Ask HN: Does your Alexa or Google Home make you more productive?

It was for us. Things we use it for:

- Using it as a timer for cooking in the kitchen. - For music at home. - Listening to weather reports and news in the morning before we head out for work.

Before Alexa, we used our phone for all the above, but we found it to be much easier using a voice assistant. I wouldn't say it's a massive gain in productivity, but we are pretty happy we got it.

I know three people with them, two of them now have them sitting in a box somewhere the other one said he doesn’t use it for anything other than the weather or time but is now seriously concerned about it’s privacy implications so is considering unplugging it. Personally I use Siri on my phone probably more than 20 times a day on average and find it very useful, it helps me set reminders, events, send quick messages etc... without the full cost of mental context shifting.

Don't get it (yet) if you're looking to achieve some kind of ROI on it. They're still toys for now.

Probably the main thing I can do faster with Alexa than other things is check the weather, which I do maybe once or twice a day. Things like turning lights on and off I can do faster by just walking to the appropriate switches. Otherwise I just use it as a speaker for playing music.

No, I only use it to check the weather (Alexa). Haven't really found many uses for it (however, I haven't really explored either).

I'd say it's more about convenience. Not having to open your phone/PC to play music, videos, search, etc.

There's a learning curve to the features and ideal audio conditions. Not great initially. But I work remotely and it's quite useful for timing breaks & lunches, reminders, music, and broadcasting.

There are far better ways to improve your productivity.

If you have to pick a smart home thing I'd actually get something like SmartThings. It's amazing actually how nice it is not to think about things like turning on lights, locking doors, etc. You can wake up to coffee (and not on a timer, literally when you wake up it'll detect your motion and start brewing it), etc.

Weather, news nippets, timers.

I pick up food ordered on time these days so that’s good.

I'm trying to hard to use siri but it never works.

"light" > I don't understand

"flashlight" > I can't do that

"why?" > I couldn't say

"open the flashlight" > google search

We use our Echo in the following ways:

- “set a timer for X minutes”

- “play the latest planet money podcast”

- “play the album Moana”

- “pause the firetv”

- “what’s the weather tonight?”

- “what’s the news?”

It saves us a ton of time but also is a huge entertainer for our kids.

I only use my Echo Dot for a few things:

  - checking the weather/time
  - settings a timer 
  - having Alexa read me a bedtime story (Audible)

I think if I dedicated some time to actually integrate Alexa with my home (lights, Nest, speakers, etc.), I can see it improving productivity. Especially with how easy custom skills are to build, you can really take the technology much further.

Very strange responses. At least one person mentioned privacy concerns.

"I put this new gadget in my house so I can check weather once a day. Meanwhile, it records all ambient noise and even identifies the voices of everyone speaking in the room. Garsh! It sure is neat."

Better hang a disclaimer on your door for when friends come over. Warning: House equipped with a dipshit. By entering, you are giving up all perceived privacy. Do not discuss things that matter.

No, not more productive, but it's definitely useful.

It’s a toy.