The moments worthy of a photo of life can be fleeting. If the light is perfect or if your child cooperates, unlocking the phone to take a picture may mean you will miss the moment. But, if you use hey Siri instead to take pictures, it is possible that more of those moments reach your camera.
Once configured, you can take photos, even in specific formats, with a simple voice command, even when your phone is locked. That is how.
Using “Hey Siri” to take pictures
To avoid the valuable seconds it takes to use Touch ID, Face ID or enter your password to unlock your iPhone; you can enable access to Siri from the lock screen. Go to Settings> Siri & Search and enable Allow Siri when it is locked. And if you want to bark orders in Siri with a locked iPhone without the need to press a button to invoke it, then you can also toggle with Listen for “Hey Siri”.
Keep the warnings here. By enabling “Hey Siri” when your phone is locked, someone could (theoretically) access information such as your contacts, send text messages, look at your calendar appointments and make phone calls. To minimize the chances of someone accessing your information from the blocking screen, be sure to train Siri only to recognize your voice.
“Hey Siri” photo commands
With Siri available from the lock screen, you can now use these voice commands:
- “Take a picture” or “take a picture” and Siri will open the camera application
- “Take a square picture.”
- “Take a panoramic picture.”
- “Take a video.”
- “Take a slow-motion video.”
Any mode of photos and videos will work, except for portrait mode. Sadly, Siri does not seem to know that my iPhone X has a portrait mode. When I asked Siri to take a photo of portraits, she opened the camera application in normal photo mode. I suppose the same is true for the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 7 Plus, the other two models with dual cameras and portrait mode.
Siri’s selfie game is regular. You can ask Siri to “take a selfie” or even “take a square selfie” and Siri will open the camera application with the front camera activated. What Siri cannot do is capture the photo, which allows him to stretch his arm and touch the shutter or the volume button yourself.
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