Guys, so I have a Alexa in many rooms with Hue bulbs. All I want to work is to say is 'lights on/off' in a room and for the lights in that room to come on. Surely we don't need to say which lights... when The Alexa device receives the instructions from room A it should recognise this and put the lights on in Room A etc..It's not rocket science is it?
I wouldn't even know where to start in getting this to work.
So maybe I ask the question, is this actually possible?
Guys, so I have a Alexa in many rooms with Hue bulbs. All I want to work is to say is 'lights on/off' in a room and for the lights in that room to come on. Surely we don't need to say which lights... when The Alexa device receives the instructions from room A it should recognise this and put the lights on in Room A etc..It's not rocket science is it?
I wouldn't even know where to start in getting this to work.
So maybe I ask the question, is this actually possible?
Falls down when you want lights in a different room to operate. As in oops I left the kitchen light on.
can you not abbreviate commands in routines. E.g.” bed off” to turn bedroom lights off in that location.
Guys, so I have a Alexa in many rooms with Hue bulbs. All I want to work is to say is 'lights on/off' in a room and for the lights in that room to come on. Surely we don't need to say which lights... when The Alexa device receives the instructions from room A it should recognise this and put the lights on in Room A etc..It's not rocket science is it?
I wouldn't even know where to start in getting this to work.
So maybe I ask the question, is this actually possible?
SORRY
Ive just read this thread incredulously....
Really guys? None of you have answered this?
Mick.. this is dead simple.
You create a room in the alexa app, and in that room you can define what items are in there.... i.e. echo devices, smart bulbs etc etc etc
Then..... when you address the echo device thats in the same room as your bulbs, all you need to do is say "alexa turn off the lights" - and it knows which lights you mean as they are defined as being in the same room.
So simple. Maybe ive misunderstood your query but im just surprised to see others saying you cant do this.
The main advantage of getting this to work is that no one needs to remember names(family and friends) for something as basic as turning lights on! Obviously you could use the longer winded method of asking Alexa to turn lights off from room A for Room B. (in case someone left them on)
In all the syfy films, they all just say 'lights on' not lights on in xxxxxxx. I'm sure this will be possible one day.. it's such a obvious request that everyone would buy into and it's surprising it's not already available!
honestly im just genuinely bemused. the functionality that the OP is looking for is right there in the Alexa app.
Seriously.
peterhowe7720 lets not get hung up on terminology - I have several 'groups' (OK they aren't called "Rooms" like google home) - but each group is defined as "sitting room", "den", "dining room" etc etc....
And in each group I define what bulbs and alexa devices are there. Its the same mechanism where you can use the 'preferred speaker' function too when you have grouped multiple devices in a group (room).
Once youve done that then all you need to do is speak to the alexa in the same group and say "lights off" and it knows exactly what lights are in the same room as it, and turns them on or off accordingly.
Its really simple. Im confused as people are saying its not possible but its a huge, and very visible part of the alexa app and functionality.
Id supply a screenshot with pleasure but it just feels a bit too obvious to have to do as its there front and centre in the 'devices' section.
Just to help out... in devices, press the plus symbol top right, then select 'add group'. It even suggests room names as groups to make it obvious what its there for... One group per room. You'll see it pretty easily from there on in.
OP, I trust this is what you were looking for and I hope it does just what you wanted. If I understand your query correctly (which i might not of course) then its perfect for you.
I have now done this.. Yet to test if "Alexa, lights <on>/<off>" work as hoped?
Will report back findings.
I know I am :-)
And thanks... thats not so incredulous! I am right from time to time you know :-)
Peterhowe7720... i know you'll find it works :-)
Sorry guys, but this feature has been around for quite a while, and works great! Its designed for just such the scenario that the OP was wondering about and has other uses besides (such as the preferred speaker function)
What surprised me was a few responders to the OP came in stating as stone cold fact that it was NOT possible....
