How do you control your iPhone with your voice?

Voice Control is Apple's built-in way to run an iPhone by voice. Apple says it lets you navigate and interact with the device using your voice to tap, swipe, type, and more ¹. It is different from dictation, which only turns speech into text. Voice Control runs the phone itself, so you can open apps, move around the screen and press buttons without touching it.

Set up Voice Control once, then use commands

Voice Control needs iOS 13 or later and a file download before first use ². Apple's steps to set it up start in Settings, then Accessibility, then Voice Control ³. Apple says that after that download you do not need a Wi-Fi connection to use it ², so the download is the only step that needs a connection.

1. Open Settings, tap Accessibility, then tap Voice Control.
2. Tap Set up Voice Control and wait for the download to finish.
3. Say a command. Apple's examples include "Open Control Center," "Go home," "Tap item name," "Open app name" and "Turn up volume."

Apple's examples follow a pattern: a verb, then the name of the thing on the screen. If you are not sure what a button is called, say "Show commands" to list what you can say in the current app.

Find the full command list in Settings

Voice Control commands depend on the app you are in. Apple says the available commands vary depending on the app you're working in and what you're doing ⁴. A text editor offers formatting commands that a home screen does not, so the list you see changes as you move around.

The full list is in Settings. Apple says to browse it at Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control > Commands, where you will also find examples of how to use each one ⁵. Menu names can change between iOS versions, so if the labels differ on your phone, follow the path to the Voice Control screen and look for a commands list there.

You can also turn Voice Control on and off by voice. Apple says that after you set it up, you can turn it on or off quickly from Control Center, from the Accessibility Shortcut, or by asking Siri ⁶. Control Center and the Accessibility Shortcut only appear if you have added them, so check those settings if you want the quick route.

For precise taps, use the grid

Some items on the screen are too small to name, so Voice Control can show a grid. Apple says that speaking a number on the grid enlarges that part of the grid and shows a new set of numbers, which helps you choose a small item ⁷. Use the grid when a label is missing or when two buttons have the same name.

The main limit is language

The most important limit is language. Apple says Voice Control on iPhone and iPad uses the Siri speech recognition engine for U.S. English only ⁸. If your phone is set to another language, the commands may not respond as you expect. If you also dictate text, check the language for dictation separately. The language list for typing is in our guide to dictation languages on iPhone and Android.

When commands do not work, check three things

Check these in order before you assume the phone is faulty.

1. The download. Voice Control needs its file download before first use, and it works without Wi-Fi only after that download has finished ². Wait until the download has completed before you test a command.
2. The setting. Confirm that Voice Control is on in Settings, then Accessibility, then Voice Control, or ask Siri to turn it on ⁶.
3. The language. Confirm that your phone is set to U.S. English for Voice Control ⁸.

If all three pass and a command still fails, try the command again with the exact label on the screen. Apple's examples use item names, so a label that differs from the one on the screen can fail. Our guide to dictation commands on iPhone covers the spoken punctuation and editing words used when you type, which are a separate set.

Dictation and Voice Control are different tools

When you only want to type a message, use dictation. Voice Control is for controlling the whole phone, and it turns on in a separate place. Our overview of iPhone dictation explains the typing side, and the glossary entry for Voice Control explains the Apple feature. For the voice assistant, see the glossary entry for Siri, and for the spoken instructions the phone understands, see the glossary entry for voice command.

What to do

• Set it up once while you have a connection, so the download finishes before you need it.
• Say "Show commands" when you do not know the next command, and browse the full list in Settings.
• Use the grid for small or unlabelled items.
• Check your language if commands fail, because Voice Control supports U.S. English only.

For Android, the same question has a different answer, covered in how to control an Android phone with your voice. The full set of phone tools is in our guide to Live Transcribe, Live Captions and Voice Control, and the wider group is in dictation and voice to text on iPhone and Android.