***Update 17 November 2014: More of these bugs have been fixed in iOS 8.1.1. See our post for more details: Apple Releases iOS 8.1.1 with Fixes for Blind and Low Vision Users***
***Update 20 October 2014: A number of these bugs have been fixed in iOS 8.1. See our post for more details: Apple Releases iOS 8.1 With a Number Of Fixes And Improvements For Blind And Low Vision Users***
Detailed in this post are possible accessibility bugs which members of the AppleVis Editorial Team have identified during their testing of iOS 8. If you have not already updated your iDevice to iOS 8, we strongly recommend that you read through this post and any comments before doing so, as we believe that there are a number of bugs in this release which might have a significant impact on the user experience for some blind and low vision users.
However, we do need to stress at the offset that our testing of iOS 8 has been somewhat limited. We are only a small team, and in most cases have only installed and used iOS 8 on a single device. Also, some of the bugs listed have not been encountered by all members of the Team. So, please bear in mind that it is possible that problems mentioned below will not be present on all iDevices or in all use cases. It is also possible that, in some instances, we are simply mistaken. Accordingly, we would really appreciate feedback from those who have installed iOS 8 - 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, it’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). This post explains why and the best ways to do it.
With all of the disclaimers out of the way, here are the problems that we have encountered to date. For this release, we have grouped them based upon what we believe to be there likely level of impact to the user experience:
Serious Bugs
In Braille options (Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille), changing the setting for Status Cell from "off" to either left or right will cause VoiceOver to stop working completely. The only way to get VoiceOver back is to set the cell back to "off", and to do that one will need sighted help since VoiceOver is completely inoperative. Toggling VoiceOver with the shortcut, telling Siri to turn VoiceOver off and back on, restarting the device - nothing works except changing the status cell option. Additionally, it now appears as though this bug will also present itself when upgrading from an earlier version of iOS if the status cell is set to either Left or Right-necessitating that the VoiceOver user turn the Status Cell to "off" before the upgrade.
In many applications, the screen does not automatically scroll to follow the movement of VoiceOver focus as you swipe through the page. This causes problems when focus lands on an actionable element which is not visually displayed on screen, as you cannot interact with it. For example, the screen does not scroll when flicking through an email. So, if there is an attachment at the bottom of the message, double-tapping on it may not open it as you would expect. One exception is links, where the screen will scroll to their location when focus moves to them. However, moving focus beyond the link will cause the screen to scroll back to its previous position. This behaviour has been encountered in a large number of apps. When this results in VoiceOver focus landing on actionable elements which are visually not being displayed on the screen, it is likely to be confusing and extremely frustrating to users who will not know why a gesture isn't working. The only workaround is to use the 3-finger swipe up/down to bring the desired element on to the screen, locate it by touch, and then double-tap.
Various problems have been reported when using a bluetooth keyboard, including duplicate and skipped characters; conflicts with QuickNav when accessing text fields; VoiceOver-specific controls not working; and VoiceOver occasionally crashing and restarting.
When using the Share option to send a message from outside of the stock Messages app (such as sharing a recording from Voice Memos), double-tapping on the "Send" button does nothing. To successfully send the message, one must disable VoiceOver and attempt to find the "Send" button with no spoken feedback.
Once in awhile if one uses the Keypad to dial a number, they may encounter a stuck key. For example, as you press a number you will hear the DTMF tone for that number. At times, a number will seem to get stuck in that the DTMF tone will keep playing. One must do a reset of the phone to make it stop. We have also found that pressing the same key a second time or removing the Phone app from the App Switcher is sometimes enough to fix the problem without resorting to a complete restart. Reports suggest that this problem is only present when using Touch Typing Mode.
QuickNav appears not to work with a Braille display. Enabling it is supposed to be done with space and Q, but VoiceOver always reports that it is on, thus suggesting it's never on. Pressing H for heading, F for text field, etc, yield no results. This problem has been seen on a Braille Sense Plus and Vareo Ultra.
