Getting Started With iOS and iPadOS

<p>Listed below is a selection of posts from across the AppleVis website which have been especially selected to help you setup and get to know your first iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.</p>Displaying 81 - 100 of 139
Podcast by AppleVis on

In this podcast from his series looking at some of what's new and notable in iOS 15, Thomas Domville introduces us to iCloud Private Relay.

iCloud Private Relay ensures the Safari traffic leaving your device is encrypted - so no one can intercept and read it - and it puts all your requests through two separate internet relays. The result is that no one, including Apple, can see who you are or what sites you are visiting.

Podcast by AppleVis on

In this first podcast in a multi-part series, Thomas Domville gives us an introduction to Siri Shortcuts on iOS.

How to Find a Siri Shortcut Created by an App Developer:

  1. Open Your App of Choice.
  2. Navigate to and open the app's settings.
  3. Navigate to Siri Shortcuts and double-tap.
  4. Find the Shortcut you Want to Use and double-tap.
  5. Navigate to Start Recording and double-tap.
  6. Navigate to the Done button, at the top-right corner of the screen, and double-tap.

And/Or

  1. Open Settings.
  2. Navigate to Siri and Search and double-tap.
  3. Navigate to All Shortcuts and double-tap.
  4. Find the Shortcut you Want to Use and double-tap.
  5. Navigate to Start Recording and double-tap.
  6. Navigate to the Done button, at the top-right corner of the screen, and double-tap.

Note: Siri Shortcuts requires iOS 12 or later.

Podcast by AppleVis on
In this second podcast in a multi-part series, Thomas Domville gives us an introduction to Siri Shortcuts on iOS. ‎Shortcuts on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/workflow-powerful-automation/id915249334?ign-mpt=uo%3D8%26amp%3Buo%3D8 Note: Siri Shortcuts requires iOS 12 or later.
Podcast by AppleVis on
In this third and last podcast in a multi-part series, Thomas Domville gives us an introduction to Siri Shortcuts on iOS. Shortcuts on the App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/workflow-powerful-automation/id915249334?ig... Shortcut: Quiet Time On https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/1bf387c592fc431ca42deb9101053611 Shortcut: Quiet Time Off https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/c958ee874c6f4cfe811b5c2408d78ae0 Shortcut: Weather Forecast For Lee’s Summit https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/81b00bc992c24cb999a437f67742f55e Shortcut: AppleVis News https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/1c5a0c6511ba415b94d5c0703b3ad0e5 Note: Siri Shortcuts requires iOS 12 or later.
Podcast by AppleVis on

In this episode, Thomas Domville shows us how to use QuickPath, a native swipe keyboard new in iOS 13 that allows you to type by sliding your finger across the onscreen keyboard.

To use this feature, make sure you're using either Touch Typing or Direct Touch Typing as your typing mode, and rest your finger on a key. Then, after you hear a tone, slide it to the general location of your next intended key. For example, to type the word "Hello," rest your finger on the letter H, and when you hear the tone, slide it to the general location of the letter E, followed by the letters L and O. If the wrong word is predicted, press the Delete key, and it will be deleted.

To turn this feature off, go to Settings > General > Keyboard, and double-tap the "Slide to type" switch. Additionally, you can quickly turn this feature on and off by adding it to the VoiceOver rotor in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Rotor > Rotor items.

Podcast by AppleVis on

In this podcast, Thomas Domville introduces us to the expanded VoiceOver Recognition features of iOS 14 and iPadOS 14.

These use on-device intelligence to recognize key elements displayed on your screen to add VoiceOver support for app and web experiences that don’t have accessibility support built in.

VoiceOver Recognition offers the following features:

VoiceOver Recognition: Image descriptions
VoiceOver reads complete-sentence descriptions of images and photos within apps and on the web.

VoiceOver Recognition: Text recognition
VoiceOver speaks the text it identifies within images and photos.

VoiceOver Recognition: Screen recognition
VoiceOver automatically detects interface controls to aid in navigating your apps, making them more accessible.

