Use Voice Control to interact with iPad

You can control iPad with just your voice. Speak commands to perform gestures, interact with screen elements, dictate and edit text, and more.

Note: Voice Control is available for supported languages. See the iOS and iPadOS Feature Availability website.

Set up Voice Control

Before you turn on Voice Control for the first time, make sure iPad is connected to the internet over a Wi-Fi network. After iPad completes a one-time file download from Apple, you don’t need an internet connection to use Voice Control.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control.
Tap Set Up Voice Control, then tap Continue to start the file download.
When the download is complete, appears in the status bar to indicate that Voice Control is turned on.
Set options such as the following:
- Language: Set the language and download languages for offline use.
- Customize Commands: View the available commands and create new commands.
- Vocabulary: Teach Voice Control new words.
- Show Confirmation: When Voice Control recognizes a command, a visual confirmation appears at the top of the screen.
- Play Sound: When Voice Control recognizes a command, an audible sound is played.
- Show Hints: See command suggestions and hints.
- Overlay: Display numbers, names, or a grid over screen elements.
- Attention Aware: On an iPad with Face ID, Voice Control wakes up when you look at your iPad and goes to sleep when you look away.

Turn Voice Control on or off

After you set up Voice Control, you can turn it on or off quickly by doing any of the following:

Use Control Center if you’ve added it there.
Use Accessibility Shortcut if you’ve set it up.
Siri: Say something like: “Turn on Voice Control” or “Turn off Voice Control.” Learn how to use Siri.

Learn Voice Control commands

When Voice Control is turned on, you can say commands such as the following:

“Open Control Center”
“Go home”
“Tap item name”
“Open app name”
“Take screenshot”
“Turn up volume”

To learn more Voice Control commands, say “Show me what to say” or “Show commands.” You can also use an onscreen tutorial called Voice Control Guide.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control.
Tap Open Voice Control Guide, then follow the onscreen instructions.

Pause or resume Voice Control

Pause Voice Control when you don’t want words you say to be interpreted as commands or dictation. Resume Voice Control when you’re ready for it to listen for commands and dictation again.

Pause Voice Control: Say “Stop listening.”
Resume Voice Control: Say “Start listening.”

Label onscreen items with a screen overlay

For faster interactions, you can navigate iPad with a screen overlay that shows item names, numbers, or a grid.

Item names: Say “Show names” or “Show names continuously,” then say “Tap [item name].”
Numbers: Say “Show numbers” or “Show numbers continuously,” then say the number next to the item you want. You can also give a command to perform a gesture, such as “Tap [number],” “Long press [number],” “Swipe up at [number],” or “Double-tap [number].”
Grid: To interact with a screen location not represented by an item name or number, say “Show grid” or “Show grid continuously,” then do any of the following:
- Drill down: Say a number by itself to show a more detailed grid.
- Say a command to interact with an area of the grid: Say something like: “Tap [number]” or “Zoom in [number].”
Tip: To adjust the number of grid rows and columns, go to Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control > Overlay, then select Numbered Grid. When Voice Control is turned on, you can also say something like: “Show grid with five rows,” or “Show grid continuously with three columns.”

To turn off the overlay, say “Hide names,” “Hide numbers,” or “Hide grid.”

Switch between dictation, spelling, and command modes

When you’re working in a text input area—for example, writing a document, email, or message—you can easily switch between three modes as needed:

Dictation mode: The default—any words you say that aren’t Voice Control commands are entered as text.
If several words phonetically match what you say, they appear onscreen. Tap to choose the one you meant. (Available in select languages.)
Spelling mode: When you’re in dictation mode and need to spell out a word, say “Spelling mode.”
Note: Spelling mode is available for English (U.S.) or English (Canada).
Command mode: Voice Control responds only to commands. Other words are ignored and aren’t entered as text.
It’s especially helpful when you need to use a series of commands and want to prevent what you say from inadvertently being entered in a text input area.
To switch to Command mode, say “Command mode.”

To switch back to Dictation mode, say “Dictation mode.”

Helpful?

iPad User Guide