The Accessibility Bugs Introduced and Resolved in iOS 13 for Blind and Low Vision Users

By AppleVis, 14 September, 2019

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

iOS 13 was released to the public on 19 September, 2019. This post contains details of the VoiceOver and braille bugs which we believe to have been introduced in iOS 13; as well as details of the pre-existing bugs which we believe have been resolved.

As is our routine practice, each new bug has been given a severity rating; these ratings are based upon what we believe to be the implications for accessing and using features and functionality and the level of impact on the overall user experience. However, as these ratings are subjective, it is very possible that they may not reflect your own opinion or use case.

Regrettably, there are a significant number of new bugs for VoiceOver and braille users in iOS 13. There is also one extremely serious issue for low vision users who rely on a light on dark display. Consequently, we strongly recommend that you read through this post and any comments before updatingā€”as this will allow you to make an informed decision on whether to install iOS 13 when it becomes available; or whether to wait for the release of iOS 13.1 on 24 September, which we believe should resolve many of these issues. If you do decide not to upgrade to iOS 13 at this time, we recommend disabling Automatic Updates in Settings> General> Software Update> Automatic Updates.

As we always stress, we can make no claims on the completeness or accuracy of our testing. We are only a small team, and it is simply impossible for us to test all devices, configurations, applications, and use cases. Some of the bugs listed below will be specific to a certain device, configuration or use case. Consequently, it is entirely likely that you will not encounter all of what we list; and it is also probable that you will encounter bugs or regressions that we did not identify during our testing.

To help us ensure that the information on this page is as complete and accurate as possible, we would appreciate feedback from those who have installed iOS 13 ā€”both to confirm whether they are encountering the same problems (or have found workarounds), as well as to let us know of any additional issues that are not on this list. Of course, itā€™s even more important that you let Apple know of any additional bugs that you find (they already know about the ones currently listed here and are actively working on resolving them). This post explains why you should report bugs directly to Apple, as well as the best ways to do so.

With all of the disclaimers out of the way, here are the new bugs for blind and low vision users which we believe to be present in iOS 13:

Serious Bugs

  • Smart Invert and Classic Invert do not behave reliably or consistently. Specifically, our testing indicates that anybody seeking to use a combination of display settings that results in light text on a dark background is likely to find that their device's display will spontaneously and randomly switch between light on dark and dark on light during normal use of their device. We believe this behavior to be so prevalent and significant that we recommend that anybody who relies on color inversion to make their iOS device accessible does not update to iOS 13 at this time.
  • When composing an email or note using a braille display keyboard, after 5 or 6 sentences, braille stops responding to input. This also applies to editing an already composed email or note.
  • On occasion, the volume of VoiceOver sound effects and other system sounds (such as notifications) will be significantly louder than that of VoiceOver speech. The presentation of this issue is inconsistent, and it is most noticeable and of particular concern when using headphones.

Moderate Bugs

  • Although this problem is not new in iOS 13, using an external keyboard to move through text fields by paragraph or to select text by paragraph has become even more inconsistent and unreliable. In most text editors, this functionality is now essentially broken completely.
  • The Status Bar can at times be difficult to locate by touch; most notably on the Home screen.
  • When typing using a braille display, text shortcuts do not work unless you write them in eight-dot mode. The workaround for this issue is to press space with dots 2-3-6 to toggle braille input to this mode, type the text shortcut, and then press space with 2-3-6 again to get back to your preferred braille code.
  • When composing a new email message or reply in the Mail app, the cursor will randomly jump around the screen when using braille input from a braille display.
  • You cannot use the VoiceOver rotor to navigate by line when composing an email in the Mail app.
  • The Misspelled Words option is missing from the VoiceOver rotor's Action menu in the native Mail app.
  • On occasion, it is not possible to expand grouped notifications in Notification Center when VoiceOver is enabled.
  • On occasion, VoiceOver speech stops working while navigating Notification Center.
  • The initial position of the VoiceOver rotor for many text fields (such as the address bar in Safari, the subject line in the mail composition screen, and the message field in the Messages app) will be ā€œShow Context Menuā€ (which does nothing when double-tapped). Previously, you would expect the VoiceOver rotor to default to its character navigation option when entering these fields.
  • VoiceOver occasionally freezes for ten to fifteen seconds, usually after double-tapping on an app icon to open it.
  • When editing a video in the Photos app, after adjusting the start or end point of a video by flicking up or down to move the position of the marker on the timeline, it is not possible to select the Done button to confirm the edit when VoiceOver is enabled. Note that you can ā€˜dragā€™ the marker position, and this does make the Done button active, but this allows less control over the exact position of the marker.

