How to make alexa wake you up with a song

One of Alexa's most convenient features is how the voice assistant can be used as a morning alarm clock. As well as playing a generic alarm sound at the right time, Alexa can also be set to play music or a radio station, read out the morning news headlines, and go on to adjust the lights and fire up your coffee machine.

We're going to tackle all of this in three stages. First we'll look at generic alarms, then we'll introduce music and radio, and finally in stage three we will dig into Alexa's 'routines' system to create a morning alarm that can do almost anything you like.

Read More:

• How to get started with Amazon Alexa: A complete guide to what it can do
• How to get started with the newly updated Amazon Alexa app
• How to use Alexa Drop In to speak through all of your smart speakers at once

How to use Alexa as an alarm clock

First, the easy bit. All you have to do here is say something like: "Alexa, set an alarm for 7 o'clock". The assistant will then ask if you mean AM or PM, and once you've confirmed that the alarm will be set.

This won't be a repeating alarm though. To have the alarm repeat at the same time every morning, say: "Alexa, set an alarm for 7am every day," or to be even more specific say: "Alexa, set an alarm for 7am every weekday."

One way to start your day on a positive note is to set your alarm clock to the sound of your favorite song or genre of music. Now there's an easy way to do this with Amazon's Alexa.

Amazon on Monday expanded the virtual assistant's alarm clock capabilities to include music alarms. Just ask Alexa to wake you up at a certain time to a song or radio station of your choice, and you'll be grooving into your day.

This new feature works with a number of music streaming services, including Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, SiriusXM, and iHeartRadio. You can use artist names, songs, playlists, genres, or even lyrics to a song when making your request.

You can, for instance, say something general like "Alexa, wake me up at 6 am every day to music," or be super specific about what you want to hear with requests like: "Alexa, wake me up to Beyoncé radio on Pandora at 7 am,""Alexa, set an alarm for 7 am using BBC news on TuneIn," or "Alexa, wake me up to Location by Khalid at 6 am," Amazon said.

If you want to wake up in the holiday spirit, say "Alexa, wake me up to Christmas music at 7 am," or if you want motivation to hit the gym or pavement, say "Alexa, wake me up to pop music for running at 5 am."

Note that Alexa's ability to create music alarms based on song lyrics, mood, or activity is only compatible with Amazon Music.

"Music alarms is a top requested customer feature and we're pleased to deliver this feature to customers starting today," Amazon told PCMag in an email.

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About Angela Moscaritolo

Senior Analyst, Fitness and Smart Home

I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. I unbox, set up, test, and review a wide range of consumer tech products from my home in Florida, often with the help of my pitbull Bradley. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Before becoming an analyst in 2020, I spent eight years as a reporter covering consumer tech news. Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Alexa is getting a lot smarter. With skills and more third-party support for smart home devices, you can order pizza and control your home using just your voice. You can ask what your car's fuel level is, set recurring alarms and much, much more.

One of the most requested features and largest missed opportunities is the ability to play music tracks as an alarm sound, especially considering all the different music streaming services that are supported.

Currently, users are limited to a pretty standard set of alarm noises, as well as Alec Baldwin bragging about getting the early bird or Missy Elliot yelling at you for sleeping so late.

There is a way, however, to have Alexa play any song on Spotify as your alarm. Here's how it's done.

Pair your phone or tablet using Bluetooth

Currently, Alexa totally lacks the ability to play any music as an alarm. However, it works really well as an always-on Bluetooth speaker. This means you can pass on the alarm function to your mobile device.

First, you must pair your device with Alexa. Speak, "Alexa, pair." This will put the speaker in pairing mode. From your mobile device, navigate to Bluetooth settings and select Echo-XXXX to complete the pairing.

Here's everything the Amazon Echo can do

For Android

Natively from a smartphone, you cannot play music from Spotify as an alarm sound either. Instead, you must download an application that will enable this functionality. If you're using an Android device, open Play Store, search for Alarmify and install the application.

Once downloaded, you will need to open Alarmify and log in to your Spotify account. Then create a new alarm.

• Tap the plus button in the lower right corner.
• Select a time for the alarm and the days that you want it to repeat.
• Tap Select Music.
• Choose whether you want a specific album, track, artist or playlist and tap the check mark in the upper right corner to save the alarm.

Before going to bed, ensure that the mobile device is connected to the Echo via Bluetooth and open the Alarmify app. Tap Sleep when you're ready to doze off and wait for the alarm to sound in the morning.

For iOS

On iOS, you need a different app called Alarm Clock for Spotify. When you open the app for the first time, you're prompted to login to Spotify using your credentials or a connected Facebook account.

What you see when you open the app is what is essentially a beside clock mode. This is because the application needs to be left open for the Spotify alarm to work. To set a new alarm:

• Tap anywhere on the screen to open the settings.
• Select Alarms.
• Select Add new alarm.
• Set the time and select how often you want the alarm to repeat.
• Tap Playlist, followed by Add in the upper right corner.
• Search for albums, artists and individual tracks to build your morning playlist. Tap Done when you are finished.
• Select Save to create the alarm.

Before bed, ensure your iOS device is paired and connected to your Alexa speaker and open the Alarm Clock for Spotify app.

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