Alexa ‘Tell Me When’ combines reminders and contextual information

Amazon updated Alexa last month with a modified version of the popular reminder skill. You can now ask Alexa to “tell me when” an event occurs and your device will give you basic information and notify you when it actually happens.

You have been able to set a reminder for an event or task at a specific time for a while, and can ask Alexa to tell you when an event occurs to get the relevant information. “Tell me when” is a kind of combination of two tasks. Amazon provided some examples: You could ask Alexa to “tell me when the next Seahawks is due” and Alexa can tell you the time of the game and set a reminder to watch it. Another interesting use is email, you can now ask Alexa to notify you when an email arrives from a certain person, and Alexa can announce the arrival of the email to keep you from checking your inbox constantly. Of course, you must be comfortable giving Alexa access to your email for this feature to work.

Some posts overlap with “tell me when” Another previous skill for severe weather alerts. You can ask Alexa to tell you when there is a severe weather alert, and the assistant can remind you when there is an alert in your area.

It might not be the most exciting feature on her face, but “Tell me when” is a good example of how Alexa captured the ability to provide more contextual information and follow-up questions over time. Amazon didn’t provide the full set of “tell me when” events running when we asked for it, but you should really be able to test the skill.

For more updates on the growing list of Alexa skills Check out the Amazon blog.