4 Cool New Alexa+ Features You Might Miss

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Since Amazon launched its premium Alexa+ subscription in early 2026, users have been eager to test a more personalized and useful generation of AI in their living rooms. By integrating a more advanced large language model directly into its Echo ecosystem, Amazon’s Alexa+ promises a digital assistant capable of understanding nuance, context, and more complex commands. While early adopters jumped on board quickly to enjoy faster response times and a more natural conversational tone, many Alexa+ users are only scratching the surface of what this enhanced assistant can do.

If you’re only using Alexa+ to set kitchen timers or ask about the weather, you’re definitely not getting what you pay for. And trust us, Alexa+ offers plenty of great features that are worth paying for. This major software overhaul not only brings some improvements to a few of the company’s older smart home tools, but it also introduces new features that transform your Echo from a basic voice speaker into an active household manager.

There are dozens of hidden changes in the latest rollout, but there are a few particularly impressive additions that will truly change the way you interact with every compatible device you own. These tools are currently available to active Alexa+ subscribers (and Prime members), but you may need a newer Echo device to access the additional processing power required for faster responses.

One of the best features Amazon talked about when it launched Alexa+ is the big change in how the assistant handles smart home routines. For years, setting up a routine meant spending tedious time in the app, manually selecting triggers and actions to make sure your lights, thermostat, and other connected smart home gadgets are all in sync. Now you can simply tell Alexa the specific details of the routine you want to set up, and it will set it up for you and run it.

For example, if you routinely lock the front door, turn off your living room lights, and lower the thermostat to 68 degrees every night around 10 p.m., tell Alexa+, and it will take care of these end-of-day tasks for you so you can just go to bed. Complex routines can be implemented for a wide range of tasks and times of day. Just ask and the upgraded digital assistant will recommend a routine. It can even set up personalized routines for specific people. And with Alexa+ now available on the web as well as via the mobile app, it’s easier than ever.

Another cool upgrade that makes Alexa+ much more useful is its pop-up memory feature. Legacy voice assistants have notoriously terrible short-term memory; you will have to repeat yourself over and over again each time to get a relevant answer. Alexa+’s new conversational engine, however, can remember personal details and preferences from conversations you had days or even weeks ago, and apply them seamlessly to all your new requests.

For example, if you mention on a Tuesday that your daughter is allergic to peanuts, you could ask Alexa+ on a Friday to “find a good bakery nearby for her birthday cake,” and the assistant could use that information to personalize its recommendations. This level of personalized continuity is fully opt-in through the app; Similarly, Amazon has a privacy dashboard where you can view and delete things learned about you, like your Alexa history, smart home device history, skill permissions, ad preferences, detected sounds history, and activity history.

Not only can this contextual feature make interactions faster and less frustrating, but it also allows the AI ​​to act more like a dedicated personal friend or concierge rather than a generic search engine. No more rigid robotic controls, and just talk to him like a normal person.

The new and improved Alexa+ makes it easy to stay informed. If you like the news, you can set up an Alexa+ daily briefing to hear summaries of the most popular recent news stories, interesting headlines on general news and sports. Plus, Amazon has partnered with hundreds of media outlets to ensure you get the most accurate information whenever you’re ready to hear it, including Associated Press, Forbes, Reuters, Business Insider, USA Today, Vox, and Condé Nast publications.

Alexa+ can also step in as a tutor if you or your children need help with a specific school subject during homework time. You can also ask it for a variety of information on topics ranging from sports statistics to historical facts, get recommendations for local restaurants or stores, or get advice on DIY projects. As a nice bonus, you can also choose to share information with Alexa+ so that it can be remembered and used on your behalf in the future. It might be things like your philosophy class notes that you want to be quizzed on later, the name of that ice cream shop you liked but never seem to remember, or your overly complicated HOA bylaws, so you can finally find out if you’re allowed to paint your front door hot pink.

Everyone’s been there: you come home from work exhausted, only to open the refrigerator and discover you have nothing to cook for dinner. However, there’s no need to stress, because you can tell Alexa+ which groceries you need and ask it to arrange a delivery using Amazon’s convenient link to Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and other grocery stores. Then you can sit on the couch, watch an episode of your favorite TV show, and make dinner once the groceries arrive.

If you don’t feel like cooking, you have the option of letting Alexa+ order food delivery. All you have to do is tell him you’re craving Pad Thai, tacos al pastor, chicken tikka masala or tteokbokki and gimbap. Amazon says Alexa+ will then “automatically match what you’re craving with what’s available on a restaurant’s menu” and then order it through Grubhub. If your birthday is coming up and you forgot to make a dinner reservation, Alexa+ can also reserve a seat for you. Just tell her, “Alexa, book a reservation for two at Burger King on Saturday at 6 p.m..” And suddenly, you saved the day.