Your well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions to eat healthily and go to the gym may be lost in a carbohydrate and Netflix-induced haze, but there are still plenty of ways to make your life just that little bit better.

Linking your Hive account with a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant is just one way you can help improve your life in 2018, making it even more relaxing or productive – depending on how those resolutions are going!

Here’s what you need to know…

What are Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant?

Put simply, they are voice-controlled systems that you can speak to and ask to perform a wide range of time-saving and life-enhancing tasks.

You generally need to say a ‘trigger’ word or phrase to activate the devices and get them ready to receive commands. For Amazon Alexa the trigger word is ‘Alexa’, while for Google Assistant it’s ‘OK Google’.

Once activated, you can then ask Alexa or Google Assistant to perform the task you need. For example: “Alexa, set a timer for 15 minutes” or “OK Google, check the weather for this evening”.

Helpful new commands are added regularly so there’s bound to be something that can help you out in your day-to-day life…

The great things you can do with Hive products and voice control

Voice control may sound all fine and fancy, but what are the actual benefits of hooking up your Hive devices to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant?

Well, here are a few ways it can help make your day-to-day life just that bit more productive, relaxing, or enjoyable…

Voice control can… help you get out of bed

When that alarm goes off in the morning. Very few of us are lucky enough to spring out of bed and greet the new day like an old friend – an early night with warm milk and a historical novel will only do so much!

So, if those cold winter mornings are making it even harder to drag yourself out of bed, simply say: “Alexa, set bedroom light to 50%” and your smart bulbs can fill the room with a gentle light to help ease you into the day.

Voice control can… save you valuable time when you need it most

Thankfully, with just a few tweaks to your Hive set up those manic mornings can become a lot more manageable.

With the Optimised for smart home skill, you can create an Alexa group to control all compatible devices at once. For example, you could put all your ground floor lights and plugs into a group called ‘downstairs’, allowing you to turn everything off in that area of the house, simply by saying “Alexa, turn downstairs off” – perfect for when you’re heading out the door with the kids on a Monday morning.

Voice control can…  make a cosy night in even better

The long winter nights can make the thought of leaving the house to go to a restaurant or pub seem like the sort of mission only Captain Scott or Bear Grylls would undertake.

Thankfully, with Hive products and voice control you don’t even have to leave your sofa to make your night cuddled up in front of a film as cosy as possible.

Using the Hive with Boost + more skill, you can ‘boost’ your heating for a period of time to get keep the winter chill at bay. Simply say: “Alexa, tell Hive to boost my heating for two hours” and, before you know it, your home will be toasty warm without even having to pause your film!

Visit our Connects With page to find out more about how Hive products work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant