The best Amazon Echo Skills and how to use them

Since Amazon introduced the Echo to the UK in 2016, it has drastically expanded the range of devices you can buy. There's also been a boom in the number of skills – Amazon's version of apps – that can be used on the devices.

Among the 15,000 plus skills available there's a lot of rubbish but also some gems that you should try out. Here's the WIRED guide to the best Echo skills you can use. We frequently update this page, so check back to find out more of the latest Echo skills.

Keep your home secure

Cybersecurity company McAfee has decided connected home products should have their security settings managed using Alexa. People with a McAfee router can ask how many devices are on their home network, run scans on the network for vulnerabilities, ask for a status update and block certain devices from accessing the internet.

Listen to the BBC

The Corporation has created its own skill to plug the gaps in radio players that don't provide all of its services. The skill allows listeners to ask for local stations, national broadcasts and all of the BBC's podcasts.

Find your phone

The TrackR skill also requires the iOS or Android app but can be handy around the house. You can ask Alexa to ring your phone and the device will play at full volume, even if it is in silent mode.

Check your flight status

Lengthy waits for delayed flights, both arriving and departing, are frustrating. London's Heathrow airport has its own Alexa skill that allows you to easily check on the status of a plane. Once installed, the skill requires you to say 'flight' and the number of the plane. It'll then give you its latest status update, without having to check on a computer or phone.

Get the weather from the Met Office

You've been able to ask Alexa for the weather from day one. However, things got more reliable with the Met Office's Echo skill. The weather forecasters have created a Met Office Flash Briefing skill that allows for the upcoming weather conditions to be outlined for local regions as part of the Echo's quick briefing system.