Siri is fine, but have you always wanted Alexa on your iPhone or iPad? Recently, Amazon has updated the iOS Alexa app with a home screen widget, and it works on the iPad and iPhone. Once you have set it up, you can move the big Alexa icon anywhere on your home screen and a single tap will bring up Alexa Voice Assistant on your device.
Almost every smart home device on the planet works with Alexa – but with Siri, your options are limited. Needless to say, Siri sometimes gets choked up and stops responding to basic requests. Alexa, on the other hand, is almost always available and accurate. Now Amazon Voice Assistant also has a new name and voice option called Ziggy.
How Does Alexa Score Over Siri?
Although there are some things that only Siri can do, like changing the brightness of your iPhone screen, activating do not disturb mode, and turn the device on or off, Alexa can control almost all smart plugs and doorbell cameras. It’s fair to say that Siri can’t talk to all kinds of devices – but Alexa can.
How To Add an Alexa Widget to Your iOS Home Screen?
Widgets were introduced with iOS 14 in 2020, but if you’ve never used them, be careful as it can confuse you by resetting your home page icons.
It is a two-part process. First, create a widget, and then move it to where you want it on your home screen. If you’re happy to leave it with all the other widgets, you do not need to do the second part.
On the first page of your home screen on your iPhone or iPad, swipe to the left and then hold down one of the widgets until the menu pops up. Tap Edit Home Screen.
Press + in the upper left corner and scroll until you see Amazon Alexa or type Alexa in the search box, then tap Amazon Alexa.
Tap Add Widget at the bottom of the screen (there is only one option for size).
This is the first part. If you are happy with where the Alexa widget is, tap Done in the top right corner. If not, while the widget is still moving, hold down until the Alexa widget pops up, then drag it to your home screen and drop it where you want it to stay. Remember that moving widgets can rearrange your home screen icons, so you should go back and clean up the mess when you’re done. Now you tap on the Alexa widget and your Alexa app will open.