Minor Bugs

  • As of iOS 13, Apple is deprecating 3D Touch in favor of a long press that will bring up what it calls a ā€œContext Menuā€. Unfortunately, there are numerous places system-wide where the VoiceOver rotor contains a ā€œShow Context Menuā€ action on a UI element which does not support this feature. A prime example is the App Store, where many UI elements will report that you can double-tap to show the Context Menu, but where a double-tap does nothing.
  • When in the Status Bar, performing a 2-finger scrub or pressing space with B will not allow you to leave the Status Bar when in an app. One workaround is to press space with S or VO Modifier M again to leave the Status Bar. Alternatively, you can go to the Home screen, and behavior is as expected.
  • After setting an item to be watched, such as the progress of a download, when the status of that item changes it is not displayed in braille, but is vocalized by VoiceOver.
  • When encountering an emoji in braille, such as a smiling face, grinning face, etc., braille output sometimes shows a series of random symbols, instead of the actual emoji.
  • After pairing a Made for iPhone hearing aid, the controls for bass and treble are not labeled for VoiceOver users. For reference, the first element is bass and the second is treble.
  • The ā€œClear All Notificationsā€ action available from the VoiceOver rotor on the Notifications Center does not work. For now, you need to double-tap on the ā€˜Clearā€™ button and then double-tap on the ā€˜Confirm Clearā€™ button.
  • The audible tone that confirms your device has been successfully unlocked with Face ID is not always present.
  • The spoken guidance and haptic feedback given to VoiceOver users when taking a photo in iOS 13 is also present when viewing already taken photos within the Camera app.
  • VoiceOver focus unexpectedly jumps to another location in the inbox of the Mail app. If navigating down through a list of unread emails, and deleting, moving or marking emails as read, Voiceover focus will occasionally jump to a location closer to the top of the list after taking those actions.
  • In the Mail app, VoiceOver does not always announce the number of unread emails in a mailbox accurately.
  • When viewing a message in the Mail app, VoiceOver no longer speaks the badge on the Back button which indicates the number of unread messages in the same folder.
  • When opening an existing conversation in the Messages app, the initial placement of VoiceOver focus is higher in the thread than would be expected. Typically this will be 8-12 places above the last message in the thread, and the placement appears to not relate to whether there are unread messages in the thread.
  • VoiceOver does not speak the pasted text when pasting in to the message field in the Messages app.
  • Various UI elements in Today View widgets have their VoiceOver label prepended with the extraneous text ā€œtodayā€.
  • There is a new Control Center widget that allows users to quickly switch between Dark Mode and Light Mode. Although what's spoken by VoiceOver for each selection status of this toggle is different, it in both cases essentially says the same thing - that Dark Mode is off.
  • When using AirPods, the volume of VoiceOver speech may fluctuate. Pressing one of the volume buttons on your device will usually restore it to its correct level.
  • When listening to an audio file in the Files app, flicking up or down on the playback scrubber control does not rewind or fast forward playback.
  • The VoiceOver label on the playback progress control when playing videos in the Photos app is incorrect; while the video is playing, VoiceOver says, "Paused."
  • When using the Alex voice, you may find that there are longer pauses following punctuation than there were in iOS 12 or earlier.
  • When using the Irish Siri female voice for VoiceOver, some words may not be spoken when navigating by word.
  • When swiping right to cycle through the elements on the Lock screen, the contents of the Status Bar are encountered.
  • When an iOS update is available through the Settings app, VoiceOver does not consistently locate and speak the size of the download or the download progress.
  • On the Map Settings screen in the Find My app, the Close button is missing a VoiceOver label.

If you encounter any additional accessibility bugs in iOS 13, please let others know by posting a comment below. When doing so, please provide as much information as possible so that others know exactly what to expect; when and where the problem occurs; and any possible workarounds you have found.

