Are you one of those kids who waited years for a letter from Hogwarts—only to realise it was never coming? You never got to master the art of witchcraft and wizardry? Never received a personalised wand? Never cast your first spell? Never gave your O.W.L.S. or N.E.W.T.S.? And never fought a powerful dark wizard planning to achieve immortality while establishing pure-blood supremacy in the world?
Yeah…me neither.
We are doomed to live the painfully ordinary life of a Muggle. Well, too bad!
But wait, there’s good news: while Hogwarts may have missed us, magic hasn’t entirely. If you own an iPhone, you already have a powerful wand in your pocket—one that responds to certain voice commands with impressive obedience.
Let’s take a look at how you can unlock the magic hidden inside your device.
Built-in spells you can use right away
Apple has quietly blessed us with a few Harry Potter–inspired voice commands in iPhones that work straight out of the box.
Any true Potterhead knows Lumos is the spell used to illuminate the tip of a wand. Say “Hey Siri, Lumos”, and your iPhone’s flashlight turns on instantly. When you’re done, simply cast Nox (the counter-charm, duh!) to turn it back off.
Then there’s Accio, the summoning charm used to pull objects toward the caster. On your iPhone, this spell summons apps instead. Say “Accio Spotify” or “Accio Instagram”, and Siri will bring it to you in a flash.
But that’s not where the magic ends.
While these are the standard spells that anyone can use, a witty iPhone wizard/witch such as yourself can always create new spells.
Creating your own spells
By heading over to the Shortcuts app, you can create custom spells and turn your iPhone into a device that responds exactly the way you want it to. A simple command like Silencio could put your phone on silent, Muffliato could lower the volume, Sonorus could increase it, Reducio could shrink the font size, and Engorgio could make it larger.
The possibilities are endless—Alohomora to unlock your iPhone using Face ID, Reparo to restart or fix minor glitches by opening troubleshooting settings, and Finite Incantatem to close all running apps in an instant.
You can personalise these however you like, creating a whole library of enchanted voice commands in iPhones that fit your daily routine. As long as you’re not experimenting with the Unforgivable Curses and do not swerve towards the Dark Side, you’re good.
You may never receive your Hogwarts letter—but with a little creativity, using your iPhone can feel pretty magical.
