I am so dad gum sick and tired of this! Can Apple not for once get things right? Let me be clear before I even start. I am extremely proficient with my iPhone/Voiceover. In fact, not to brag, but I actually for a short time worked directly with Apple Accessibility privately contracted on a few things which they directly were consulting with me about for pay. I can't go into specifics about that, but the point being, I know what I'm doing/what I'm talking about here.
So, on my 13 Pro Max, not sure if that matters but probably not, I have this thing where I'll double tap a text field to open up the keyboard. Then, I'll 2 finger double tap, or as some would call it, magic tap, (nothing really magic about this, but anyway, I digress...) I then hear the little ding sound to indicate I'm dictating text.
So, on I go. I'll speak a passage, either short or long, doesn't matter at all, and then 2 finger double tap to stop dictating. That usually works fine. But then, I 2 finger double tap again to resume dictation once ready to continue where I left off, and I've collected my thoughts on what I need to dictate specifically.
As soon as I do the 3rd double tap to start my second pass of dictation, the stupid thing starts dictating, but then when I go to quit, instead of it stopping dictation, it instead unpauses/resumes the last bit of media I was playing like Apple Music, or Youtube, Spotify, what the hell ever. So, then, if I 2 finger double tap again, yeah, the media pauses, but that's only because it's now dictating again a 3rd time. If I then double tap again with 2 fingers, media resumes, but dictating is still occuring in the background.
So, to fix this, I literally, since Apple was idiotic enough from what I can tell to not let the back scrub gesture close thekeyboard without doing anything else, thank you Android for getting that right, hint hint, ahim ahim, I practically have to swype up to go home, then 2 finger double tap while making sure nothing gets in the way of my dictation in the mingtime, then go back to the app switcher, find the God d*** app I was typing into, then 2 finger double tap, and hope! key word, hope! that it quits dictating without starting up my media again, which often times, it does. Making me have to go back and do all that crap again a second time.
I'm totally up to date on iOS, yes, I have definitely unloaded and reloaded Voiceover, I've checked all my accessibility settings, motion settings, not that I'm using any, etcetera etcetera.
Yes, I've powered off the phone and back on. Yes, I have tried both with and without bluetooth in the equasion, in case there's something funky going on there. Yes, I've called Apple, multiple times and they can't reproduce. It finally took me sending them an audio recording proving it before they finally acknowledged the issue on my end and sent it up as an F Y I. Oh, never mind that was almost 3 months ago, and I've never heard back from them even though they promised I would within 3 to 5 business days, and yes, I called several times asking the status but they said they had nothing further. I finally just gave up calling, as quite frankly, it's no use at this point.
I tried obviously with no bluetooth in the picture, no good. Given that voice dictation, not sure how many of you know this but is powered through the same API as that used by Siri, I turned off and back on Siri, did no good. I disabled and re-enabled hey siri, did no good, even though normally I keep that turned off as the last thing I need is Apple randomly listening to me. They don't do that you say? Yeah! Sure. You don't know what they're doing behind the scenes. They can tell you all day long in their privacy policy one thing, but doesn't mean they're keeping to it. It's Apple. They can do whatever they want when they want. Not that Google or Lady A is much better, but I digress.
Yes, I've done the volume up down hold power salute. Did absolutely no good.
I've restored to factory reset settings within iTunes over USB connectivity with my mac on Ventura, and even have tried manually flashing the IPFW of the official iOS 16.3.1 build from Apple's website whilst in DFU mode. I know that's really extreme, but I wanted to rule out literally everything.
I even looked at some of the back end logs which as a non-Apple engineer, was very limited but I still did what I could there through XCode, and found nothing alarming, but again, what I can see is really limited.
This is just totally unacceptable. And, this has been going on about since the end of iOS 15 going into 16.0, so this is not exactly a new thing. I've been putting up with it, but it's getting to the point now where this is becoming ridiculous!
Any ideas short of what I've done already? I doubt it, but just figured I'd ask anyway.
Comments
Can’t help with the issue but.