So I had to poke my nose in here and just help out the OP with the correct advice! (no offence to the others)
Just goes to show this is a peer to peer forum and we are all here helping each other out. None of us are experts eh :-)
Guys, so I have a Alexa in many rooms with Hue bulbs. All I want to work is to say is 'lights on/off' in a room and for the lights in that room to come on. Surely we don't need to say which lights... when The Alexa device receives the instructions from room A it should recognise this and put the lights on in Room A etc..It's not rocket science is it?
I wouldn't even know where to start in getting this to work.
So maybe I ask the question, is this actually possible?
Mick... you've gone quiet - Im hoping this is resolved for you - ket me know if you tried it.
I am astounded that this simple implementation of Alexa was not known about by so many.
This is suggested to anyone who starts using devices (echo or smart).
It is something I use all the time together with Routines, to automate my life.
Me too. As I say.. no offence but i was really surprised when you and peterhowe (who is quite ubiquitous in here I notice) chimed in with that firm statement that this was not possible.
As I said, this has been possible for well over a year now.
This has actually made me wonder about Amazon's marketing. Clearly something is wrong as we should all be aware of such significant and useful functionality.
Perhaps they should have a main Alexa landing page website with announcements and tutorials for major releases of functionality to keep us all up to speed.
We all know only too well that the alexa devices we purchased even a few months ago continually are improved and can do new things all the time.
Did you all know, for example, that the Echo devices can now make FREE actual phone calls to UK landline and mobiles... for FREE?. OK maybe this is well known about but these things are never released with any great fanfare.
Im quite a curious chap, and have a decent background in technology and make sure I keep up to date reading blogs etc and thats where I tend to find out about things like this. In fact, in America as we often moan about here in the UK.. they have far more functionality than we do - it can take months for some things to get implemented here. Also of course Amazon sends the weekly 'whats new with Alexa' email and there are a few things there which indicate new functions that have recently been released. Worth keeping an eye on.
I do tend to wonder just what proportion of people purchased an echo and are still just asking it what the weather is.....
I bought 3 lights from eBay (not Hue bulbs) and my two Alexa's control them very well, never had any issues, Hue bulbs are the ones always mentioned yet others work as well and cheaper to buy
I think that the 'Hue' system is bought by many because it is well advertised. It is a standalone sydtem that does NOT require Alexa (or Google). I believe it uses Bluetooth.
Buying Smart LED bulbs us a lot cheaper and appear to be more reliable. Providing you use WiFi ones, not Bluetooth.
Personally I have bought all my smart bulbs and sockets from eBay, with little issues. I ensured they all used the same App(which was the only difficult bit).
Any problems I had were to do with my slow internet.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
I think that the 'Hue' system is bought by many because it is well advertised. It is a standalone sydtem that does NOT require Alexa (or Google). I believe it uses Bluetooth.
Buying Smart LED bulbs us a lot cheaper and appear to be more reliable. Providing you use WiFi ones, not Bluetooth.
Personally I have bought all my smart bulbs and sockets from eBay, with little issues. I ensured they all used the same App(which was the only difficult bit).
Any problems I had were to do with my slow internet.
I bought 3 lights from eBay (not Hue bulbs) and my two Alexa's control them very well, never had any issues, Hue bulbs are the ones always mentioned yet others work as well and cheaper to buy
These are all very true. Many different lightbulbs can be bought from many different manufacturers.
But the point of the thread is whether you can implicitly control bulbs in a particular room in the house using an alexa without having to explicitly append the room name to the command. The answer is "yes" you can (as long as they are recognised by the alexa app of course - regardless of the bulb origins)
In my Lounge (Group called Lounge), I have my main light named 'lounge light', a reading light named 'reading light' and a spot light name (you guessed it) 'spot light,.
I have Routines for each, so I only say 'Reading on' etc. Though my Routine for lounge light is simply 'light on'.
If I say 'light on' only my main light comes on. wherever I am and whichever echo hears me.