Accessibility Bugs Resolved in iOS 13

Our testing suggests that the following pre-existing accessibility bugs have been resolved in iOS 13:

If you encounter any additional fixes during your own use of iOS 13, please let us know by posting a comment below.

In Closing

We have been compiling these lists of new bugs for every major iOS release since iOS 7. In our opinion, the iOS 13 beta cycle was particularly ā€˜roughā€™; and, sadly, the final release reflects this. Nevertheless, our experience during the beta cycle has been that most new bugs we filed were resolved very quickly by Apple's engineers, and their efforts are to be commended. To put our findings in this post into context, we reported in excess of 200 unique accessibility-related issues to Apple during the iOS 13.0 beta cycle.

With iOS 13.1 already publicly set for release just 5 days after 13.0 releases, it doesn't seem unreasonable to hypothesize that Apple has faced some challenges with the iOS 13 development process on a more general level. With this in mind, if you are willing to hold off upgrading until the release of iOS 13.1 on 24 September, we recommend that you do so; as it is our expectation that iOS 13.1 will provide a vastly superior experience to that of iOS 13.0 for blind and low vision users.

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Comments

By Matt on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I updated with my iPhone 8+. Only issue I had was the phone was very laggy right after the update, then it seemed to work itself out.

By Stoo on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I've noticed that when in the native Mail app after opening a received email using the rota to navigate by links doesn't work as per IOS12.

I used to select "links" from the rota and continuously flick down to skip through the collection of links in an email.

Now it moves to the first link, but a further swipe activates the "actions" option, instead of continuing to skip to the next link in the email.

By Yvonnezed on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hi.

I'm sure it's not much comfort, but by all accounts if this release is buggy, we're not alone. In other words, there's plenty of sighted people complaining right now too.

The impression I get is that this release updated a lot of back end framework code for some of the new features, hence, the bugs. It's the blessing and the curse of voiceover being so deeply a part of the operating system, I think.

By Lee on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

All,
As far as I'm concerned the lock screen is not working good. Overnight I received 36 notifications whilst do not disturbed was on. However, I was unable to swipe/view more than 4 of them. The vertical scroll bar appeared which it hadn't before but even then I could only see the same few items.

I can't help with a lot of this, but for the share button to work in Shortcuts, you have to go into the iOS settings app, choose Shortcuts, and allow sharing untrusted shortcuts.

By Sof on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hi,

I'm not sure this has been commented here by hearing aids users but now with iOS 13, *all* sound are now sent to the connected hearing aids. Before iOS 13, we could only hear VoiceOver, calls and multimedia content through hearing aids, all other sounds (notifications etc) were redirected to the iPhone speaker. Now, each time we receive a notification sound, ti switches to the hearing aids with the usual 1 second of silence each time the commutation occurs. For me, it's a real problem and definitely a regression...
Can someone confirm (or not) that this behavior is still present in iOS 13.1?
I'll try to send an e-mail to Apple accessibility although I don't really think it will help since 13.1 is about to be released...

Thanks

By Vireak on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Dear Everyone, I encounter various bugs after update to IOS13. First of all, I find that the remote volume control on earpod does not work reliably. Another issue is that the preview on link or e-mail message is no longer readable, but just a preview image which is not accessible for visually-impaired people. I hope the bug will be fixed in IOS13.1.

By Gar on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Is anyone else seeing what I commented in comment #1? I've tried iOS 13 on three different devices now.
This has been an issue since iOS 13 public beta 1 on my iPhone 6S. It has been an issue on iPad OS 13.0 beta 1 on my iPad 6th gen.
And now it's an issue on my iPhone XR on the official release.
However, on an iPhone 7+ that I borrowed from someone, it isn't. I don't know what's going on.

By Travis Roth on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hi, I have not updated my primary device that I use MFi with to iOS 13 yet, I am holding out for 13.1. I wanted to ask you though if you have checked the Audio Routing option to make sure it has not changed? Settings > Accessibility > Hearing Devices. Then tap Hearing Devices > Auto Routing. I t looks like the default is automatic for both phone calls and media. What is the media setting set to on your device now?
I suppose if push comes to shove you could turn off ringtones in that same area although I hope that is not necessary.
I totally understand the inconvenience of having a notification sound cutting into the aid's audio though. So hope this works for you.

