Is there a big external button like the Staples EZButton that could trigger Siri?

By Unregistered User (not verified), 4 December, 2013

Forum
Apple Hardware and Compatible Accessories
Bought 5th generation iPod Touchs for a blind newstand manager at the state Capitol and my 18 year old nephew with CP but home button too difficult to push; what are the alternatives for external triggering of Siri?

Options

Comments

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 - 14:29

If you cant press the homebutton you can also use the switch control option to control you're phone.

By Siobhan on Wednesday, December 4, 2013 - 17:24

Hi. I only have an iPhone with which to compare, but can you raise up the iPod to speak? If that's in the settings, I think when someone raises it toward his or her face, they can speak to siri? I'm sorry I can't provide anything more accurate then this. I hope your nephew and the other person who uses the iPod can get siri to work. She's funny when she wants to be. Have a good day, Siobhan

Hi. One option is to use the Assistive Touch feature. You can turn this on by going to Settings>General> Accessibility and scrolling down to Assistive Touch under the Physical & Motor heading. With this turned on, you have a new on-screen button towards the bottom-right of the screen (just above the far right icon in the dock on the home screen). When you tap this, it brings up a menu which allows you to carry out various actions including Siri. If this is also difficult for your nephew, then as Isaac said, perhaps you could investigate getting an external switch, which can be used with iOS7. Again you turn the feature on in Settings>General>Accessibility. It may need to be combined with Assistive Touch to get to Siri though, I'm not sure. Unfortunately the Raise to Speak feature that Siobhan mentioned isn't on the iPod Touch. I'd also recommend the Google Search app, which has an on-screen button for voice search, and now even let's you do a voice search without even needing to touch the screen by saying "Ok Google", as long as the app is open that is. HTH

By Santiago on Thursday, December 5, 2013 - 04:21

Hello, As previously said by another user, I can confirm that raising up the device to use Siri is only available on the iPhone, not the iPod Touch. This is because the iPhone has an earpiece, in which Siri outputs to if you raise the device up. I'm guessing this is good for actual privacy, since Siri can sometimes repeat phone numbers, addresses, etc, when using her with VoiceOver. A switch control or just the AssistiveTouch feature should work. If VoiceOver is off, then there are options under AssistiveTouch to control the device and activate features with actions, such as tilting your head to the left, right, etc. Unfortunately, this doesn't work if you're a VoiceOver user. I will try to contact Apple about this, and possibly ask them to add that functionality, even if the user is using VoiceOver.