Smart home devices are a great way to make aging in place a bit easier. They have many functions that make day to day activities easier. Here are a few of them. 

Check the Weather

Smart home devices make checking the weather a breeze. You no longer have to wait for the weather segment to come on the news.  All you have to do is say “Hey Google” or “Alexa, what’s the weather?” Or “What’s the forecast for tomorrow?” When it comes to asking for a future forecast, you can ask for any day, date, or time.

Make Lists

You no longer need to deal with handwritten lists that can be easily misplaced. Just ask your smart home device to make a list. It will then ask you to name it and then you can start adding things to your list. 

You can create as many lists as you want:

  • To-do lists
  • Shopping lists
  • Vacation packing lists
  • Gift Idea lists
  • Etc. 

To add or remove things from your list, say “Alexa (or Hey Google), add an item to my packing list.” To remove something from a list, follow the same step but replace the word “add” with “remove.”

To find out what is already on your list, simply ask your smart home device. Say “Alexa (or Hey Google), what’s on my packing list?”

Get the Date and Time

You no longer have to pull out your glasses to read the calendar hanging on the wall, or walk over to the clock to see what time it is. Just ask your smart home device what time it is our what today’s date is.

Manage Your Calendar 

Life can be busy, which means it can be difficult to keep track of everything you have planned. That’s where a smart home device comes in handy.

Just ask your smart home device to “add an event to my calendar” amd give the name of the event, and the date & time when asked. 

If you use an Amazon Echo, then you can ask “Alexa, what’s on my calendar?” to hear your upcoming appointments and events. 

Set Medication Reminders 

Setting reminders in one of your smart home device’s best features. Taking medicines on the right days and times is an important part of healthy aging. 

If you have multiple medicines that need to be taken at various times on various days, you can set multiple reminders. Simply ask your smart device to “remind me to take __ medicine at ___ time on ___ days.” 

You can also set reminders to do other things like feed the dog or water the plants, etc. 

Hear the Latest News 

Stay up to date on all of the latest news stories without sitting through all of the filler content on cable news. Simply ask your smart home device “ what’s the news?” Then you will hear a run down of the most recent headlines.

Alert a Loved One You Need Help

Sometimes we need help but no one is home and we may not be able to get to our phone. If you find yourself in this situation simply ask your smart home device to call one of your contacts. 

If you are using an Amazon product that utilizes Alexa you must enable the Ask My Buddy skill and enter the phone number of the contacts you want to call. Then if and when you need help you need to say “Alexa, ask my buddy to send help.” and your contacts will receive alerts. 

Note: Smart home devices are unable to call 9-1-1 at this time. 

Create an Intercom System For Within Your Home

You no longer need to yell across the house to get the attention of someone else who is in the house. If you have multiple smart home devices place them in various rooms to create your own intercom system. Depending on which device you have the phrase you need to say is different. For example, if you have an Echo say “Alexa, announce that dinner is ready.” If you have a Google Home you’d say “ Okay Google, broadcast that dinner is ready.” The announcement/broadcast will be played on every device in your home. 

There are hundreds of practical ways to use your smart home device. We will cover some more in a future post.