Apple has today released iOS 12.5.4 for older devices not compatible with iOS 14, bringing fixes for several security vulnerabilities that could lead to arbitrary code execution if exploited.
As this update appears to have been released to address a small number of specific issues, our expectation is that it does not contain any accessibility changes for blind and low vision users; however, if you notice any changes, improvements or regressions in your own use of this release, please…
Apple today kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with the traditional keynote presentation.
As was the case last year, WWDC 2021 is an all-virtual event, with the keynote consisting of prerecorded video presentations that focused primarily on the next major revisions of Apple's operating systems for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. What we didn't get today, was any hardware news, so those waiting to place an…
Apple has today released iOS 14.6 and iPadOS 14.6. These appear to be relatively minor updates for single dot releases, focusing on the groundwork for the upcoming addition of Spatial Audio and Lossless Audio to Apple Music, adding paid podcast subscription support for channels and individual shows, and some other mostly under-the-hood enhancements.
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Apple has today released iOS 14.5.1, iPadOS 14.5.1, macOS Big Sur 11.3.1, and watchOS 7.4.1.
Apple's release notes for iOS 14.5.1 state that the update fixes an issue with App Tracking Transparency (ATT) where some users who previously disabled Allow Apps to Request to Track in Settings may not receive prompts from apps after re-enabling.
According to the full security notes for the macOS Big Sur 11.3.1 release, it…
Apple has today released iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5; bringing support for AirTag, new features, security and privacy enhancements, and bug fixes.
Our testing suggests that the following pre-existing accessibility bugs have been resolved in iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5:
Apple has today released iOS 14.4.2, iPadOS 14.4.2, iOS 12.5.2 for older devices, and watchOS 7.3.3 with a critical Webkit security fix
As these updates appear to have been released to address a specific issue, our expectation is that they do not contain any accessibility changes for blind and low vision users; however, if you notice any changes, improvements or regressions in your own use of these releases, please post a comment with your findings.
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Apple has today released iOS and iPadOS 14.4.1, macOS Big Sur 11.2.3 , and watchOS 7.3.2.
Though these updates appear to have been primarily released to address a specific security issue, a bug introduced in iOS 14.4, appears to have been resolved. This was the bug concerning connectivity issues for the Mantis Q 40, Chameleon 20, and both the Brailliant BI20S and bi40X models. Both…
UPDATE: American Printing House for the Blind (APH) has issued a warning that there are connection issues for the Mantis and Chameleon braille displays after upgrading to iOS 14.4; and recommend that you turn off automatic updates and do not upgrade until a resolution has been found:
The basic issue is that once you upgrade to 14.4, as soon as you lock your iPad or iPhone with the…
Much as I love VoiceOver and everything it has done for me, at times, it doesn't quite behave as I'd like it to. Those are the times when I think VoiceOver should be put on Santa's naughty list. Sometimes, it gets distracted, like the time when I was editing a document in pages on my iPad, and VoiceOver kept getting excited about the page thumbnails. Yes, VoiceOver, I'm aware that page thumbnails exist, and I'm sure they're the most awesomely amazing thing ever, but can we please stop…
Apple has today released iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3; bringing support for Apple Fitness+ and AirPods Max, new features, security enhancements, and bug fixes.
Our testing suggests that the following pre-existing accessibility bugs have been resolved in iOS 14.3 and iPadOS 14.3:
Apple has today released iOS 14.2.1 to resolve a small number of notable issues specific to the iPhone 12.
Here are the release notes for iOS 14.2.1;
As iOS 14.2.1 is a limited release for the iPhone 12 only and addresses issues specific to these…
Apple has today released iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2 to the public. In addition to bringing fixes for a large number of the bugs that iOS 14.0 and iPadOS 14.0 introduced for VoiceOver and braille users, these releases add the …
In the upcoming releases of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2, Apple is adding a new People Detection feature to its Magnifier app on liDAR-equipped devices that will enable blind and low vision users to determine the distance between themselves and nearby people.
With the introduction of People Detection, Apple is delivering the first example of how the LiDAR Scanner's ability to quickly and accurately scan and map nearby objects can be harnessed to offer significant added value to blind and…
Apple has today released iOS 14.1 and iPadOS 14.1 to the public.
For blind and low vision users, our preliminary testing suggests that Apple has resolved the most critical issues present in the initial releases of iOS and iPadOS 14. However, there are also a couple new bugs in today's releases.
Update: AppleInsider and MacRumors both now report that these updates were not meant for the public but were briefly, and inadvertently, published to the main release channel. Apple subsequently pulled the initial downloads and has re-released them as downloads exclusive to…
Just a week after the release of iOS 14.0 to the public, Apple has today released iOS 14.0.1. This appears to be a bug fix release to address a small number of issues introduced in 14.0; including one where changing your default email client or web browser would be reset when you restarted your device.
As we have not had the opportunity to test iOS 14.0.1 ahead of today's release, we are unaware at this time if it brings any fixes to…
Fall is almost here, and in the year of unpredictability, we have something which remains consistent. iOS 14.0 is out the same week it has been in previous years. It will have a significant number of enhancements for users of the iPhone 6s and newer, as well as the iPod 7th generation. Mainstream changes include the ability to put widgets on the Home screen, an App Library, enhancements to Messages, new privacy settings, and many more. A lot of outlets will be covering these features in…
iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 have been released to the public. This post contains details of the VoiceOver, low vision, and braille bugs which we believe have been introduced in these releases; as well as details of the pre-existing bugs which we believe to be resolved.
As is our routine practice, each new bug has been given a severity rating; these ratings are based upon what we believe to be the implications for accessing and using features and functionality and the level of impact on the…
On September 15, Apple held its second all-digital major press event of the year, calling it "Time Flies". Ordinarily, the September event is where we get to see the latest iPhone, among other products. Even Apple isn't immune to the craziness of life in the year 2020, however; it seems we'll have to wait a bit longer for the new iPhone. Instead, today was about Apple Watch and iPad. It wasn't all hardware, though. We also got a new fitness…
Apple has today released iOS 13.7, bringing a new COVID-19 “Exposure Notifications Express” system, which removes the need to install a separate third-party app.
In a quote provided to The Verge, Apple described this new notification system as:
... the next step in our work with public health authorities on Exposure Notifications,…