Kritou
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2021
- Messages
- 318
The following is for iOS users but I understand there is an Android equivalent
I find stabbing at the the handlebar mounted iPhone’s screen to control it with a stylus or suitable gloved finger is a bit hit and miss, distracting and will probably be illegal soon
Recently I stumbled across an iOS feature called Voice Control, accessed via Settings>Accessibility>Voice Control (this is nothing to do with Siri (although Siri can be used to initially turn on the feature) This brings up a small blue microphone icon up top and from then on there are various plain voice commands you can speak to move around your phone. Examples are “zoom in/out” “swipe left/right/up/down” “take screenshot” “Go Home”, “Open Phone/Contacts” etc
Now, moving to the bottom of the Voice Control page is the sub menu “Overlay”, and this in turn has four sub menus – choose Item Numbers and this will then display small semi translucent numbers adjacent to each tappable icon on your screen, including all those in your preferred third party apps. Simply speak one of these displayed numbers and that icon will be “clicked”
So basically you can sit in font of your iPad/iPhone with your hands in your pockets and operate your device!
All this works very well both in the car and on the bike with my Pocket Earth and Gaia apps and I suppose Scenic, Waze and other Satnav apps will be the same. Of course talking to your phone on the motorway and from within a helmet is another matter. Initially I used one of the cheap Bluetooth headsets and it worked OK, but I now wear a single AirPod as it pairs seamlessly, the microphone is protected from wind noise and when the power fades it is simply swapped out for the other one. However I guess any Bluetooth intercom or integrated helmet system will work just as well
So far I have only used it tooling around town and have yet to test it in anger at speed. There are several other options to explore and use (including the interesting sounding Customise Commands) This serendipitous discovery is giving me hours of fun and may be of use to you too
I find stabbing at the the handlebar mounted iPhone’s screen to control it with a stylus or suitable gloved finger is a bit hit and miss, distracting and will probably be illegal soon
Recently I stumbled across an iOS feature called Voice Control, accessed via Settings>Accessibility>Voice Control (this is nothing to do with Siri (although Siri can be used to initially turn on the feature) This brings up a small blue microphone icon up top and from then on there are various plain voice commands you can speak to move around your phone. Examples are “zoom in/out” “swipe left/right/up/down” “take screenshot” “Go Home”, “Open Phone/Contacts” etc
Now, moving to the bottom of the Voice Control page is the sub menu “Overlay”, and this in turn has four sub menus – choose Item Numbers and this will then display small semi translucent numbers adjacent to each tappable icon on your screen, including all those in your preferred third party apps. Simply speak one of these displayed numbers and that icon will be “clicked”
So basically you can sit in font of your iPad/iPhone with your hands in your pockets and operate your device!
All this works very well both in the car and on the bike with my Pocket Earth and Gaia apps and I suppose Scenic, Waze and other Satnav apps will be the same. Of course talking to your phone on the motorway and from within a helmet is another matter. Initially I used one of the cheap Bluetooth headsets and it worked OK, but I now wear a single AirPod as it pairs seamlessly, the microphone is protected from wind noise and when the power fades it is simply swapped out for the other one. However I guess any Bluetooth intercom or integrated helmet system will work just as well
So far I have only used it tooling around town and have yet to test it in anger at speed. There are several other options to explore and use (including the interesting sounding Customise Commands) This serendipitous discovery is giving me hours of fun and may be of use to you too