Welcome back to Applevis' yearly summary of Apple's yearly developer conference announcements. There's a lot this year, much of it exciting, some of it very much expected, and a few things long overdue. Instead of a long introduction, let's just start moving!
One of the things I have always admired about Apple technologies, because of the Continuity and Syncing features, they become usable in combinations when you have more then one device. Having a Mac and an iPhone and an iPad all signed into the same Apple ID account creates an "environment" of sorts, with many features able to work together in ways that provide more functionality. Features like making or answering phone calls from any device. Using AirDrop for moving entire files or folders around. Texting or calling someone's cell phone from my Mac.
You tried Google Docs. You approached it like a web page, expecting to find controls with VO+Left and VO+Right, but nothing made sense. Or you approached it like a word processor but couldn’t figure out even simple things like how to open menus. Me too. It was a frustrating experience.
Take a moment with me. Let’s cry and scream together and smash our fists on the keyboard. And after that’s over, let’s teach this beast that we will not surrender. Together, we will learn Google Docs!
Apple has today released OS X 10.11 El Capitan. As with any major upgrade, it brings a number of exciting new accessibility features, but a number of new bugs have also been introduced. If you have not already upgraded, we strongly recommend that you read this list (and any user-submitted comments posted thereafter) before doing so, as we believe there are a number of bugs present in OS X El Capitan which may have a negative impact on the experience for some VoiceOver users.
While most of us have no doubt updated our iOS devices and Macs, there are no doubt users who prefer not to update for many reasons. While updating is an individual decision, I wanted to focus on what may happen if a person doesn’t update.
Today, Apple released macOS 10.14, named Mojave. As always, this is a free upgrade for Macs that support it. The good news is that we haven't found any serious bugs in our testing, so if you're running High Sierra already, you can probably upgrade without worrying about running into problems with the new OS. The less-great news is that there are no accessibility updates for us to talk about in Mojave.
Apple has today released macOS 11 Big Sur 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 that you read this in-depth review by MacStories.
Apple has today released macOS 12 Monterey 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 that you read this in-depth review by MacStories.
Apple has today released macOS 13 Ventura 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.
Apple has today released macOS 10.15 Catalina 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 that you read this indepth review of Catalina by Mac Stories.
Today, Apple released the macOS 10.13 “High Sierra” update. As usual, I won’t cover the mainstream features for the most part, concentrating instead on accessibility.
Please remember to check the section about bugs to see if it’s worth upgrading. There’s no harm in holding off a few weeks or months to let Apple address a problem you may find too disruptive to deal with. In particular, users of the “most” punctuation setting should know that this setting has been removed, leaving just “none”, “some”, or “all”.
Hello AppleVis community. It's been some time since I blogged. Other writing tasks have occupied my time. But the real reason I haven't blogged is because bugs are getting me down.
I could remain silent about the bugs as I've been doing for the past seven months. Or I could post a rant on the forum. But ultimately, I decided to approach the topic with some seasonal levity. So if you can read this blog as constructive criticism and humor, then join me on a merry sleigh ride through the Twelve Bugs of Christmas.
I absolutely love working this way! I am sitting in my living room comfy chair and happily writing my first AppleVis blog. All the computer I need is right here. My iPhone 5S is in my shirt pocket, my Apple ear pods are where they belong, and my Logitech Bluetooth Keys-To-Go keyboard is cool and light on my lap. Except for taking my guide dog outside for another break, I cannot think of a single good reason to get up.
Many options available on Mac and iOS can be processor intensive causing not only battery drain, but slowing down VoiceOver's response time over all. Choosing the ones that are best suited for my needs and turning off the ones that are not, can help. It can save battery life and give my device less to do, allowing it to pay quicker attention to me. :-)
If you’ve read my previous blogs, you know I enjoy deep dives into non-intuitive user interfaces—Discord, GarageBand, and Google Docs, to name a few. Documenting these beasts comes with some peril. Software is mutable. After I post my detailed description of (fill-in-the-complicated-app-of-your-choice), a new improved version of the software renders my article obsolete.
On April 29, 2005, Apple Inc. introduced Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Included in Mac OS X Tiger's list of features was the VoiceOver screen reader. VoiceOver was not Apple's first foray into assistive technology: Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar introduced Universal Access which provided customizations to the operating system for those with visual, hearing, and physical disabilities. In fact, Mac OS X Universal Access was influenced by similar technologies which were bundled with the classic Mac OS (Mac OS 9 and earlier).
With Apple's annual Worldwide Developer's Conference now just days away, a lot of people are wondering what new shinies we'll see. Will there be a new Apple TV? Yet another update to some Mac or other? A better iPad Mini? What will iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 bring to the table? Will Apple continue its headlong rush into dazzling new features at the expense of quality, or will it slow down and start refining what it has already done?
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. Sometimes restarting VoiceOver can resolve the issue.