Update, 09/18/2025: Apple has confirmed that they are aware of the issue and that it will be fixed in an upcoming software update. We will update this post as more information becomes available.
On occasions, blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users may lose VoiceOver speech after updating to iOS 26; either immediately after the update installs or upon a subsequent reboot of the device. If you use VoiceOver and have not already done so, we recommend that you do not install iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 until Apple resolves this issue.
At the outset, we must stress that the issue discussed in this post is not something that members of the AppleVis Editorial Team have personally experienced, and our understanding of the full nature and scope is limited. This issue also does not occur for everyone.
It is AppleVis' general practice to not post about issues that our team cannot personally validate; however, due to the seriousness and documented impacts for blind, DeafBlind, and low vision users, we feel that to not raise awareness of this issue would be doing a tremendous disservice to our community.
Shortly after the releases of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, we began receiving reports from the community from users who experienced a loss of VoiceOver speech--either immediately upon installing the update, or after rebooting the device at a point in the future. From what we have gathered, this issue appears to present itself only while on the Lock Screen after a device restart, and it has so far only been reported on devices that are passcode-protected.
When the issue occurs, impacted users report that there is no VoiceOver speech and that Siri is also unusable. We hypothesize that inability to use Siri is tied to the device being locked and requiring a passcode upon first restart, as this was the case on a properly-functioning device we tested.
There are multiple reported manifestations of this issue. While some reports have been from users who experienced a loss of speech immediately upon installing the iOS 26 update, multiple users have also reported that the issue presents itself only after the device is rebooted after a period of time; suggesting that perhaps the underlying issue may be with something unrelated to the update process. One user reported that VoiceOver was turned off upon installing the iPadOS 26 update on their M1 iPad Pro.
Once the device is unlocked, impacted users report that VoiceOver speech works normally. We are not aware of any reports of this issue occurring more than once for a particular user.
While we believe the reach of this issue is somewhat limited, it is nonetheless incredibly serious. As just one example of the impact of this issue, a member of our community shared how their iPhone 15 became unusable upon rebooting some time after installing iOS 26, with all attempts at troubleshooting being unsuccessful.
As the issue appears to resolve upon unlocking one's device, it is possible that disabling one's passcode and biometrics in advance may allow a user to bypass the lock screen and get to a point where VoiceOver works normally. The only other confirmed solutions have been (1) obtaining sighted assistance to unlock the device, or (2) absent sighted assistance, erasing the device with Find My and/or via a computer.
Apple is aware of these reports and is investigating. We recommend that users do not update to iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 until this issue is resolved. We call on Apple to uphold their long-standing commitment to accessibility for their blind, DeafBlind, and low vision customers by prioritizing and releasing a fix for this issue as a matter of great urgency.
Comments
Apple
I do not worship on the apple alter. Do like my iPhone 16 pro max, airpod pro 2, watch 9 and iPad 9. Is not a crime to tell the true. Lucky for me I do not have all those issues, just the VO stopping on the middle of reading notifications. Long live cats.
I agree
I'm really tired of the constant negative comments. It doesn't help the situation.
Dennis Long
With respect, do not read it. Enjoy your day. Long live cats.
A Quick Point of Clarification
A quick point of clarification :
This issue has been around since the very first developer beta
I had first reported this bug to Apple on July 25, 2025. (FB18391105)
This is, in my experience, related to the voiceover voice issues that me and others were having all along.
Similar, if not the same issue has persisted in previous years as well.
I find that this has something to do with voiceover voices not being available when the system update for restarts.
enough negativity, plus have not had this issue
guys, there’s no need for this kind of behavior. Negativity isn’t gonna get us anywhere. They are working on it, they will fix it. I get that its frustrating, but we shouldn't be so negative toward the company that has given the blind community so many good things. No I’m not a fan girl, but I’ve used a lot of Apple devices in my time starting with the old Apple 2E when I was a kid. Anyway, I am running an IPhone twelve and I never had that issue. Last night, I forgot to charge it and the battery ran down. When it started back up, VO started with no problem.
