Quick Tip: What can you say? Making the most out of voice commands on Windows Phone 8

Quick Tip: What can you say? Making the most out of voice commands on Windows Phone 8 | Windows Phone Central Skip to main content Android BlackBerry iPhone / iPad Windows Phone webOS SIGN UP|LOG IN Windows Phone Central Windows Phone CentralForumsNewsReviewsHelp & How ToDevicesAppsGamesContestsDevelopersEditorials Search Shop online Cases Chargers Batteries Bluetooth & More New accessories FREE Shipping on orders over $50 Read in WPCentral App 33 Quick Tip: What can you say? Making the most out of voice commands on Windows Phone 8 How To By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Apr 29, 2013 at 4:35 pm

If you use Windows Phone, 7 or 8, you probably know that holding down the Start button will bring up TellMe, the native voice command service from Microsoft. You can use it to launch app, write an SMS message, etc.

For Windows Phone 8 users though, you get the added bonus that apps optimized for the new OS can also take advantage of TellMe, allowing you quickly open an app and then go to a specific section, for instance.

The issue though is some apps don’t really mention that they do this or even more, they don’t list what commands you can say. Heck, some of you may have apps on your phone that you didn’t even know could be operated via your voice. To find out which apps do this on your phone, just do this trick:

Find which apps support Voice CommandsHold the Start/Windows key down for 3 secondsSpeak “What can I say?”Swipe right from Common to Apps

If you hit the “Read it” button in the lower right, you can take your time to peruse the list of apps that support voice command. If you tap on any app, you’ll get a sub-list of its specific command parameters.

Our bet? You’re going to find apps that you didn’t know supported this feature or didn’t know the full extent of which commands you could use. It’s perhaps a pain to memorize those parameters, but if you use an app frequently enough, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Bonus tease: The next version of the Windows Phone Central app will support voice commands too. You can see it in the image above.

Daniel Rubino Editor-in-chief

"That's your moral compass but what good is it to me? "

3946 Filed in: How To
Tags: voice command, tellme, tutorial, What can I say 2 36 32 0 Email this page Previous Story

Microsoft finally has a compelling Windows Phone ad, makes fun of Samsung and Apple rivalry

Next Story

Nokia cares what you think, seeks participants for locations product study

Comments There are 33 comments. Sign in to comment mrshamoozoo says:

now this is ballin!

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:43 pm - 1 day ago Reply NinjaX says:

There's no such list on on my phone? Lumia 900, 7.8

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:44 pm - 1 day ago Reply NinjaX says:

Nvm it's for WP 8 only.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:45 pm - 1 day ago Reply Derek De Souza says:

Woo i get pleasantly surprised everytime I ask what can I say?

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:45 pm - 1 day ago Reply ricardios says:

Great tip!

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:45 pm - 1 day ago Reply jhoff80 says:

I'm always glad to notice when a new app supports voice commands, but it's still ridiculous that one of those apps that supports voice commands isn't Bing Maps (or Nokia/Here Maps, or Nokia/Here Drive).
 
While I'm at it, I can't believe they didn't add the ability to read an email via TTS like is done with SMS.  That would be a huge benefit for many drivers.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:49 pm - 1 day ago Reply rockstarzzz says:

+920
Did they not show us navigation apps talking to the user and vice versa during launch?

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:00 pm - 1 day ago Reply Aalejandro Diazs says:

Shameless plug here, but that's one of the nicest features of Note+: creating, opening, deleting, sharing, reading and copying notes to the clipboard, using your voice.
 
Pretty glad Microsoft made the API available, and hope more developers start integrating Voice Commands to their apps.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 4:55 pm - 1 day ago Reply Dave Blake says:

Really the next version of WPCentral will support Voice Command? I did not know that... :)

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:01 pm - 1 day ago Reply purevibz says:

Now you guys are stepping it up to be the best app ever.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:02 pm - 1 day ago Reply Camaroon says:

I've always wondered about this, thanks for sharing!  Is there a place that has a comprehensive list of voice commands WP8 offers other than the examples given when you say "What Can I Say"?

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:08 pm - 1 day ago Reply Arun3 says:

LOL  "Nickname is now: The boss"  ;) @Daniel

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:15 pm - 1 day ago Reply buggyglint says:

Well he's the editor-in-chief so technically he is the boss of wpcentral. I Always enjoy updates to wpcentral app, thanks to Jay for all your hard work.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:25 pm - 1 day ago Reply JayTBennett says:

Mine calls me "Creator" ;)

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:40 pm - 1 day ago Reply daveh101 says:

+1

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:28 pm - 1 day ago Reply IceDree says:

I love TellMe , i use it to piss off people lol , my favorite is : "SoundHound ... Quick Launch"
& my 8X always gets it , no manner how loud the music is ! Everytime i do it , they give me the F*** You look lol

EDIT : I just checked & as you said , I've apps that have Voice support & I didn't know about it !