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Sometimes I get this message when I am using the phone. I did not want voiceover to say it. Can I stop it from doing so? Also something not related. Chimes in OS 6 is not working. I just heard someone else is having same problem. I set it up but is not working. I have apple watch 3.

By Beth Taurasi on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I canā€™t seem to get anything to go through my echo or my Google Home Mini when Iā€™m connected with Bluetooth. Am I missing something? Is it a bug or will it be resolved? I tried practically all the steps youā€™d have to fix it, turning off bluetooth, going through the settings, forgetting the device and repairing it, etc., but no luck. What am I missing?
Beth

Hi,
Unfortunately, under iOS 13.1 PB, flicktype is broken as a third party keyboard. It works as a stand-alone though, just a pain in the butt having to copy and paste all of the time. It probably works under regular iOS 13 which you guys have now, but I wouldn't update to 13.1 when it comes out, I wish I hadn't.

By Shersey on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Iā€™ve found a few bugs. Well, Iā€™m not sure if one of them is a bug, but Braille Screen Input is just not working for me. When I turn the rotor to it, I canā€™t find the dots. Basically, my phone says that itā€™s in Braille Screen Input, but it keeps displaying what was previously on the screen. In other words, Iā€™m not finding any of the dots at all.

This is a strange one. Iā€™ve created an activity for the Kindle app which slows my speech right down to 55%. Nothing else, just that. When I go to open a book, the about screen appears, as usual. Everything on that screen, other than the bookā€™s description, is read at 55%, as it should be; however, when the description is read, itā€™s read at the normal default speed at which Iā€™ve set VO. has anybody else noticed this?

One change Iā€™ve noticed, which I donā€™t think anybody else has mentioned here, is the fact that the buttons that used to be called more numbers, more symbols, and more letters, are now just called numbers, symbols, and letters. I like this change.

I just tried using the slide to type feature on my name for AppleVis, and I found it pretty interesting. I donā€™t know if itā€™s going to replace BSI for me, but it sure is interesting. Unfortunately, I just ran into another bug. I donā€™t know why this is, but I always put two blank lines before my signature. When I was using the slide to type feature, after I was done, I went to check to make sure that the number of blank lines was correct. As I navigated character by character through the return characters, the text that Iā€™d just written with slide to type was read when I got to the second return character. I ended up having to delete all of the return characters and add them back in.

Thanks,
Shersey

By Shersey on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Firstly, I'd like to say that BSI is now working for me. Go figure. I use it so much that when posting another comment to AppleVis, I automatically switched to it in the rotor before remembering that it was busted for me. Well, it appears I spoke too soon, as it's now working well once again.

I have come across a weird bug with it, though. Not with BSI itself, but with Compact Samantha's way of pronouncing the t-h contracttion when it's written. I use BSI with character echo on, so this jumped out at me right away. Itā€™s pronounced like the t-h sound in the word thee.

Thanks,
Shersey

By kool_turk on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

The BSI bug is one of those that happens from time to time.

I found it tends to happen to me when you use a finger to focus on the normal keyboard, then rotor to the braille keyboard, but even then that doesn't always trigger it.

By Shersey on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Partway through writing my last comment, I had an alarm go off, and that totally screwed up BSI, and I got that bug again where none of the dots would appear, even though BSI was selected in the rotor! Good God, this bug is exasperating!
I can now explain that bug I was talking about earlier, where the t-h contraction is pronounced weirdly; I couldn't before, since BSI ate dirt on me earlier, and I couldn't remember exactly what it sounded like well enough to explain it. It sounds like VO is saying thee-h; here's the kicker, though--it only happens when the contraction is capitalized, as if you were going to write the word this at the beginning of a sentence.

