Amazon has recently made a Smart Home Dashboard available on select Fire TV devices, as spotted by some Reddit users. It seems as though the dashboard is only available to some devices and/or some users, so you may not be able to access it. Here is an overview of how to use it and some of the things it can do.
To open the Smart Home Dashboard, simply say “Open my smart home dashboard” into your Fire TV voice remote. A full-screen dashboard should appear. If nothing happens when you issue the voice command, you either don’t yet have access to the dashboard yet or your Fire TV model is not compatible. You could try checking for software updates under Settings > My Fire TV > About > Check for Updates, but it’s not clear if an update is required to access the dashboard.
The main screen of the dashboard is a list of recently used smart home devices. The current state of each item is displayed on each tile and you can use the remote to highlight an item and control its state. Across the top are tabs for each category of smart home device that you have configured with Alexa, such as Cameras, Lights, Plugs, and Thermostats.
Selecting a smart thermostat from the list will display the currently set temperature, as well as the current mode of the device and current temperature of the room. Pressing up or down on the Fire TV remote’s directional pad will increase/decrease the set temperature. For my 3rd-gen Nest Smart Thermostat, there was no way to change the mode or turn off the thermostat using the remote, even though it’s possible to do so by voice. Other smart thermostats, like the Ecobee which are more thoroughly integrated with Alexa, may have those additional options.
Selecting a smart light on the dashboard gives you the option to toggle the light on or off using the remote. If the light supports dimming, you can use the left and right buttons on the remote to control the brightness of the light. In addition to individual smart devices, you’ll also see groups that you’ve configured in the Alexa app appear on the dashboard. So if you’ve grouped several lights together under a single name, you’ll be able to control the group with a single entry on the dashboard. There doesn’t appear to be a way to control the color or temperature of a smart light through the dashbaord.
Smart plugs are separated into their own section of the Smart Home Dashboard. As you’d expect, the only control option for smart plugs is to toggle them on or off. If you have a lamp or some other light source connected to your smart plug, you can configure the plug as a light in the Alexa app, which causes it to appear in the Lights section of the Smart Home Dashboard.
Lastly, there is a dedicated section for all of your compatible smart home cameras. Each camera is listed separately and you can select a camera to bring up a live video feed of the camera.
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There was an update but when I say ‘open smart home dashboard’ it just comes up with a Smart Home Tip I don’t really see anything different yet on the update though… The app for iOS has triangles all the way round with a circle button… you can enable this touch thing or not…
I was getting the same thing. I had to say, very clear and slowly, “Smart Home Dashboard”. Alexa finally caught on.
We’ve had a cloud cam for over a year, and I’ve been waiting for this feature to check it on my TV.
In case you don’t know, you can also just say “Show my camera” and the live video will come up on the Fire TV. You don’t need to use the dashboard to vide cameras if you don’t want to.
I can confirm this works perfectly on FTV First Gen (yes I still use mine!)
even though Reddit says it shouldn’t. I have a couple Wyze Cams, the only issue- Alexa says on/off not supported…yet.
So the cams either need to already be on or use the app. Also, I’ve not received any updates as near as I can tell.
Oh, that worked! Thanks!
Can you try ‘show smart home dashboard”
Scratching my head wondering why in the world one would find this useful.
It seems similar to what you get on the Show devices. Maybe they’re trying to make the experience more similar across all Amazon Alexa-enabled devices with screens.
If one is confined to bed, they can answer the door from their bed.
Exactly.
I suppose if you have a hear pump you could tell alexa to turn up the stat, but you can do that anyway without even turning on your TV.
Because I live in 3 separate houses and can keep an eye on each.
Mine it’s working too, not need to update. Would be great to have implemented in the menu
This works great I agree it should be a menu item
It is. Swipe from right side of the screen.
I think you’re talking about the Echo Show. The dashboard in this article is on the Fire TV.
For even more echo show like items…
Say
EXPLORE ALEXA to your cube or remote
Hi guys…..do you know if Smart Home (Tuya) can control the Fire TV Stick??
Will this come to the fire tv cube
I was able to get this last week on my fire stick but now it won’t show up keeps saying I’m not sure how to help you with that
Would be a betterment if Amazon just made their film text big enough to read, and provided sub titles for every film.
Quick Update
The command should be
“Alexa, show my Smart Home dashboard”
It appears the word “show” is better than “open”.
Confirm. Saying “Open my smart home dashboard” got the can’t help you with that response, but “Show my smart home dashboard” worked fine. Of course, now it also responds to “Open” so maybe Alexa is just weird and you have to use “Show” the first time before “Open” will work?
Nothing smart about this firestick or its dashboard. The text size on the film menu is so small on my 39″ TV I have to sit about 4 feet away to read it. Not smart at all if you have to get up and walk across the room to see what is on. Also most of the films are now at a premium rate on top of your Amazon subscription. Not really worth it.
Got to agree
Especially as Amazon has just increased the subscription by about 22%
My fire tv after 2-3 minutes returns to normal home screen without touching anything!!! :( :( Useless…
You can say “Show Smart Home” and it will come up on the display.