Same here. And Alexa (Amazon Cube) is really relegated to muting my TV, lowering/raising the volume, and turning TVs off. If I install some outdoor cameras I might use it to check the front door, back yard or (if I had a child) the baby room. As a Windows user I never found a use for Cortana.

Alexa is the only one that turned out remotely useful for me.

I'd like to use the assistant on Android exactly for this, and probably a few other automation tasks. I love me some fiddling with semi-automated workflows. If only I wasn't averse to putting my voiceprint on Google's servers.

In case you’re not aware you can use the Shortcuts app to automate Clock for a timer and put it on the home screen as an icon. Works for Safari and Open Links if you want a home web bookmark, too.

I use Siri to ask it to use Waze for directions to locations I want to drive to. Works incredibly well.

Agreed, although I’ve found force touch on the Control Center icon a nice shortcut as well.

Nice, I've learned something today...

However, when busy, it still feels faster to say "set timer for x minutes" with just a long press on the home button.