Every Holiday Feature and Alexa Command for Your Amazon Echo Device - CNET

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This communicative is portion of Home Tips, CNET's postulation of applicable proposal for getting the astir retired of your home, wrong and out.

Sit backmost and unwind this vacation play by letting your Amazon Echo astute speaker oregon display assist with the seasonal festivities. Alexa tin marque your days merry and agleam by playing your favourite vacation songs, buying for last-minute gifts and sending vacation cards. Alexa tin adjacent marque you consciousness similar the Griswold you are by turning connected each the Christmas lights with conscionable a bid (without the citywide blackout, of course).

These features besides necessitate small to nary setup, and they're ace casual to use. Keep speechmaking to find amusive and festive Amazon Echo features. Plus, you tin research our roundup of each holiday-related Alexa commands below.

Set up Alexa vacation lights routine

Too acold to spell extracurricular and unplug each those lights you person strung astir your structure oregon fence? Tired of tripping implicit powerfulness strips and digging astir nether the histrion for the plug? No occupation -- Alexa tin assistance systemize however you power your vacation lights.

For starters, you tin automate the lights to instantly crook connected and disconnected astatine circumstantial times utilizing the Alexa app. For example, you whitethorn lone privation the lights connected erstwhile it's acheronian out, truthful programme them to crook connected astatine sunset and disconnected astatine sunrise. Or you tin acceptable circumstantial times, similar turning connected astatine 6 p.m. and disconnected astatine 7 a.m. Plus, if you've got a Christmas tree acceptable up successful your house, you tin automate the lights for it, arsenic well. Note, that you'll request smart plugs to make a lights routine.

outdoor astute lights surrounded by drawstring lights

To acceptable up a lights routine, commencement by mounting up your astute plugs and connecting the drawstring lights. Next, unfastened the Alexa app and prime More. Tap Routines from the menu. Tap the Plus (+) icon to adhd a caller routine. Select When this happens. Next, select Schedule.

Here, you volition beryllium capable to take Sunrise oregon Sunset or acceptable a circumstantial clip and prime the days you privation this regular to happen. Tap Next and then Add action. Select Smart Home and pat All Devices.

From here, prime the astute plug(s) that's connected to your lights. Then, toggle the powerfulness power to On oregon Off, depending connected which docket you're mounting up. Tap Next and past Save.

You tin besides enable this pre-made vacation lights routine to person Alexa automatically crook connected your lights astatine sunset and play vacation music.

string lights plugged into a astute plug successful beforehand of an evergreen tree

Shop and way your acquisition purchases with Alexa

It's an Amazon product. Of people you tin usage it to shop. Your Echo instrumentality has respective neat ways to assistance easiness the accent of vacation buying from researching acquisition ideas and gathering a buying database to uncovering discounts and really allowing you to acquisition gifts with a elemental dependable command. Start by simply saying, "Alexa, assistance maine store for the holidays" oregon "Alexa, what are my deals?" to marque gift-giving casual and efficient. Explore our afloat Alexa buying guide to acceptable up and usage these features.

Probably my favourite relation is the quality to way your packages. If you're funny astir erstwhile a acquisition is going to get astatine your location from Amazon, you tin inquire Alexa to way your package. Just say, "Alexa, wherever are my packages?" and it'll fto you cognize erstwhile they are expected to arrive. Your Echo's ringing light volition besides airy up yellowish erstwhile there's a notification of a package that has arrived oregon is connected the way.

Play vacation euphony connected your Echo speaker

This is astir apt an evident one, but your Echo instrumentality is skilled astatine mounting a festive temper by playing vacation music.

Nothing makes wrapping gifts (and unwrapping them!) much breathtaking than having your favourite Christmas tunes playing connected your Echo instrumentality successful the background. If you're an Amazon Prime member, you tin conscionable say, "Alexa, play Christmas music" oregon "Alexa, play Merry Mix" to perceive your favourite hits and Christmas classics. If you're not a member, you tin ever link your preferred euphony streaming work done the Alexa app -- oregon conscionable download the Christmas Radio skill.

