You're cooking dinner, hands covered in flour, and you suddenly remember you need to know when the car insurance renews. Or you're rushing out the door and want a quick rundown of what's on today.
Reaching for your phone, unlocking it, opening an app — that's four steps too many.
SimpliHome's Voice AI makes your household information hands-free. Ask your Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri (including HomePod) and get a spoken summary of your events, bills, vehicles, and tasks — instantly.
#What You Can Ask
Once set up, your voice assistant can answer questions about your household using live SimpliHome data:
#Daily Briefing
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome what's on today" "Hey Siri, show my daily briefing in SimpliHome"
Gives you a spoken summary of:
- Today's calendar events
- Pending tasks
- Bills due within the next 7 days
#Calendar Events
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome what events I have tomorrow" "Hey Siri, show my calendar in SimpliHome"
Reads out your upcoming events with times and locations.
#Upcoming Bills
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome about my upcoming bills" "Hey Siri, check upcoming bills in SimpliHome"
Lists bills due in the next 30 days with the provider name, due date, and approximate monthly cost.
#Vehicle Status
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome when my car MOT is due" "Hey Siri, check car status in SimpliHome"
Reads out MOT, road tax, and insurance renewal dates for all vehicles registered in your Circle.
#To-Do List
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome what's on my to-do list" "Hey Siri, show my to-do list in SimpliHome"
Reads your top pending tasks from your Circle's shared to-do lists.
#Requirements
- A Gold plan SimpliHome subscription (Voice AI is a Gold feature)
- For Amazon Alexa: an Echo device
- For Apple Siri / HomePod: the SimpliHome app installed on an iPhone running iOS 16 or later
#Setting Up with Amazon Alexa
The Alexa integration uses a skill that connects to your SimpliHome account via a secure OAuth link.
#Step 1: Find the SimpliHome Skill
- Open the Amazon Alexa app on your phone
- Tap More in the bottom right
- Tap Skills & Games
- Search for "SimpliHome"
- Tap the SimpliHome skill
- Tap Enable to Use
#Step 2: Link Your SimpliHome Account
After enabling the skill, Alexa will prompt you to link your account:
- Tap Link Account
- You'll be taken to the SimpliHome login page
- Sign in with your SimpliHome credentials
- Authorise the connection
Your SimpliHome account is now linked to your Alexa.
#Step 3: Test the Connection
Try your first voice command:
"Alexa, ask SimpliHome what's on today"
Alexa should respond with your today's summary from SimpliHome. If it works, you're all set.
#Step 4: Set a Default Device (Optional)
If you have multiple Echo devices around the house, the SimpliHome skill will work on all of them once linked.
#Setting Up with Apple Siri & HomePod
This is where SimpliHome stands out: no account linking, no app store skill to find, no setup at all. SimpliHome uses Apple's App Intents system (iOS 16+), which automatically registers voice shortcuts the moment you install the app.
#On iPhone or iPad
- Install the SimpliHome app from the App Store (requires iOS 16 or later)
- Sign in to your account
- That's it — Siri shortcuts are registered automatically
Try it straight away:
"Hey Siri, get today's summary in SimpliHome"
Siri will respond with your daily briefing without any additional configuration.
#On HomePod or HomePod mini
HomePod runs Siri and can trigger App Intents from apps installed on your iPhone — this is called Personal Requests.
To enable it:
- Open the Home app on your iPhone
- Tap the HomePod you want to use
- Scroll down and tap Personal Requests
- Toggle Personal Requests on
Once enabled, say from your HomePod:
"Hey Siri, show my bills in SimpliHome"
HomePod will use the app on your iPhone to fetch and speak back your SimpliHome data.
#The AI-Powered Difference (Alexa)
SimpliHome's Alexa Voice AI doesn't just recite a list of database fields in a robotic voice. When AI mode is active, it generates natural, conversational responses that sound like a briefing from a knowledgeable assistant.
Without AI:
"You have three events today. At nine AM, school run. At two-thirty PM, dentist appointment at City Dental. At six PM, football training."
With AI:
"Good morning! You've got a busy one today — school run first thing, then Emma has her dentist appointment at City Dental at half two, and Tom's at football training from six. You've also got three bills coming up this week, with the broadband renewal being the most urgent."
The AI response is generated fresh each time you ask, pulling from your live household data and presenting it conversationally.
