The Voice Control feature on Mac is an innovative and revolutionary technology that makes it easier and faster to use your computer with just the sound of your voice.
What is Apple Voice Control?
Apple has recently announced the launch of their revolutionary Voice Control technology for iOS devices. With this new speech recognition software, a person will be able to control their Apple device simply by using their voice. This means that users can operate their iPhone, iPad or Mac quickly and precisely without having to use any physical buttons or gestures. All they must do is speak directly into their device’s microphone and they can instantly unlock or perform tasks such as playing music, sending messages, making calls and more.
This impressive development is set to be released in Apple’s upcoming iOS 13 launching some time in 2019. It is undoubtedly going to revolutionize how we interact with our Apple devices and make life much easier when utilizing them on a daily basis. To get an idea of what Voice Control has to offer, users can view samples of it at work on YouTube (English closed captions are available). Thanks to this exciting new technology from Apple, interacting with smartphones and other digital devices just got even simpler!
Instructions for activating Voice Control
Voice Control is a useful accessibility feature available in macOS Catalina 10.15 and later that makes it easier to use your Mac with just your voice. To turn it on, open the System Settings app from the Apple menu bar and navigate to Accessibility settings. Click on Voice Control and toggle it on. When you enable Voice Control for the first time, your Mac may need to download some components from Apple which can take a few minutes.
Once Voice Control has been activated, it allows you to use different commands and speech patterns you specify so that you can perform tasks such as selecting an item, opening an app, control OS settings, or similar without needing any typing or mouse movements. This feature provides users with mobility impairments or visual impairments greater flexibility when using their Mac computer as they no longer need to type out every command or move their mouse around to do things. It’s also an incredibly convenient way of seamlessly and quickly getting things done on your macOS device that previously would require far more effort.
Overview of voice control
Voice Control is a notable feature of Apple products, initially introduced as a prominent feature in the iPhone 3GS in 2009. At the time, it was touted as a way to allow “hands-free operation” of their device and boasted several simple capabilities. Those included making calls, playing and pausing music, and asking what music was currently playing.
Despite its limited capabilities at the time, Voice Control marked the beginning of an exciting journey for Apple’s voice technology, with future iterations becoming increasingly capable over the years. The advancements in Apple hardware also enabled far more realistic sounding voices for Voice Control, compared to its rudimentary-sounding predecessor from ten years ago. With technologies like Siri integration and HomePod devices continuing to improve rapidly, it looks like Voice Control is just getting started on a trajectory that will redefine how we interact with our devices for years to come.
How to use Voice Control
Voice Control is becoming increasingly popular as a way to control personal digital assistant (PDA) devices and voice-controlled smart homes. Learning how to use Voice Control can make technology easier, faster, and more efficient. To get started with VoiceControl, the first step is to learn the available commands that you can use. Saying “Show commands” or “Show me what I can say” will bring up a list of commands that you can use, which vary based on context. To ensure that your command has been received, you can activate the “Play sound when command is recognized” option found in the preferences for Voice Control.
This helpful feature lets you know when your command has been heard correctly without needing to physically look at the device itself. With just these simple steps, anyone can be well on their way to using VoiceControl like an expert! Once you are familiar with some of the available commands and how they work, you can feel comfortable using them in any situation. Many devices now come with inbuilt Voice Control options so it’s worth taking some time to understand how they work so that you are able to take advantage of this fantastic piece of technology efficiently.
Basic navigation
Navigating your Mac with voice control is an easy and efficient way to get things done efficiently. With voice control, you can easily open apps, access their menus, and select specific items with just a few words. For example, if you want to open Pages and create a new document, all you need to do is say “Open Pages” followed by “Click New Document” and then whichever type of document you want to create, such as a letter template or brochure template. You can also save documents using voice commands like “Save document” or start writing a new message in Mail by saying “Click New Message”. Lastly, it’s possible to restart your Mac by saying just one command – “Click Apple menu”.
Overall, voice control makes it incredibly easy to navigate different apps on your Mac without even having to touch the trackpad or mouse. With intuitive commands like these, you don’t even have to think about which button to press – just speak the command and watch it happen right away. Voice control allows for quick navigation around the computer for simple tasks like creating a new document or sending an email without ever having to take your hands away from typing mode.
Number overlays
Number overlays are a great way to quickly interact with parts of the screen using Voice Control. They are especially useful for navigating complex user interfaces, such as web pages. To turn on number overlays, simply say “Show numbers” and then speak the number you want to select. This makes it easy to select from multiple items that have the same name by assigning a unique number to each option.
For example, when searching for Apple stores near you in your web browser using Voice Search you could say “Search for Apple stores near me” and then use the number overlay to click one of the results by saying “Show numbers” followed by “Click 64” (or whatever corresponding number belongs to that result). If the link has a unique name, you can alternatively click it without numbers by simply saying “Click” followed by its name. Similarly, Voice Control also automatically shows numbers in menus so they can be selected more easily and efficiently.
Grid overlays
Grid overlays can be used to enhance interaction with screen elements that may not be recognized as clickable by Voice Control. Through grid overlays, users can exercise finer control to accurately and easily select items, zoom in on areas of interest, or drag objects from one place to another.
