iPhone Voice Commands

By Ricky Buchanan • June 25, 2009

Speech commands are one of the great new features of the iPhone 3GS. It’s an accessibility feature that will help blind and mobility impaired users, and will also have significant benefit for people driving or doing other things while using their iPhone.

Here are all the speech commands I’ve seen people list for the iPhone 3GS. The asterisks after some commands link to the place on the internet I saw the command reported. If you’re looking for something that you can print out as a memory aid, try the iPhone Voice Commands Cheat Sheet page.

Starting Voice Control

Hold down the phone’s home button or the middle button on your headset until the voice control feature comes up on screen and you hear a double beep in the headphones. This should take about 2 seconds.

Phone Commands

Call a contact: “Call” or “dial” plus the person’s name or nickname as entered into your address book. Optionally add the phone number type at the end, such as “home”, “work”, “mobile”. For example, “Dial John Smith Work” or “Call Mum”.
Call a number: “Call” or “Dial” plus the number, just as you would recite it usually. For example, “Dial 555 9592″.
Make a correction: Say “not that one”, “wrong”, “nope”, “no”, or “not that”.

Music Commands

Start music: Say “play” or “play music”.
Play from a specific playlist: Say “play playlist” and the name of the playlist. For example, “Play playlist gym songs”.
Play from a specific album: Say “play album” plus the name of the album. For example “Play album Dark Side Of The Moon”.
Play from a specific artist: Say “play artist” plus the name of the artist. For example, “Play artist Pink Floyd”. The alternate “Play songs by” plus the name of the artist has also been reported to work*.
Pause music: Say “pause” or “pause music”.
Skip to next song: Say “next song”. The shorter “next” has also been reported to work.*.
Go back to previous song: Say “previous song”.
Shuffle the current playlist: Just say “shuffle”.
Turn on Genius feature: Say “Genius”, “play more like this”, or “play more songs like this”.
Get information about the current track: Say “what’s playing”, or for more specific information say “what song is this”, “who sings this song”, or “who is this song by”.

Misc Commands

Cancel voice control: Simply say “cancel”.
Get help: Say “help”.

Other Languages

Thanks to autrefois on the MacRumors forum I’ve found instructions for locating the iPhone User Guide in your language. These have the voice commands listed in chapter two. Here are the instructions:

Go to the version of Apple’s website for your country/language. If you don’t know it, go to http://www.apple.com/ and choose it at the bottom of the page.

Click on the “Support” tab (or whatever it’s called in your language), on the top of the page by the search bar.

Finally, under iPhone, click on the link for the User’s guide; it should be the first link, at least as I post this. If not, you should be able to track down that language’s user guide from there.

If others are interested in providing me with the appropriate text for other languages I’d be happy to post it here - just contact me.

Do you know of more commands I’ve missed? How are the speech commands working for you? Leave a comment and let me know.

- Ricky Buchanan

Categories: Information, Speech to Text, Users, iPhone/iPod Touch/iTouch
Tags: iphone accessibility, iphone speech commands, iphone spoken commands, iphone voice activation, iphone voice commands, iphone voice control

About the Author

Ricky Buchanan

Ricky Buchanan is 34 years old and the founder and main writer for ATMac. She's bedridden with severe CFS/ME or perhaps a primary mitochondrial disorder - the doctors are not sure. When she's not working on ATMac or her other websites she composes music, listens to audio books, does other disability advocacy, watches TV with her flatmate, and enjoys her cat.

40 Comments For “iPhone Voice Commands”

iPhone Voice Commands « AccessTech News Jun 25th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

[...] iPhone Voice Commands [...]
Tony Schmiesing Jun 27th, 2009 at 9:22 am

As a C 4-5 quadriplegic and a Apple user since 1982, I must admit, that I’ve been waffling about the iPhone. While on the one hand, the touchscreen seems fairly quad friendly, no voice control doesn’t. The inclusion of this in this version has me leaning towards getting one, but I wonder giving my mobility issues whether or not it would be easy to engage voice control. All that said, thanks for rounding up the commands in one spot.
Paul Natsch Jun 28th, 2009 at 3:09 am

I’m C4-C5 quadriplegic as well and I’ve been dying to get an iPhone since the first one came out but the lack of native voice dialing has prevented me from doing so. The iPhone 3GS would seem to solve most of problem for me.