Blog Post by Dave Nason on

Introduction

There has been quite a bit of discussion and debate of late around the merits of iOS and Android, and this has coincided with my own journey into using Android. In February this year, after thirteen years using iPhones, I bought a Samsung Galaxy S23. I had long been curious about Android and had dabbled with it over the years, primarily as my work phone. I had never really picked it up and used it as my primary day to day phone though, at least not since I spent a month with a Nexus 4 way back in 2016. This time, I genuinely planned to give it a real go. I envisaged myself sticking with it for a full year, before deciding what I want to do next.

For context, while I have some limited vision, I am very much a screen reader user, with VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android. I have also tried CSR, also known as Jieshuo, on the Android side. I do not use Braille, so will not be delving into that aspect here.

Guide by Tyler on

For iOS 17, macOS Sonoma

Intro

If you have multiple Apple devices, you may know that there are many features that allow them to integrate with each other to keep content up-to-date across all of them. In this guide, I will give an overview of how iCloud, the service that facilitates this interconnection, can help you manage and sync your content, as well as how it can help protect your privacy and security. The good thing about it is once you have a few things set up, features largely work automatically with very little additional interaction required from you, the user.

Terminology

iCloud is the Apple service that allows Macs and iOS devices to keep content in sync between them. By default, you get 5GB of free storage space, upgradable up to 12TB, to store data such as documents, photos, emails, contacts, calendars, and more. With any paid storage plan, you get several additional features marketed collectively as iCloud+.

Guide by mehgcap on

What is an iDevice?

Throughout this document, the term 'iDevice' is used to refer to a portable Apple device with a touch screen. This includes the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad product lines. When a specific device is mentioned, it is intentional. For instance, all iDevices have wifi, but only the iPhone and cellular-enabled iPad can access cellular networks. This is not an official term, but rather one adopted by the author for the sake of clarity.

What is iOS?

iOS is basically the operating system of the iDevice family. As of the time of this writing, it is at version 8.4. It is what runs the iDevice and the platform on which all apps run.

Guide by mehgcap on

What Is This Rotor Thing?

The VoiceOver rotor is perhaps the most difficult aspect of VoiceOver to get used to because it is not a concept used in other screen readers. It is basically a way to use the same two gestures--an up and down swipe with one finger--to perform multiple tasks. That is, an up or down swipe will do the action set in the rotor, and the rotor can be set at any point. The rotor is used for reviewing text by word or character, changing the typing mode, adjusting VoiceOver's volume, changing options, accessing handwriting or braille screen input, editing text, and spellchecking. It can be used to move by many different elements, such as link, heading, form control, and the like. At any point, the rotor options will only be those that are valid for the current context. For instance, many web pages will allow navigation by heading, link, landmark, and more, while a page in settings may offer only headings.

Podcast by AppleVis on

In this update to his previous podcast episodes on braille, Scott Davert gives us some general information about braille displays as they relate to their use with iOS devices. He then talks about connecting a braille display using USB and then Bluetooth. Further, the braille menu under VoiceOver Settings, navigational commands, text input, how to set up auto scroll, and how to get additional help are all covered.

Links mentioned in the episode include:

Apple's support page covering Common braille commands for VoiceOver on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod

Apple's support article listing Bluetooth keyboard commands for iOS and iPadOS

Guide by Deborah Armstrong on
Creating Shortcuts A Narrative Guide for the Befuddled Beginner iOS 12 introduced shortcuts: a way for you to combine a set of steps to accomplish a task. People who program would call this a script. In fact an app or software program is nothing more than a very sophisticated set of steps designed to accomplish a task. If you ever wanted to learn programming, you can start right now to create shortcuts. It's a great way to get your feet wet and find out if computer programming is for you.

First Things First: Terminology

Every technical thing has its own, sometimes confusing terminology and it's no different with shortcuts. The most important term to understand is an Action. An ACTION is one of the steps iOS takes. An action can be snapping a photo, retrieving a contact, archiving a file or even speaking something out loud.
Guide by Tyler on

Intro

Each year in June, Apple previews the next major versions of iOS and iPadOS, along with updates to its other software platforms, at its World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC.) At this event, Apple announces and demonstrates a select number of headlining new features, and makes prerelease versions available to developers so they can test the new software and provide feedback before the public release in September.