Although I don’t have anything to offer as to how to resolve the issue I do have endless empathy for you and the problems you are dealing with. It’s so infuriating how many little problems like this there are. It makes using the iPhone and iPad something I’d rather not do if I can help it and definitely means I’m not willing to try new things. It’s so limiting where the device and its accessibility could be so enabling. Safari is the biggest joke for me. Thats a problem because a lot of the world is now on the inter webs so having barriers left right and centre that make a large percentage of the world we live in frustrating at best and impossible after hours and hours of frustrating trying later. Those hours of frustration can end a day and over time make a person resent the world. It’s so disabling. FYI voiceover has crashed around 4 times while just typing this note to you meaning I need to find the text box again and this is on a pretty simple website designed specifically for and by voiceover users. Most of the web is just unusable and we’re so utterly completely powerless to do anything about it until apple decide they care enough to fix it which hasn’t happened yet. It’s the powerlessness that I think hurts the most. They just don’t put the work in to making this work in an acceptable way. It’s half baked but its all we have which deepens the feeling of powerlessness. I just wish someone there would read these comments of complete frustration. I honestly believe they’d have to care because not to isn’t a character trait I can imagine in such brilliant and capable people which many of them definitely are.
I didn't say... Let me clarify.
I never said I worked for Apple! What I said was, I did some private consulting work for them but as far as how I got that gig temporarily, I'm on very very very strict NDA regarding that, so though it's OK for me to at least say that much, that's about the extent of what I can tell. I will say this though. If you go to http://www.apple.com, there is a link near the bottom of the page for jobs, and if you go there, you could probably apply.
I appreciate the note being dropped to Apple, but given I've done so multiple times over the last while, again dating all the way back to the end of iOS 15 cicle going into 16.X, I highly doubt they're gonna do anything about it at this point. Like I said, they wouldn't even acknowledge it on my end until I sent through the ticket they had opened an audio file proving it. And even then, it was like, "Well, we'll push it up, but no promise it'll get fixed." Like, seriously Apple?
Note for Andy
What issues are you seeing in Safari? And, are we talking mac, or iPhone here? Further, what version of the OS? I'll try to help, but I can't without specifics. For the record, I don't usually have much any issues with Safari.
dictation
I just sent a text not iMessage to a person using dictation and no issues. However when I use it for iMessage I tend to get the message twice, It repeats. Now I use Siri to message people or send a voice message. I no longer use it. It is a pain. 13 pro and iOS 16.3.1.
I can not stand the "magic" tap
It's gotten me into trouble like that, or how about this other behavior? You start dictation and it just, decides, you're done. What? I wasn't. So you have to hope it doesn't double back, I hate that, and your sentence doesn't leave you looking like a five-year-old especially when having the honor to chat with a Grammy winning young lady once in a great and awesome while. Where are the days when things worked better, we could hang up by pushing the side or power buttons? I wish we could double click to answer and once to hang up or something. Please Apple get rid of that stupid gesture causing so much grief. Sorry for the rant but the magic tap is part of the issue not only with dictation but of course answering would be easier. I don't enjoy looking any more different by flicking and touching the screen like others but I would love to use the physical buttons while i still have them because I see solid state coming in my future. Apple get your excrament together.
Siobhan
I now use Siri for text or voice message. No headaches. Well some of headaches. Siri is crap and Apple is becoming crap. I disappointed with Apple. I been using iPhone since the 4. I went from 4, 4s, 5, 6, 7, xs, 11 pro max, 12 pro and now 13 pro that I got last year instead of 14 pro. I have the feeling if android becomes better with their talkback compare to VO I will move.
Media Playing when Dictating
I can verify that I often get the same results when dictating on my iPhone 12 Pro Max, and work iPhone 13 Pro Max. This isn't just when using the magic tap. This also happens when using the dictate button in the lower right. The music actually gets really loud too, until you find the dictate button again, and double tap it again to stop dictation. I don't believe this was in earlier versions of IOS 16, but maybe around 16.1 or so? It is really annoying, and happens to me fairly often. I also need to figure out how to remove that meh U2 album from my library...
Dictation Issues
I experience the issue every now and then, but nowhere near as frequently as others seem to. I'm using an iPhone 14 Pro on the latest 16.4 beta.
same issue, possible solution
Hi, I have experienced this multiple times and have some solutions:
Before you resume dictation or go to magic tap, make sure you put focus on the keyboard or text field. I just touch the space bar and then magic tap on the screen away from the keyboard. Nine times out of ten this prevents media from playing. If it does start playing, touch the status bar and do the magic tap to stop it. The status bar is like a safe space where you can do this without triggering dictation. Hope this helps!
