While it’s true that Alexa Routines can be daunting, you don’t need a ton of smart home savvy to start using them right away. Amazon has incorporated several shortcuts that let technophiles and technophobes alike reap the benefits of Alexa-based home automation without having to suffer through an extensive learning curve to get there.

We'll detail different ways to find and install Alexa Routines.

Why Are Alexa Routines So Important, Anyway?

Alexa Routines let you craft customized, personalized responses so that Alexa knows exactly what to do to brighten up your day, give you the information you need when you need it, or accomplish your mundane tasks.

Alexa Routines transform the artificial intelligence inside an Amazon Echo smart speaker so that it's no longer Amazon's voice assistant—it's yours.

1. Use a Pre-Made Alexa Routine Template

To begin, make sure to have downloaded the Amazon Alexa app for iOS or Android.

The quickest way to get started with Alexa Routines is to choose one that Amazon has already put together for you in the Alexa app. To choose a pre-made Alexa Routine from the list of templates, first, open the Alexa app and tap the More button in the lower right corner, then tap Routines. Finally, at the top of the screen, tap the middle of the three horizontal options, labeled Featured.

Tap the routine you want to install—for this example, we’ll go with "Alexa, start my day." Alexa will relay entertaining and informative information that's relevant to your day.

You can change anything you see, including the fields that are already filled in. For example, in the Name field, this one is called "Start my day," but if you’d rather label it "Good Morning" or something else entirely, just tap Change and type it in.

Next, you’ll find the trigger that starts this routine, in this case, it’s the phrase, Alexa, start my day. You’re not limited to just one trigger phrase—you can assign up to seven. You may not naturally use the exact same phrase every time, so it helps to brainstorm variations and add those in.

Configuring Alexa Triggers

Next is the heart of an Alexa Routine—the series of actions Alexa will perform once the routine is triggered. This template includes four actions:

  • Tell you something new: Alexa will dish out a random bit of trivia.
  • Report weather: Alexa will report the day’s forecast.
  • Report traffic: Alexa will relay the traffic report on your route to work, school, etc.
  • Play the news from your Flash Briefing: Alexa will play the day's headlines from your providers of choice

Of course, you can add as many more actions as you like—just tap Add action (or the + sign to the right). Some useful options for the Good Morning routine include:

  • Say a random phrase from Good Morning: Tap + > Alexa Says > Phrases > Good Morning > Say a random phrase
  • Play Good News: Alexa will report on recent positive events.
  • Open a Skill, like This Day in History: Alexa will dispense a history lesson from that same day in the past. You must first enable the skill.
  • Music & Podcasts: Alexa will play audio from your provider of choice.

The last item on the page, labeled From, is where you'll choose which Echo speaker you want to respond when you trigger this routine. Most of the time you’ll want to leave it set to The device you speak to, but occasionally you may want a specific Echo device to play the routine you’re installing—for example, if you always head immediately to the bathroom to get ready for the day, you may want this routine to always play on a speaker there.

For the last setup step, tap Enable in the upper right corner, and you’ll be set. Just be sure to give Alexa about a minute to update your speakers before testing out the new routine.

2. Use a Shared Alexa Routine

If you’ve got family or friends who use Alexa, you’re in luck—and the geekier they are, the better. You can ask other Alexa households to share their favorite routines with you, then easily customize their pre-made routines to make them your own, much like in the previous example.

To share a routine, have the person sharing it open the Alexa app and navigate to one of their routines, then tap the three vertical dots in the upper right corner, then tap Share Routine. Next, a screen will caution that the person receiving the link to this routine will be able to see details of their account, which sounds scarier than it really is.

When sharing routines, specific devices like “Living Room Lamp” show up in the receiver's app as “smart light,” sensors like “Hallway Motion Sensor” become “motion sensor,” and so on.

The only specific information that does get shared would be trigger phrases or custom Alexa responses. Truly important private information like the specific names of the devices associated with the routine and any network IDs or passwords won’t get shared.

Next, the person sharing the routine should tap Continue to get past the caution screen. That will open up their phone’s share screen, where they can share it like they would any other link: in a text message, an email, or simply by copying the link to be pasted elsewhere.

Once you receive the link, open it on a device with the Alexa app installed, like your phone. A screen will open that indicates you've received an Alexa Routine—tap View Routine to open it.

Fields that need to be updated will appear in brown—tap those to select which of your devices you want to use. When you’re finished updating everything, tap Save in the upper-right corner.

As always, wait at least a minute before testing out your new routine.

3. Clone an Existing Alexa Routine

Amazon Echo Dot with Clock

Once you’ve set up a routine, you may find you want to launch it using more than one trigger. Say, for example, you make a routine to turn on your living room lights when a motion detector in the hall senses someone. However, you also want to be able to turn on the living room lights with a voice command. These steps will help you to do just that.

Open the routine you want to duplicate, then tap the three vertical dots menu like in the previous example, then tap Copy Actions to New Routine. A new routine will open up, but it won't have the fields for Name or When this happens filled in. Add that information, then tap Save in the upper right corner, and you're done.

Use Alexa Routines to Make Your Echo Experience Even Better

If you're wondering what the fuss surrounding Alexa Routines is, the answer can be found by looking in the mirror. Not literally, of course. Rather, Alexa Routines are all about you.

With Routines, you can harness the power of the virtual assistant and make your daily life even better.