We are a dual Alexa/Google household.
The Sonos One on the breakfast bar has Alexa built into it. We mainly use this pairing to tell Alexa to play Scala Radio, BBC 6Music, Classic FM, or something off various playlists through our Spotify subscription. She also does sterling work as a timer of various things.
Up in our bedroom is a Google Home Mini, also linked to our Spotify subscription. That’s about all that device gets used for – music.
We plug our phones into our cars and, through the Google app, we have mobile access to our Spotify subscription, as well as the often-used Google Maps.
But that’s about all that we use them for.
I see people plugging things into Smart plugs and telling lights to turn off and on, but (and maybe I’m being limited by my own imagination here) that seems to be about the full extent of the possible.
Or is there more we could be doing with Google/Alexa?
On a related topic, I recently asked Young Masher for his opinion of this intriguing gadget. He said it looked like a fun project.
But, perhaps like Google/Alexa, I’m running out of mental steam to think what could be done with it.
At the end of the day, it’s just a remote switch, Bren, allowing you to turn something on and off remotely. Being GSM you can do it from anywhere in the world. Sonoff switches will do the same via your wifi and are readily available.
I built a basic one last year, for a Geocache, using a six quid mobile phone from ebay: https://www.dropbox.com/s/rrbm9vigycv0ojy/P1020917%282%29.jpg?dl=0
Now, that WAS fun to build 🙂
Remotely overriding the central heating in the house might be good. There might be more possible applications, in due course