Apple Releases iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, and MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 With Emoji, Siri, and Auto Unlock Bug Fixes

By AppleVis, 7 April, 2023

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Apple has today released iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, and MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 to the public.

According to Apple's release notes, iOS 16.4.1 and iPadOS 16.4.1 bring fixes for the following bugs related to emoji and Siri:

  • Pushing hands emoji does not show skin tone variations
  • Siri does not respond in some cases

In addition to the emoji bug fix mentioned above, MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 also includes the following bug fix:

  • Auto Unlock your Mac with Apple Watch may not work

As iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1, and macOS Ventura 13.3.1 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 the software, please post a comment below with your findings.

We strive to provide the most comprehensive and accurate information about the accessibility status of Apple software releases. However, as a small team, it is impossible for us to test every device, configuration, application, and use case. That's why we depend on our community to help us ensure that our information is as complete and accurate as possible. If you have tested iOS 16.4.1, iPadOS 16.4.1 or MacOS Ventura 13.3.1 for accessibility, please share any additional fixes, enhancements, or regressions you've discovered in the comments below. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us provide the best information to our community.

iOS 16.4.1 is available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings > General > Software Update) via Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, or via iTunes on a PC or Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier.

To install macOS Ventura 13.3.1, choose System Settings from the Apple menu, select General in the table, click Software Update in the scroll area, and click the Update Now button to begin the update process. If other updates are available, you can click "More info" to see details about them and select specific updates to install.

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Comments

By sockhopsinger on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

Ever since I updated to iOS 16.4, I keep getting notifications on my home screen that I need to finish setting up Siri. The only thing I have not set up with Siri is "hey Siri," as it will be a cold day in hell before I ever enable that feature. Every night about 12:30, without fail, even though my phone is in do not disturb, it wakes up and tells me I need to finish setting up Siri. Hopefully 16.4.1 will fix that issue.

By Graham Page on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

In iOS 16.4 I sometimes had a problem whereby holding down the home button would not activate Siri. I had to soft reset the phone to sort the problem out. This happened 4 or 5 times. I don’t use Siri that much, But I do use it for opening apps And sometimes identifying songs. If it turns out that this bug is fixed, as suggested in the release notes, this update will have been worthwhile for me

By Bingo Little on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

this update a short wihle, but so far Voiceover is not crashing. Indeed, it seems much snappier and more responsive. My iPhone wasn't sluggish under 16.4 but I have noticed the positive difference with this update. You know, if all they do is fix stuff like this in future updates, including the change to IOS 17, that would be manna from Heaven. I don't care about new features.

By Andy Lane on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

I wouldn’t say mine is snappy by any stretch. Not compared with JAWS plus the TTS is still constantly cracking up and missing syllables but I agree it does seem a little less sluggish. I wonder if it was regularly on the edge of crashing and that was holding it up? I do wonder if Apple play around with the priority VO has on the SOC because some updates seem quicker than others but it doesn’t get persistently quicker otherwise it would be in JAWS territory and it definitely isn’t that. Either way this one was one of the better updates even if it only got us some of the way back to where we were.

By Andy Lane on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

Even though it looks like some insane paradigm shifting changes coming up with AI and accessibility I would rather Apple make the OS and VO play nice so everything else can be built on top. If Apple want to build an AI solution, I’d love to see it both in Siri and a be my eyes competitor. I can’t wait for video call with an AI. Having said VO seems to not be crashing, it crashed a few seconds ago while typing this. For F-img F F-uty sake Apple. Sort your F-img OS out.

By Bingo Little on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

Right folks it's still crashing, so it was false hope. It does seem to be doing so less often than previously, but just watch yourselves.

By Laurent on Monday, April 3, 2023 - 17:43

It’s definitively still crashing. Using US Siri voice 4 on iPhone 11 Pro 64GB. The only way I found to fix the problem is to use a smaller size voice.

By Carter Wu on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 17:43

I found a very serious problem after updating to 13.3.1. When I use Chinese voice to read articles aloud VoiceOver always restarts when I read some passages aloud, whenever I read such passages aloud it restarts, there is nothing I can do.The only thing I can do at this point is to skip this section or simply change the screen reader to a different platform such as NVDA on Windows.So it's really too annoying.

By OldBear on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 17:43

Is the stock or default Samantha safe from crashes? The 16.4 update hasn't even come to my phone yet.

By DPinWI on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 17:43

For me, VO is crashing less, but still crashing. It's better, but not fixed.

By mcox on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 17:43

Hi Guys
When updating from iOS 15 to 16, I noticed that the only way to see the volume of playing tracks on the lock screen was to go to control centre, it either isn't on the lock screen or VO doesn't read it any more.
I tried changing the album art view as suggested by someone, but that didn't make any difference what-so-ever.
secondly,
when changing track posission the only way that VO will read it is if the track is still playing.
If you pause and change it will still say 0.00 seconds, ETC...
If you change posission, slide to the right or left and back again it will read that point, but no other changes, it's really weard...
Thanks, Everyone.
Regards,
Melissa Cox.
PS:
I actually think VO and Eloquence is quite responsive...Touch wood.

By Bruce Harrell on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 - 17:43

Extremely frustrating bug. Focus keeps jumping to the top of the screen repeatedly. Does anyone know how to stop this from happening?

Pouting iPhone user,

Bruce