Can Cortana control home devices? (Working & Devices!)

Do you use Cortana for personal productivity and wonder if it can control your smart home devices?

If yes, there is good news for you. Yes, you can control smart home devices with Microsoft Cortana.

When someone comes back home from work, he is so tired that he imagines that every home device should start by itself and he can only do rest. If you come with the same feelings, Cortana can do this for you.

You can use Cortana to operate your smart home devices conveniently. Command to the assistant, and your device will be operational. 

Like, ask, ”Hey Cortana, set the room thermostat to 65 degrees”. 

No matter what device you have, either a smart bulb , fan, heater, thermostat , or vacuum cleaner , everything will be functional, ideally with Cortana.

You don’t need to be worried about the devices when you leave home. You can adjust the timing and command Cortana to turn off the heater, fan, or light according to schedule.

It means if you are late from the office and worried that the house is in deep darkness then not to worry as Cortana will operate the light and switch on the bulb automatically.

Smart bulbs and power products work with Cortana. Thus, through Cortana, you can operate everything even when you are not at home.

Before you know how Cortana works, you should know what Cortana is .

Let’s dive into dissection about Cortana, its setup, compatibility with devices, and its work.

What is Cortana?

Cortana is Microsoft’s personal productivity assistant, saving time and conveniently operating your devices. It assists you to concentrate on the most significant things.

To take assistance from Cortana, you have to choose the Cortana icon present on the Windows phone or desktop taskbar.

If you don’t know what things Cortana does, then opening the icon, you can ask Cortana, “What can you do? A few crucial things this app can manage your calendar and keep the schedule up to date.

Let you be aware of the meeting and know with whom your next meeting is.

Moreover, creating and managing the list, setting reminders, alarms, and opening apps are other tasks that Cortana can perform.

You can find definitions, info, and facts through Cortana as well.

How did Cortana start working?

To utilize the benefits of Cortana, you have to activate the Cortana model.

For this, open Cortana and select settings. Then toggle “on” in front of “talk to Cortana” this will wake the Cortana, and you can start operating it. The awake word is re-enabled in Cortana in Windows now.

There is a need to click the microphone button for using voice with Cortana for earlier builds.

To activate the device with Cortana, you need to open the Cortana on Windows 10 or open the Cortana on the phone.

Next, click on Notebook and then on Connected home. From here, you will get the list of intelligent home reports and manage your device from anywhere to use Cortana.

Cortana and IFTTT

IFTTT is the best way to avail of unique features of apps and devices free of cost.

Cortana works with IFTTT. You can connect services and apps. The company works with 600 services in different areas of the work.

Through IFTTT, you can add a shopping checklist on Trello, publish a tweet, open the Link shades, log on to Fitbit, tumble time on GE dryer, and much more. Thus, there is a whole world of possibilities with Cortana on IFTTT.

In addition, one can customize the experience by creating the phrases with IFTTT services.

You can make Cortana your assistance by using stimuli and answers on IFTTT. For instance, you can say, “Hey, Cortana, let there be light” or “Hey Cortana, penny my thoughts” furthermore, there is a facility to use Applets on IFTTT with Cortana for triggering multiple actions.

E.g., you can say,” Hey Cortana, movie time,” thus, making your life easy by linking the IFTTT service with your devices and using small phrases to activate the devices.

Cortana works with Windows 10, Android, Harman Kardon, iPhone, and invoke devices. You can easily set the Cortana Applets on the Cortana channel on IFTTT.

Through this service, Cortana works with innovative home providers.

Steps to connect Cortana with various home devices

You can control whatever smart device is available at your home. Either Nest, Insteon, Philips Hue, Wink, or any other account.

Moreover, it’s easy to adjust the outlets , thermostats, switches, and lights through simple voice authorities using Cortana on the phone, speaker, and PC.

To connect the account and control smart home devices, obey the teachings below to control the smart home devices.

