A lot of really useful apps, products, and services integrate with Amazon‘s Alexa virtual assistant. You can use her to turn on the lights in your home. She can give you the day’s weather. However, there are also some weird Amazon Alexa skills you might not expect. The latest: integrating with dating apps.
Specifically, eHarmony now works with Amazon Alexa. You can say “Alexa, ask eHarmony for my matches,” and she’ll read off the newest users you’ve matched with. You can also use Alexa to check who’s viewed your profile, hear your messages read aloud, or get a summary of your account activity.
To do this yourself, you need to head into the Alexa app and enable eHarmony, then sign into your account. You’ll then be able to say “Alexa, open eHarmony,” and browse various sections of the app by voice alone. Echo Show owners will also be able to see images of their matches on its screen for hands-free dating app browsing.
Checking your favorite dating app isn’t the only unusual skill Alexa has, though. You can also…
Get wine-pairing recommendations
Salmon’s on the menu tonight, and you have no idea whether you should open up that bottle of pinot grigio or a jammy zinfandel. Have no fear: Use MySomm to get ideas for wine pairings with specific foods. Just say “Alexa, Ask Wine Gal…”, and she’ll be at your service.
Make Alexa meow
Miss having a cat in the house? The skill Meow! makes your Amazon Echo product sound like a cat (even if it doesn’t look the part). You can meow to it, and it will meow or purr back. You could also try using it to confuse your own pet.
Chat on Slack
Enable the Chat Bot skill, and you can post comments to a specific Slack channel at your leisure. For example, you can say “I want to post ‘Good morning, everyone!’ to ‘Editorial.'” (Although really, if you need an Alexa skill for Slack, you may have a Slack problem.)
Translate things into Pig Latin
With Pig Latin Translator, you can tell Alexa a phrase, and then have it read back to you in Pig Latin. While its usefulness is on the low side, this skill could be a big hit in households with elementary-age kids.
Get cheap date ideas
If you’re tired of asking friends for help, and too lazy to sift through Google, you can hit up Alexa for date ideas that won’t break your budget. Date Night Ideas Under $5 will randomly serve up unique (and cheap) date night suggestions.