Siri, Shortcuts and Voice Control: start a preset by voice or from a shortcut
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.
Presets can be started and stopped by voice and from the Shortcuts app, with nothing to set up. InputConfig's actions appear in Shortcuts, in Spotlight, and in Siri, and a Voice Control custom command can run any of them. Say the preset, and it starts.
Say it to Siri
- Start a preset. "Start Easy Browse in InputConfig", "Turn on Easy Browse in InputConfig", "Switch to" or "Use" the same way, or "Start an InputConfig preset" and Siri asks which.
- Stop. "Stop InputConfig" or "Turn off InputConfig" stops the running preset and lets go of everything it holds. Said while InputConfig counts down to restart a preset after a crash, it keeps that preset off.
- Pause. "Pause InputConfig" pauses its keys, clicks and pointer without stopping; "Resume InputConfig" turns them back on.
- Emergency stop. "Emergency stop InputConfig" is the same as the emergency stop shortcut: everything stops now.
InputConfig has to have been opened once since login, so its presets are loaded; it can stay in the menu bar. Siri starts a preset the way the menu bar does, in the background: one that asks a question on its first start waits for the answer in the app, and Siri says when a preset holds the pointer or InputConfig is missing Accessibility.
Build a shortcut
In the Shortcuts app, search for InputConfig. The actions are Start Preset, Stop Preset, Start or Stop Preset, Get Running Preset, Pause or Resume Outputs, and Emergency Stop. Start Preset and Start or Stop Preset take a preset from a list, or from an earlier action's text. Get Running Preset returns the preset, so a shortcut can check it or say it. A shortcut can then be given a keyboard shortcut, put in the menu bar, run from a Stream Deck or a Voice Control command, or started by another app.
A Focus or an automation can start a preset too: a shortcut that runs Start Preset when a game opens, and Stop Preset when it quits.
Use Voice Control
With macOS Voice Control on, the Siri phrases above work as spoken commands when Siri is on. For a phrase of your own, add a custom command in System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control, Commands, and set its action to Run Shortcut: say "game mode" and a shortcut starts the game preset. The app's own buttons and rows have names Voice Control can say as well, so "click Activate" works in the window.
Voice Control and a preset can run at the same time. A preset that maps a key Voice Control also types is applied after Voice Control types it, like any other keyboard.
Questions
Siri says it cannot find the preset.
Say the preset's name as the sidebar shows it, and make sure InputConfig has been opened since login. Hidden built-in presets are not offered.
Does Siri need the internet?
Siri does, for the speech. The actions themselves run on this Mac, inside InputConfig.
Can a shortcut press a row?
Not directly. Give the row a hotkey, and have the shortcut press that; or start a preset built for the moment.
Does an intent open the window?
No. They run in the background, like the menu bar.
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