Amazon Alexa’s Echo Buttons can now activate smart home routines
Amazon’s Echo Buttons accessory for its Alexa-powered smart speakers are now capable of doing much more than simply playing games.
The companion device, which first launched in September 2017, has received an update allowing people to use the Buttons to activate smart home routines – meaning it could serve as a button to switch on the lights without using your voice.
A new option providing users with a choice of routines for the Echo Buttons has been added to the Alexa app, in Amazon’s latest boost to the smart home.
Playing music or announcing dinner are some of the other uses the update makes possible.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced that it was releasing a Gadgets Skills API, allowing independent developers to create their own uses for the Echo Buttons.
Alexa, the voice-powered virtual assistant behind Amazon Echo, recently celebrated its fourth birthday with a special recording of Harry Birthday sung by Michael Buble.
