To set up Switch Control, you need to connect and add one or more switches, then assign an action to each switch. You can choose a scanning style and fine-tune other settings to suit your needs. You can use only one switch, or multiple switches for different actions, like selecting an item or moving the cursor to the next item.

After you turn it on, you may need to change the assigned actions or readjust the settings. If you have difficulty with these steps, you can get personalized help at your nearest Apple Store.

Step 1: Connect an external switch (optional)

To use a joystick, game controller, adaptive accessory, or MFi device for Switch Control, first connect it to iPhone by following the manufacturer’s instructions. And if the switch connects using Bluetooth®, you’ll need to pair it with iPhone.

You can add nonexternal switches as well, like sounds or AirPod Gestures.

1. Turn on the switch.
2. Open Settings, tap Bluetooth, turn on Bluetooth, tap the name of the switch, and then follow the onscreen instructions.

Step 2: Add switches, recipes, and switch sets

Use a single switch, or several to accommodate different actions, with each one performing an assigned action, such as moving the cursor to the next item or selecting an item.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Accessibility and tap Switch Control. Then tap Switches.
3. Tap Add New Switch. Choose External, Screen, Camera, Back Tap, Sound, or AirPod Gestures.

   If you’re trying to add an external switch but it isn’t shown in the list, make sure it’s connected to your iPhone as described above in Step 1: Connect an external switch (optional).

4. Assign an action to the switch.

   The action for the switch depends on the number of switches you have and the scanning style you choose in Step 3: Choose a scanning style, below. If you don’t know which action to assign, choose Select Item, which is compatible with Auto Scanning (the default scanning style). You can return to this setting later to change the assigned action.

Quick tip: Your iPhone can double as a game controller using gestures you’ve already set up, such as the switch (or alternative input method) you navigate and control your iPhone with. You could also reuse your Back Tap gestures instead.

You can also assign recipes—a set of temporary, specialized actions—to your switches. Use recipes for repetitive, complex actions in apps such as turning pages in the Books app. To create a recipe, go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control > Recipes.

If you have multiple sets of switches or recipes that you switch between, you can create a Switch Set for your settings. To create a profile, go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control > Switch Sets > Add New Switch Set.

Step 3: Choose a scanning style

The cursor moves from one item to the next automatically after a specified duration by default, but if you’d rather move it manually, you can choose a different scanning style.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control > Scanning Style, then choose one of the following:

• Auto Scanning: The cursor automatically moves to the next item after a specified duration. This is the default scanning style.

  If you use Auto Scanning with just one switch, make sure the Select Item action is assigned to the switch.

• Manual Scanning: When you activate your Move to Next Item switch, the cursor moves to the next item.

  Manual Scanning requires at least two switches. Make sure the Move to Next Item action is assigned to one switch, and the Select Item action is assigned to another switch.

• Single Switch Step Scanning: When you activate the Move to Next Item switch, the cursor moves to the next item; if no action is taken within a specified duration, the current item is automatically selected.

  This scanning style requires only one switch. Make sure the Move to Next Item action is assigned to the switch.

Step 4: Fine-tune Switch Control settings

To suit your specific needs and style, you can adjust how Switch Control behaves in a variety of ways. You might change the scanning speed, for example, or have iPhone speak the highlighted items.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control, then adjust any of the following:

• Auto Scanning Time: Adjust the item scanning speed.
• Pause on First Item: Set scanning to pause on the first item in a group.
• Loops: Choose how many times to cycle through the screen before hiding Switch Control.
• Move Repeat: Set the delay before moving to the previous or next item while a switch is pressed.
• Long Press: Set whether a different action occurs when you press and hold a switch, and how long to wait before performing that action.
• Tap Behavior: Choose a tap behavior and set the interval for performing a second switch action to show the Scanner menu.
• Focused Item After Tap: Choose whether Switch Control resumes scanning at an item you tap or from the beginning.
• Scan Same Key After Tap: Turn on scanning the same key after tapping.
• Always Tap Keyboard Keys: Turn on always tapping keyboard keys.
• Extended Predictions: Turn on extended predictions.
• Hold Duration: Specify how long you need to press and hold a switch before it’s accepted as a switch action.
• Ignore Repeat: Ignore accidental repeated switch triggers.
• Sound Effects: Turn on sound effects.
• Speech: Speak items as they’re scanned.
• Menu Items: Choose the actions shown in the Scanner menu and the order in which they appear.
• Group Items: Group items for faster navigation.
• Large Cursor: Make the highlight more prominent.
• Cursor Color: Choose a different highlight color.
• Saved Gestures: Create a custom gesture.
• Confirm with Switch Control: Turn on Confirm with Switch Control to confirm payments with your passcode or any time double-clicking the side button is required.

Step 5: Turn on Switch Control

Important: When Switch Control is turned on, you can’t use the standard gestures on the touchscreen to exit Switch Control.

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Switch Control, then turn on Switch Control.

Quick tip: You can add Switch Control to Accessibility Shortcut, then quickly turn it on or off, just by triple-clicking the side button (on iPhone models with Face ID) or the Home button (on other iPhone models).

Even if VoiceOver is turned off, you can have iPhone read text on the screen out loud. Have iPhone read the entire screen or a specific selection, or hear what you type spoken out loud, character by character or word by word.

Accessibility Reader lets you read or listen to text in a full-screen view, with your own fonts, layouts, and background colors, and you can change how spoken content sounds.

Here’s how to hear iPhone speak the screen, selected text, and typing feedback.

Have iPhone speak onscreen text

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Accessibility and tap Read & Speak.
3. Turn on and customize any of the following:
   • Accessibility Reader: Turn on Accessibility Reader to read or listen to text in a full-screen view, and customize fonts, layouts, and background colors. Turn on Autoplay if you want Accessibility Reader to automatically read text aloud.
   • Speak Screen: Tap Speak Screen and then turn on Speak Screen to have iPhone read all text on the screen, then do any of the following:
     • Highlighting: Customize the highlight style, color, and selection for in-app text that is spoken aloud.
     • Show Controller: Turn on Show Controller to keep the Speak Screen controls on the screen.
     • Controller Actions: Choose what happens when you long press or double-tap the screen. You can also reduce the size of the speech controller when you’re not using it.
   • Speak Selection: Turn on Speak Selection to have iPhone speak the text you select. Customize the highlight style, color, and selection for in-app text that is spoken aloud.
4. Do any of the following:
   • Hear selected text (if you turned on Speak Selection): Select the text you want spoken, then tap Speak.
   • Hear all text on the screen (if you turned on Speak Screen): Swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.

     Use the controls that appear to pause speaking, adjust the rate, navigate forward or back to the content you want to hear, or use Speak on Touch (tap the text you want iPhone to read).

   Siri: Ask Siri something like, “Speak screen.”

Change how spoken content sounds

1. Start the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap Accessibility and tap Read & Speak.
3. Adjust any of the following:
   • Voices: Choose a voice and dialect.
   • Default Language: Choose a default language that iPhone will speak.
   • Detect Languages: Turn on Detect Languages to have iPhone automatically detect and speak multiple languages.
   • Speaking Rate: Drag the slider.
   • Pronunciations: Dictate or spell out how you want certain phrases to be spoken.