To activate an overlay grid, users simply need to say “Show grid” or “Show window grid” and a numbered grid will appear on the screen. Users can then say a corresponding number to subdivide the area of focus. With each subsequent division of the original grid, it becomes easier to identify specific details and target objects between multiple options quickly and accurately. Once an item has been selected, saying “Click” followed by the number or “Zoom in” followed by the number will enact them respectively. In addition, users can utilize certain parts of an overlay grid in order to drag an object from one area of the grid to another (e.g., “Drag 3 to 14”).
Dictation
Dictation makes it easier and quicker to enter text in documents, emails, text messages and other places. All you need to do is talk out loud in the same way that you would normally speak in conversation. Your spoken words will be converted into written text that can then be edited or moved around as desired.
For more precise editing and formatting, special commands can move the cursor, select words or mark a phrase as a number or punctuation mark. You can also bold or capitalize words or use emoji names like smiling face or thumbs up to insert symbols. Depending on language or dialect variations may exist so it is important to know how to pronounce commands accurately for best results.
Create your own voice commands
Voice Control is a powerful tool that allows Mac users to control their computer using spoken commands. By setting up your own custom voice commands, you will be able to quickly access valuable functions and features without needing to take the time to search through menus or type on a keyboard. To create your own voice commands, open Voice Control preferences by saying “Open Voice Control preferences” then click “Commands” or say “Click Commands” and the complete list of all commands opens.
The next step is to add a new command: simply click the add button (+) or say “Click add.” Then begin configuring options you set that define the command, such as what word or phrase should be spoken for this action, whether it works only when using a particular app, and finally what action should be performed (ranging from opening specific files with Finder to running automated tasks). You can also use checkboxes in the list of defined commands to turn them on or off as needed. Additionally, you can select an individual command to see which other phrases are synced with that command. With these tools available at your fingertips, you’ll have your Mac computer responding precisely and accurately to your custom voice commands.
Create your own dictation vocabulary
Voice Control preferences allow users to dictate words and phrases that they want the Mac system to recognize. This is done by opening the Voice Control preferences, and then going to the Vocabulary section. Once there, a user can click the add button (+), or use voice commands like “click add”, in order to enter a new word or phrase. Users have the ability to import and export vocabulary easily with macOS Monterey.
The Voice Control feature relies on accurate dictation, so it’s essential for users to be able to customize their vocabulary list in order to get the best results when speaking into their Mac device. By allowing for individual words and phrases to be added to their personal vocabularies, this opens up a world of possibilities with regards to the kinds of natural language commands that can now be used with modern Macs. As such, even those who are not particularly familiar with computer systems will find that using Voice Control is an easy way to interact naturally with their Mac device.
Voice Control’s Target Audience
The target audience for Voice Control is primarily people with upper body mobility impairments who depend on switches to access the user interface of their devices. Apple’s switch control solution, first introduced in 2013 with the iOS7 update, made it possible for those with limited mobility to navigate their devices without relying on touch screen or a mouse. Though related in its use-case, Voice Control presents an entirely different interaction model where users can manipulate their devices exclusively through voice commands.
Users of all abilities can benefit from Voice Control as it simplifies common tasks such as sending messages, changing app settings and opening webpages by just speaking into the microphone. This feature also enables readers of all ages and disabilities to interact more fluidly and naturally with their device, offering a wide range of possibilities that are uniquely enabled by voice control’s ability to recognize human language. By utilizing machine deep learning and specialized algorithms to interpret speech recordings, Voice Control opens up the user experience even further while still providing users with ease-of-access tailored specifically to their needs.
Given speech delays, what are some effective ways to use voice control?
Voice activation products have quickly become part of our everyday lives, providing users with convenient ways to control their devices with voice commands. However, for people with speech delays or impediments, such as stutterers, the introduction of Voice Control brought about a unique concern — would these technologies be able to understand and accurately respond to their non-standard speech pattern?
Given that voice is the primary user interface for products like Alexa and Siri, it is necessary that those with disabilities are able to access and use these products just as effectively as anyone else. This issue has been recognized by numerous disability rights advocates who have spoken out about the importance of making voice recognition technology more accessible. For individuals with speech impairments and related disorders, services like Voice Control can help reduce agonizingly long workflows by providing an easier way for them to complete tasks quickly. With advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing still pushing the boundaries of technological accessibility, we can hope that soon even those with severe speech delay or impairments will be able to enjoy full functionality when using voice commands.
What is the most effective method for utilizing Voice Control?
Voice control is a feature that’s becoming increasingly popular and useful for both personal and professional tasks. We are now able to transfer common activities, like sending a text, checking the news, or streaming music from our mobile device which has voice control enabled, to our home computer quickly and conveniently. To make the most out of Voice Control it’s important to get accustomed to speaking clearly and naturally. Try not to over pronounce words when using voice commands, as well as mumbling or adding pauses for unnecessary reasons. Speak in the same way you normally would – as if you were talking directly assigned with another person – instead of robotic-sounding one word requests. Additionally try to only use Voice Control commands, names, and numbers; directionally structured commands like “open file number two” work better versus saying ‘document two’. Once mastered it can be very fun and efficient to use Voice Control when completing various tasks at home or in your workplace.