Using the Handwriting mode crashes VoiceOver. VoiceOver will restart itself in a few seconds, but this does make handwriting unusable.
In Safari, using the Back button or Scrub gesture to return to the previous page will result in VoiceOver becoming near unusable. VoiceOver will read an item if you locate it by touch, but flicking will not move focus. The only workaround it to locate the Reload button and double-tap.
Moderate Bugs
In the lock screen, when a user receives a new Notification, VoiceOver sometimes does not announce the Notification nor the content of the Notification. You will only hear the chime or the default sound for that Notification and nothing else is announced. Conversely, sometimes VoiceOver speaks the entire notification instead of announcing the time and the number of pending notifications.
VoiceOver fails to read the caller ID for incoming calls on the iPhone, whether on the lock screen or while the phone is unlocked. The information is still displayed, and you can touch the screen to find it, but it is no longer announced automatically. A temporary workaround is to enable “Always Speak Notifications” in Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver. However, note that this will have privacy implications.
When in a message thread's details screen, if the thread has attachments, VoiceOver is sluggish and may even crash when flicking right through the attachments for the first time. Flicking left, or even right past any attachments VoiceOver has already encountered, works fine. It is only attachments VoiceOver has not yet seen that cause the problem.
On the “All” tab of the Notification Center, the "Clear Section" buttons are announced as "Confirm Clear Section", even if you have not activated them. You still must double tap twice to clear a section, but you will hear "Confirm Clear Section" both times. Additionally, VoiceOver gives no audible feedback to indicate that the gesture was successful.
In the Featured Tab of the App Store, VoiceOver focus will loop continually through a carousel of highlighted items displayed near the top of the page. The only way to force focus out of this loop is to tap elsewhere on the screen.
When double-tapping on the name of a contact in App Switcher to reveal the available contact options, VoiceOver does not announce the identifying label when there are multiple options for the same contact method - for example, home, work and cellular telephone numbers will all be read as simply "phone call".
When first opening the App Switcher you can move through all of the listed contacts by flicking left/right. However, after double-tapping on a contact to reveal the available contact options, flicking will no longer move VoiceOver focus through all of the contacts. Instead, you have to use the 3-finger swipe left/right to make VoiceOver see all of the listed contacts.
In some apps the screen will auto-lock whilst VoiceOver is in the process of reading text (generally when reading a long block of text). If you have disabled the auto lock in Settings > General > Autolock, this will not affect you.
In some circumstances it is not possible to move app icons on the Home screen. This seems to be particularly problematic for those located in the row of icons directly above the Dock.
When browsing the list of subscription options available in Settings > iCloud > iCloud Drive, VoiceOver announces only the price, not the amount of storage space that you get with the package. For reference, as of the time of this writing, the $0.99 per month is 20GB, $3.99 is 200GB, $9.99 is 500GB, and $19.99 is 1TB.
If you tell Siri to add a reminder or Calendar event, it will display your event along with the cancel/confirm buttons. However, Siri speech may be silent or speak a couple words at most, and the prompt for you to speak the action you'd like is never given. This is with Siri's speech feedback set to "always", which works when using Siri for other tasks.
Upon first downloading the Alex TTS Voice, VoiceOver fails to switch automatically from the voice in use while the Alex download was in progress. One must turn VoiceOver off, then reenable it.
The button to purchase an item from the iTunes Store does not always respond to a double-tap. It is reported that in some cases a double-tap and hold on the button may work, followed by another double-tap and hold to confirm the purchase.
When using a Braille display, using space with F prompts you to search for text, but this only works like the search box in the item chooser. It is also case sensitive.
On occasions, VoiceOver will not announce that an email folder is empty when you tap or swipe onto the area of the screen where any email messages would be listed. Instead, the only audible feedback is a muted ‘clunk’ tone. The behavior has been seen in both smart folders and regular folders.