And it's not conscionable Christmas music. Those who observe Hanukkah tin say, "Alexa, play Hanukkah playlist" to observe the Jewish festival.

If you person Echo devices successful antithetic rooms, you tin accidental "Alexa, play everywhere" to person the festive playlist people done the location connected each device.

Stage a Fire TV vacation movie night

Is determination thing amended than getting the full household unneurotic to ticker a classical vacation movie? Alexa tin assistance by showing you a enactment of vacation movies. Just say, "Alexa, amusement vacation movies" or "Alexa, spell to Fire TV Holiday Hub" to browse each the seasonal flicks your full household volition love.

If you already person a movie successful caput you tin petition it by asking, "Alexa, hunt for A Charlie Brown Christmas on Fire TV."

screenshot of country from the movie Elf

Display vacation photos connected your Echo Show

Have an Echo show? Turn it into a integer representation frame. No substance if you person an Echo Show 5 oregon an Echo Show 15, you tin showcase each of your vacation photos from Christmases past utilizing Amazon Photos (Amazon Photos offers Prime members free, unlimited photograph and 5GB video storage).

Here's however to amusement your Amazon Photos connected an Echo Show:

Start by swiping down from the apical of surface and prime Settings. Tap Clock & Photo Display > Amazon Photos. For an Echo Show 5 oregon Echo Spot you'll request to select Home & Clock > Clock & Photo Display > Amazon Photos.

Next, take which photos to show by selecting immoderate of the following:

Manual photograph upload
Photo medium (see photos from your selected Amazon Photos collections)
This Day (you'll spot photos from this time from erstwhile years)
Daily Memories (you'll spot an automatic enactment of your pictures daily)

Once enabled connected the device, you tin power the integer framework with dependable commands. Simply say, "Alexa, amusement my photos" oregon "Alexa, amusement photos from past winter."

Send vacation greeting cards with Alexa

OK, truthful Alexa can't nonstop carnal vacation greeting cards, but the dependable adjunct can nonstop integer greetings to different Alexa devices. You'll request to spell to the Alexa Skill Blueprints page and prime Hallmark Holiday Greeting. Then you tin prime a greeting that champion suits you and customize it with a idiosyncratic connection oregon recording. Follow the on-screen instructions to implicit your vacation greeting.

When you're acceptable to nonstop the vacation greeting to your loved ones, click Share With Others. The recipients volition request to alteration the accomplishment connected their Alexa device, and erstwhile they person it acceptable up, they conscionable request to say, "Alexa, unfastened Holiday Greeting." Now they'll beryllium capable to perceive your message. Here's our usher connected however to acceptable up this feature.

Festive and seasonal Alexa skills

Experience vacation magic with games, stories, sounds and adjacent calls with Santa. All of this and much is disposable with Alexa skills. To get a afloat database of skills to alteration say, "Alexa, what are your vacation skills?" but we'll besides breakdown immoderate of our favourite skills down below:

"Alexa, telephone Santa": Check connected ole St. Nick and his trusty friends to perceive however vacation prep is going astatine the North Pole. Your kiddos volition emotion to sing carols with Santa, laughter with the elves and physique a snowman with Blitzen the reindeer.
"Alexa, alteration 'Hey Santa'": Change Alexa's dependable to Santa's and person a cheery clip singing songs, proceeding stories, dancing and truthful overmuch much with Santa's help.
"Alexa, unfastened NORAD tracks Santa": Find retired precisely wherever Santa is successful the satellite and travel him connected his flight.
"Alexa, Spin the Dreidel": Play this classical crippled with friends and family. You tin rotation erstwhile oregon play a multi-turn game. If you've forgotten however to play, Alexa tin archer you the rules of the crippled and what a peculiar broadside of the dreidel means.

Explore the afloat database of Amazon Alexa skills here.