If you’re thinking about starting a smart home, the first decision is which ecosystem to base it around. One of the most popular choices (and my go-to choice) is Google Home. But, what are the costs involved, and is there a monthly fee for Google Home? No, there are no ongoing monthly fees for using … Read more
If you have a Google Home or Nest smart speaker in your home, you’ll know just how handy they are for voice commands. But, an often overlooked feature is the ability to set up routines. The main reason you would use a routine is so that Google will do something based on a schedule rather … Read more
Since introducing an Echo Dot to my house, my opinion of Alexa has been changed for good. This little speaker has a ton of functionality, it can play music, answer questions, make jokes, and integrates with almost every smart device I own. The Echo Dot is much smaller than the Echo speaker and looks like … Read more
Google’s Chromecast technology has changed the way we play media across devices in our home. Whilst initially limited to Google’s own speakers and the trusty Chromecast Audio, there’s now a range of third-party manufacturers making speakers with Chromecast and Google Assistant built-in. My home is full of Chromecast-enabled devices so I know exactly what to … Read more
If you have an Amazon Echo or other Alexa-enabled device in your home, you’ll know just how useful Alexa can be. There seems to be a never-ending list of Alexa commands which makes it hard to keep track of them all. Luckily, I’ve got you covered with this complete list covering music, movies, calendar, news, … Read more
If you’re fed up of the same old Alexa in your home every day, why not mix things up a bit by changing Alexa’s name or the sound of her voice. In this article, I’ll share the full list of Alexa wake words, accents, and celebrity voices that are available to activate in the UK. … Read more
If you’ve got a Google Home or Chromecast-enabled smart speaker, you’ll likely be wondering how to use it for listening to music. Those of you with a music streaming subscription such as Spotify Premium or YouTube Premium can easily link your accounts and begin listening to any song you like. However, if you don’t fancy … Read more
Alexa and HomeKit are two rival smart home platforms from Amazon and Apple respectively. HomeKit isn’t nearly as advanced as Alexa, however, if you have an iPhone in your pocket then HomeKit is an easy choice. If you can’t agree on which voice assistant should control your home, you’ll probably be wondering whether you can … Read more
If you’ve got a Google Home speaker, you’ll know that you can only cast music from audio apps and that it won’t appear as an option when casting from video apps such as YouTube. However, there are four ways you can cast audio from YouTube to a Google Home speaker which I’ll outline in this … Read more
Alexa can now join your next BBQ thanks to a slew of outdoor smart speakers that have hit the market over the last year or so. These are great for chilling in your garden, but can also be used at a picnic in the park or to entertain the kids whilst camping. In this guide, … Read more
