I Am Back on iOS. What did I miss?

By Matt92Machine, 12 June, 2022

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have just been using a Samsung phone for the last two years, and I have to say it was a nightmare with talk back. The lag, the awkward gestures, the apps that just don't work at all with it, the lack of any support when something goes wrong, them never fixing bugs. Android 10 talk back was okay, but after android 11 came out, it was a mess and I totally started to regret my move to android. So I have an iPhone 13 now. What new apps is the blind community using now on iOS? I feel like I've been missing out.

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Comments

By Daniel Angus M… on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Lots of new voices are in iOS sixteen developer beta. the novelty voices from the Mac are there, as well as all the other Mac voices. It]s one of my favorite things about iOS Sixteen. So if you want to try out the beta, sign up for the Apple Developer Program. That’s the only leagal to test. There are other ways, but they are eleagle, and come with risks.

By Matt92Machine on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

I just started using iOS 15, so I'm fine waiting until iOS 16 is out of beta. I really like the new Siri voices. Twitter is so much better on iOS than Android, since I can just swipe to like something instead of having to go into a menu.

By KE8UPE on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Hi,
If you’re interested in beta testing, wait until next month, & the public beta will be available.
At that point, anyone can jump on the bandwagon! :)

By gailisaiah on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Hey Matt, Welcome back to iOS!
The blindness specific apps I have are: the Voice Dream scanner, Seeing AI, and Close Color.

By Mabbs92 on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Some apps to check out are:
* Seeing AI for text recognition, color ID, money ID, etc
* Soundscape for navigation and exploration
* Voice Dream suite of applications
* Lots of awesome new games! Swordy Quest and a few others I can't think of ATM--I'll update later with those.
* Wayaround for tagging items with information using NFC tags that you buy online (love it for clothing and pantry items myself)
I'll think of a few more and get back to you!

By Brad on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

I know youtube is on android devices but honestly as someone who's tried it, I much prefer the IOS version.

Distopia for reddit, it's still in beta but it's the most accessible reddit client for IOS in my oppinion, there's also apollo which is very accessible but I prefer distopia. I don't have the link at the moment but if you want it i'll try and find it.

Seeing AI is amazing for raeding text and other things.

There's tuns of apps on here, brows and have fun.

By Amir on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Well, if you're a word nerd, many top-quality dictionaries became completely accessible: Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Oxford English Dictionary, and American Heritage Dictionary - the one which is not offered by MobiSystems. Also many accessible RSS Reader apps and Twitter apps are now on the App Store but I'm still using Lire for the former and Twitteriffic for the latter. I also recommend AdGuard pro if you want to get rid of all ads and tracking everywhere. I also use NPR News - not NPR One though it's also accessible, and BBC Sounds. For podcast listening, the likes of Castro and Overcast would be your best bets although Downcast and a few other apps are awesome alternatives - even Apple's built-in Podcast app is great. And if you like Google, you may want Google Voice, Youtube, Gmail, Google itself, Assistant, and so forth. To put it in a nutshell, on iOS we're spoiled for choices - hey, hasn't that been the Android motto?

By Ekaj on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Welcome back to the wonderful amazing world of iOS! Apple's native weather app got a facelift a year or so ago, and now includes more information. You can also set up notifications in that app now. Another nice feature that was recently added to iOS is Background Sounds. Just open the settings app, go to the Accessibility category, and it's in Hearing. The sounds are rather limited for now at least, but I've used them and enjoy them. Hth and dive in as you wish. As others have stated, lots of accessible apps are out there just waiting for you.

By Kelly Pierce on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

First, iPhones have more storage with the 13 series and I have one with 512 GB. Apple has added spatial audio and enabled it for app developers. The Clubhouse app first launched on the iPhone then became available on Android. On the iPhone though, Clubhouse uses spatial audio so listeners using headphones feel the voices are in different places around a room. The iPhone now describes photos and images and the descriptions are very accurate. It will even read the text in images. Similarly, the iPhone can extract text and URL’s and other data and makes it actionable, such as dialing a phone number or sending an email address and saving them in contacts. Siri has improved so it can find contact information in text messages and e-mails very easily.

By Josh Kennedy on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

eloquence tts is coming to IOS16. That is my favorite thing.

By Matt92Machine on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

I love seeing AI, I was using that on my iPhone 8 Plus before I switched to android, and I missed it ever since. For podcasts I use Pocket Casts, since I used that on Android, and I like it since I'm used to it, it has all of my favorite podcasts on there since I had an account. The only thing I miss about Android is YouTube picture in picture. I miss being able to scroll twitter or facebook, or send messages while listening to YouTube. I don't know why they don't allow that on iPhone.

By kool_turk on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Unfortunately if you want picture in picture for Youtube on iOS you're going to have to pay for it.

Paying $16 a month for Youtube premium, not worth it.

By Matt92Machine on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Yes I was reading about that, but apparently they took the feature away for the YouTube app, and it only works for the YouTube TV app with a subscription. So not even with premium. I wouldn't pay for it anyways, I would never pay Google for a feature that I got on the YouTube app over on Android for free.

By kool_turk on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

I wonder if you can paste youtube links into the vlc app on ios and avoid ads that way.

I might have to test that out.

Android has apps like smart youtube which bypasses the adds, no way you'll find apps like that on iOS.

Pity that won't solve the picture in picture problem unless the native video app can play youtube videos, which I doubt.

By Daniel Angus M… on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

There is a safari extention which removes ads from YouTube. It’s called Vinegar. . There is an entry in the app directory here on AppleVis. I never understood the point of Picture In Picture for videos. Maybe I’m missing out? I have it, but then I am a Youtube Premium subscriber.

By Matt92Machine on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

If it’s accessible, I might give it a try. I didn’t know mobile safari supported extensions. I have to get them on the App Store?

By Daniel Angus M… on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Yes, Vinegar is accessible. It works well. The link is in it’s AppleVis app directory entry.

By tripolice on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

I can minimise Youtube or even lock the screen and continue listening to Youtube content. This works well with Youtube Premium, although Picture-and-picture, in the exact sense, was earlier tested but now not in offer.

By Dennis Long on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Eloquence is coming to iOS. Lots of accessible apps. My favorite apps include: Philo, weather gods, Pluto TV Supersense, Spring Minni for twitter looks good Lire rss reader is good. I would also recommend the Voicedream sweet of apps if you don't have them already.

By Daniel Angus M… on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Hi,

This app when first opened, puts you in a trial version. You have a three day trial, then the full version is $3.99. Just letting you’ll know.

By Erick on Tuesday, June 28, 2022 - 10:19

Well, as others have mentioned here, new voices are coming to iOS16 as well as Mac, including the Eloquence voices you would normally find on Windows, and braille note takers. Also some other voices are coming as well as other supported languages for VoiceOver.