This is important because when substantial feature additions and changes are made to operating systems as intricate as iOS and iPadOS, many bugs will also be introduced. This can include issues with how third-party apps and accessories interact with the operating system, making thorough testing by developers crucial.

Guide by mehgcap on

Answering or Ending Calls

For the most part, you can both answer and end a phone or FaceTime call with one gesture: the two-finger double tap, also known as the "magic tap". Tap two fingers on the screen, then tap them again quickly. When you are receiving a call, this gesture will answer; when you are in a call, this gesture will end it. When ending a call, though, please note that you must remove the phone from your ear if you're talking on it that way. When an iPhone is held to your ear, its touch screen is deactivated. As you'd expect, the keyboard command that does the same as a magic tap (vo-hyphen by default) will work to answer/end calls.

Guide by mehgcap on

Can My iOS Device Be a GPS?

Probably. If you have an iPhone or a cellular-capable iPad, then you can start using GPS apps right away. Owners of wifi-only iPads or all iPod Touch models do not have this luxury.

However, external GPS receivers do exist. Some connect via bluetooth, while others can plug into the Lightning port on your device. We have no direct experience with any of these systems, so the best we can do is tell you that our research shows they are out there. You could use one of these to allow your wifi-only device to track your location, or to increase the accuracy of a GPS-enabled iOS device.

Podcast by AppleVis on

In this episode, Thomas Domville dives into the powerful long press functionality on iOS. He explains what long press is, how to use it, and provides several examples of how it can be used to be more productive and efficient on your iOS device. Whether you're looking to move and delete apps or access quick actions, the long press feature is a versatile tool that can help you get more done.

To use long press, simply perform either a triple tap or double tap and hold down on an app icon, a link, a message, or any other item on your screen. After a few seconds, a menu will pop up with different options. Depending on the app or item you're working with, the options may be different. For example, if you long press on a message in your inbox, you may see options to delete it, mark it as unread, or move it to a different folder.

If you have any tips or tricks for using long press, feel free to share them with us int the comments section.

Guide by AnonyMouse on

Updated: iOS 9

Listed below are some common commands which can be used with Siri in iOS 9.

Guide by Kara Louise on

In this guide, I'm going to explain how you can visualise the layout of iOS apps using voiceOver, or VO for short. even though you may be totally blind. This can be done quite easily, even without using a ScreenDots protector, or relying on a bluetooth keyboard for navigation purposes.

I understand that everyone is different, so if you do find these accessories essential, then by all means continue to use them. However, if you master the below techniques, I believe you'll be able to use your iDevice as efficiently as your sighted peers.

I am totally blind myself, and have had an iPhone since 2009. So I thought I'd share what I've found works best for me, in the hope that you might find it useful too.

What I'm about to teach you is also applicable on the iPad, but their may be slight differences, due to most apps having a split screen layout.

Everything will work the same on an iPod touch.

Podcast by AppleVis on

In this podcast, Thomas Domville walks us through Apple's Podcast app for iOS, which has gained some significant changes and new features with the release of iOS 14.5. These include:

  • Podcasts Show Pages are redesigned to make it easier to start listening.
  • Option to save and download episodes, automatically adding them to your Library for quick access.
  • Download behavior and notification settings can be customized on a show-by-show basis.
  • Top Charts and popular categories in Search help you discover new shows.
Guide by mehgcap on

The Mail App

There are plenty of alternative email apps for iOS and iPadOS these days, but most people will use the default app at some point. It's a solid choice, too, with plenty of useful features. While it's accessible and (mostly) easy to use, it's worth going over how it works and what to expect.

Basic Layout

Once you've added your email account(s) in Settings, and you open the Mail app, you'll find yourself in a list of your email folders. By default, you'll have things like inbox, outbox, drafts, and the like. There are also automatically-generated folders, such as a folder where emails from your VIPs will appear, or a folder for all flagged messages.