Assistant app, press the icon at the bottom left and wait for your profile picture to load at the top. Tap it and then tap Routines. You have the choice to use or modify a number of predefined routines, or to build your own.
Tap on Add a routine to create a new routine. below Add assignment enter the word you use to start the routine. This can be done in both Dutch and English. In the latter case, the Assistant will also speak back in English. You can use multiple words for the same routine, for example Good night, Sleep tight and Goodnight. below Set a time and day you can have the routine start automatically. Handy if you wake up at the same time every day, for example, or if you don’t want to be disturbed during your favorite daily TV program.
Then tap Add action. You can enter a command yourself (Google understands wonderfully well what you mean. If you can’t? Try it in English) or choose from a list of predefined actions. Some promotions have extra options, such as adjusting the light intensity after switching on your smart lights or reducing the volume of your Home speaker. below Add media if you have, for example, linked your Spotify or Tidal account to your Google account, you can designate a playlist that will automatically play after the Routine has been performed. You can also play sleep sounds, such as a rain shower or a fireplace.
Finally, tap Save and your routine is ready to go. Note that not all routines always work perfectly and that actions can break over time, and that some actions, such as activating silent mode on your smartphone, can only be activated via the assistant on that specific device ( tip: turning on the Do Not Disturb mode is fine via your Home speakers).
Routines via Amazon Alexa
Amazon has a similar function. Open the Alexa app and scroll down to the button Create Routine comes into the picture. Tap it, and the wizard for a new routine will begin. Again, you first choose a word to start the routine. Keep in mind that Alexa does not speak Dutch yet. You can set a Dutch word, but then you run the risk that Alexa does not know exactly what you mean.
Then you can start building the routine. The actions you can choose from are fairly similar to those of Google, although the latter has more options when it comes to external devices. However, controlling your Hue lights is also just fine via the Alexa app. Through Add action> Custom you can create your own actions, which you can use via Preview this action can test immediately.
Do you have an Echo speaker or other device that can handle the Amazon assistant? Then you can choose at the bottom to play the routine from that device, instead of via your smartphone. Tap Enable to enable the routine.
Experiment
It is worthwhile to delve deeper into the possibilities yourself. The Google Assistant can adjust a lot of settings and talks to many different devices, apart from the predefined actions that Google itself offers. The big advantage of this is that you can operate your smart home without having to open all the separate apps. Also pay attention to the order in which you put the actions: do you want the volume to be adjusted before the news is read, or just before you start playing music? If you put some time into this, a simple routine is all it takes to perform a series of actions that usually take you a while. That makes your morning ritual just that little bit easier.
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