Virtual assistants like Alexa can help you with a wide variety of practical, everyday tasks – like setting a timer, reporting the weather forecast, or playing any song instantly. If you have one of these devices, chances are you've just started exploring its features. To help you unlock this universe of possibilities that the device offers, we've gathered 12 features from Amazon's Alexa that go beyond managing your smart devices.

1. Listening to Audible or Kindle Books on Your Alexa

If you have an Audible account or are a Kindle user, you can ask Alexa to read the books you choose. Just say "Alexa, read my book" or "Alexa, read my Kindle book" and she'll understand and pick up where you left off. It can be a great option for those who have children, as they love to hear stories and the virtual assistant can help you right now.

2. Order delivery

Using your favorite delivery skill for Alexa, you can repeat the orders you usually place in your favorite restaurants and also keep track of the orders in progress.

3. List and track purchases

Creating a shopping list is native to Alexa just ask to add items that she will record and can send to you later. But these skills allow you to go a little further and check prices on the internet and use your frontier internet plans, for example.

4. Call someone

Got your hands full? Need to make an urgent call? Too lazy to pick up your smartphone? The assistant supports Alexa-to-Alexa calls on iPhones running iOS 9.0 or higher and a smartphone running Android 5.0 or higher. Just configure it in the app. With an Echo Show, you can also make and receive video calls.

5. Play a song you don't know

You know when you keep trying to remember a song, but in your head, all you have is the melody or a few missing words? This Alexa command can help you right now. Just sing what you remember to the virtual assistant, and she can recognize the song and offer to play it for you.

6. Play some games

There are over 50 games available to play with the Echo alone or in groups, some native to the device and others available via download.

7. Teach a child to bathe

This skill, in addition to helping children's autonomy, aims to reduce water and electricity consumption, using only 4 minutes of the shower. Alexa uses interactivity, lively music, and sustainable tips, turning bath time into an educational moment.

8. Purchase control

Another very interesting and practical function of Alexa is the possibility to buy things from Amazon, using your account and payment method already saved on the site. You can search for something, buy and receive it at your home, all just by your voice. To activate this feature just open the app settings – click on the Alexa account – click on voice purchase. It is worth remembering that anyone can use this command, so if you have children at home, for example, and you want to deactivate it, just follow the same path and click deactivate at the end.

9. Create a routine

One of the functions that not everyone knows about Alexa is that it can perform routines, such as a sequence of actions that you will create yourself from a specific phrase. For example, if you record a routine based on the phrase “Alexa, good night”, she will know to turn off lights and turn on security cameras, among others.

10. Care Hub

This new Alexa function, called Care Hub, can integrate two Alexas, to help you monitor the health of elderly people or relatives who are far away from you. If the virtual assistant in the other house has not been activated for a long time, it triggers an automatic alert, showing you that something is different from normal. Another interesting point is the emergency dialing, where you can program numbers for immediate contact, triggered by the help command, in case of an accident, for example.

11. Chat in other languages

It is common to have families that receive foreigners in exchange programs. If you're in a place where family members aren't fluent in their native language, Alexa has a model created especially for you. Multilingual mode is one of Alexa's best skills because it allows you to speak like her in two different languages. The service is available in the US (with support for English and Spanish), India (where it will support Indian English and Hindi), and Canada (where Alexa will understand English and Canadian French).

12. Help you to be healthier

Are you trying to lead a healthier life? You can ask Alexa for quick health tips. While you should see a doctor for an annual checkup and if you experience any symptoms, the virtual assistant can offer some generic skill-based advice.

Alexa's Skills

In addition to Alexa's standardized responses, there is the possibility of adding Skills for the assistant: skills developed by third parties that can be learned and performed with your voice commands. In this way, it is possible to expand the range of actions that can be activated by connected devices. Amazon's website provides a complete catalog of skills. The list of available activities includes skills dedicated to the smart home, reading the news, and preparing recipes, among other examples.

Alexa can be a great company

Alexa's “powers” don't stop there. She is as versatile as the equipment she can control. Forget the remote: you can change channels, turn the volume up/down, and open Netflix using voice commands on compatible Smart TVs, such as Samsung models. In addition, the Amazon Fire TV Stick can also receive commands to open content on your television. Do not forget that a good internet like Centurylink internet, guarantees all these commands.

Another example is the ability to control devices intended for the smart home. This is the case, for example, for connecting a home kit, with Smart Wi-Fi Lamp, Smart Plug Wi-Fi, and Smart Control Universal. The list of compatible devices continues to grow steadily, with options for bulbs, sockets, and even cars with Alexa built-in. In any case, you can already see that Alexa is just as powerful as the compatible devices connected to the Echo line. A “product” that gains functions over time, so to speak.