If you’re like most people, you probably have a few devices in your home that can be used to control things like lights and appliances. But what if you want to use those devices with voice commands? Well, there are a few ways to do that, but the best way is probably through an Echo or Google Home device. Here’s how:

  1. First, open the Echo or Google Home device’s Alexa app and type in “smarthome” into the search bar. Once you’ve found it, click on it and then select “add device.” You’ll now see a list of devices that are compatible with Alexa. If you don’t see any devices that match your needs, just add another one by clicking on the plus sign next to any of them and then selecting “add.”
  2. Next, open the smarthome app on your phone or computer and type in “smarthome” into the search bar. Once you’ve found it, click on it and then select “add device.” You’ll now see a list of devices that are compatible with Alexa. If you don’t see any devices that match your needs, just add another one by clicking on the plus sign next to any of them and then selecting “add.”
  3. Finally, open the smarthome app on your phone or computer and type in “smarthome” into the search bar. Once you’ve found it, click on it and then select “enable voice commands.” You’ll now see a list of voice commands that are available for use with smarthome devices. To start using them, just say something like “Alexa,” “Siri,” or “Google Home” at least once before starting up the device!

Now that voice assistants are becoming extremely popular, many users who want to outfit their living spaces with smarthome products are probably wanting these products to be compatible with their voice assistant, whether it’s Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant (and Google Home). Here’s how to find out whether or not a smarthome device works with these platforms.

Look for the Badge on the Product Box

Perhaps the easiest and quickest way to see if a smarthome device is compatible with the voice assistant of your choice is to take a look at the product’s packaging and look for the badge that says what it supports.

RELATED: Should You Throw Away All of Your Tech Product Boxes?

However, keep in mind that some product boxes won’t have these badges printed on them even though they fully support Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant. Philips Hue boxes, for instance, only have the HomeKit badge, even though they’re natively supported by Alexa and Google Assistant as well. Because of that, you may want to look for a second source.

Visit the Product’s Website

If the product box doesn’t mention anything about which voice assistants it supports, it may be a good idea to double-check the product’s website. Usually it will have this information somewhere, whether it’s on the product’s main page, spec list, or on the support page.

On Philips Hue’s website, for example, if you visit the Friends of Hue section, you’ll see that it works with all three voice assistants, even though the product box only has the HomeKit badge.

View the Voice Assistants’ Official Support Lists

Alexa/Echo’s Official Support List HomeKit/Siri’s Official Support List Google Assistant/Google Home’s Official Support List

Sift through the list to see if your smarthome device is supported by your voice assistant of choice. If not, then you’re out of luck, but hopefully support will be added in the near future—voice assistant’s are constantly adding more and more support for smarthome products.

Read Reviews

If all else fails, product reviews from retail websites can be extremely helpful when it comes to finding out which voice assistants are supported, as well as learn more about the product overall before you buy it.