When writing a draft email, flicking left past the "cancel" button will not move you to the "minimize draft" button (which is visually located directly below the status bar). Similarly, touching the minimize button will focus on it, but you cannot then flick right to get to the rest of the page. This is doubly problematic as the button is small, so many users may not realize it is even there since they cannot flick to it and touch exploration can easily miss it.
The VoiceOver Keyboard echo setting is unreliable. It does not take effect in 3rd party apps and some stock asps such as Messages. As a result, keys are always echoed. The only noticeable difference is that the pitch of the echo appears to vary based upon the setting selected.
There are some issues with iBooks created using iBooks Author. Notably, the drag and drop widget does not work with VoiceOver; VoiceOver does not announce if a selected answer is correct in iBooks reviews; and the reviews widget does not show the letter buttons to VoiceOver users.
In Braille screen input, the space (one-finger flick right) does not register roughly half the time. It is not misinterpreted as a dot 4, since no dot 4 is entered, it is simply ignored. This makes Braille very frustrating to use.
In Braille screen input, when deleting or entering text, a sound sometimes plays, the same sound made if you try to flick past the end or start of a screen. The character is usually deleted/entered, as far as we can tell, but the sound precludes any speech feedback so users will have no idea what is going on. Plus, sometimes, the character is not deleted and you have to use the on-screen keyboard to delete it instead.
Occasionally, when using the 2-fingered double-tap to answer a call, audio playback will resume rather than the call being answered.
Some users have reported that the 2-fingered double-tap does not always answer or end a call (most likely related to the above bug).
When searching the App Store, the Clear button will remove any previous search from the text field, but VoiceOver will continue to read what was previously entered in the search field … even after you enter a completely new search. The same happens if you delete characters individually.
Some users have reported problems using the multitasking gestures available on the iPad.
In Safari, VoiceOver will not speak the accessible name of HTML input controls that have a programmatically associated label, whether implicit or explicit.
If you have your device set to use the 24 hour time format, when viewing hourly forecasts in the Stock Weather app, VoiceOver only reads the time for the hours between 0:00 and 11:00.
Minor Bugs
Setup
- Updating the device from iOS 7.1.x to iOS 8 will not remember the VoiceOver Typing Preference.
General
When automatically switching languages, VoiceOver triggers compact voices even if the premium versions are installed.
When in a Group Message, at the top right hand corner is the "Details" button. Flick once to the right and you will land on an Unlabeled button. This button seems to do the same thing as the "Details" button.
When using the Group message facility, the button to add a title to the conversation is not detected by VoiceOver.
When you have issued a say all command (a two finger flick up or down), VoiceOver ignores all incoming notifications instead of pausing to speak them. This is a feature, but notifications from the Messages app are an exception. In other words, VoiceOver will ignore all notifications except incoming texts; those usually cause VoiceOver to stop reading entirely.
In the Mail app, when you have a draft minimized, VoiceOver's focus is affected. Elements are out of order as you flick left or right, you suddenly get stuck and cannot move past an element, or you get into loops where VoiceOver keeps moving between a few elements as you flick left or right, and never moves beyond those few. Sending or canceling the draft, so the "x drafts in progress" message is gone from the bottom of the window, is enough to restore things to normal.
In the stock iOS Calendar app, you can double tap and hold on an event, then move a finger up or down to adjust its start or end time. However, VoiceOver offers no feedback as to the new time as you move your finger, so you must move, lift your finger, check the new time, then try again to make this work at all.
When VoiceOver focus is on an item in the Dock, a 3-fingered swipe to the left or right will no longer move your through Home screen pages (It is possible that this is by design).
When browsing the Still Photo Wallpapers available in Settings > Wallpaper > Choose, VoiceOver reads what appears to be the internal file name for the picture.
When using some third-party keyboards, the status bar is duplicated directly above the top row of the keyboard.
