Alexa Gets New Sunrise And Sleep Lighting Features In The US

Amazon is rolling out new features for Alexa, ones that involve connected lighting systems with support for its personal assistant. The two big new features are Sleep Lighting Time and Wake-up Lights, both intended to improve the sleeping experience by automating lighting both at night and in the morning. Joining these two features are a couple of new Routines, as well.

The new Sleep Lighting Timer for Alexa is exactly what it sounds like — a timer that will slowly dim connected smart lights until they eventually turn off at bedtime. Users can enable this feature by telling Alexa to set a sleep timer for whatever duration they have left until it's time for bed. Assuming the Echo device is playing music, Alexa will automatically stop the audio when the lights turn off.

The Wake-Up Lighting feature, meanwhile, is intended for waking up, not going to sleep. The feature turns a connected smart bulb into a sunrise lamp by slowly turning up the light the closer it gets to wake-up time. To use this feature, users tell Alexa to set an alarm for the time they want to wake up, including the command, "...with my bedside lamp."

Finally, Amazon is also introducing two new Routines, one that enables users to set their connected lights to dim, the other that lets users set the lights to brighten. The duration of these changes can range from five to 59 minutes, adding these lighting changes as part of a larger single routine. Telling Alexa goodnight, for example, can trigger a routine that includes a gradual dimming of the lights even if an alarm isn't set.

These new features are rolling out to Alexa users in the United States over the next week. You'll need a smart lighting product that includes support for Amazon Alexa, such as the new Wyze Smart Bulb.