How to Call Someone and Put Them on Speaker Without Picking up Your iPhone - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Call Someone and Put Them on Speaker Without Picking up Your iPhone

by

Next time you find yourself with your hands full and you want to make a call on your iPhone – or even if you're in bed and your phone's just out of reach – don't forget that you can get Siri to start a speakerphone call for you, handsfree.

iphone x speakerphone call handsfree
All you need to do beforehand is make sure that your iPhone is set up to listen for the "Hey Siri" voice command. You can check this by following the steps below:

Enable the "Hey Siri" Command on Your iPhone

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Siri & Search in the list.
    call handsfree speakerphone

  3. At the top of the screen, check that the Listen for "Hey Siri" slider is toggled to the green ON position.

With that done, you don't even have to pick up your iPhone to speak to someone on speakerphone. Simply say "Hey Siri, call [name] on speaker," and you'll be chatting in no time.

call handsfree speakerphone 1
What if the person you want to call isn't in your contacts list? No problem – just dictate the number to Siri instead: "Hey Siri, call [number] on speaker."

Remember this quick tip the next time you want to make a call and you might just save yourself some bother.

Related Forum: iOS 12

Top Rated Comments

jlc1978 Avatar
96 months ago
The idea is great, wasn’t it for Siri too often not understanding what I say

And really, do you want me to tell Siri the number, like 555-3462168???
I don’t even “remember “ or know my own wife’s number by heart anymore, let alone other people’s numbers.
"Hey Siri, Call wife on speaker"
"I can't find Wifon Speakerr. Did you mean John Speaks? I've found 6 of them near you..."

My general Siri experience. God help me if I try to use it when watching TV or a movie...

It's even worse if you are trying to call someone whose name is prounounced differently than it is spelt; for example an X in Portuguese so Xuxa is prononunces Shoo Sha. So unless you remember the Siri way with hard X's you can't call them and need to give them some other keyword in the contact.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bigskygangsta Avatar
96 months ago
"Hey Siri, Call wife on speaker"
"I can't find Wifon Speakerr. Did you mean John Speaks? I've found 6 of them near you..."

My general Siri experience. God help me if I try to use it when watching TV or a movie...

It's even worse if you are trying to call someone whose name is prounounced differently than it is spelt; for example an X in Portuguese so Xuxa is prononunces Shoo Sha. So unless you remember the Siri way with hard X's you can't call them and need to give them some other keyword in the contact.
[doublepost=1543068471][/doublepost]Simple solution to odd name pronunciations. Tell Siri to learn how to pronounce “xyz” contact and she’ll ask you how it’s pronounced and fix it. This has been available for years.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
96 months ago
I use my speakerphone for almost all my calls (The stereo speakers are outstanding on the newer iPhones) and I didn’t even think to ask Siri to invoke the speaker hands free. Good article.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
840quadra Avatar
96 months ago
I use this quite often, especially from iPad or HomePod.

Siri does far more, far better than many give it credit for.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
96 months ago
The idea is great, wasn’t it for Siri too often not understanding what I say

And really, do you want me to tell Siri the number, like 555-3462168??? I don’t even “remember “ or know my own wife’s number by heart anymore, let alone other people’s numbers.
The article explains two ways to call.

You could dictate each digit like you described. You're right... you might not remember their number.

Or you can call someone from your contact list by simply saying:

"Hey Siri, call [WIFE] on speaker"

:p
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mattopotamus Avatar
96 months ago
I thought this was actually going to show you how to answer on speaker. I usually use my Apple Watch and then handoff when my hands are free.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...
HomePod mini and Apple TV Sage

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Remain 'Ready' to Launch

Sunday March 22, 2026 6:33 am PDT by
Apple has unveiled nine new products this month, but the wait continues for the next-generation Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini models. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said new versions of the Apple TV and HomePod mini have been "ready" since last year, but he reiterated that Apple has held off on releasing them until the more personalized version of Siri and other...