Intuitive operation by tapping the screen! I tried using the new function "Device Dashboard" of Fire tablet: Masahiro Yamaguchi's smart speaker life (1/2 page)

At the end of 2020, a new function called "Device Dashboard" that allows touch operation of smart home devices in the home was added to Amazon's "Fire" series of media tablets.

The smart home device that works with Alexa is originally operated by voice or from the Alexa app on the smartphone, but the former is inconvenient when you can not speak, and the latter is difficult to call because it is deep in the hierarchy and is used regularly Not suitable for.

In that respect, this device dashboard allows you to quickly find the device you are looking for and tap it. I tried using it briefly, so I will introduce the points.

Easily operate your smart home device from the Fire tab with a touch

The device dashboard is launched by tapping the newly added "house" icon at the bottom left of the Fire tablet screen. It can be launched directly from the home screen, so it's very intuitive and hassle-free.

No special setup is required to use it, and if there is a smart home device already recognized by Alexa, it will be automatically detected and displayed. Since it is provided as a function of Fire OS, there is no need to install any new application, and it will be available suddenly with an OS update.

By the way, the screen of the device dashboard is roughly divided into four areas.

At the top are all plugs and a button to turn all lights on and off at once. Use this when you want to operate the lights and plugs in your home all at once, such as when you go to bed or when you wake up.

However, even if you say "lighting" in one word, there are nightlights that are turned on only when other lights are off. When these are mixed, it is not realistic to turn them on / off all at once. Exclusions cannot be set in such cases, so if there are a large number of lights and plugs, it is unlikely that they will come into play.

Below that, you'll see an icon for your recently used smart home device. It's a usage history. Some devices can be turned on / off directly on this screen, while others can be tapped to pop up their own UI that can be turned on / off.

If you want to prioritize a specific device here, you can pin it so that it always appears at the beginning. Pinned devices will have an orange pin mark on their right shoulder.

Below that, "categories" such as lights, plugs, cameras, and thermostats are displayed. Unlike the "Pinning & Recently Used Devices" mentioned above, all items that Alexa recognizes are displayed here, so if you want to call a device that you haven't used recently, use this.

What is displayed at the bottom is "Recently used standard actions". Here you can see the most recently used routine actions set in the Alexa app, which you can operate with a single tap without using voice. This area seems to be used frequently by some people.

The order of these home screen areas is fixed, and customization such as bringing "recently used routine actions" to the top of the home screen or hiding categories is not possible. It's a nice feature, and I'm not happy that it's not implemented personally.

In addition, there is no function to display in group units such as "office" and "living room". You might decide that you don't have a lot of chances to turn it on and off in groups, but the Alexa app only twists a certain category. I often come across these specifications that make me think "Oya" when I use them.

Next, let's think about how to use the device dashboard and similar functions properly.

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