As an accessibility advocate, I'm sounding the alarm about a critical issue affecting VoiceOver users on the Amazon Music app for iOS. The current state of the app is unacceptable, and I'm calling on the Amazon Music team to take immediate action.
The problem:
- When using VoiceOver, swiping through the screen to read content is impossible. Instead, the app skips tracks, jumping to the next or previous song depending on the swipe direction.
- Navigation through menu items is cumbersome and not intuitive, making it difficult for VoiceOver users to access essential features.
This is not just a minor inconvenience; it's a fundamental accessibility issue that renders the app unusable for many users. Amazon Music's lack of attention to accessibility is disappointing, especially considering the company's commitment to inclusivity.
I urge the Amazon Music team to:
1.
Immediately address the VoiceOver issues and release a patch.
2.
Conduct thorough accessibility testing to ensure the app meets basic accessibility standards.
3.
Engage with the disability community to gather feedback and ensure the app is usable for all users.
To Amazon Music: It's time to take accessibility seriously. Your users deserve better.
To the community: If you're a VoiceOver user affected by this issue, please share your experiences in the comments. Let's raise awareness and push for change.
Comments
Amazon music
I recently got an offer with three months free of Amazon Music. After using it for a few days I can safely say that I will be cancelling the subscription after the three months are up and staying with Spotify. The app is terrible. So many things just labelled button. Really no excuse for a company the size of Amazon to have such poor accessibility.
I gave up on it
Hi Mister Kayne!
For two years I tried to point out the app's accessibility flaws to Amazon with no luck.
Last year I finally gave up and switched to Spotify. Occasionally I still take a look at the current state of the Amazon Music App to check for any improvements, but as you observed Amazon just doesn't seem to care.
However, I'd still be willing to support any initiative to resolve the app's accessibility problems.
Best regards and have a good day,
Daniel
Never really cared for Amazon Music ...
However, I feel your pain. This sounds oddly enough, similar to the issue recently showing up in Spotify, where the player portion of the app gets wonky with VoiceOver.
I believe there is an active thread around here somewhere.
keep reporting it
Keep reporting it.
Not upgrading to iOS 18 till this is fixed
This is not good news For me. I'm heavily invested into Apple Music.
This has nothing to do with…
This has nothing to do with Apple Music. It's about Amazon Music which is just an app for Amazon's music streaming service. I don't use it, but hope they can fix it. Sounds like maybe the app might be using direct touch when it probably shouldn't.
No problems with Apple Music in iOS 18 that I've seen.
User Interface
It's been unusable for a long, long time. So long I stopped even checking. But the thing is, it has all those same problems on their own app on the Fire tablets, so not even an iOS app issue. The worst part is they keep sending emails saying I have an unused part of my Prime because I'm not using the music.
Thank you all!
I have shared this thread of conversation with amazon internally, one of my contacts. Hopefully they will see the comments and take notice in improving the application. Thank you all for your comments and support, much appreciated. Have a good one!
Broken App
As others have already pointed out, it is not just the Amazon Music app that is experiencing this issue. It also happens in Spotify and, for me, Deezer, which is my main streaming service. Amazon has been having problems forever with Windows. I am not surprised that the problems are now starting to overflow to iOS. I don't say this about many companies, but quite frankly, I think the only thing the
Amazon accessibility team cares about is their pay checks. If you'll notice, when reviewing app entries on the website, when you see a product listing, Amazon now reads the review rating as a graphic unless you actually click on the product. Just more examples of the ineptness of Amazon's accessibility. Perhaps they should stop making billion dollar TV series and focus on more important things.
It's always been bad
Hi,
I stuck it out a couple of years ago because I wanted the season of a podcast only available on Amazon music, and the season wasn't even as good as the previous one which was free. I don't like all this platform exclusive stuff for podcasts anyway. After having paid to listen to something which turned out not to be worth it, I'm not paying for exclusive stuff again. There are better platforms out there for content anyway. Spotify has a lot more music. A segment from a particular podcast I like is only available through Amazon music, so of course I'm not going to pay for it and mess about with a clunky app just to access it.