‘Hey Siri, Lumos’ — Have You Tried This iPhone Command Yet?

It’s been over 20 years, and I’m still waiting for my letter to come from Hogwarts. In the long period of time I’ve spent wishing and waiting, though, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to practise my spells. For instance: “Hey Siri, lumos!” 

And then there was light.

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How to turn on your flashlight with the “Lumos!” command

To kick off 2022 with a bang, HBO Max released a much-awaited Harry Potter reunion. While the iconic film series has been trending on TikTok since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the HP reunion has certainly added to the ever-growing buzz.

One random afternoon, my friend sent a photo to one of our group chats — a screencap of a Facebook post that claimed that your iPhone flashlight switches on when you say “lumos.” In an accompanying message, my friend exclaimed, “It works!”

Torn between thinking it was true or a practical joke heightened by the recent HP trend, I said “lumos” out loud… To no avail.

A few days later, though, I learned that it was no joke after all. It turned out that my Siri function was off — and you actually have to use the command “Hey Siri, lumos.” On top of that, you can have Siri switch off your flashlight, too. The magic words: “Hey Siri, nox.” Pretty cool, huh?

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Get your phone to respond to more Harry Potter spells

Can’t get enough? Here’s a cool hack: iPhone users can use the Shortcuts app to program Siri to respond to more spells. A favourite? Getting Siri to turn your phone off with the “Avada Kedavra” spell. Genius!

Even better, this phone trick isn’t just exclusive to iPhone users. Android users can also enjoy making use of Harry Potter spells to control their phones through Google Assistant! 

Also read: Attention, Potterheads: A Harry Potter Theme Park Is Heading to Tokyo in 2023

So, how about it, Hogwarts? We clearly aren’t muggles; it’s about time you sent us our acceptance letters.