Here's what's happening, I think
Hi All! Smile. I've been having the same trouble on my iPhone 10s running IOS 16.3.1, but here's why I think it's happening.
If you're like me and read books or listen to music or whatever which you activate and stop with the magic tap, it's still primed to start and stop with every magic tap. That's what's happening.
So, what I do is close the app that was giving me that magic tap capability. Voila! Magic tap function returns to "normal"! Leastways, it does for me.
Now, about that problem of getting cut off before you're done dictating, that's happened to me, too. What I'm thinking is that there's something interfering with my cell phone's reception, so I move. This only works sometimes. So when it doesn't work, I tell SIRI to restart the iPhone. Yeah, I know. Shades of Windows. (shudder). It does seem to help though, and it really doesn't take very long. In fact, I've read articles by experts who say it's a good idea to restart your phone several times a day to maintain peak performance. Shrug. What do I know? I do it; it seems to help.
since you are so proficient…
since you are so proficient on using voiceover, you should probably know that it happends because magic tap only makes its magic if you know how to use it. if you double tap with two fingers with the sysstem focus on the text edit field, it starts and stops dictating. however, if you move away from the text edit and perform the same gesture, since it is magically magic, it stops or resumes the playback of whatever is playing on your iphone.
as simple as that!
It's not quite so simple
You're saying with 100% accuracy that the Magic tap works as described? Why are there users such as myself for which it does not work as expected? It's technology. You can not test every individual use case. It's like any other item, tv, car, or anything else. Sure Joe doesn't have an issue with the picture, but Mike, buying the same tv, the same day, does. And please, I hate to pick but happen is spell H A P P E N. Sorry it bugs me when I see something like that. And yes, I'm guilty of this transgression as well so I'm trying to be better. Have a good one.
Re: It's not quite so simple
@Siobhan, And that's why I have no issues with it whatsoever. I do understand the frustration of those who expect more from their state-of-the-art technology when issues like this are encountered, but, given your own message, problems like this can't be generalized. As such, your harsh statement Please Apple get rid of that stupid gesture causing so much grief", is not warranted as many of us like it and indeed depend on it.
Wasn't trying to be harsh
I appreciate the response. saying my statement was harsh, I disagree with as Apple believes so much in it's ability to innovate, they why not change a gesture that's been around for years, perhaps add a second way of doing something? This is after all tech which no one does something in one single way. Ah well, have a good one. Agree to disagree and move on with life right? :)
My twopenneth
1. For the grammarians out there - I have Siobhan in mind - there should be a comma after pick in your post which exhibits your well-taken point about what's happening.
2. Glassheart, if you are driven insane by this bug then you needn't worry about blasphemy. The offence was abolished in 2008 under English law, and while you might not be in that jurisdiction, you are nevertheless probably in a jurisdiction that approaches the defence of insanity in the same way England does. Thus, if you are insane you cannot be guilty of blasphemy and, a fortiori (that was specially for Siobhan), if you are guilty of blasphemy you cannot be insane.
3. I don't use dictation ever since 'clause 4 of the said lease' was rendered as 'all saw off the head police'. I don't know who the head police are, and whoever they are I am delighted they were seen off by who ever all of them were, unless they were going about their lawful duties as head police in which case whoever the other lot were had no business seeing them off like that. my point, my dear people, is that I didn't appreciate Apple bringing head police into what I was trying to say. To revert to dictation, for the brief time I used it I did find I was interrupted before the end of what I had said (although not on the head police accasion, incidentaly). This would have been, I think, seven or eight years ago so that particular bug has been round for a while.
4. What's wrong with the magic tap? What's wrong with calling it the magic tap? Nothing, and nothing. Sure, it might not always work as expected; it doesn't always work as expected from my perspective. So what? How many spells did Neville Longbottom cast that didn't have the desired result? Isn't that the magic in the magic tap? It works very well for answering calls, playing and pausing media and starting and stopping recording in apps like Just Press Record. On that basis alone, I'm glad to have it even if it doesn't always work as expected. It must be annoying if it doesn't work as expected with dictation and if you use dictation a lot, I grant you; but I wouldn't want it got rid of on those grounds.
