With each new iPhone update, Siri Camera commands become even more useful. For instance, did you know that Siri can take a picture? Siri can even take a selfie for you. Pretty nice right?
Siri can even open the camera and set it up for you in the mode of your choosing, whether for a video, selfie, or even for a panorama. But the real treat is having Siri actually take pictures for you, without the need for you to tap the shutter button yourself. And the best part is you can use all of these Siri commands for the camera on both the iPhone and iPad.
See the most common questions answered in the FAQ section, or view the complete list of Siri camera commands under Keeping Up With Siri in the table of contents below.
Table of Contents
FAQs
Can Siri control the iPhone camera?
Yes. Siri can open the Camera App and set up specific photo and video settings for you. Using Shortcuts, Siri can even take a picture for you. Keep scrolling to view available commands.
Can the iPhone take pictures with a voice command?
Although Siri can open the Camera App and change a few settings for you, Siri can’t actually click the shutter button and take a picture—at least not without further setup.
Good news is there’s a Siri Shortcut that you can add to make this capability work. Here’s how you do it:
- Say this command: “Hey Siri, get the Shortcuts App”
- Download the Shortcuts App from the App Store
- Open Shortcuts
- Tap on Gallery
- Search for “Say Cheese”
- Tap Add Shortcut
Here’s what the Shortcut looks like in the Shortcuts App:
Now you can use the command “Hey Siri, Say Cheese” to take a picture with Siri. This shortcut will cause Siri to take a photo and click the shutter button for you without opening the Camera App.
Can you tell Siri to record video?
Siri will open the Camera App and set it to video mode for you. You still need to click the “record” button to start recording a video, though.
Keeping Up With Siri
Learning Siri commands is essential to getting the most out of your iPhone and other Apple devices. But discovering what all Siri supports isn’t easy. That’s where Keeping Up With Siri comes in. In this series, I outline Apple’s Siri Guide of over 300 commands Apple’s Voice Assistant responds to.
Now with the above questions out of the way, want to learn all of the Siri camera commands available? This post focuses on using Siri to control the Camera App on your iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
And as any iPhone user will tell you, one of the most important features on the iPhone itself is the camera. So it’s no surprise Siri has commands specifically designed for the Camera App. What is surprising, however, are the notable commands that are missing. For instance, Siri can’t click the shutter button in the Camera App for you. But luckily, there’s a Siri Shortcut that can help you out instead. View the tutorial within the FAQ section to set up Shortcuts.
Camera Commands
“Hey Siri, scan a QR Code”
When you use this command, Siri opens the Camera app in a special “QR Code mode.” Then when you focus the camera on the QR Code, the Camera App will read it and give you options to handle it.
What is a QR Code? A QR Code is similar to barcodes that you see on boxes at the grocery store. QR Codes are really the next—better—version of barcodes. They can store more information. For instance, give the QR Code above a try!
“Hey Siri, open the Camera”
This command is really an Apps Command that’s opening the Camera App. When you use this command, Siri opens the Camera App with the default settings.
“Hey Siri, take a panorama”
This command is a bit misleading. It doesn’t actually take a panorama photo for you. Instead, Siri opens the Camera App and sets it to panorama mode. You still need to tap the shutter button (or one of the volume buttons) to start taking the actual panorama photo.
“Hey Siri, take a selfie”
When you use this command, Siri opens the Camera App and changes the camera to front-facing. Note: Siri won’t take the picture for you. To take the picture, you need to tap the shutter button or one of the volume buttons.
“Hey Siri, take a photo”
This command behaves exactly like the “open the Camera” command. Siri only opens the Camera App. No picture is actually taken.
“Hey Siri, take a slow-mo video”
Like with the above commands, when you say this to Siri, the Camera App opens and Siri sets the mode to “slo-mo video.” To actually start recording, you’ll need to tap the record button.
Siri has the ability to open the Camera App to any of the modes you see. Here’s the full list of commands you can use to have Siri set the Camera App mode:
- “Hey Siri, take a time-lapse video”
- “Hey Siri, take a slow-mo video”
- “Hey Siri, take a video”
- “Hey Siri, take a photo”
- “Hey Siri, take a portrait photo” *
- “Hey Siri, take a square photo”
- “Hey Siri, take a pano photo”
*Note: there are additional hidden modes, like selfie mode, that aren’t listed in the Camera App.
By using Siri, you can quickly and easily set up your iPhone camera—thereby never missing a shot. If you’re interested in learning more about how Siri can help you get the most out of your iPhone, check out the series Keeping Up With Siri Commands.
Hey siri open youtube
The beyond stupid part:
“Siri can’t actually click the shutter button and take a picture—at least not without further setup”
And if you have to take a picture where you can’t see the shutter button, and have to put your finger down hit-or-miss, and for an extra aggravation, jiggle the camera and blur the shot.