Comments
iBooks, mail, and Safari
I apologize if any of these have already been written...there were a lot of comments to read through with safari dying on me. The crashing on complex (and not so complex) sites has been talked about quite a bit. My issue is this. When I use the two finger scrub to go back, the focus gets stuck on whatever I touch. When I try to navigate by links, buttons, headings, or even just flick left or right it doesn't go anywhere. I have to find the reload button and click that.
Now, onto iBooks. This bug really frustrates me, since I read so much. In a large book, voiceover does a few obnoxious things. First, it reads new lines in the text as "new line" instead of not saying anything. Second, in landscape mode, words at the ends of pages have a habit of disappearing. And last but certainly not least, in big books it completely dies every few pages. It closes down the app, restarts voiceover, and when I open it back again it's back at page 1.
With mail, the keyboard stays in portrate configuration even if I have the app in landscape.
Lack of typing feedback maybe by design
Hello, I have noticed that sometimes there is a lack of typing feedback. I believe that this was written as a bug. There is a case in which I wonder if maybe it was done on purpose. I noticed now when I am entering my password, it will repeat back the first two numbers but not the last two and I type pretty quickly which means anybody listening Would only hear the first two numbers and not the last two. I'm not sure if this is by design or not but I will tell you I really like it. Ha ha best, Jesse
Keys getting stuck in the phone app.
Hello all,
Unfortunately I have incountered the bug in the phone app where the number/key I'm dialing is getting stuck. This is very annoying cause I really need to be able to use my phone. I will be calling Apple to report this issue, should I call the accessibility department? Also, is there any work arounds for this, so numbers can be inputted into the phone? Everything else is working fine on my 5S. Thank you.
some bugs I found
1. When you get a notification and the screen is locked you will hear the sound for that notification aswell as the voiceover alert sound, even if the notification is supposed to be silent like the Facebook ones. In iOS7 this happened when you had voiceover set to always read notifications, but now it is happening even if you don't.
2. I use spanish as my default voice but i have US english and french in my language roter. I have downloaded the enhanced voices for both of them but they don't seem to work when i change the language in the roter. In the other hand, they seem to be working when voiceover automatically detects one of these languages, unlike what was reported in this article.
can anyone confirm any of these bugs?
Thanks
the phone dialing bug
Do we know if the phone numbers getting stuck bug is with voiceover or ios8 in general, has anyone that is able to test this tested it without vo turned on?
I took the plunge!
Well, I figured either it's going to work, or it isn't so I bit the bullet, and so far, so good. I was able to upgrade with little to no problems. My biggest concern with the Bluetooth keyboard seems to be not much of a worry since I'm able to type ok on it so far, maybe different types of Bluetooth keyboards produce different results? I'm using an Amazon basics one and so far, *knock on wood* everything seems to be doing ok. One difference I notice now is that VoiceOver now indicates when you've reached the dock, which didn't happen in iOS 7. Overall I'm very happy with this release!
I will hold off on upgrading
Dear Applevis team, Thank you for this very detailed list of the major and minor bugs in the IOS 8 release. There are several bugs that concern me including VoiceOver no longer reading the caller id automatically, numbers getting stuck when making a phone call and the difficulties encountered when scrolling in email screens. Will we get updates from Apple as bugs are fixed, or will we have to wait for another version of IOS 8?
Thank you again for the very detailed report.
Okay, I have experience the voiceover crash
Hello, I have been running iOS eight since Saturday morning and all has been well but just recently when my battery got low, voiceover started turning off and on like crazy. I think I have fixed it for now at least. I just Hit the lock key six times in quick succession which resets the phone. When it came back, all has been well. Also, although it is sad that the phone does not automatically read the ID when it rings, it actually puts focus directly on the except button or at least in my case. This is great since I don't want to risk using magic tap and turning on my music, the phone putting focus on except makes it easy for me to just double tap and answer my call. The magic tap has been working for hanging up the phone though I think so that is good. also, I don't think that magic tap activating music is just a phone issue. If I do it to activate dictation, it often turns on my music unless I put my finger on the dictate button and then do the two finger double tap.
