We are thrilled to unveil our 2023 Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card, which provides valuable insights into the experiences and opinions of visually impaired community members who rely on VoiceOver, Braille support, or the low vision features on Apple devices.
To gather the ratings and comments contained in the report card, we conducted a…
Apple has announced the upcoming release of the Apple Vision Pro, the company's newest wearable device offering a three-dimensional user interface and spatial computing capabilities. It will become available on February 2nd with pre-orders beginning January 19th and have a starting price of $3,499 USD. For the initial launch, availability will be limited to the United States via Apple…
We are thrilled to announce our second annual Apple Vision Accessibility Report Card and invite you to participate in the survey that will determine this year's ratings. Our inaugural report card last year received an exceptionally enthusiastic response from the community, with many AppleVis members participating and providing thoughtful feedback. We hope to match or even surpass that outstanding level of engagement this year as we continue our efforts to deliver valuable insights to Apple…
Apple has today released iOS 17.2.1 and macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 to the public.
The release notes for these updates are simply listed as “This update provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all users.”
As these updates appear to have been released to address a small set of specific issues, 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…
Apple has today released iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2 to the public.
Our testing suggests that these updates resolve the following issues:
Apple has today released macOS Sonoma 14.2, watchOS 10.2, and tvOS 17.2 to the public.
Based on positive experiences in the beta cycle, Apple seems to have made a big step towards resolving the underlying WebKit issues triggering the frustrating “Safari not responding” bug that has long plagued many VoiceOver users on macOS, causing temporary system freezes. However, due to the inconsistent reproducibility of the problem and the mixed experiences of users, we cannot yet definitively…
We are pleased to announce that the winners of the twelfth annual AppleVis Golden Apple Awards are Be My Eyes, Timecrest, and Zanagrams.
Since their launch in 2012, the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards have afforded blind and low vision users of Apple products an opportunity to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and dedication which developers have put into making and maintaining great and accessible applications over the given year. The respective teams behind Be My Eyes, Timecrest…
I am thrilled to share some potentially great news - with the upcoming release of macOS Sonoma 14.2, Apple may finally have fixed the longstanding “Safari not responding” bug that causes repeated temporary freezes for many when using VoiceOver on a Mac.
As I outlined in my post in October about why I could no longer recommend Macs to fellow blind computer…
We are pleased to announce that voting for the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2023 is now open.
Launched in 2012, the AppleVis Golden Apples is an opportunity for blind and low vision users of Apple products to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and dedication which developers have put into making and maintaining great and accessible applications during the given year.
Past winners of a Golden Apple include…
Apple has today released iOS 17.1.2, iPadOS 17.1.2, and macOS Sonoma 14.1.2 to the public.
The release notes for all updates are simply listed as “security and bug fixes.”
As these updates appear to have been released to address a small set of specific issues, 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…
Welcome to the November 2023 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This edition features a curated selection of community-submitted updates, including new app entries, updates, news, and podcasts.
Make your way through the eternal darkness of Lumtham woods. It's a journey filled with monsters, peril, and tonnes of…
Apple has today released iOS 17.1.1, iPadOS 17.1.1, macOS 14.1.1, and watchOS 10.1.1 to the public.
According to Apple's release notes, iOS 17.1.1 provides bug fixes for the iPhone including:
- In rare circumstances, Apple Pay and other NFC features may become unavailable on iPhone 15 models after wireless charging in certain cars
- Weather Lock Screen widget may not correctly display snow
The release notes for…
Welcome to the October 2023 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This edition features a curated selection of community-submitted updates, including new app entries, updates, news, and podcasts.
Start new musical ideas with a curated selection of sounds and effects. Play beats and melodic parts, sample your…
Apple has today released macOS Sonoma 14.1, watchOS 10.1, and tvOS 17.1 to the public.
Our experience is that the following accessibility bugs have been resolved or significantly addressed in macOS Sonoma 14.1:
Apple has today released iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1 to the public.
Our experience with past iOS and iPadOS updates is that the X.1 releases often contain fixes for many of the accessibility bugs introduced in the major X.0 updates. Our experience is that iOS 17.1 and iPadOS 17.1 appear consistent with this pattern, resolving or significantly improving several of the bugs from the initial 17.0 versions:
In 2008, despite my failing eyesight, my Windows laptop with ZoomText empowered me to operate my own software development business. I had partnered with Bob, a Mac user. We both had prior Unix experience. With Windows, Mac, and Unix covered, we were a cross-platform development powerhouse.
At a customer site, while Bob was doing a presentation on cache optimization, I mistakenly dumped a binary file in a console window, and my system speaker beeped for every unprintable character. At…
As many of you will know from personal experience, there is a longstanding issue with VoiceOver on Mac where Safari may become unresponsive with VoiceOver repeatedly announcing the message “Safari not responding.” When this issue occurs, the user's Mac may become unusable for up to several minutes at a time. Sometimes it can be resolved by switching away from Safari.…
Apple has today released iOS 17.0.3 and iPadOS 17.0.3, bringing a fix for an issue that could cause the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to overheat when using certain apps, as well as a fix for a security vulnerability that Apple believes may have been actively exploited.
As these updates appear to have been released to address a small set of specific issues, our expectation is that they do not contain any accessibility changes for blind and low vision users; however, if you…
Welcome to the September 2023 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This edition features a curated selection of community-submitted updates, including new app entries, updates, news, and podcasts.
Listen to the best of BBC audio with BBC Sounds. Stream and download your favourite BBC podcasts, radio stations and…
Apple has today released macOS 14 Sonoma to the public. As usual, we won’t cover the mainstream features here, concentrating instead on what's new and changed for blind and low vision users. For an overview of the mainstream changes, we recommend this in-depth review by MacStories.
Please remember to check the section about bugs to see if now is the right time to upgrade. There’s no harm in holding…