5. Get your excrement together? That'll tell 'em! Tongue firmly in cheek.
6. I do empathise with the original poster but I also have to say this: for a bug report or complaint about a bug, this was a cracking good read and very well-written! Or was it dictated? I'm guessing not, given what is said, but if I am wrong then the vicissitudes have been conquered in a splendid way. If naught else, it gave the people about to move to Android another opportunity to tell us that they are about to move to android - a move which has been pending for a number of years, in some cases.
PS: I have just tried reading Julia Donaldson's 'The Gruffalo' into Apple Dictation. I shall release the results if popular demand is sufficient.
Lol Bingo
I admit to knowing little of what you were saying when referring to me so I hope that wasn't insulting or them's fightin' words. Seriously though I just would care for reliability for the magic tap, Neville not withstanding. besides, I will forever mourn the end call with the side button or power whichever you wish to call it. Have a great rest of the evening mate.
never insulting
nearly wrote inSlutting there, which would have carried altogether different connotations - no doubt insulting ones. Take note, all you dictators out there: typing can have its perils too! alas, i have wandered rather form the point. Siobhan, never insulting. The most i do is satire/caricature. If folk disagree with me about that then we'll disagree to disagree, and on with life. The only bit specifically about/intended for you was my use of a fortiori, continuing the grammarian theme.
No takers for the gruffalo thus far. Mind you, it isn't much of a poem. How it ever got featured on World Book Day I have no idea. World Berk Day, more like, though if some of you lot are to be believed both days would amount to the same thing, if apple Dictation had anything to do with it.
Magic tap
It does not work even when you use it to play bard mobile or audible. I have to do it several times before my audiobook play. I had not check music but would not be surprise if does not work.
Important to contact Apple accessibility
It’s very important to contact Apple accessibility. I was recently talking to someone and they were literally under the impression that it was actually fixed. When I told him that it was not, they seemed very surprised. Accessibility@apple .com and/or 18772043930
Vash Rein
Apple is aware and someone mention to another person is not a priority at this time. I think I heard at Mosen at Large. People reported this to him and apple and what apple told someone. You have a better chance of having Bella the cat as president of the US than Apple fixing it.
Placement really does matter when it comes to Magic tap
Others have already mentioned this, but I wanted to reaffirm that where on the screen you perform the magic tap does impact whether or not dictation is triggered on or off. If you magic tap outside of the keyboard or I think even the input field, magic tap will trigger play/pause. If you are over the keyboard, or I think also the input field when performing magic tap, dictation will act much more reliably. I'm not sure when this behavior changed because I remember not caring about where on screen I performed the magic tap gesture. My assumption, which again is just an assumption, is that since Magic Tap now performs multiple actions, Apple is trying to make it more context-aware so that it can be theoretically used in different ways within the same application. I'm basing this purely on how Magic Tap seems to work for dictation now, and also how I've occasionally experienced the scrub gesture working. Here's the thing I think they're trying to solve: let's say you have a FaceTime Audio call going on and you are also in a text edit field with the keyboard visible. You now have an open keyboard and also the FaceTime audio banner visible. In this case, what should the scrub gesture dismiss, should it dismiss the keyboard, or should it dismiss the FaceTime banner? Depending on where you actually perform the gesture now, it can dismiss either one. I think a similar thing is happening with Magic Tap and that's why dictation isn't behaving as it used to.
RE: Placement really does matter when it comes to Magic tap
I agree with this description. To be honest, until reading it, I hadn't realized it, but I can completely confirm what Steve said. It does appear to matter where on the screen I perform the magic tap gesture, when dictating. If my fingers are over the keyboard area, it seems to be fine, if my fingers are way above the keyboard, it doesn't work properly and causes problems.
This is the work around that works on my iPhone
1. I start dictation via magic tap.
2. I speak my dictation.
3. I touch my screen with 1 finger somewhere in the app but as long as it's nowhere near the status bar. I do this to ensure VO focus is on the app and not on the status bar.
4. I perform the magic tap to end dictation.
Note: If I forget step 3 and my media starts playing, I magic tap to end dictation, then I simply touch the status bar, then I do a magic tap to stop media playback.