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iPhone and iPod touch: Supported languages for Voice Control and VoiceOver

Voice Control allows you to control music playback and make calls with spoken commands. VoiceOver on iOS provides spoken feedback as you navigate the user interface. This article explains which devices support these features, which languages are supported, and where to find additional information.

Voice Control and VoiceOver are supported on the following devices:

  • iPhone 3GS

  • iPhone 4

  • iPod touch (3rd generation)

  • iPod touch (4th generation)

Voice Control and VoiceOver require iOS 3.1 or later. Certain languages may require iOS 4 or later.

Voice Control supports the following languages per region:

  • Chinese (Cantonese)

  • Chinese (China mainland)

  • Chinese (Taiwan)

  • Danish

  • Dutch

  • English (Australia)

  • English (UK)

  • English (United States)

  • Finnish

  • French (Canada)

  • French (France)

  • German

  • Greek

  • Italian

  • Japanese

  • Korean

  • Norwegian

  • Polish

  • Portuguese (Brazil)

  • Portuguese (Portugal)

  • Russian

  • Spanish (Mexico)

  • Spanish (Spain)

  • Swedish

To change the language used for Voice Control, tap Settings > General > International > Voice Control.

Note: The commands and speech recognition will be in the language that you choose. For example, you can change for accent variations from English (United States) to English (United Kingdom), but iPhone Voice Control will not understand English if you change the setting to another language, such as Japanese.

VoiceOver is supported in the following languages:

  • Chinese (Cantonese)

  • Chinese (China mainland)

  • Chinese (Taiwan)

  • Czech

  • Danish

  • Dutch

  • English (Australia)

  • English (Britain)

  • English (United States)

  • Finnish

  • Flemish (Belgian Dutch)

  • French (Canadian)

  • French (France)

  • German

  • Greek

  • Hindi

  • Hungarian

  • Indonesian

  • Italian

  • Japanese

  • Korean

  • Norwegian

  • Polish

  • Portuguese (Brazil)

  • Portuguese (Portugal)

  • Romanian

  • Russian

  • Slovak

  • Spanish (Mexico)

  • Spanish (Spain)

  • Swedish

  • Thai

  • Turkish

To change the language used for VoiceOver, tap Settings > General > International > Language.

Note: There are languages listed in the International setting for which there is no matching voice for VoiceOver. If VoiceOver is on and you select one, VoiceOver prompts that the selected language is not available for VoiceOver. If you are dependent on VoiceOver and select a language that is unsupported, you may need assistance to change back to a language you can understand.

  1. Tap Settings. To do this, double-tap the large icon that looks like this:

    No alt supplied for Image

  2. Tap General. To do this, double-tap the small icon that looks like this:

    No alt supplied for Image

  3. Scroll to International. To do this, swipe up using three fingers.

  4. Tap International. To do this, double-tap the sixth item in the list.

  5. Tap Language. To do this, double-tap the first item in the list.

Learn more

For more information about Voice Control and VoiceOver, see the iPhone User Guide and iPod touch User Guide.

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