Hold the mic button on the deck, say one of these, let go. Commands are short on purpose — they have to work from across a room with the TV on.
Media
Say
What happens
"play / pause"
Toggles play and pause in whatever is playing (Spotify, a browser video, VLC…).
"next track / previous track"
Skips forward or back using the Windows media keys.
"stop"
Sends the media Stop key.
Volume
Say
What happens
"volume up / volume down"
Nudges the Windows system volume ("turn it up by 20" works too).
"volume 30"
Sets the system volume to 30%.
"mute / unmute"
Toggles system mute.
Your buttons
Say
What happens
"press <button name>"
Runs any button on your deck by its label, e.g. "press Start Stream".
"<button name>"
Saying a button's label on its own works too — close matches are fine.
"go to page <name>"
Switches the phone to another page of your deck.
Windows
Say
What happens
"go back"
Sends Escape to the focused window — handy in Big Box, Kodi and menus.
"close window"
Sends Alt+F4 to the focused window.
"switch window"
Sends Alt+Tab.
"show desktop"
Sends Windows+D.
Typing
Say
What happens
"type <words>"
Types the words into the focused window — search boxes, chat, a game library search.
"press enter / press escape"
Taps a single key. Combos like "press alt f4" need Pro.
Apps and the web
Say
What happens
"open <app>"
Opens an app imported from your Start Menu, e.g. "open Spotify" or "launch Discord".
"search for <words>"
Opens a Google search in your default browser.
"<words> on YouTube"
Opens a YouTube search, e.g. "lofi beats on YouTube".
Games (Pro)
Say
What happens
"play <game> / play <game> on <platform>"
Launches a Steam, Epic or LaunchBox game, e.g. "play Sonic on Genesis".
"surprise me"
Launches a random game from your library.
"resume last game"
Relaunches the last game you started from SofaDeck.
PC
Say
What happens
"lock the PC / screen off"
Locks Windows or turns the display off.
"sleep / restart / shut down"
Always asks you to confirm on the phone first.
Tips for reliable voice control
Name buttons like you'd say them. "Start Stream" beats "OBS-REC-1". Two or three distinct words are easiest to recognise.
Avoid near-duplicates. "Game mode" and "Gain mode" will get confused; rename one.
Hold, speak, release. Start talking after the mic lights up and let go right after you finish.
Close is fine, shouting isn't. Hold the phone at chat distance; speech recognition prefers a normal voice.
Check the transcript. The deck shows what it heard, so you can see whether a miss was the recognition or the command.
How it works
Speech recognition happens in your phone's browser, using the same engine as the phone's keyboard dictation. That engine turns your words into text; SofaDeck only ever receives the text. The PC then matches it — first against built-in commands, then against your button labels (and, in Pro, your custom phrases) — and runs the match. Nothing is recorded or kept.
If you'd rather keep your PC fully hands-free without a phone, Windows 11 has its own Voice Access feature. Our guide on controlling your PC with your voice compares the two and explains when each is the better fit.
Voice questions
Does SofaDeck listen all the time?
No. It only listens while you hold the microphone button on the phone. There is no always-on wake word, and the PC's microphone is never used.
Where is my voice processed?
Your phone's browser does the speech-to-text using the phone's built-in speech service (on many phones that service runs in Google's or Apple's cloud). SofaDeck receives only the resulting text, over your home network, and doesn't store recordings.
Can I add my own voice commands?
Every button can be triggered by saying its label, in Free and Pro. SofaDeck Pro also lets you add extra phrases for any button.