Thanks,
Shersey

By Bob Cavanaugh on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I just upgraded my iPhone SE to 13 yesterday, and I'm getting some of these, but not all. I haven't experienced the status bar issue on the lock screen, but it does appear when a call comes in. Someone else mentioned a bug in reminders where the date is spoken first followed by the text. I don't have any reminders right now, so can't comment on that specifically, but this seems to be a system-wide issue. For instance in the status bar, it will say "cellular, 2 of 4 bars," while before it would say "2 of 4 bars, signal strength." One bug that has existed since iOS 11, is that when you are on the home screen with nothing else running, the phone locks in half the expected time unless you have your auto lock setting set to 30 seconds. One thing I notice is fixed, when the phone prompts for a passcode, before you would not hear the password clicking sound. That has been fixed now. The home screen is really the only place I'm having issues with the status bar, within apps it seems to be okay. One more thing, if using apps the monitor your region with a geo-fence, VO used to say "region tracking on," now it says "location tracking on."

By Shersey on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

In BARD Mobile, when deleting books from your wishlist, after a while, the app will crash. I use the rotorā€™s delete action to delete books. After a while, the app will just crash and throw me back onto the page of the folder where I have the app placed. The app will still be open, but Iā€™ll land either in the books tab or in the get books tab, and not back in my wishlist. I donā€™t know if this is an iOS 13 bug, or a bug that I just havenā€™t run across before with BARD Mobile. I donā€™t usually do a ton of deleting in my wishlist all at once like this.

The second bug Iā€™m pretty sure is something new that cropped up with iOS 13. I was running iOS 12.4 before updating, and wasnā€™t getting this problem. When you press the next or previous buttons, VoiceOver will say ā€œSpace space.ā€ When you press the rewind, play/pause, or fast forward buttons, VoiceOver will say ā€œspace.ā€

Has anyone else noticed these?

Thanks,
Shersey

By Henk Abma on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Maybe it was mentioned but I overlooked it. The hand writing mode in VoiceOver doesn't seem to recognize anything drawn with one finger.
The two- and three-finger gestures in this mode work fine, however no character I draw is recognized whereas this works reasonably well with IOS 12.4.1. Currently testing on 13.1PB4.

By Rafal on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I have an impression that instead of a stable version we've received the beta one. I've encountered a number of serious bugs that make me very dissatisfied. Here are some of these: I couldn't open the app store (instead the phone blocked, turned the curtain on and put the focus on to messages). After installing iOS from iTunes this issue has been resolved. Also, I can't dial favourite numbers from today widget when the screen is locked. When unlocked, it works fine. I also cannot answer missed calls from the locked screen. The action from the rotor "delete" in the mail and messages app is not announced properly. LoadStone GPS cannot locate me immediately. There are many of such bugs but i Hope they'll resolve them. When it comes to watch, I like everything they've done so far.

By Jon Holley on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

The voice over function that I have encountered as of the actual bug is that when you try to do the voiceover of what Voice you want it does not open it up with the voice that youā€™ve chosen right away it goes to the default one right away and then switches over to the one that you selected that definitely needs to be fixed and thatā€™s one of them that shouldā€™ve been fixed in the first place thatā€™s the one I believe that you guys missed Another thing that I believe that was missed was that it takes 10 seconds for voiceover to even activate when turning it on and then the function of the default voice that youā€™re using itā€™s not the one that you selected when you actually select the one that you want it should activate the one that you have selected not go to default and then switch over to it

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I wonder if Sarah and the gentleman who were interview at this nice web page tested the voiceover? Yes or no. I have $1.00 they did not.

By Zor-El on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I wish I had found this site before I updated to ios 13. I have an iPhone 8S, and even with this update to the update I'm having issues. I suffer from light/photosensitivity and because of this update my eyes have had a resurgence of pain and irritation.

Smart Invert is still not reliable. Opening any app reinverts it, so, in general, I have a flash of white before it inverts. "Smart" Invert is not the case still, as the emoji keyboard is mainly "classic" inverted, only with a few that are "smart" inverted. The Facebook app is still having photos "classically" inverted, and only a long press will properly invert them.

While brightness now works for Smart Invert, White Point is still not working. No matter how much I play with it, the setting remains the same. Apps and notification badges are intensely bright for me, causing me pain.