Btw , is the "More" tab new ?
Its the first time I see it

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 5:40 pm - 1 day ago Reply missionsparta says:

Need WPCentral Win8/RT app badly

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:00 pm - 1 day ago Reply Sarang68 says:

Here Here. 1000%

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 10:28 pm - 1 day ago Reply SlayerSpecial says:

I'm not a fan of voice commands, but hey, that doesn't mean they shouldn't invest in its development, it's even rather important to some parts of the population, as elderly people.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:02 pm - 1 day ago Reply mythos13 says:

Thanks, it was om my mental todo list to discover how I could learn what voice commands were supported on my phone. I didn't know the capability was built in

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:12 pm - 1 day ago Reply geminiman7 says:

What I really miss since the Microsoft Voice Command days is simple commands like:

Show or [Contact Name] - Many times I need to look up information in a contact file. Not just call them!Show Calendar - We should be able to simply view a calendar this way.

There are a few other missing voice commands but those two I really wish Microsoft had kept/moved into the newer OS.
So much for trying to communicate this to Microsoft. It'll be impossible.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:18 pm - 1 day ago Reply JayTBennett says:

I hear you on the show people issue, but try the command "Open Calendar" :)

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 6:34 pm - 1 day ago Reply henkew says:

I'm with you 100% on voice command. Loved how you could search for and play your music with it. I never understood why they backpedaled and didn't carry that forward with Windows 7 (and now 8).

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 11:18 am - 18 hours ago Reply WPenvy says:

Good on ya Mr Bennett. A job well done.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 8:01 pm - 1 day ago Reply Jay_wpcentral says:

This is a neat tip. Thank you.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 8:12 pm - 1 day ago Reply edsal says:

Could not find this on my  810 again we are left out of the windows world .

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 9:04 pm - 1 day ago Reply tborjin says:

Even though the 810 is the red headed step child of the wp8 world, I just tried this on mine and it worked fine

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 9:08 am - 20 hours ago Reply Devamps says:

A good tip.
I hope more developers bring this functionality to your applications.

Posted on Apr 29, 2013 at 11:50 pm - 1 day ago Reply adrian1338 says:

would like to use xbox music voice commands

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 5:49 am - 1 day ago Reply Bartdog says:

anyone tried Inidigo yet?  it was very hit or miss with me actually understanding what I was saying.  same thing for voice to text.  I realize this is not the app itself, but tellme behind the scenes, which they share.

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 10:08 am - 19 hours ago Reply henkew says:

Indigo is pretty cool and has potential. I just don't understand how they could make a voice app yet not use voice commands to use the app!

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 11:17 am - 18 hours ago Reply henkew says:

What would be awesome is a list of Apps that actually use the voice command features. It seems like trying to find/figure out which ones use voice commands is at hard as trying to listen to non-MS Store podcast on my phone.

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 11:20 am - 18 hours ago Reply Antistatic says:

I have a Lumia 920... But since i never used the voice commands on any of my earlier phones, i don't use it on my Lumia either. I never liked it, and i don't see the point using it. It's only annoying....and it never works the way i think it should.
But sometimes when i accidently push the Windows key for some seconds, then WP8 suggest that i can use it, but it's not available in my language. Is it possible to disable theese annoying questions once and for all? I don't want to use it in any language... Any suggestions....anyone?  :-)

Posted on Apr 30, 2013 at 7:34 pm - 10 hours ago Reply */Tip Us On News!

