iOS 18.2 just added a faster way to message Siri and ChatGPT

iOS 18.2 came packed with a lot of big and small changes. One smaller update that’s flown under the radar is a faster way to message Siri or ChatGPT. Here’s how it works.

Type to Siri control is new option for iPhone’s Action Button

Siri is undergoing a gradual transformation. It started with iOS 18.1’s new design and select other enhancements, then continued in iOS 18.2 when ChatGPT support was added.

One of the recent additions is a convenient new messaging mode: Type to Siri.

In iOS 18.1 and later, you can activate this mode by double-tapping on the bar at the bottom of your iPhone or iPad’s display.

But in iOS 18.2, there’s an even faster method thanks to a new system control.

Control Center gained one noteworthy addition in iOS 18.2: a Type to Siri control.

In my experience though, the best place to use this control is with the iPhone’s Action Button.

By setting your Action Button to the new Type to Siri control, you can open messaging mode faster than ever, and type your Siri or ChatGPT request with ease.

Just do the following:

1. Open the Settings app
2. Go to Action Button
3. Select the Controls option
4. Then pick Type to Siri from the menu

More ways to trigger messaging mode with Siri and ChatGPT in iOS 18.2

If you don’t want to replace your existing Action Button behavior, there’s an alternative.

Thanks to the versatility of iOS 18’s new controls system, you can add Type to Siri to your Lock Screen instead, replacing the Flashlight or Camera button. This can be done from the wallpaper/Lock Screen editing mode.

You’ve long been able to enable typing mode via the iPhone’s Accessibility settings, but enabling that made voice interactions a challenge.

Now that Type to Siri’s dedicated control exists, you can use the new feature not only with the built-in double-tap gesture, but also from the Action Button, Lock Screen, and of course Control Center.

Pro tip: Type to Siri works best when combined with keyboard text replacements. For example, you can set up a text replacement to quickly enter the ‘ask ChatGPT’ prefix so that your request will go straight to OpenAI’s assistant.

Have you used Type to Siri much in iOS 18.1 or 18.2? Let us know in the comments.

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