I do get the negativity, though
Okay so whilst I usually wouldn’t really agree with negativity, I do understand why some people are negative about this issue.
This issue first occurred for me on the first release of iOS 13, both on an iPhone SE first generation and an iPhone 7. To see this being essentially repeated it’s not a great look, at all.
As I said above, Apple is a multi trillion dollar company. Surely it has people on deck to actually test these releases before they get released to the public and tell Apple, stop, we need to fix this, all that, or whatever, because this will impact a certain community, and we don’t want any discontent. So, I understand where the negativity is coming from. But I do understand also that the negativity is somewhat overboard, and constant criticism isn’t going to get anybody anywhere.
What worked for me.
I appreciate the desire to help, but I'm looking for advice from people who have directly experienced this. General advice or guesswork isn't effective when facing a showstopper bug like this. It's also not helpful to hear from those who haven't had the issue. When my phone screen went black after the update, the only thing that fixed it was a backup restore. I've learned my lesson and would strongly advise others to hold off on updating. It's frustrating, but I take full responsibility for updating anyway, knowing the risks.
This is an interesting issue, though
The weird thing is, not everyone who’s updated iOS 26 has experienced this issue. But yet other people have. I don’t really know what’s going on.
This may have to do with configuration of specific settings
I’m guessing that this might have to do with configuration of specific settings. I did not experience this issue on either of my devices my updated nor have I experienced it on any restarts. It’s awful for people that have though. But I agree this constant negativity of how Apple doesn’t care about us is not going to help anything. And by the way, if that were true, you would not have a device to write on to say that Apple doesn’t care about you. Even if you’re not using an Apple product to post your comment, somebody had to care enough to figure out how to make a device that would work for you to be able to write anything at all on any kind of computer or anything like that. And no, it’s not because I think we’re a charity cases or we should be grateful for all this than that. Of course there’s things that need to be constructively criticized when necessary, but if Apple didn’t care about you, they wouldn’t even be at Apple Accessibility team. There wouldn’t be anybody fixing this as promptly as they happen. It will come as soon as it’s ready. I’m sure they will fix whatever other Accessibility issues as soon as they can too. They always have. They’re like one of the very few mainstream companies are actually does wanna listen to us. They had Accessibility from the very beginning of the earliest computers because they wanted everybody to get their technology. The only reason any other companies I’ve ever followed suit was to copy them. Not because they were thinking of that from the very beginning. No I’m not an Apple fan girl. I just know that their products work for me and I’m gonna continue to use them. I have an iPhone 15 with my primary driver and an iPhone SE third generation is my secondary device for an iPad experience that I never got to have unfortunately. This is the closest I will get, but I’m just happy there’s anything at all. Apple could have said oh too bad you know what you’re blind we don’t care if you can’t use a touchscreen. But they never did. They made away for it to work for us.
negativity and other thoughts
For the person expressing so much negativity, while it's mildly annoying that notifications get interrupted, we've had far more serious bugs to contend with over the years. Compared to many bugs, that one is very easy to get around.
I think the only reason I had such a negative reaction to getting that VO not working at start-up bug this time around is because most of my updates over the past 12 years have gone so smoothly. I wasn't prepared for this to even be a risk, and that's on me. Part of me says I should have waited to update until I got home from work instead of updating during my afternoon break, but if I would have done that, then I wouldn't have been able to buy emergency paratransit tickets, and the situation actually would have been a lot worse for me. Of course, if I would have waited, I might have read about the issue first and avoided updating until it had been resolved.
Regardless, what's done is done, all is well now and I'm just going to chalk it up as a life lesson in maybe remembering to read about updates here before installing them, especially major updates.
I'm curious, though: for those who did not experience the VO disappearing glitch, did you update to iOS 18.7 first, or go straight from 18.6.2 to 26.0? Kind-a wondering if going to 18.7 first would have made any difference, but again, it's all water under the bridge now.