Hi All. Does anyone here have experience of using Voiceover and Voice Control simultaneously on an IOS device? I am predominently a Voiceover user, but am trying to demonstrate Voice Control to my work colleagues. I am using the latest 18.6 version of IOS on my IPhone 16 PRO MAX.
I launched Voice Control and said "Go Home", which correctly took me to my Home Screen. I then tried navigation commands, such as "Swipe Right" and "Swipe Left", but these either opened my calendar or went to another page. I'm simply trying to show folks how Voice Control can work, for someone who cannot touch the screen with their finger and swipe from item to item, on the same screen. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I've looked online and the main recommendation is not to use Voiceover and Voice Control together. Many thanks.
By Charlie, 16 July, 2025
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
VO and Voice Control
Hi
You have to use specific VoiceOver commands to use it in conjunction with Voice Control, but it works super well in my experience. You should be able to find a list of them if you go to the settings for Voice Control under accessibility and look at the command list. The VoiceOver specific ones are under "accessibility".
Many thanks
Many thanks for this valuable information. It definately helps to seek answers like this on a forum like Applevis, where folks know what they are talking about. Have a great day!
Quick addition
No problem! Glad it works for you.
One other thing I forgot to add is that you can also use Voice Controls built-in command recording functionality to shorten commands, because the VoiceOver commands are a bit long winded by default. I have, for instance, mapped "go left" to "VoiceOver select previous item" or whatever the original command name is.
My thoughts
From what I understand, VoiceOver and Voice Control were never necessarily meant to be used together . I took a look at the access commands for Voice Control under Accessibility, and they are pretty long. My understanding is that Voice Control was designed for individuals with limited mobility. It wasn't primarily created for someone who is blind or visually impaired, and I don't think it was intended for VoiceOver and Voice Control to work in combination. These are two similar elements that operate in somewhat different ways. As I understand it, on the screen, you have numbers or a grid that correspond to each item. For example, if YouTube is number one on your phone, Twitter is number two, Facebook is number three, Messenger is number four, and so on, you would say "double tap number one" or "activate number two." This entire concept seems very confusing to me. Does it work with numbers or grids, or do you say "tap A," "tap B," "double tap C?" How exactly does that function? It works well for general commands like "open home" or "open YouTube," but the finer details seem unnecessarily difficult.
Shouldn't this feature be powered by an AI system so that the device can know what I want? Shouldn't it be as intuitive as "go home," "open YouTube," or "open Facebook"? The problem is, you have to know what's on the screen to actually navigate effectively. This only works when you already have a visual understanding of the screen's layout. If I don't know what's on an unfamiliar website, and there's a search button, how would I even know it's there? Would I have to say, "read the screen aloud to me," and then when I hear "search," say "stop, double tap search, in the search box type, 'how to bake a cranberry pie'"? Maybe I don't fully understand how it works. I don't want to be negative though. Sincerely hope that you can figure it out and that the person that you're trying to help will get better use out of it than I did.
I have both of them on the majority of the time
Use both of them at the same time without a problem It takes some learning but I far prefer dictating with voice control. That way I get immediate feedback
Using voice control with VoiceOver
It is perfectly possible to use the two features together and they do work well but you have to memorise both the structure of the app layout and also the particular commands to use as well as making sure you use a headset or earbuds! Here is my current list:
0000 All common Voice Control commands
iOS and Voiceover Commands used for Voice Control
Command Mode.
Dictation Mode
Spelling mode
With phone calls: VoiceOver magic tap
Tap end call
Tap decline.
Open AppName.
Open app switcher
Swipe up
Tap ItemName
VoiceOver Select - Previous Item, next Item, Repeat that
VoiceOver select First Item, Last item.
Repeat 3 times
VoiceOver Activate Item.
VoiceOver Magic Tap - to start or stop Audio
Go to Sleep
Wake Up
Go Home.
Go Back
VoiceOver read all
VoiceOver stop speaking
Move to beginning
Move to end
Move right one word or line
Move down or up one paragraph
Tap space
Hide keyboard
Show keyboard
Select (offending word)
Unselect that
Select next word
Delete that
Tap undo
Undo that
Scroll - Left, Right, Up, Down.
Turn Up Volume.
Turn Down Volume.
Turn on VoiceOver.
Turn Off Voiceover.
* Open Safari, tap address, VoiceOver activate, delete previous Word then dictate search item, tap Go
* If no response: ask Siri to turn off Voice Control then to turn it on again
* If the screen locks, just ask Siri to open an app and that will automatically mean that voice control is again available.