I can vouch for the touchscreen being fairly quadriplegic friendly because I’ve had an iPod touch 2G since last September. It’s mounted on my right arm rest and I use it with a Pogo stylus (http://www.tenonedesign.com/stylus.php) attached to my splint. A small part of the stylus is barely touching my skin which is necessary for it to function. With this I’m actually able to use the iPod touch quite well and I love it. If you’re able to use one without a stylus that would be great. But if not I would definitely recommend the Pogo stylus.

However, while this might work well while I’m in my wheelchair my arm movement is fairly restricted while I’m in bed. So much that I can’t really effectively use something like that in bed. This is exactly why I don’t have an iPhone yet.

I currently have a Motorola Q. Windows mobile smartphone mounted on my left arm rest. The reason for this is this phone works with something called Vocalize http://www.gimpgear.us/vocalize.htm). Vocalize is a hardware device mounted under my seat and hooked into my wheelchair battery. It’s Bluetooth-enabled and pairs with my Bluetooth-enabled smartphone. It eliminates the need to press a button to activate voice dialing on my smartphone. Instead you use the keyword, like “telephone”, for example. It works rather well. I actually turn off Bluetooth during the day and just use the voice bowing as anybody would by pressing the button on the smartphone with a mouth stick tip that’s attached to my left hand splint. At night, when I’m in bed, I turn Bluetooth back on and now I have a voice-activated way to easily make and answer phone calls from my bed. It’s a lifeline for me at night.

So obviously the question for me is who the new iPhone 3GS, with his voice-activated dialing, work with Vocalize? The developer of Vocalize thinks it should because the iPhone 3GS supports the hands-free profile that is required by Vocalize. But since he hasn’t tested it himself yet he’s not sure. So I’m going to go to the Apple store this week and test it out for myself. I told him I’d let him know what the results are because apparently other people have called about this as well.

Here’s hoping it works because I’d love to replace my iPod touch 2G and Motorola Q. with the new iPhone 3GS!
Ricky Buchanan Jun 28th, 2009 at 11:55 am

@Paul: Please let us know how the Vocalise test goes - it would make a great article - complete hands-free use of the iPhone!
Paul Natsch Jun 29th, 2009 at 1:58 am

Will do Ricky. I agree that it would make a great article. What would be even better is if the “keyword” functionality was built right into the iPhone 3GS so you wouldn’t need something like Vocalize at all. Imagine being able to put an iPhone into “continuous listen” mode then simply placing it onto a table next to somebody who would need it. Such a mode would be something like what MacSpeech Dictate does when it’s in sleep mode — where it only listens for one key phrase to wake it up. That would be even better.

Anyways I’ll let you know what I find out. By the way, MacSpeech Dictate version 1.5 is really awesome. The message above was dictated entirely with it. There are a few mistakes there but I literally wrote that message as I was going out the door. That’s the brilliance of it. Being able to whip out messages like that is great. Before I would have had to wait until I got home because five minutes just wouldn’t have been enough time. I wrote this message with MacSpeech Dictate as well but this time I had time to go over it again and make the necessary corrections (there were only two).
Tony Schmiesing Jun 29th, 2009 at 10:01 am

I agree, a key word solution is a much more elegant way to handle voice control. And, yes, it doesn’t seem too complicated to implement. We’ll see.I think the current SDK might provide some interesting options for developers. That said, my problem is, like Paul mentioned above, when I’m in bed — the touch thing is pretty impractical. A solution to this — for me at least — would be a way to control the iPhone with my MacBook Pro. The inverse is possible, but I haven’t found anything to suggest what I’m suggesting is.

Thanks for the tip on the software.
Darrell Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:03 am

There is now a Bluetooth Headset available that you can use with any Bluetooth enabled Cell Phone handsfree. It is modified so it is activated by a magnet that can be mounted on a wheelchair or a bed post…instead of having to push the button. Check out the Website
[ http://www.nobuttonsheadset.com/ ].

Let me know if you have any questions.
Tony Schmiesing Jul 1st, 2009 at 4:12 am

Thanks for the link, but it’s my understanding that the new iPhone voice command only works with Apple’s headset or the device itself, not Bluetooth accessories. I believe this has been one of the chief complaints. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I do hope I am… or if I’m not, Apple will remedy this soon.
Paul Natsch Jul 1st, 2009 at 5:29 am

That’s a really cool idea for a hands free Bluetooth headset. It’s definitely considerably more inexpensive than Vocalize and you don’t have to hook a bunch of stuff up to your wheelchair to use it. However, you don’t need to wear a Bluetooth headset to operate Vocalize.

