Add an appointment by voice from the iPhone Lock Screen

Updated October 8, 2026

On iPhone, the fastest way to add an appointment by voice is a widget on the Lock Screen. Siri already does this for the Calendar app, with the side button. Tellendar offers a "Dictate an alarm" widget under the clock: one tap opens dictation, and the appointment gets an alarm.

The number of taps

To add an appointment in a calendar app, you wake the iPhone, unlock it, open the app, tap the text field, then tap the microphone. When you are busy, you often put it off, and the appointment is forgotten. A Lock Screen widget reduces these steps to one.

What your iPhone can already do

Siri and the Calendar app

Hold the side button, or say "Siri", then describe the appointment, such as "Schedule a meeting with Sam at 9". Siri creates the event in Calendar. Two limits. Siri needs an internet connection, according to Apple. And a Calendar alert is a notification: in silent mode it vibrates without ringing. For a real alarm, see How to make your iPhone ring for an appointment, even in silent mode.

Siri and the Reminders app

"Remind me to call the dentist tomorrow at 10" creates a reminder. Since iOS 26.2, a reminder can be marked as urgent so it rings like an alarm, but you set that afterwards, in the Reminders app. And the reminder doesn't show in your calendar.

Lock Screen widgets and controls

The iPhone Lock Screen has room for widgets under the clock, and two controls at the bottom, the flashlight and the camera by default, which you can replace. Control Center also opens from the Lock Screen, and on models that have one, the Action button runs the control of your choice. Any app can offer a widget or a control. That is what Tellendar does.

Dictate an appointment with Tellendar

1. Tap the "Dictate an alarm" widget. The iPhone unlocks with Face ID while you look at it, and Tellendar opens straight on the dictation screen, without going through the calendar.
2. Say your sentence, for example: "Dentist Thursday at 3pm, alarm 1 hour before". The words appear as you speak.
3. Tap "Send". Tellendar creates the event and its alarm, and shows them to you.

Dictation is transcribed on the iPhone: your voice doesn't go online. The app asks for one permission, the microphone, once. Nothing is sent without your action: the "Send" button stays grey until a word has been heard, and after twenty seconds without a word, the dictation screen closes by itself without sending anything. The sentence is then understood on the device when your iPhone has Apple Intelligence, or by Mistral AI, a French AI company, if you agreed to it. The details are on the privacy page.

Put the widget under the clock

1. Touch and hold the Lock Screen.
2. Tap "Customize", then "Lock Screen".
3. Tap the area under the time.
4. Choose Tellendar, then tap Done.

This is the recommended spot: the row under the clock is empty by default, and a single tap is enough. These steps are also in Tellendar's settings, under "Widget".

Other places

• Home Screen. Touch and hold an empty area, tap "Edit", then "Add Widget", and choose Tellendar. The widget takes the space of one icon.
• Control Center. Open it, tap the "+" button, then "Add a Control", and pick "Dictate an alarm" in the gallery.
• Bottom of the Lock Screen. While customizing the Lock Screen, remove the flashlight or the camera, then pick "Dictate an alarm". You lose the control you replace.
• Action button. On models that have one: Settings, then "Action Button", then "Controls", and pick "Dictate an alarm".
• App icon. Touch and hold the Tellendar icon: "Dictate" is in the menu.

Frequently asked questions