Read on for the latest iPhone features for accessibility
Hello, SimpliHere friends! We’re here to give you some cool tips on how to take advantage of the the latest iPhone features to make hands-free use even easier!
As you know, our mission here at SimpliHere is to bring you the everyday knowledge and support you need to navigate life with ALS or another mobility challenge or as a caregiver — and our SimpliHere mobile app is designed with a singular focus on this mission. The app is currently available for iPhone operating system (iOS)-enabled devices, and with the release of the next version of the app, coming soon, we’ll be expanding availability to include Android devices, as well.
While we know you love the SimpliHere app (we agree, it’s pretty great!), your mobile device itself offers valuable features for those living with ALS and other conditions that can make hand control challenging. In this two-part series, we’ll explore different ways you can use the latest iPhone features and Android mobile devices hands-free.
If you are an iPhone user, here are our top iPhone features for hands-free use:
iPhone’s “Voice Control” accessibility feature allows you to control the device with no hands after a brief initial setup. By summoning everyone’s favorite AI voice assistant partner, Siri, users can speak, “Hey Siri,” and then perform many hands-free duties, including making calls and sending messages, playing music, setting alarms, paying credit card bills, scrolling on apps (like SimpliHere!), and browsing the internet. You can also use other voice assistant technology apps alone or in combination with Siri on the iPhone.
Simply locate “Siri & Search” in the Settings app on your iPhone to follow the steps for initial setup. Here are our favorite ways to leverage iPhone’s Voice Control:
- Making, answering, and even hanging up on calls hands-free is easy — just follow these steps in your iPhone’s settings:
- Tap “Siri and Search,” then next to “Listen for,” “Hey Siri” or “Siri”
- Turn on “Allow Siri When Locked”
- Turn on “Call Hang Up,” and you will be able to end calls by saying “Hey Siri, hang up.”
- You can enable hands-free clicking using the Assistive Touch and “show numbers” feature.
- The iPhone offers a feature that assigns numbers to different areas of the iPhone screen, and then users can select that app or part of the screen by speaking the corresponding number out loud.
- By saying “show numbers” after voice control is turned on, you will see every clickable spot on the screen. By speaking the corresponding number aloud, you can initiate the hands-free click.
- Other iPhone features for hands-free includes automatic scrolling. Using this feature, you can move your screen view in every direction just by saying “scroll” or “swipe,” followed by specifying “up,” “down,” “right,” or “left.” Give it a try!
- Set all of your calls to speakerphone by default by following these steps in the Settings app:
- Tap “Accessibility”
- Tap “Touch”
- Scroll down and tap “Call Audio Routing”
- Select “Speaker”
Your call audio will automatically be routed to speakerphone from now on. In the same area in Settings, you can also choose “Bluetooth Headset” instead if you’d like your calls to be routed to your Bluetooth-enabled headset or to your AirPods.
- You can even take photos hands-free! To snap a picture without using your hands, you can use your phone’s Voice Control to “press” the manual buttons you’d use to take a photo. After setting up Voice Control (see above), you “press” your side volume buttons with voice commands to manually snap an image.
- Speak, “Hey, Siri, open camera.” Then speak, “Turn down volume.” Speaking, “Turn up volume” will work, too.
Stay tuned next month for another post on hands-free Android phone features. From all of us at SimpliHere, we hope you have a great — and connected — spring!
