Amazon Alexa will soon become more useful with the latest addition of reminder and timer functionalities, which some said should have been available at the speaker was first introduced.
Amazon Alexa will soon become more useful with the latest addition of reminder and timer functionalities, which some said should have been available at the speaker was first introduced.
With the update, users can simply say “Alexa, remind me to call Jason at 6pm;” “Alexa, remind to buy new contact lens on July 3rd;” and “Alexa, remind me to take the trash out on Monday.” And the voice assistant will remind users of the tasks at the specified time. The time format can be in hours, on a particular date or a day of the week.
However, Alexa still has room for improvement. Its rival Google Assistant allows users to set a recurring reminder or specify a location at a specific time while Alexa can not. For example, Alexa won’t understand an order like “Remind me to pay utility bills when I get home.”
Moreover, one reminder will only be saved in the Echo device. Other Echo devices at home won’t sync the reminder like they do with Evernote and Todoist.
Named Timer, the other new feature, lets Alexa differentiate between multiple timers. For example, users can say “Alexa, set a steak timer for 10 minutes” and “Alexa, set a bread timer for 20 minutes.” It is especially useful in the kitchen to remind users who are multitasking.
In addition, users can keep track of the timers in the Alerts & Alarms section in the Alexa app. They may ask a question like “Alexa, how much time is left on the bread timer?”
Just recently, iCloud calendar support is included into Alexa. The addition aims to boost user productivity. And the new reminder and timer features are expected to enhance the functions even further.
Continuous improvement is key to Amazon Alexa’s success, especially at a time when companies like Google, Microsoft, Essential and even Apple, are competing for dominance in the smart speaker market.