However, if I am IN the lounge and say 'lights on' (plural), ALL the lights in my lounge come on.
Clever how Alexa can distinguish.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
Me too. As I say.. no offence but i was really surprised when you and peterhowe (who is quite ubiquitous in here I notice) chimed in with that firm statement that this was not possible.
That is the limitation of this forum, the people here are not Amazon employees and can only share their own experiences and knowledge of Alexa. Which is very often limited to their selection of hardware and how they use the devices in their own homes. I am not surprised that sometimes the advice is wrong.
Save your incredulity for the amazon staff that give out duff advice.
Guys, so I have a Alexa in many rooms with Hue bulbs. All I want to work is to say is 'lights on/off' in a room and for the lights in that room to come on. Surely we don't need to say which lights... when The Alexa device receives the instructions from room A it should recognise this and put the lights on in Room A etc..It's not rocket science is it?
I wouldn't even know where to start in getting this to work.
So maybe I ask the question, is this actually possible?
Hi Mick,
Within your house (or really on one Amazon account - Alexa app), it is not possible to just have the closest lights on/off.
You will have to name them and use the name in your request.
Falls down when you want lights in a different room to operate. As in oops I left the kitchen light on.
can you not abbreviate commands in routines. E.g.” bed off” to turn bedroom lights off in that location.
You could abbreviate by using routines
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
SORRY
Ive just read this thread incredulously....
Really guys? None of you have answered this?
Mick.. this is dead simple.
You create a room in the alexa app, and in that room you can define what items are in there.... i.e. echo devices, smart bulbs etc etc etc
Then..... when you address the echo device thats in the same room as your bulbs, all you need to do is say "alexa turn off the lights" - and it knows which lights you mean as they are defined as being in the same room.
So simple. Maybe ive misunderstood your query but im just surprised to see others saying you cant do this.
Stocklen,
Incredulous!
"Rooms" are a feature of Google's Home not Alexa. If you think you can create a "Room" in the Alexa app,.. then please elucidate with a screenshot.
I'll be happy to be shown how.
The main advantage of getting this to work is that no one needs to remember names(family and friends) for something as basic as turning lights on! Obviously you could use the longer winded method of asking Alexa to turn lights off from room A for Room B. (in case someone left them on)
In all the syfy films, they all just say 'lights on' not lights on in xxxxxxx. I'm sure this will be possible one day.. it's such a obvious request that everyone would buy into and it's surprising it's not already available!
honestly im just genuinely bemused. the functionality that the OP is looking for is right there in the Alexa app.
Seriously.
peterhowe7720 lets not get hung up on terminology - I have several 'groups' (OK they aren't called "Rooms" like google home) - but each group is defined as "sitting room", "den", "dining room" etc etc....
And in each group I define what bulbs and alexa devices are there. Its the same mechanism where you can use the 'preferred speaker' function too when you have grouped multiple devices in a group (room).
Once youve done that then all you need to do is speak to the alexa in the same group and say "lights off" and it knows exactly what lights are in the same room as it, and turns them on or off accordingly.
Its really simple. Im confused as people are saying its not possible but its a huge, and very visible part of the alexa app and functionality.
Id supply a screenshot with pleasure but it just feels a bit too obvious to have to do as its there front and centre in the 'devices' section.
Just to help out... in devices, press the plus symbol top right, then select 'add group'. It even suggests room names as groups to make it obvious what its there for... One group per room. You'll see it pretty easily from there on in.
OP, I trust this is what you were looking for and I hope it does just what you wanted. If I understand your query correctly (which i might not of course) then its perfect for you.
More incredulous.
Stocklen is quite right.
I have now done this.. Yet to test if "Alexa, lights <on>/<off>" work as hoped?
Will report back findings.
I know I am :-)
And thanks... thats not so incredulous! I am right from time to time you know :-)
Peterhowe7720... i know you'll find it works :-)
Sorry guys, but this feature has been around for quite a while, and works great! Its designed for just such the scenario that the OP was wondering about and has other uses besides (such as the preferred speaker function)
What surprised me was a few responders to the OP came in stating as stone cold fact that it was NOT possible....
