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…
Apple has today released macOS Ventura 13.6, as well as macOS Monterey 12.7 for those unable to update to macOS Ventura.
As these releases are security fix updates and do not appear to include any new features, 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 below with your findings.
To install macOS…
Barely a week after dropping the major iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and watchOS 10 releases, Apple has unexpectedly pushed out updates to patch some concerning security flaws. iOS 17.0.1, iPadOS 17.0.1, and watchOS 10.0.1 are now available for download.
These types of quick sub-point updates usually signify urgent bugs or vulnerabilities that Apple wanted to address rapidly. The release notes state these updates provide "important security updates and are recommended for all users."…
Apple has today released tvOS 17, bringing several new features, including FaceTime support, an updated Control Center, and improvements to Apple Fitness+.
For VoiceOver users, the Eloquence speech synthesizer is now available.
In terms of mainstream changes, FaceTime integration allows users with second-generation Apple TV 4K models or newer running tvOS 17 to easily take video calls on their television screens using their iPhones. This feature employs the Continuity Camera…
Apple has today released watchOS 10, bringing an overhauled Watch interface with a focus on widgets to get you access to more information at a glance. There are also redesigns to many apps, updated watch faces, new workout features, and more.
For VoiceOver users, Apple has made additional improvements with voices in watchOS 10. The Eloquence speech synthesizer is now available, and voices are now more responsive and can also be customized in the Watch app on iPhone in addition to on…
Apple has today released iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, introducing new communication features in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime for greater self-expression, while StandBy offers a full-screen Charging view and AirDrop improves contact sharing. The updates also enhance text input, Widgets, Safari, Music, AirPlay and more.
For users of accessibility features, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 introduce several noteworthy new features and enhancements. The most significant of these updates are:
It's difficult to believe that iOS will be turning into a legal adult next fall, though the iOS 17 upgrade is far from being minor. Many new features and functions will be available for everyone. To check out some of the mainstream changes, Apple's official iOS 17 preview page may help. Alternatively, our main post announcing iOS 17 offers a large list of mainstream enhancements as well as a list of changes in accessibility. Not all…
"Daddy!"
The cry was plaintive, and clearly directed my way. Ugh! I was relaxing in a comfortably furnished waiting room, enjoying some cinnamon coffee cake, and I was prepared to completely ignore the unnecessary outburst.
"Daddy!"
It happened again. It wasn't a real voice, and it wasn't really saying "Daddy!", but that is how I heard it. I knew who was crying. It was my stupid car, wailing at me via text messages during its first warranty check-up at the…
Apple will publicly release iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 on Monday, September 18, 2023. This post contains a summary of new bugs impacting VoiceOver, Braille support, and low vision features that we have identified during testing of these upcoming releases. We have also included details on previously reported bugs that appear to be fixed in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 based on our testing.
As is our routine practice, each newly identified bug has been given a severity rating. These ratings are…
Today was Apple's annual announcement: the latest iPhone and Apple Watch hardware, and details on when the new versions of software for all Apple devices will be released.
I'll spoil the surprise: if you have an iPhone 14 or a Series 8 Apple Watch, you probably won't find too much to be excited about this time around. Still, there's all that new software to get excited about. The release dates are:
Apple has today released iOS 16.6.1, iPadOS 16.6.1, macOS Ventura 13.5.2, and watchOS 9.6.2 to the public.
According to Apple's release notes, these updates include important security fixes and are recommended for all users.
As today's 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…
Welcome to the August 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.
Brave Brain is a fun knowledge game that lets you look at familiar and…
Apple has today released macOS Ventura 13.5.1, bringing a fix for a bug that caused location permissions not to appear in Privacy & Security Settings.
As this update appears to have been released to address a specific issue, 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 post a comment below with your findings.
To…