Tip for delaying actions in an Alexa Routine

[buffaloquinn]

Was searching for a way to tell Alexa to turn off my drivewy lights after a few minutes without having to fish out my phone and run the Alexa app. I thought I coould set up a "Play Music" step with a timer, but no go. Music can only be the last step in a routine. But a "Flash Briefing" can go anywhere. If you put it in a routine before the command to turn out the lights than you have a time delay the equivalent of the briefing. For shorter delays, add an "Alexa Says" to "tell a story" or "sing a song". You can add a "mute the volume" on the device as a first step if you're worried about waking someone. Reset thevolume as a last step.

[Jerome]

I think you're looking for Stringify : it can really boost your Alexa routines greatly.
Please read this in order to learn how to call a Stringify "flow" in an Alexa routine :
https://www.reddit.com/r/Stringify/comments/97oxe5/using_a_stringify_flow_from_an_alexa_routine/

In my case, I am able to say "Alexa, good night" and it will fade out my LIFX smart bulbs over 20 seconds giving me time to leave the room before it gets pitch black. AFAIK such a delay is not possible in Alexa's routines without 3rd party tools.

[kenf]

This is a kind of automation where the 3rd party hubs (ex. Samsung SmartThings) usually have better scripting options than what's built into Echo.

Friends of mine use theirs to turn off the lights after five minutes (after bedtime), because their boys get up to go potty and turn on every light on the way and forget to turn them off again.

[buffaloquinn]

I knew there were other ways to accomplish this but I was looking to stay entirely within Alexa for the moment. I just got my first Echo device a couple of weeks ago & am just getting started with the programming stuff. Thanks for the replies and the suggestions. Ideally I'd like to be able to say, "Alexa, leaving in X minutes" & have the sequence adjust the timing for X.

[scottrods]

You can set up Music with a timer... but have to call it out each time. "Alexa, set a sleep timer for 20 minutes" or whatever time duration you'd like.

I haven't worked it into a routine yet, but need to so I can just say "Alexa, Goodnight" or whatever is available.

[buffaloquinn]

You can set up Music with a timer... but have to call it out each time. "Alexa, set a sleep timer for 20 minutes" or whatever time duration you'd like.

I haven't worked it into a routine yet, but need to so I can just say "Alexa, Goodnight" or whatever is available.

As I mentioned in the original post, music can only be placed as the final step in a routine. Since the object is to "delay" the "lights off" action, this would not be a solution. Also note that routines do not allow variable voice input. You can say, "Alexa, start this routine", But you cannot say, "Alexa, run this routine for X minutes."