Can I get my iPhone to switch automatically to the speaker when I hold it away from my ear?

If you are using VoiceOver an optional setting is available to switch a call to hands-free just by taking the phone away from your ear.

VoiceOver users can choose to use a really convenient way of switching phone calls from holding the phone to their ear to a call using the phone's main loudspeaker that can be continued hands-free if that's wanted. The relevant switch is at Settings / Accessibility / VoiceOver / Audio / Auto-select Speaker in Call. If this switch is turned on you should always begin a call with the phone held briefly to your ear but if you wish to continue with the call audio and VoiceOver redirected to the main loudspeaker just hold the phone away from your ear or place it down somewhere nearby. This is very convenient when you need to tap numbers to select phone menu options at the beginning of a call since VoiceOver may otherwise be speaking faintly over the earpiece speaker as you attempt to locate the correct numbers on the keypad.

If you don't use VoiceOver and you generally prefer to take calls hands-free it is possible to set the default way a phone call begins to be hands-free. Go to Settings / Accessibility / Touch / Call Audio Routing and set the value to Speaker. All your calls will start hands-free with this selection and if you prefer to change a call to the earpiece speaker you will need to tap on Hide Keypad, then the Audio button and finally select iPhone.

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last updated 5 January 2026