Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Want Alexa to start recording a TikTok clip? She’ll soon be able to do it

By John Velasco Published April 25, 2023

Don’t we all love streamlined processes? Like seriously, it can be quicker at times to ask a smart assistant to do something than having to do it ourselves on our smartphones. Well, Alexa’s becoming more powerful thanks to some news skills that are being introduced at Alexa Live 2020, its virtual developers conference event. In fact, you’ll soon be able to ask Amazon’s Alexa to perform specific app functions on your mobile device, such as searching for hashtags on Twitter or starting a video recording on TikTok, hands-free.

Recommended Videos

In total, there are 31 new skills that developers will be able to tap into to enhance Alexa’s experience. One of the most intriguing new features relates to Alexa for Apps, which allows Alexa skills to combine with iOS and Android apps. Essentially, Alexa will now be able to run apps on your mobile device to execute specific tasks. For example, you can say, “Alexa, ask Twitter to search for #Alexa Live,” which will then populate the results on your smartphone.

Previously, users were able to perform basic functions to open apps by asking Alexa, but the Alexa for Apps skill opens up a toolkit of new possibilities for developers. This skill, along with the rest of the new ones being introduced at Alexa Live 2020, is in response to how engagement with Alexa skills has nearly doubled in just the last year alone. Here are just a few of the highlights; the full listing can be found on the Alexa blog post.

Alexa Web API for Games

Developers with enhanced knowledge of web technologies will be able to create slick-looking, multimodal Alexa games on screen devices. The Alexa Web API for Games skill supports HTML5, Web Audio, CSS, Javascript, and WebGL.

Skill resumption

Skill resumption will allows users to return to a skill after using Alexa to do something else, or after performing another task.

Quick Links for Alexa (beta)

The Quick Links skill lets developers add a link from a mobile app, website, or online ads that users can click to launch a skill.

In-skill purchases

Developers will be able to create in-skill purchases through Amazon.com and on Echo screen devices, in addition to voice actions. This provides a traditional shopping and buying experience that some people may prefer, and allows sellers to market premium content with a direct link.

All told, these new Amazon Alexa skills continue to define the effectiveness of smart assistants. You’ll be able to do more through natural conversation, so the experience turns out to be an immersive one.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

John is the Smart Home editor at Digital Trends covering all of the latest tech in this emerging market. From uncovering some…

Smart Home

Early Black Friday chest freezer deals: up to 40% off today

The Insignia 7-cubic feet chest freezer placed in a garage.

Update 10/29/24: This starts our Black Friday coverage of chest freezers, and we like what we see so far. The following deals are from a variety of good brands, show a wide range of prices, and most importantly come in various sizes, so you can pick what is right for your home.

While Black Friday officially starts on November 29, retailers are getting started early this year. That means great early Black Friday deals, including on things like chest freezers. Here, we search high and low for the best deals on chest freezers to hit the market. That means we're looking at sources like Walmart's, Amazon's, and Best Buy's early Black Friday deals among others to get you the best deals possible. Whether you're wanting to store ice cream, meat, or a party's worth of frozen pizza, these are the best chest freezers for you.
Hisense 5 cu. ft. Garage Ready Chest Freezer — $165 $189 13% off

Smart Home

Best cordless drill early Black Friday deals: DeWalt and more

A DeWalt drill being used.

Update 10/28/24: This marks the beginning of our drill coverage for 2024's Black Friday shopping season, and all of the major brands have at least one great deal. While we're excited for what is to come, this is a fantastic start and there's really no reason to not go ahead and get prepped by buying something now.
If you're buying anything this Black Friday, there's a big chance you might want a drill/driver to go with it. A drill/driver is one part drill, one part (screw)driver and it can help out in many situations. For example, say you take part in one of these early Black Friday TV deals, you very well might want to wall mount it. Then, say you grab up an easy coffee maker from Keurig's early Black Friday deals. An extra side table in your study would sure go nice with that and a drill/driver could very well make the table's construction much easier.
Really, with so so many of your early Black Friday purchases, there might be a chance to pick up a cordless drill or driver and get to work. As such, we've compiled a list of the best cordless drill deals throughout Black Friday deals that are available now, so you can get a head start on prepping for the savings that are to come.

Skil Pwr Core 12 Drill/Driver — $50 $59 15% off

Smart Home

Best Roomba deals: Top robot vacuums from as little as $170

iRobot Roomba 692 Robot Vacuum.

If you come home and don't really look forward to doing the day-to-day dusting and vacuuming that's required to keep everything clean, then robot vacuums are a great solution. Probably one of the best-known brands is Roomba, and if you're looking to pick up a new one, then Roomba has a lot of great options you can pick from.. Whether you're looking for a budget-friendly option or something a little bit more high-end that comes with a self-emptying station, we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Roomba deals below.

That said, if you don't necessarily want a Roomba, you can check out these general robot vacuum deals, and for the more substantial messes, there are always these vacuum deals and cordless vacuum deals too.
iRobot Roomba i1 -- $170 $220 22% off