Voice Control and User Accounts

This past quarter has been a busy one at Anova Culinary. We're reaching the completion of a couple really cool features we've been working very hard on. We're happy to announce that voice control is now available for the Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI through Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. In the next iOS and Android update, you'll be able to control your Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI with your voice using an Amazon Alexa-enabled device such as an Echo, Dot, or a Google Home. Voice control requires a WI-FI connection and will only be compatible with the Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI. The other feature we're excited to release is user accounts. Voice Control Voice control is gaining traction very rapidly, and what better place to utilize this amazing technology than in the kitchen! We think this feature is going to be a game changer. In the next release you'll be able to enable the Amazon Alexa skill (through the Amazon Alexa app) and Google Home action (through the Google Home app) to allow for a very robust voice controlled cooking experience. We have had a tremendous amount of help with this from one of our community members, David Zielezna, who joined our team to help build the integration after implementing it in his own Precision Cooker. You'll no longer have to imagine what it would be like asking Alexa, or Google Home to help you cook at steak. With the latest voice integration you'll now have the ability to do this with ease. All you have to do is ask. Here's how the "Guided Cook" invocation works: You: Alexa, ask Anova to help me cook a steak -or- Hey Google, tell Anova to help me cook a steak Alexa/Google Home: Steak has the following choices: A) Porterhouse, B) Ribeye, C) Strip, and D) Tenderloin. Which would you like? You: Ribeye Alexa/Google Home: How thick is your ribeye in inches? You: One point five inches Alexa/Google Home: The ribeye steak recipe has the following choices for how you can cook one point five inch thick ribeye: A) Very rare to rare, B) Medium rare, C) Medium, D) Medium well, and E) Well done. Which would you like? You: Medium-rare Alexa/Google Home: The precision cooker settings for Ribeye Steak using one point five inch ribeye cooked medium rare are 129 degrees for one hour. should I start your cooker with these settings? You: Yes Alexa/Google Home: I told Anova to start a cook for your Ribeye Steak at 129 degrees for one hour. Please refer to this recipe in the anova app for an ingredient list and full preparation steps. This is just one thing you can ask Alexa, or Google to have your Anova do for you, some others include; "Ask Anova to heat the water to _ degrees and set a timer for _ minutes," or "Ask Anova how long it’s been cooking for," or even "Ask Anova to give me help." The initial Google Home action and invocations will be available to Android customers this Friday, March 31st, and "Guided Cook" by next Wednesday, April 5th. The iOS app update will also be shipped this Friday, including the initial action invocations and "Guided Cook." The actual release will depend on Apple's app approval process, but we expect to have full Google Home <> Anova Precision Cooker WI-FI functionality by April 7, 2017. User Accounts Currently, you're only able to control one Anova product at a time through a single app. This will change with the use of user accounts. We'll be able to register multiple Anova products to one account. Other benefits user accounts will bring in the near future is the ability to save custom cooks, and robust customer support through the app. I'd love to hear what you think of these new features, so please feel free to leave comments below. If you have any feedback, please send to [email protected], or if you have any questions, comments, or concerns you don't want to leave below, you can email us at [email protected]. Download the Amazon Alexa app for iOS Download the Amazon Alexa app for Android Download the Google Home app for iOS Download the Google Home app for Android