Amazon’s Alexa is a worthy investment that has spread into everyone’s home. Nowadays, everything can be automated using this smart speaker. Let’s talk about why your Alexa routine is not working.
Lights turning on, alarms to wake you up, and music to put you to sleep are all made possible through Alexa and can all be done by vocal commands, or you can use routines! Now you can go above and beyond by making your own routines.
For instance, by simply saying “good morning “you can have Alexa play some music, tell you the weather, and alert you on the current news all at once under one come out.
This is just one simple example of the thousands of automation you can create and play around with. This can even include controlling lights, turning on switches, and various other actions.
What to do if your Alexa routine is not working.
Primarily, to fix any issue that you have with Alexa, you need the Amazon Alexa app to be downloaded on your phone. You can download this app from the Apple store or the Google play store.
Once launched, you’ll be prompted to log in to your Amazon account; make sure you log in to the correct one as you will need to give permission to Alexa to order things for you as you wish.
Furthermore, once your Alexa is on your Amazon app, you can use it to set up routines. But most importantly, to fix routines that aren’t working.
Creating routines
Sometimes it is easier to start from scratch. By teaching you how to create routines the correct way, it is easier for you to delete the old ones and focus on developing the correct new ones that will work for you.
Fixing older ones can be demanding as you are blinded by the amount of information on your screen and do not follow a step-by-step. We must first learn the different options you will be prompted with when developing a routine and what they mean.
Let’s go over the various options you have for setting up a routine. The first is the “when this happened” option from the menu. This is your trigger, meaning that once the event happens, it will trigger the following event.
The second is the “when you say something” action. This signifies that once you tell Alexa a specific keyword, the following events will follow behind.
Lastly, the “at a schedule time” causes thing to happen, much like an alarm. If you program it for six in the morning for Monday through Friday, that’s when it will happen. Pretty self-explanatory.
Knowing these options, you can create a routine working around what you need, whether it be at a specific time or triggered by a particular word or action.
The routine making process
Let’s learn how to create an Alexa routine now. To do so, follow the steps below:
- Launch the Amazon Alexa app and open the menu option. Select “routines “and create a new one.
- Once you have chosen and you’re ready, click on the “+” sign and add the phrase you wish to be the trigger word.
- Then you can play around and pick and choose actions such as volume, Alexa responses, news, music, and traffic. Don’t be fooled, as these are just the tip of the iceberg of what Alexa can do with a routine.
Remember, if you’re using “a schedule time, “you will need to program a specific amount of days of the week and exact hours. Now that you are done, remember to always check your routines by using the trigger words or setting it up right before the time so we can be tested out.
If you’re having issues with an already set up routine, look through it to ensure yourself that the hour isn’t wrong or the days aren’t incorrect.
You could also make sure your trigger word is correct and the events are in the sequence you wish them to be in. Minor issues like that can cause your Alexa routines not to work.
The bottom line
Overall, when your Alexa routine is not working, you should know that there is an easy fix. Alexa might cause you some issues here and there. Yet, you can simply fix it in under a couple of steps. Making routines are extremely fun; it is almost like you’re a programmer.
Remember to have fun with it and make it as unique as you wish. My daughter adores making them, especially if she can turn off her bedroom lights by saying Star Wars phrases!
