Amazon has really been putting Alexa to work. In the past year, the we have seen the Amazon Echo adding countless IFTTT recipes. Nearly every week it seems that the Amazon Echo can do something new. The latest improvement is regarding IFTTT.
If you aren’t familiar with IFTTT, it stands for If This Then That and is used to create “recipes” that trigger an action. You can use recipes already created or formulate your own so you can automate your life. There is now an Amazon Alexa channel where you can link your Echo to IFTTT and be able to accomplish some amazing automations. The first step is to connect your Echo to IFTTT. Then, choose the recipes you want to use. Once you create a trigger phase in IFTTT, Alexa will trigger an action when you say, “Alexa, trigger [insert IFTTT trigger].” Sure, it’s a little weird to have to say “trigger,” but it’s the price we pay for automation.
Let’s take a look at the some of the IFTTT recipes for Amazon Echo:
- Add Alexa To Dos to Evernote
- Turn on the television
- Change your Hue light colors
- Add your Echo To-Do List to your Google Calendar
- Automatically keep a Google Spreadsheet of the songs you listen to on Echo
- Make your phone ring when your Echo Alarm goes off
- Have Alexa call your phone to find it
- Change the color of your lights each time a new song plays on Echo
- Add song played on Echo to your Spotify playlist
- Turn on lights when a song plays on Echo
And these are just a few of the countless recipes already created by users. The great thing about these recipes is that a lot of them integrate with so many other home automation devices, including Philips Hue, Nest Thermostat, ecobee3, smart locks, security systems, security cameras, and more. You can essentially create a smart phone and use Amazon Echo as the conductor of everything. And we’re still just in the first generation of Amazon Echo. I can’t even imagine what we’ll see with the second generation and future updates down the road.
While Amazon Echo is cool on its own, what really makes it worth purchasing is the ability to use it as a hub for coordinating so many other home automation systems, like your thermostat, lighting, security systems, and other devices you can make “smart” (such as your television). If you’ve been on the fence about buying an Amazon Echo, the expanding list of IFTTT recipes is sure to push you over the edge and hop on over to Amazon.com.
