When it comes to the Phone app, Voice Control can be great if your iPhone is in your pocket/purse or you're driving and want to keep your eyes on the road while making a call. Here's how to use Voice Control with the phone:
Dial a Person
Using Voice Control to call someone in your address book is very simple. Just say "call (person's name)." Voice Control will repeat the name back to you and begin dialing.
If it picks the wrong person, simply tap the Cancel button at the bottom of the screen to end the call.
If the person you're trying to call has multiple numbers listed in your address book, simply say the number you want called, too. For instance, "Call mom mobile" would dial your mother's cell, while "Call mom home" would call her at her house. As always, Voice Control will repeat back to you what it's going to do.
If someone has multiple numbers and you forget to specify what number to call, Voice Control will say "multiple matches found" and list them. Wait for the double beep and then say what number you want called (mobile, home, other, etc.) and it will dial.
If Voice Control isn't sure what name you said, it will often offer the "multiple matches found" option and then speak them to you. Wait for the double deep and say the name again or cancel.
Dial a Number
You don't have to have a number listed in your address book in order to call it using Voice Control. Simply activate Voice Control and then say "call (the number)" and list off the numbers.
You can combine numbers, too (for instance 800 is recognized both when you say "eight hundred" or spell it out as 8-0-0).
Tips for Using Voice Control with Phone
Voice Control tends to work best with the phone. These tips will make it work even better.
- Use the first and last name of the person you’re calling
- If the contact you’re calling has more than one phone number, use first name, last name, and the name of phone as assigned in contact (home, office, mobile, etc.)
- Voice Control has trouble with possessives
- If you have two contacts that Voice Control regularly confuses, give one (or both) and nickname. Do this by going to the contact, tapping “Edit” and then tapping “add field.” Tap “nickname” and assign one.
FaceTime
You can also use Voice Control to activate FaceTime, Apple's video chatting technology. For this to work, FaceTime needs to be turned on and you need to be calling someone with a FaceTime-compatible device. Assuming those requirements are met, using Voice Control to activate FaceTime works the same way as with other calls. Try using the person you want to call's full name and avoiding possessives, which can be hard for Voice Control to process. Try something like "FaceTime Dad on his mobile."
Tips for Using Voice Control with FaceTime
According to Apple, Voice Control can run into trouble in two areas when using FaceTime:
- With short names; try saying the person's full name instead
- With possessives; try longer commands like "Facetime Sam on his cell phone" or using a nickname for the person you want to Facetime (which requires adding a nickname to their address book entry).