By Ekaj on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hi everyone. Forgot if I replied on this thread previously or not, but oh well. I just updated to iOS 13.1 yesterday when it came out, and I have to say once again that I've had good luck with it thus far. I'm so glad the passcode clicks are now exactly like those heard on the Mac. I noticed this too when I was at my parents' place today helping a sister out with her iPhone. She also uses VoiceOver and is very happy with it. But one thing I've noticed is that her iPhone says "press Home to open" whereas mine says "press Home to unlock." We both have the iPhone Seven. No big deal at all; it works exactly the same no matter what. Also, I was playing around a bit yesterday with customizing gestures, and it's pretty cool. So once again high marks from me for Apple.

By Aaron on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

First off, I'd like to thank the folks here, who work so diligently to give us all this content. I have never been more confident with my orientation and mobility, and with so much more because of my iPhone

On to the feedback.

I have definitely found the bug that makes sounds way louder than voice over. It happens randomly. When I have voice over volume at five percent, my text messages ring really loudly. At first I thought that was cool, because I figured apple was finally letting you control volume for separate things. But then the clicking is very loud when I type at times, and the clicking disappears altogether sometimes too. In fact, I just unplugged my headphones, so I can switch to my laptop. My mom sent me a text, and it was soft, but when I picked up the phone to reply, Voice over was turned all the way up.

I have absolutely had trouble finding the status bar on this update. Sometimes, when I put my finger right on the status bar, it'll read the battery or whatever I land on. When I swipe to read the rest of the status bar, it takes me back to the first icon in the first row of apps. I keep trying to repeat the action, and place my finger right where it last read the battery level or what have you. It's just not there. I cannot get to it. I lock my screen, and it seems to resolve that issue, but it's very troublesome. I have not found this problem yet in other apps. Just on the home screen.

As for the mail app and voice over jumping to random places in the text:
This happens to me all over the place when I am in any text editable field. I've had it on text messages, the iOS native browser, in the search bar in Spotify when I try to find songs. I thought it was just very sensitive to my taps, and I was sliding my finger up and activating the router. But it's just getting worse. I do not use a braille display, and this is happening to me.

The misspelled words is missing in all the editable text fields for me. In fact, I can't even access my router all together. I found it when I first installed the update. All my settings are configured correctly. As I write this post I'm actively trying these out so I don't post wrong information. Of course, I can find the router now, but it is defaulted to show context menu, and that does nothing when I click on it. This again, applies to all editable fields for me.

The tone that sounds when face ID unlocks your phone is something I don't regularly use. My phone is always on mute when it's on my person. However, since the update, it randomly makes that noise, even on mute. Sometimes when I don't have mute turned on, the sound doesn't play. Other times it's louder than voice over, but when I start swiping to find things on my screen, the clicking of the swipes is soft. I hope that makes sense.

For me, voice over doesn't just jump to a random location of the mail app. It does it with the native text messages app, it does it on Facebook messenger as well. It usually jumps three to six messages up, but it's hard to get back to the last thing written. Happens randomly. For me, this bug is combined with the bug mentioned right below it about voice over jumping to a totally different message in the text message app.

One bug I encountered is a bug with the app passwords and sites feature. I go in to access my sites and passwords, and it takes voice over a long time to read what's there. at first, it won't even show me the user names and passwords for each site I have stored when I click on them. It just acts like I never clicked on it, and continues to show me the list of sites stored on my phone. This also happens when I try to access the new feature that tracks your battery usage. And it even happens when I try to look at my screen time info. After a while of scrolling around with gestures, it eventually loads or reads the actual information that is supposed to be there. If I slide and go back to the home screen and open it again, it seems to also do the trick. Yes, there is a lot more information in the screen time app, but it doesn't load sometimes.

There is a bug mentioned on here that says you can't go by line when that action is selected. I have encountered this in all my text editable fields. For me, the voice over acts like it's going by line, but the cursor stays where I had it last.

I do not use any of the low vision features, so I don't encounter those bugs. I also don't take photos, or edit videos, so I haven't encountered any of those bugs either. I do not use a braille display to type often, so I haven't had those as well. I will install the latest update tomorrow. Or in a week. It took me a whole month to get around to installing iOS 12 once.
Thank you for reading, and if I have more I will post here.

