A very annoying VoiceOver bug

What version of iPhone are you using?
What version of iOS?
Are you using a case, if so what kind?
Are you using a tempered glass screen protector?
Also to note, you can contact accessibility@apple.com to report bugs, or any other accessibility related issues you're having with Apple devices.

Go into Settings, Display & Brightness. Disable the 'Raise to Wake' setting. While this particular setting is handy and convenient, it can make your device incredibly chatty.

Hi,
It sounds like voiceover is crashing outright on your phone, for some reason.
It might be worth resetting your voiceover settings to see if that fixes the issue.
Hope this helps.

I'm not exactly sure when this feature was introduced, but what it does is automatically wake up your phone whenever you pick it up, or move it, or even bump it a little. This does not automatically unlock the device, but it wakes it up so that you can look/hear the lock screen, check the time, look over widgets and notifications, that sort of thing. it's handy, and as I said above, tends to make your device rather chatty.

Do you have any applications that you always have running in the background? In other words, apps that are in the app switcher, but you never, ever close? Also, do you have any other devices that are connected/paired with your iPhone? Such as a Smart watch, or Bluetooth earbuds/headset, etc.?

Unless you have a medical/health related app, that absolutely must run at all times, I would advise you to close all apps, and then try locking your phone, setting it down, and seeing if this bug persists.

I defined a gesture command for mute VoiceOver to toggle with a 3 finger double tap. Whatever gesture command you are using, why not give it a try? I mute VoiceOver all the time. Tap tap. It's muted! Tap tap. It's unmuted! Very quick and easy.

Alternatively, I press my side button 3 times fast to turn VoiceOver on and off. Press press press. It's off! Press press press. It's back on!

Either way, leave it silent until you want it to talk.

Just a suggestion.

Joy!

Bruce

Hey Rebecca, do you have Apple Care Plus insurance on your phone? What has Apple support told you to do? If the answer to the first is no, and the answer to the second is, they don't know what to tell me, then it seems to me you should do a back up of your phone and reinstall IOS but do not restore your backup. If the problem then is still happening, at least you'll know it's nothing in your backup, such as in your settings. On the other hand, if it's not happening and you then restore your backup, only to discover the bug is back, then you know the bug is hiding in your backed up somewhere.

Yikes, what an awful problem! The only other thing I can think of is to turn down your volume all the way until it's time to turn it back up again. Yuck.

At this point I almost want to tell you to either completely reset your phone, or, take your phone to an Apple Store, or your service provider, and have them do a diagnostics on it.
One thing I have not yet asked, do you have any running widgets on your home screen, any of your home screens? Small possibility, but worth looking into.

I had an issue similar to this a long time ago, and I found out that it wasn’t a VoiceOver problem at all…
It was actually some dust or something getting stuck between my phones screen protector that was included on the case I was using at the time, and the screen itself, causing it to think that something was being tapped.
Very likely not the issue here, but definitely something to look into.
Also, if the issue persists go to Apple, it’s possible that it’s not a software issue at all, but a hardware issue.

Have you tried resetting all settings? Some really weird things get fixed that way. It’s a pain in the butt because you’re going to have to reconfigure all of your preferences again, but that might possibly fix your issue. I was just trying to think of doing that first before you tried any kind of device you restoring unless you’ve already tried that and it didn’t work out. Hopefully this will get fixed for you soon. That sounds incredibly annoying. I’ve never seen that happen before.

Ask them to run a diagnostic on your device. It sounds like you may have a hardware issue, if you are not using any case, or screen protector, and still dealing with this glitch.

I'm not sure of the specifics, but they will take your device, and plug it into a computer running diagnostic software. They can detect both hardware and software issues this way. For example, say that it was a damage sensor with your touchscreen, they would be able to detect this. This is of course just an example, they can detect quite a lot with diagnostic software. Unfortunately, if they cannot find anything wrong, or if they cannot reproduce the situation, they will simply give you your device back, and you have wasted a little bit of time. However, going to the Apple Store is likely your best First step option in getting this resolved.

Hi Skye,

I am of two minds on this.

On the one hand, I tend to agree with others that it is very possible that you might have a hardware issue. If the screen is processing 'phantom touches' (for lack of a better term), that points to hardware. VoiceOver also unmuting itself after using the 3-finger double-tap to mute speech sounds like a crash of some sort.

On the other hand... I have seen situations where settings can accidentally get enabled that really weedwhack things. Along that line, here are a couple settings to check:

• Screen Recognition: Go to Settings> Accessibility> VoiceOver> VoiceOver Recognition> Screen Recognition, and make sure that is turned off. If there is one setting that I think might be causing your issue, it is this.
• Text Recognition: While I do not think this is the issue, this feature will speak text in any images that it recognizes. Depending on your use case, this extra verbosity can be really helpful or a bit much. Settings> Accessibility> VoiceOver> VoiceOver Recognition> Text Recognition.
• Zoom: Zoom magnifies the screen, but it also impacts how VoiceOver behaves. Definitely be sure this is off unless you need it. Settings> Accessibility> Zoom.

If none of the above helps, I think a trip to the Apple Store is your next best step. Explain that VoiceOver is processing phantom touches even when you are not actively using the screen (or however you can best describe the issue). I would also ask them to:

• Perform a hardware diagnostic to make sure that everything is okay with the touchscreen and the RAM memory.
• If possible, check system logs to see if VoiceOver is crashing.

If it isn't a hardware issue, I think a complete reset of your device (including erasing all content and settings) and setting it up without restoring from a backup is the best option. There are less-drastic reset options, such as resetting all settings but not erasing content; or erasing all content and settings and then restoring from a backup. The issue with restoring from a backup is that if whatever is causing this issue is captured as part of the backup, you will be right back where you started. If you do want to do the reset and set the device up as new, unless you've done this before, I would personally recommend asking Apple to do this for you while you are at the store.

Do you have Apple Care for your phone? If so, they should do the diagnostic for free. If you don't have Apple Care, tell them by phone, and ask how much it will cost before you go the Apple Store.

They are used to people showing up with a problem that is intermittent and can't be reproduced on command, but there is something you can do the next time the bugs happens. I don't remember what it's called, but it is something that looks at what your iPhone was actually doing for the minute or so leading up to the bug occurring. It's like a screenshot video you can save and share, etc., and Apple technical support will want it. Maybe Brian can tell you how to do it on your phone when the bugs next occurs. On the other hand, maybe I'm wrong about this.

I also believe there are free diagnostic apps available on the app store, but they might not be helpful if you don't know what they're saying.

Last, if the bugs happens in bunches, when you think you might be in a bunch, you can do the screenshot video to save and share with Apple.

Sky, restart your phone first thing each day and tell us if the bugs occurs less often.

Go to Settings, Accessibility, and under the, PHYSICAL AND MOTOR heading, go to Touch and make sure that Touch Accommodations, and Back Tap is disabled. Also below Touch make sure Voice Control is disabled.
Next, move up to the Vision heading, and go into VoiceOver settings. Then, go to Commands, Touch, and at the bottom make sure Back Tap is disabled here as well.

Unfortunately, I have no idea about screenshot videos as Bruce mentioned above. Sorry.