Connecting Cortana through PC

To connect Cortana with PC, you have to do the following steps:

• Open Cortana
• Tap on Notebook and then “connected Home.”
• Switch on ” Enable Connected home” and mark in with the Microsoft version to use Cortana
• Select the service and enter account details.

iOS

To use Cortana for iOS devices and connect with home devices, you have to follow the steps given below:

• Open Cortana app
• Select the account and then Notebook, and after that, tap on “Connected Home.”
• Switch on the toggle beneath “Enabled connected Home” and sign in with Microsoft account for using Cortana.
• Choose the service and enter the account information.

Connecting Cortana with Android

To connect Cortana through Android, the steps are given below:

• Open Cortana and tap on Menu
• Select Notebook and then to “connected Home.”
• Then switch on the “Enabled Connected Home,” then mark in with Microsoft account to use Cortana.
• Choose the service and enter the account information.

Connecting Cortana with Speaker

To connect the brilliant home version to Cortana, open the Cortana on phone or PC and obey the teachings discussed above.

Features of Cortana

Cortana works similarly to Google Assistant and Alexa. E.g., you can control home devices like speakers, smart thermostats—vacuum, and bright lights through voice commands.

Moreover, you can ask questions and get answers through the web. Through Cortana, you can also check the traffic, weather, news, and reminders and manage the schedules or calendars.

Cortana uses the natural language for processing and is equipped with AI technology to offer better conversation results. Cortana understands different words with the same meaning.

For example, if you say you need a taxi or wait for a cab, it understands both words and accurately fulfils the command.

One more feature of Cortana is the Skype calls. You can make Skype calls to landlines, Skype devices, and mobile phones. Thus, you can connect Cortana with a similar voice calling feature. You can block the incoming calls being sent to the home speaker.

Cortana has the feature of sorting out emails and reading the summary of the email received in Gmail and Outlook. In addition, it can read the summaries of the most important emails.

Cortana Skills for controlling home devices

Just like Alexa, Cortana has the skills to control home devices. You can enable the Cortana skills without installing or downloading them.

To utilize them, click on “try now.” After that, Cortana will ask for permissions and link our account to work.

Once you connected, utilize Cortana according to preferences and schedule to control the home devices.

Microsoft is utilizing the Bot framework to make Cortana usage simple, and in this way, Cortana and Alexa can work together.

Different skills are available with Cortana, and you can connect to various devices like Honeywell , Nest , and Ecobee for controlling the thermostat. You can also apply Cortana on SmartThings , Philips Hue, LIFX, and Wink.

One more feature to avail through Cortana is the Dominos skill, so you can order tour pizza and use Dark Sky to get a weather update. Connect to Fitbit to check the steps and iHeartRadio and Spotify for running music streams.

Skills chaining is another feature of Cortana through which you can link together the everyday actions. For illustration, you can book the tickets for any event; Cortana can suggest adding them to your calendar.

Compatible Cortana devices

Speakers

Cortana works best with smart Speakers. These are cylindrical-shaped speakers from Invoke .

Connect with your Cortana and command to run your favourite speakers. Voice-activated speakers can be operated through Cortana and give you hand free operating experience.

The Cortana speaker also features Harman’s 360 Sonique voice distinction tech, which uses seven microphones, together with noise reduction and echo cancellation, to pick up what you’re saying even when it’s noisy.

Lights

Cortana can connect smart bulbs and lights. Then, you can ask the command to switch on or off the light.

Moreover, you can schedule the time so Cortana can switch on or off according to the scheduled time.

Thermostat

Glas smart thermostat is a helpful device, and you can control your house temperature. Such home devices come with an OLED display so that you can monitor the temperature change. Plus, these thermostats display energy data, calendars, air quality, and weather. You can control the intelligent thermostat through Cortana conveniently.

There are a lot of Cortana devices available in the market that you can operate conveniently. For example, the robotic vacuum cleaner also functions with this AI technology. Say a command” clean the room,” and Cortana will alert the vacuum and start its operation.

Advanced features of Cortana

Microsoft has launched the Home Hub feature on Windows 10 PCs for boosting Cortana’s function that help to manage the family PCs.

Conclusion

Cortana is the best way to operate smart home devices, like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa.

You can enjoy the features of smart devices with convenience, then connect them with Cortana and avail yourself of the incredible benefits from it. Connect Cortana by observing the measures in the discussion and giving a command to operate your home devices.