By Luann on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

This isn't a vision issue but a hearing issue. My Mom, who wears a Cochlear BAHA 5 hearing devise, pairs to her iPhone 7 to hear phone calls. I made the MISTAKE of updating her to 13 and then to 13.1.1 and she is having issues with pairing and hearing. I know Apple is aware of the issue and so is Cochlear but it would have been nice to get a warning before we updated. I did not realize it was a large update. Her phone was locking up so I was excited an update was available. Mom and I know a bunch of Cochlear recepients are having problems. I am being told this will not be fixed until the end of the week - and Apple doesn't seem to be confident of that timeframe. I am very disappointed that this class of hearing impaired was not more of a priority.

By PaulMartz on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

I held off updating until yesterday. I currently have v13.1.2.

I think I encountered an instance of the "volume of VoiceOver sound effects" issue mentioned in this post. I was listening to an audiobook with the BARD Mobile app and the volume suddenly increased to what I believe was the maximum volume. I was wearing wired earbuds at the time on an iPhone XR. The increase in volume was quite painful.

In 43 years of using computers, this is the first time I've ever encountered a software bug that could actually result in physical harm.

I checked the applevis.com bug database and didn't see this one listed.

By Keri on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

So, Iā€™m not low vis, but I depend on Speak screen for reading content to me while I drive for a long commute- 2 hours one way. I updated to 13.1.2 last night and noticed this morning that I get the ā€œno speakable content on this screenā€ error for everything. Iā€™m really upset about it. I thought at first it might be an Apple Car Play issue, but I have the same problem with my phone disconnected. I tried to select the text instead of swiping down and I get the same error, but instead of playing through my carā€™s speakers, the error message stops the music (playing from iTunes on my phone), plays through my PHONE speakers, and then music commences again through my car speakers. It was doing that before the 13.1.2 update.

By Justin on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hmm, That's really strange. I've never seen this happen before. Sometimes I'll get the no speakable content message, but for like 99% of the time, it works om my end. I, too use speak screen when I'm reading the weather reports that are issued in one of my NOAA weather apps, and have rarely had issues with speak screen.

By PaulMartz on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

With an iPhone XR and iOS v13.1.2. If a notification on my lock screen has focus and I hit the side button to put the phone to sleep, VoiceOver reads the entire notification out loud, even though the screen is blank and the phone is otherwise asleep.

By PaulMartz on Sunday, October 6, 2019 - 02:45

Again, with iPhone XR and iOS 13.1.2. If I take my sleeping iPhone and press and hold the side button to issue a SIRI command, VoiceOver reads whichever lock screen item it last had focus on, such as the time. For example, VoiceOver speaks "apparent text 11:43". It does this while SIRI is listening, so SIRI doesn't understand what I say. If I try again two or three times, eventually VoiceOver correctly remains silent and I'm able to issue my SIRI command. But this is a real PITA.

Although does not help alll the time, try the following. Go to VO verbosityslike until you see speak detection, tap on it, slide until you hear sound, speak and none. I have my in sound. Still have issues with it. The time is getting on the way when I try to use siri. Hope iOS 13.2 beta fix all this but I am not holding my breath.

By Mikayla on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 02:45

Does anyone noticed that voiceover freezes easily. I could just be browsing the web, and it will be very slow. I am a fast mover on the screen, so that means it freezes up even more and it will take forever to finally unfreeze.

By Steve B on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 02:45

brief description:
In the a.m. hours of Wednesday, October 16, 2019 I noticed a problem in my Chase mobile application. I believe the upper right hand corner menu, Usually labeled ā€my profileā€, is not being announced by voiceover. When I go to drag my finger or swipe to find the button it is not available. even after conducting an item search, the menu button labeled my profile is not located.

Frequency:
Every time I open the application and visit the index page or splash page of the Chase mobile application.
how to reproduce problem:
I launch the program.

The application loads and the front page is visible.
I swipe right to search for the my profile menu button.
I cannot find or hear voiceover speak the button.

How the application and voiceover should work:
When swiping right on the index/ splash page of the application, I should hear a menu option button labeled ā€my profileā€.

How I resolve/circumnavigate the problem:
I launch the Chase mobile application.
The main page loads.
I press the home button three times to disable VoiceOver.
Voiceover is now disabled.
I press the home button three times to enable voiceover.
Voiceover is enabled.
I go to swipe right on the main page again and the my profile button is now found and is Audible with voiceover.