Still very promising though but need more information, not the least of which is whether it will work with the new iPhone 3GS or not. If it stops raining I’ll be going to the Apple Store tonight to test Vocalize. If that works perhaps this will as well.
Darrell Jul 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am

I did quite a bit of research and it seems that no Bluetooth Headset will work with the iPhone 3GS “Voice Commands” (at least for now). However, the BlueAnt V1 has its own set of built-in Voice Commands. This third party Website is a pretty good review of the V1 and some of the comments highlight its pros and cons. The writer explains some of the voice commands built into the headset.

[ http://www.slashgear.com/blueant-v1-voice-control-bluetooth-headset-review-2614626/#respond ]

The difference between the V1 and the No buttons Headset is that you DO NOT have to push the button…which is great for someone like my son who cannot push a button (moving the headset close to a conveniently mounted magnet is equivalent to pushing the button).

“You can say commands like “Speed Dial 9″ and it will dial what ever number you have stored in your phone under the phone’s #9 “Speed Dial” location. Some providers like Sprint or AT&T have a server based voice dial system. You can access the AT&T feature by dialing *8. If you cannot push a button you could store *8 at the “Speed Dial” #9 location and access it with the “No Buttons Headset” by moving the headset momentarily next to the magnet (just a quick pass…similar to pushing and releasing a button)…the headset will say “Say a Command”…if you say “Speed Dial 9″ it will access the number at that location on your phone and (in this case) dial *8 which would connect you to the phone company’s Voice Dialing feature where you can say a name that you previously stored there…or you can dial by saying the number you want to call.

[ http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/ueContent.jsp?scTopic=pcsVoiceCommand85 ]

[ http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/basics/choosing-features-services/voicedial.jsp ]
Erick Jul 1st, 2009 at 2:39 pm

3.1 SDK reveals that you can just hit the call button and it will bring up Voice Control using any regular bluetooth headset.
Darrell Jul 1st, 2009 at 9:52 pm

Eric,

Looks like the discussions around the 3.1 SDK indicate you are right…thanks for the tip. Apparently 3.1 is currently only available to developers but will be released in a month or two.

Still…you have to keep the phone where you can see and get access to it to push its button; and you have to have enough movement to push the button (or enough movement to push the button on the Bluetooth).

Maybe I will work on a headset that will be cheaper than the BlueAnt V1 that would be suitable to use with the iPhone 3GS. That way there would be a choice between the BlueAnt and it’s Voice commands to be used with any phone and a Bluetooth Headset with no Voice Commands that could be triggered by a magnet and used with the iPhone 3GS.
Paul Natsch Jul 2nd, 2009 at 3:37 am

Just a quick update. It’s STILL raining badly here. This is the worst rainstorm we’ve had here in quite awhile. So no Apple Store yet. As soon as I go I’ll report my findings.

Thanks to Darrell for letting us know about the modified BlueAnt V1 and to Erick for the news about the 3.1 SDK. The iPhone, which not long ago seemed completely out of reach for mobility-impaired people, now looks like it’s going to become a realistic option for some of us, one way or another.
Paul Natsch Jul 2nd, 2009 at 11:15 am

Ok, I just got back from the Apple Store and unfortunately the iPhone 3GS didn’t work with Vocalize. The iPhone 3GS could “see” it but wouldn’t pair with it.

I wouldn’t say this was a definitive test though. I didn’t do a “Soft Reboot” of the iPhone 3GS which according to Vocalize’s manual sometimes solves Bluetooth connectivity issues. I forgot about trying that probably because I never had to do that with any (Windows Mobile) smartphone I tried Vocalize with before. Oh well. I’ll try it next time. Doesn’t look promising though.
Seb Jul 3rd, 2009 at 12:28 pm

voice control over bluetooth will be availible in the 3.1 update which will be released soon
Louis St-Amour Jul 5th, 2009 at 2:31 am

I just hope they improve Voice Control in future versions, as I’m tired of having to say “stop; no; pause” when I want the music to stop. I do like how VoiceOver can read me my emails, but I don’t like how the option to turn it on and off is buried 5 menus deep in Settings. There should be common settings as voice commands, such as “VoiceOver On”. And you should be able to launch apps / search with it. Or even the basic, “play track “, since “play artist “, “play songs by ” and “play album” works. Of course, it would be even cooler if you could just say “What’s new?” and hear (or voice navigate through) your most recent alerts, push IMs, SMSes, voice mails and emails.