Shop accessories Browse All Accessories Cases and Skins Chargers Cradles Bluetooth Headsets Batteries See all accessories Browse Accessories For Your Phone HTC 8X Cases Chargers Batteries & more HTC 8S Cases Chargers Batteries & more Lumia 920 Cases Chargers Batteries & more Lumia 820 Cases Chargers Batteries & more Lumia 822 Cases Chargers Batteries & more Lumia 900 Cases Chargers Batteries & more Shop For Other Phones & Tablets T-Mobile Lumia 710 Arrive Titan II Trophy Shop accessories View All Phones STORE AD CONTENT Latest Discussions Long time viewing. about 11 min ago by aitt 2 replies Hey guise! about 15 min ago by Tony_Offends_U 2 replies Lumia 920 to a Nokia N8 to 808 PureView about 15 min ago by mister2d 36 replies Screen scratched! about 17 min ago by Nick920 2 replies Ahoi Folks! about 17 min ago by gerzhwin 1 reply New Facebook App for WP8! Finally!! about 22 min ago by GhostITMG 76 replies See today's posts Latest Articles IM+ gets bumped for Windows Phone 8 & Indigo gets some minor improvements too 12 hours 22 min ago by Daniel Rubino Apply even more cool effects to images with the new Nightshot filter in Nokia's #2InstaWithLove 12 hours 55 min ago by Rich Edmonds Both Tumblr and NBC News updated, anything new? 13 hours 6 min ago by Sam Sabri A behind the scenes look at the "Don't fight. Switch" Windows Phone ad 13 hours 43 min ago by George Ponder AT&T is giving you at least $100 for your old smartphone 13 hours 59 min ago by Sam Sabri Tag Cloud at&T developers featured games htc lumia lumia 900 lumia 920 mango marketplace microsoft nokia samsung sprint T-mobile update updates verizon windows 8 windows phone Windows phone 7 Windows Phone 8 Windows Phone 8 apps wp7 Xbox Live More Top AccessoriesNew In the Store Latest Reviews Refocus app brings Lytro-like effect to Windows Phone 8, impresses us 14 hours 35 min ago by George Ponder Strike 'em down with Ninepin Bowling for Windows Phone 8 21 hours 17 min ago by George Ponder Marblie: Marbles Reinvented, a challenging little puzzle game 1 day 21 hours ago by George Ponder Effectual is one of the best to-do apps for Windows Phone 8 2 days 7 hours ago by Sam Sabri Trivia Buff, a cornucopia of facts for your Windows Phone 3 days 19 hours ago by George Ponder Latest Comments Yes, that happened to me too. My Lumia 920 got very hot...about 1 sec agoby EBynum Well, I'm currently using Huawei Ascend W1 now, it is not...about 3 min 4 sec agoby oscarxvita Ah, well they do have AN update in the works. I too hope it...about 19 min 57 sec agoby Paul Acevedo Alot of people are experiencing this problem, just read the...about 21 min 52 sec agoby Cruzer1 Same here. Hope gamelofts update fixes itabout 22 min 34 sec agoby Cruzer1 See all recent comments Download wpcentral official appListen to Our Podcast Follow WPCentral RSS facebook twitter you tube google plus

Have a tip or site suggestion? Please contact us!

Mobile Nations YouTube Channel Follow Us on Twitter Join us on Facebook Mobile Nations RSS Feed 13,102,764 Readers Per Month Mobile Nations brings you the very best of Android Central,
CrackBerry, iMore, webOS Nation, and WPCentral   IM+ gets bumped for Windows Phone 8 & Indigo gets some minor improvements tooApply even more cool effects to images with the new Nightshot filter in Nokia's #2InstaWithLoveBoth Tumblr and NBC News updated, anything new?A behind the scenes look at the "Don't fight. Switch" Windows Phone adAT&T is giving you at least $100 for your old smartphone   HTC dropping HTC Watch support for 6 countries in Europe come May 31Google I/O 2013 session schedule now availableMadfinger Games bringing titles to OUYA, Moga and Gamestick this yearGoogle releases Glass intro video to help us all get startedMophie announces Juice Pack for the HTC One, on sale now for $99.95 I highly doubt Thorsten Heins thinks the tablet market will dieTELUS BlackBerry Q10 unboxingLinkedIn v2.2 for BlackBerry OS smartphones brings BBM integration and company pagesPopcornFlix arrives for BlackBerry 10 - Watch free movies on your BlackBerry smartphoneBlackBerry Q10 and the Mercedes AMG Petronas car team up in the latest round of promo videos Easyjet app update brings mobile boarding passes and Passbook supportThor 2: The Dark World hits theaters this fall, but you can get lots of great Thor stuff from iTunes right nowBlackBerry CEO supposedly says dumb things about the future of tablets, but what are the smart things?Currency for iPhone review: Convert between currencies on the goFeed Wrangler aims to make you forget about Google Reader, make RSS easier with Smart Streams, filters, and more App Giveaway: Othello StockWatchLast call! Verizon Pre3 60-second video entries close tomorrowMonday Brief: WWDC sells out, BlackBerry Q10 review and the Samsung Galaxy S4 has arrivedPhoenix teams up with OpenMobile to Kickstart the ACL for TouchPadIsis Web doesn't bring new WebKit to the TouchPad, but it's still betterThis is the WindsorNot - the webOS slate smartphone that never was   Windows Phone ForumsAndroid ForumsBlackBerry ForumsiPhone / iPad ForumswebOS Forums Copyright 2013 Mobile Nations ? Terms and Conditions ? Privacy Policy (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=161262480631740"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

View the original article here