So I had to poke my nose in here and just help out the OP with the correct advice! (no offence to the others)
Just goes to show this is a peer to peer forum and we are all here helping each other out. None of us are experts eh :-)
Mick... you've gone quiet - Im hoping this is resolved for you - ket me know if you tried it.
Wow.. there it is.... Thanks guys..... Can't believe I missed this! What a wonderful feature!! Testing it now.
you are welcome
I am astounded that this simple implementation of Alexa was not known about by so many.
This is suggested to anyone who starts using devices (echo or smart).
It is something I use all the time together with Routines, to automate my life.
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
Me too. As I say.. no offence but i was really surprised when you and peterhowe (who is quite ubiquitous in here I notice) chimed in with that firm statement that this was not possible.
As I said, this has been possible for well over a year now.
This has actually made me wonder about Amazon's marketing. Clearly something is wrong as we should all be aware of such significant and useful functionality.
Perhaps they should have a main Alexa landing page website with announcements and tutorials for major releases of functionality to keep us all up to speed.
We all know only too well that the alexa devices we purchased even a few months ago continually are improved and can do new things all the time.
Did you all know, for example, that the Echo devices can now make FREE actual phone calls to UK landline and mobiles... for FREE?. OK maybe this is well known about but these things are never released with any great fanfare.
Im quite a curious chap, and have a decent background in technology and make sure I keep up to date reading blogs etc and thats where I tend to find out about things like this. In fact, in America as we often moan about here in the UK.. they have far more functionality than we do - it can take months for some things to get implemented here. Also of course Amazon sends the weekly 'whats new with Alexa' email and there are a few things there which indicate new functions that have recently been released. Worth keeping an eye on.
I do tend to wonder just what proportion of people purchased an echo and are still just asking it what the weather is.....
I bought 3 lights from eBay (not Hue bulbs) and my two Alexa's control them very well, never had any issues, Hue bulbs are the ones always mentioned yet others work as well and cheaper to buy
Amazon Show version 2
Amazon Echo Dot version 3
--
Amazon Fire TV Box version 1
Amazon Fire TV Box version 2
Amazon Fire Stick version 2
I think that the 'Hue' system is bought by many because it is well advertised. It is a standalone sydtem that does NOT require Alexa (or Google). I believe it uses Bluetooth.
Buying Smart LED bulbs us a lot cheaper and appear to be more reliable. Providing you use WiFi ones, not Bluetooth.
Personally I have bought all my smart bulbs and sockets from eBay, with little issues. I ensured they all used the same App(which was the only difficult bit).
Any problems I had were to do with my slow internet.
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
These are all very true. Many different lightbulbs can be bought from many different manufacturers.
But the point of the thread is whether you can implicitly control bulbs in a particular room in the house using an alexa without having to explicitly append the room name to the command. The answer is "yes" you can (as long as they are recognised by the alexa app of course - regardless of the bulb origins)
OK about 'Lights On':
In my Lounge (Group called Lounge), I have my main light named 'lounge light', a reading light named 'reading light' and a spot light name (you guessed it) 'spot light,.
I have Routines for each, so I only say 'Reading on' etc. Though my Routine for lounge light is simply 'light on'.
If I say 'light on' only my main light comes on. wherever I am and whichever echo hears me.
However, if I am IN the lounge and say 'lights on' (plural), ALL the lights in my lounge come on.
Clever how Alexa can distinguish.
I assume you have tried all the "turn off then on again", "reset your Echo", stuff.
That is the limitation of this forum, the people here are not Amazon employees and can only share their own experiences and knowledge of Alexa. Which is very often limited to their selection of hardware and how they use the devices in their own homes. I am not surprised that sometimes the advice is wrong.
Save your incredulity for the amazon staff that give out duff advice.