Also, the voiceover feature doesn’t work well with third-party apps, e.g. in Tweetie it skips all the tweets and just says “Empty list”. It doesn’t even work well in iTunes, where when searching, it crashes the iTunes app! Here’s hoping they fix that little thing in 3.1 also.
link Jul 14th, 2009 at 4:13 pm

how do quads push the “home” button? and “two finger flick” to zoom? and manipulate the volume controls since onscreen volume doesn’t activate in certain conditions? and how do you enable predictive text? thanks for the help.
Tony Schmiesing Jul 18th, 2009 at 6:05 am

Well, the home button is not a problem for me, I use my knuckle (don’t have used my fingers). Navigating works fine, but it would be much better with the icon size increased (this can be done). Typing with the keyboard as it is now is difficult using my knuckles… never hit the right key. Again, if this is resized it could work. As far as multi-finger gestures go, well, no can do. But this is always the case.

All this said, I haven’t actually used a new iPhone yet, only an iPod touch. They’re similar, so what flies on one should fly on the other. Universal voice controls on both, however, would be stellar!

Paul, above, recommended a stylus he uses for his touch and it sounds interesting. Maybe check that out.
Paul Natsch Jul 18th, 2009 at 7:05 am

My apologies. I meant to respond earlier but it slipped my mind.

I also use an iPod touch and can press the home button with either my knuckles or the tip of the Pogo stylus. As long as my arm isn’t shaking I can also type reasonably well with the Pogo stylus although I only type that way if I absolutely have to (I save almost all of my typing for my Mac).

I can’t do anything that involves two fingers, such as “pinch to zoom”, but that really hasn’t been an issue for me as I very rarely run across situations where I would need to do that. As for the volume controls I always use the on-screen ones with my Pogo stylus. I’ve never had a need to use the other ones.

I’m not sure what you mean by predictive text. There is word completion and I do use that. When you start to type a word sometimes a word it thinks you’re going to type appears below it and if that’s the right word all you need to do is press the space bar which then completes the word for you. It helps to save some time a little bit.

On a related note a new version of the iPhone and iPod touch app “Vocalia” has just been released and it adds a bunch of voice control features. It’s more useful with the iPhone because of the calling commands but there’s also has commands for controlling your iTunes library and jumping to bookmarks in your browser. I just ordered a microphone adapter for my iPod touch 2G and I think I may download this app and give it a try since it’s so cheap. I’ll try to remember to report my findings.
Ricky Buchanan Jul 22nd, 2009 at 10:58 am

@Louis: Some great points there. I hear in the 3.1 upgrade, when it comes, you’ll be able to use a double-click on the home button to toggle VoiceOver if required so that should help with that problem.

With the third-party apps, many apps work but not all. Holly and Darcy are keeping a great list over at Lioncourt.com of applications known to work with VoiceOver on the iPhone 3GS. I’m sure there’s a few twitter applications on the list. Best of luck!
Ricky Buchanan Jul 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am

@Seb: That’s great news - thank you!
The Computer Paradise Aug 12th, 2009 at 2:54 pm

The biggest flaw with Vocalize I have is that you cannot tell it to play a certain song, only playlists and artists which is annoying.

It is also very annoying to activate Vocalize and a keyword or at least an option in settings to enable keyword activation for Vocalize would be the best solution.
Paul Natsch Aug 13th, 2009 at 2:30 am

The only thing Vocalize does is it bypasses the need to press a button to activate voice commands on your cell phone. So all the commands you give your phone by voice actually have nothing to do with Vocalize - they are the voice commands that come built-in with your phone. The only commands that Vocalize recognizes are the keyword commands for activating the voice commands on your cell phone and hanging up calls. In my case I use the keywords “telephone” and “hang up” respectively.

If you use a Windows mobile smartphone there is a advanced voice control software package that you can purchase for your phone that has quite a bit more functionality. It might solve your problems. Try googling it and see what you can come up with.
Tony Schmiesing Sep 12th, 2009 at 10:54 am

just curious if anyone has used vocalize yet now that 3.1 has been released? And if so, I’m curious to hear how it’s working.
Paul Natsch Sep 13th, 2009 at 3:35 am

Tony,

I would like to know the answer to this question as well. In the update notes it says the voice control (in the 3GS) can now be activated via Bluetooth headsets and so forth so technically this means there’s a good chance that it probably works with Vocalize now.