Software and hardware info:
problem reproduced on two iPhones - iPhone 7 and iPhone XR.
iOS Software Version 13.1.2 and 13.1.3 tested

Chase mobile application
Chase MobileĀ®
Version 3.941 and 3.940

Link to application in App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chase-mobile/id298867247
Special note:
I tested this on two different iPhones and with two different iOS software versions the previous and the latest which I just installed this morning. I feel like this is a apple voiceover problem and not an application developer specific problem, since I can resolve the issue by disabling and re-enabling apple voiceover.

I just open it and first thing I heard was open menue, slide right and VO stated my profile. Did you get the new version of the app? This morning, I updated apps and there was a update to it. Also iOS 13.1.3 came out yesterday. Works for the app right now.

By Steve B on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 02:45

I am still having the issue. I have updated my iPhone to 13.1.3 and the Chase application is the newest update as well. There should be two menus close to the top of the screen. When the VO focus is on open menu I swipe right and I should hear my profile button, but I do not hear The second menu option: ā€my profile buttonā€. Instead the next item the VO focus locks onto is: ā€œ Good morning, October 16, 2019ā€

I am logged into my personal account for my Chase bank application for your information. When I visit my App Store and look up the updates, this is the information provided for the Chase application: Chase MobileĀ®, Today, Minor bug fixes and improvements., Version 3.941 ā€¢ 172.9 MB

I may do a screen recording to illustrate what is taking place. I can reproduce this problem on my iPhone XR.

I am baffled and unsure of why itā€™s not working on my phone and working on yours. thankfully if I disable VoiceOver and re-enable it I gain access to the my profile button. I can also disable VoiceOver and just approximate where I should press my finger and access the menu that way as well. I may try removing the application completely from the phone and reinstalling it. I pass this bug along to Apple, if it is even a bug.

By honest nan on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 02:45

Is anyone else old enough to have this ear worm running through your head?
26 miles across the sea.
Santa Catalina is a-waitin' for me.
Sorry. I just had to infect you.

By Wayne Scott Jr on Wednesday, November 6, 2019 - 02:45

That's a song called 26 Miles across the sea by the Four Preps. I'm only 45, but grew up with the song.

By Omar Altahaineh on Friday, December 6, 2019 - 02:45

Hi all, I noticed a problem after updating to IOS 13.2, when I receive a notification while using the phone. The notification donā€™t disappear automatically. I have to dismiss it manually every time. Anyone experienced that?

I also have this problem. I found that with my braille display, if I hit the back button, it goes away. But, it is extremely frustrating.

By PJ on Friday, December 6, 2019 - 02:45

I now have iOS 13.1.3 on my phone and it is still a hot mess! Even as I write this Iā€™m dealing with the severe issues of smart and classic invert not acting as they should. When is this going to be resolved? Writing and responding to emails or filling out online forms has turned into a nightmare. Both accessibility features relating to low vision ā€“ such as smart invert - and voiceover bugs listed with ios 13 have not been fixed. You say Apple is working on resolving these issues. That is not my experience. What the hell is going on!

By J.P. on Friday, December 6, 2019 - 02:45

Notification banners not disappearing is one of my greatest annoyances. It has interrupted typing an email multiple times. Yes, you can swipe away. Iā€™ve reported 6 times. The interruption often interferes with actions currently in view on screen.

By rcdarnell on Thursday, February 6, 2020 - 02:45

When I ask Siri to "Read last message" or voicemail, etc, it will start saying "Possible text" and other diagnostics while reading the message. I used to do this occasionally, but it got much worse after the last IOS update.

By XLE_FR on Thursday, February 6, 2020 - 02:45

Hi,
Another important problem in iOS 13: actions that may be present on an accessible element aren't announced as is anymore while it still perfectly works in iOS 12.
This announcement is randomly present and becomes a real problem for the VoiceOver users that can't guess that such actions are available if they aren't read out by the screen reader.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Many developers have noticed this problematic dysfunction and can't do anything to improve the user experience but waiting for a fix in the next iOS version.
It's so bad to notice such deplorable step backwards: it looks like no tests are made before launching a new iOS version.

I hope that a workaround comes very soon...