Voice Control is an accessibility feature in  iOS 13 that lets you speak commands to your iPhone or iPad to launch apps, control your device, adjusting volume, tap screen controls and much more.  With Voice Control, you can navigate on your device using your voice to tap, swipe, type, and more.  It works with whatever is displayed on the screen.

It goes well beyond Siri’s role as a personal assistant and is primarily intended to assist those people who are not able to interact with their device using conventional commands, it also offers benefits for anyone who might want to use their voice instead of their hands. 

This Nugget will show you how to turn on Voice Control and get your started.

Here are the easy steps to turn on Voice Control

1 Launch the Settings app.

2 Scroll down to tap Accessibility.

3 Scroll down to find Voice Control under Physical and Motor

5 Tap the Voice Control switch (green is on) to enable Voice control

6 You will immediately see a microphone in the status bar of your device.  This is your indication that Voice Control is listening.

7 Speak “Go Home” to return to the Home screen.

Turning Voice Control On and Off

When Voice Control is on and the microphone is displayed in the status bar, your device is actively listening for your commands.  If you are a more casual user of voice control you will likely want to turn it on and off to match your activities.  Also, Voice Control is not compatible with busy noisy environments as it will respond to any voice that tells it to tap or swipe.

Turn off Voice Control:  Say “Turn Off Voice Control” and when the confirmation window displays, say “Tap Execute”

Turn on Voice Control:  “Hey Siri, Turn On Voice Control”

Optionally you can use the Setting app to turn the function on or off.  Tap Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control, and tap the switch to turn off.  

How to Use Voice Control

Here are a handful of commands and approaches to using Voice Control.

Navigation Commands

Go Home (also used to close apps)

Swipe Left/Right

Swipe Up/Down

Tap [command or onscreen label]

Show Numbers – If there is an area of the screen that you need to tap but it is not labeled in a way for you to say “Tap [Label}” you can say, “Show Numbers” and then say the number of the location that you with to tap.

Open [app]

Open Control Center

Open Spotlight

There are hundreds of voice commands that Voice Control will respond to.  The most comprehensive list that I have found is on the iMore.  Use this link to remove all of the ads normally found on the page.