Yes, Call apple and email them
Hey,
UYes, you should email accessibility@apple.com. The apple accessibility team says that it might be better to call them directly so that they can write a report and send directly to engineers for review. The bug does not occur without voiceover and only occurs during touch typing mode. Standard typing and direct touch typing seem to be ok
contacted apple's accessibility line
I contacted apple accessibility about all of these issues, including the sluggishness in the 4s. The guy I spoke with is experiencing the same bugs and encourages anyone to go to apple.com/feedback and has also escalated any report he gets to engineers.
Accessibility information
To Applevis Team:
A suggestion. Why not have methods for contacting Apple's accessibility Department, e.g. phone number, e-mail, etc. as a footer on each page or at least on the main Applevis page? Just a suggestion to make it easier for people to find contact info for Apple? Maybe it's there and I missed it, but I don't believe so. Regardless, you guys run a great site here and I am pleased to have found it.
maybe also go to bugreporter.apple.com
To be honest, ever since I have began using bugreporter.apple.com, the bugs I have reported have been getting fixed like clockwork. You actually get a reply from an engineer asking for more information if they need it or to send crash reports in the iTunes folder directory or to send a video displaying the bug.
This past weekend, I have written detailed reports, explained how to replicate them, and submitted audio and video clips in order to help the engineers better detect what I and we are talking about. It is somewhat time consuming, but thus far has been totally worth it.
One note, creating a new report is difficult in Internet Explorer so I use Firefox to create a bug report. However, when updating an existing report, I do use Internet Explorer. I have not tried this using safari.
But like I said, I have received direct feedback regarding all of the reports I have submitted and have seen many things fixed after I have reported them. I have no illusion that I am the only one doing this, but maybe if more of the others on this site used it, It could help greatly.
work around for phone dialing bug
Hi all. I have my typing set to standard, and don't get stuck keys. So I t hink the work around for this is to set your typing to standard typing. I haven't played with direct touch typing, so couldn't tell you.
bugs, verses features?
Hey guys. The more I use iOS 8, the more I think some of these perceived bugs are actually features, or simple changes apple has made. For instance, when receiving a call, focus is placed on the accept button, instead of reading out who the call is from. A simple swipe to the left will tell you whose calling so this is an easy fix. Also, even though always speak notifications is turned on, VoiceOver still reads the notifications, but only when the phone is unlocked. This might be good for situations when you want to be told you have a notification, but you don't want to have it read out to you. So far, my experience has been quite positive. If I see any major bugs, i'll certainly report them.
I took the plunge in the end
I decided that since I have an older iPad Mini and a 5th generation iPod touch I could risk it on the 5S because I still had something on IOS 7. The scrolling issues with VO are reproducible for me. Choice of games apps are doable if you are prepared to navigate the screen yourself and scroll to the end of the text before making a selection, not ideal but better than nothing.
More Bugs
Not sure if anyone else has noted these already in the comment stream or will experience them, but here are some things I've noticed, in addition to hitting a lot of the ones listed in the post (which I read just barely too late for me to avoid installing this monster!). I'll of course also send them to Apple. This is on an IPhone 5.
1) In the App store, I cannot edit text in the search box after performing a search, and the "clear text" button frequently instead reads "double tap to dismiss," though double-tapping doesn't dismiss anything. After searching, I can't delete or clear text in the search box and any additional text is just added to the end of the string. I have to close/relaunch the app.
2) When pressing the home button to wake the screen, the time is frequently read as the last time the phone was awakened, not the current time. Then it will update itself. In essence, VO is reading whatever had focus last time the phone was active, whether that's the time or, occasionally, an old/dismissed text message, etc.