#Example Voice Interactions
Morning briefing (Alexa):
You: "Alexa, ask SimpliHome for my morning briefing" Alexa: "Good morning! Today you have two events: Emma's dental check-up at City Dental at two-thirty this afternoon, and a family dinner at your parents' at seven. You have one pending task on your list: renew the home insurance. Three bills are due within the next week — your Sky bill on Wednesday, council tax on Thursday, and the gym membership on Friday."
Checking the calendar (Siri on HomePod):
You: "Hey Siri, show my calendar in SimpliHome" Siri: "Here's what's coming up today from SimpliHome: dentist at 2:30pm, then family dinner at 7pm. Would you like to see more?"
Upcoming bills (Alexa):
You: "Alexa, ask SimpliHome what bills are due this month" Alexa: "You have four bills due in the next thirty days. Your broadband with Sky is due on the fourth. Home insurance with Aviva renews on the tenth. Your mobile phone contract is due on the seventeenth. And your Netflix subscription comes out on the twenty-second."
Car status (Siri on iPhone):
You: "Hey Siri, check car status in SimpliHome" Siri: "Your Ford Focus has its MOT due in about six weeks — 15th May. Road tax renews end of June, insurance until October."
Tasks (Alexa):
You: "Alexa, ask SimpliHome what's on my to-do list" Alexa: "You have five pending tasks. Book the car service. Call the plumber about the bathroom tap. Order Tom's school uniform. Renew the National Trust membership. And reply to the invitation for Emma's birthday party."
#Tips for Getting the Most Out of Voice AI
Use it as your morning routine. Ask SimpliHome for your briefing while you're making coffee or getting ready. A 30-second spoken update gives you everything you need to know before the day starts.
Keep your data up to date. Voice AI is only as useful as the data in your Circle. Keep bills updated with accurate renewal dates, make sure vehicle information is current, and add events as soon as they're confirmed.
Siri phrases must include the app name. Because SimpliHome uses App Intents, Siri needs to know which app you mean. Say "in SimpliHome" at the end of each request — for example, "Hey Siri, show my to-do list in SimpliHome".
Works across all household members. Because Voice AI pulls from the Circle's shared data, any household member with the app installed (for Siri) or a linked Alexa account (for Alexa) gets access to the same household information.
Combine with other SimpliHome AI features. Voice AI works best when your SimpliHome data is kept current. Using AI Email Intelligence (Gold feature) to auto-populate events and bills means your voice responses are always up to date without manual entry.
#What Voice AI Doesn't Do (Yet)
Voice AI currently provides read-only household information. You can ask it questions, but you can't yet:
- Create new calendar events by voice
- Update bill amounts or dates by voice
- Perform any write operations through Alexa
The Siri integration does support adding to-do items — say "Hey Siri, add a task in SimpliHome" and Siri will ask you what to add.
#Troubleshooting
Alexa says "SimpliHome isn't responding"
- Check that your SimpliHome account is still linked in the Alexa app
- Ensure you have an active Gold subscription
- Try relinking: Alexa app → Skills & Games → SimpliHome → Settings → Disable, then re-enable and relink
Siri says it can't find SimpliHome
- Ensure the SimpliHome app is installed on your iPhone and you're signed in
- Confirm you're running iOS 16 or later
- Try saying the phrase exactly: "Hey Siri, get today's summary in SimpliHome"
HomePod says it can't complete the request
- Check that Personal Requests is enabled in the Home app for that HomePod
- Ensure your iPhone (with SimpliHome installed) is signed in to the same Apple ID as the HomePod
- Your iPhone needs to be reachable — either on the same Wi-Fi network or via iCloud
The information is out of date
Voice AI pulls from live SimpliHome data, so if bills or events are missing, ensure they're added to your Circle. Voice AI can only report what's there.
I'm getting a subscription error (Alexa)
Alexa Voice AI requires a Gold subscription. Check your subscription status under Settings → Subscription in SimpliHome.
#Privacy
SimpliHome Voice AI:
- Only responds to queries from linked/authenticated accounts — it can't be accessed by anyone who hasn't linked their SimpliHome account or installed the app
- Does not record or store your voice commands — audio is processed entirely by Amazon or Apple before reaching SimpliHome
- Passes only the intent of your query to SimpliHome (e.g., "get today's events") — not the raw audio
- Returns only the data from your Circle, scoped to your account
#Getting Started
Voice AI is available on the Gold plan.
To upgrade or check your current plan, go to Settings → Subscription within SimpliHome. Once you're on Gold, follow the setup guide above for either Amazon Alexa or Apple Siri & HomePod — it takes about five minutes and transforms how you interact with your household data.
Your household information, wherever you are, without touching your phone.