I would test it with my Vocalize at an Apple store but I’m in the process of moving right now and don’t have the time to drive over to the nearest Apple store. But whenever I get the chance if nobody has beaten me to it I will do so.
Tony Schmiesing Sep 14th, 2009 at 4:02 am

Paul,

well, I look forward to hearing about it when you get the chance. Good luck with the move.
Colin Sep 23rd, 2009 at 8:10 pm

My Blue Antz V1 bluetooth headset can verbally interface with my new IPHONE 3GS. You gave to tap the phone once. Issue the command “Phone Command” this activates the IPHONE 3GS Voice activation interface. The IPHONE will issue beep when it is ready for commands. At that point all the iphone coomand are avaliable. /Colin
Paul Natsch Sep 24th, 2009 at 6:10 am

Tom,

That’s pretty cool but you still have to tap the iPhone once to activate voice command prompt. So that’s technically not completely hands-free.

The Vocalize system I use bypasses the need to press a button to activate the voice command prompt on any windows mobile cell phone. I don’t yet know whether the latest iPhone OS update makes it compatible with Vocalize but I hope to check in the near future.

The downside of Vocalize is it is very expensive. I actually mostly only use it at night when I’m in bed as a completely hands-free emergency solution. I typically turn off Bluetooth on my Motorola cell phone during the day when in my wheelchair because the phone works better when Bluetooth isn’t on and connected to Vocalize. Although it works more than well enough for my nighttime use and even if I want to use it during the day. But since I can physically press the buttons on my phone when I’m in my wheelchair I typically just use it that way during the day because people can hear me better that way.

For some people completely hands-free might not be an issue but for others it will be, even if you only have to press one button. That still sounds like a cool Bluetooth headset anyways though.
Paul Natsch Sep 24th, 2009 at 6:12 am

Oops I meant to address my last reply to Colin.
iPhone Voice Commands Cheat Sheet « AccessTech News Oct 20th, 2009 at 3:37 am

[...] have a complete list of all the iPhone Voice Commands and their functions. This list is briefer and doesn’t have explanations for those commands where [...]
iPhone Voice Commands Cheat Sheet « The BAT Channel Oct 20th, 2009 at 3:38 am

[...] have a complete list of all the iPhone Voice Commands and their functions. This list is briefer and doesn’t have explanations for those commands where [...]
Paul Natsch Oct 28th, 2009 at 3:10 am

Hi all,

I just wanted to let people know that Vocalize now officially supports the iPhone 3GS with firmware 3.1! Check out the page that lists supported mobile phones and you’ll see it there.

http://www.gimpgear.us/cellphones.htm

I did get to the Apple Store the other day and Vocalize does now show up on the iPhone 3GS’s Bluetooth screen (it didn’t even show up before) but I couldn’t successfully pair the two devices together. However, I did not try rebooting the iPhone 3GS or any of the other tips suggested in the Vocalize manual.

That said, if you’re really interested in pursuing this expensive, but extremely easy to use, setup (Vocalize &iPhone 3GS) I suggest calling the Vocalize people and confirming this. If for some reason they don’t remove all your apprehension let me know and I’ll go back (with the manual) and fully test it.
Darrell Oct 28th, 2009 at 9:16 am

I have a barely used Vocalize system that I will sell for $400 (free shipping). My quadriplegic son no longer uses it because he uses the NoButtonsHeadset.
Tony Schmiesing Oct 29th, 2009 at 6:18 am

Thanks for posting the update on vocalize.
Ricky Buchanan Oct 30th, 2009 at 4:14 pm

@Paul: This is fantastic news! Would you mind posting a copy of it on our Vocalise post, or updating the post itself so people searching for that will find it?
Paul Natsch Oct 31st, 2009 at 3:47 am

Will do Ricky.
The Blind Buzz on Accessibility « The Blind Buzz Dec 18th, 2009 at 6:00 am

[...] iPhone Voice Commands | ATMac [...]
mommysnacks Jul 12th, 2009 at 7:44 am

So, I just figured out the voice control for the iPhone 3Gs..DUH…This is a great article on voice commands: http://twurl.nl/011lqp

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
fredng Jul 13th, 2009 at 6:21 pm

iPhone 3GS Voice Commands - http://atmac.org/iphone-voice-commands/

This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Undertakr Aug 17th, 2009 at 5:45 am

iPhone Voice Commands http://tinyurl.com/mgorev

This comment was originally posted on Twitter

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