For those who need or prefer hands-free control, using voice control on your iPhone is a game-changer. It allows you to perform tasks, open apps, and navigate on your phone with ease – all through spoken commands. Let’s explore how to enable and use voice control for a fully voice-driven experience.
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Content
- 1. Automatic Scrolling
- 2. Assistive Touch
- 3. Customized Vocal Shortcuts
- 4. Hands-Free Photos
- 5. Hands-Free Bill Pay
- 6. More Voice Options with Siri
1. Automatic Scrolling
The iOS Voice Control function helps users who have difficulty navigating their iPhone by hand or simply prefer to rely on voice commands for greater mobility. To start accessing its various features, such as automatic scrolling, you’ll have to enable Voice Control on your iPhone that’s running iOS 13 or above.
Go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Voice Control on your iPhone.
Tap on Voice Control. It will show up as Set Up Voice Control if you’re doing this for the first time.
Select your preferred language, and press Continue.
Check out a few examples of what you can say when using Voice Control, such as Open Control Center, Go home, or Show numbers, then press Done.
Now you can start taking advantage of what Voice Control has to offer. A favorite of mine is automatic scrolling. This comes in handy, especially on cold evenings when I’m all tucked into my blanket and feel like scrolling on Snapchat or Instagram. It lets me avoid exposing my hands while staying wrapped up in the warmth of my covers.
To take advantage of automatic scrolling on apps, go to Voice Control in Settings once again, and tap Customize Commands.
Select Custom or browse more useful commands in the list.
Tap Create New Command. Speak or enter a phrase you want to use to scroll, then press Action.
Select Run Custom Gesture. Draw a swipe-up gesture using your finger, and press Save, then press Save again.
Navigate to your favorite social app, and say “Next.” Automatic scrolling should take over, whether you’re visiting a profile feed or watching videos.
In my experience, the feature works really well when watching videos on Snapchat or scrolling through a profile on Instagram. It hasn’t performed as well for me when trying to watch Instagram Reels or TikToks.
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2. Assistive Touch
Assistive Touch is another accessibility feature that includes a really neat voice-powered functionality. Sound Actions is available on iOS 18.
Assistive Touch lets you use your iPhone even if you have difficulty touching the screen. Sound Actions simplify things even further. The feature allows you to make sounds or noises to trigger actions on your iPhone. It is of great use to me when I have my hands full and can’t maneuver the phone. I can make a simple sound like Sh in Sound Actions to lower the volume of my device. It’s super helpful!
To take advantage of Sound Actions in full – meaning to perform multiple actions quickly – enable Eye Tracking (available in iOS 18).
Go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Eye Tracking.
Turn Eye Tracking on, and go through the on-screen instructions to calibrate it.
Go back to Accessibility -> Touch. Enable the toggle next to AssertiveTouch.
Swipe toward the button to find Sound Actions.
Choose a sound you can make. For instance, Click or Oo.
Associate this sound with an action, such as Lock Screen or Screenshot. Link multiple sounds with actions, and use them one after the other if you wish.
If you’re not sure how to make the sound, tap Practice at the top.
3. Customized Vocal Shortcuts
Another feature that’s available exclusively in iOS 18 is vocal shortcuts. This lets you set custom vocal phrases which you can then link to an action.
Go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Vocal Shortcuts.
Tap on Set Up Vocal Shortcuts to begin the process. Select an action, type out a phrase (it can be a more complex one), then speak it out loud. You can use Siri for this if you prefer.
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4. Hands-Free Photos
Voice Control allows you to take hands-free photos on your iPhone. I tend to use this option when taking pictures of myself. I prefer it over setting a timer, as I don’t have to hurry to find the right position before time runs out. Before you can take hands-free shots, you’ll need to enable an additional option for convenience.
Go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Voice Control -> Overlay.
Select Item Names. Also select Item Numbers if that’s easier for you to pronounce.
Say “Open Camera” to open your camera app. You’ll see the names of all the camera buttons displayed on top so that you will know how to refer to them.
If you wish to take a selfie, say, “Tap Camera Chooser.”
When you’re ready to snap the photo, say, “Tap Take Picture.” I sometimes need to say things twice for the action to be performed, but I suspect it’s due to my accent.
5. Hands-Free Bill Pay
Using the same overlay as the previous section, you can pay your bills via voice commands. I’ve added a screenshot that shows the checkout screen for a Steam game purchase, as the bill-paying apps I usually use are in my native language. You can say things like “Tap VISA,” to select your card type, then “Tap PayPal,” or a different service you wish to use.
To input data, say something like ”Tap First name.” To pay bills via apps, things should be much easier, as you already have most of your personal details saved.
For instance, I only have to say “Tap Bills & Payments -> Tap Select -> Tap Pay” to pay my energy bill, as I already have my card details saved.
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6. More Voice Options with Siri
Voice Control is not the same thing as Siri, and you can even use both in tandem. I found out that when you need to do more granular tasks on your iPhone, Voice Control is the best choice. But for other tasks, I prefer to turn to Siri.
For instance, I find it easier to say ”Hey Siri, Play Madonna on Spotify” than go through all the verbal commands to do so.
To use Siri on your iPhone, go to Settings -> Siri & Search, and make sure Listen for “Hey Siri” is on.
If you prefer relying on Siri, learn about the best Siri shortcuts for iOS. Along the same lines, learn how to change Siri’s voice and language on Mac and other Apple devices.
Image credit: Freepik. All screenshots by Alexandra Arici.
Alexandra Arici –
Staff Writer
Alexandra is passionate about mobile tech and can be often found fiddling with a smartphone from some obscure company. She kick-started her career in tech journalism in 2013, after working a few years as a middle-school teacher. Constantly driven by curiosity, Alexandra likes to know how things work and to share that knowledge with everyone.
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