3) in the Stocks app, SMP500 is spoken as "SMP5 00."
4) the bug noting inability to move icons seems at times to be moving without feedback. i successfully moved a non-system app from page 4 to page 1, but it never gave any audible feedback at all during the process. Other apps don't seem to want to move at all.
Ios8
Hi everyone.
III downloaded Ios8 and I think it's okay. I find it very annoying when voiceover just turned off and turned back on again. I have also been using a Bluetooth keyboard and it types several characters repeatedly. Also on my 5S it does not let me school and webpages with just used one for so I was on. Also as I'm dictating this back to me
Ios8 with IPhone 5
Hi folks!
I've just update Ios 8 with my IPhone 5 today.
So far it's look so great though.
But I've got one problem with mail only now.
When I check mail from my IPhone device When I done doing check my mail already.
When I quit from the mail app.
The voice over stop speak and did not response back at all.
I have to wait until 2 or 3 mins to wait the voice over to comeing back.
For the perform with my device in here.
It's not so much slow it's ok for my point though.
Will see how apple people going to fix this issue.
I will continue testing first if it's make me too much problem.
Then I might be consider to restore back to the previous Ios.
Thank for you guys guideline.
It's was helping me a lot.
With warm regard!
Bee!
restoring back to iOS 7
Keep in mind that Apple might stop allowing users to downgrade to iOS 7 this Wednesday. Just thought I'd let everyone know. Hopefully we get an update for iOS 8 with a lot of VoiceOver fixes.
I can not restore back now need some suggestion.
Hi again folks!
Since I test my device almost whole day now.
I found so many bugs.
Right now I still don't know how to change from the compact voice to be non compact voice.
It's quite probllem I can say.
Regarding of the restore my device back I think it was not be able already.
Because everytime when I going to restore my device back it's always try to download IOs 8 all the time.
I'm using windows though for that point.
So any of you guys got any solution for that?
By the way I'm useing I Phone 5 now.
Hope might get some suggestion to safe my life for that.
With warm regard!
living after ios8 is possible...
Hi all,
As always, excuse my english.
I'm a little surprissed about some reactions. Yesterday, a friend asked my opinion about what's happening with Ios8 (he don't need voiceover), cause he was reading, more or less, here and there, that Voiceover will desapear soon, one-third of the water in the sea became blood, applecalipsis, and so on.
And he was correct, acording to some twitter users, and some blog posts, it's the start of the end... Why? Sincerely, no idea at all. I updated my iPhone 5, and although I noticed some bugs, I find absolutely nothing so serious. I'm enjoying Ios8, new features are great, and I remember perfectly similar bugs in prio first releases of older ios versions...
Moreover, this topic is growing exponentially (here, in Europe, some articles on the papper press talk about it
), and I'm allucinating. Literally. Another friend of mine is using ios8 on a iPhone 4s, and he is not experiencing the hell at all.
Reporting bugs is the best way for improving accessibility, but some people is fighting a war against I'm not sure who... and it's turning a little ridiculous.
What's your opinion?
Regards.
Another bug with Alex TTS Voice
It seems, that Alex voice doesn't work for "Speak Selection" accessibility feature.
I tried to use Alex voice in Voice Over - it works.
I tried to use Alex voice in newly introduces feature in iOS 8 - "Speak Screen" - it works.
But when I try to speak selected text (in Safari for example) it speaks with default female voice instead. I think it's a bug. Can someone confirm this iOS 8 bug ? I use iPad mini with Retina Display.
for people trying to downgrade
If you are trying to downgrade and can not get it to work have a look at the downgrading from iOS 8 to 7.2.1 post on this site. I left a comment on that post explaining how to do it. I will post the link to that post here.
the link
www.applevis.com/forum/ios-ios-app-discussion/downgrading-ios-712-ios-8
For All of you Self-Entitled, Whining, Blind People
For everyone who is unsatisfied with the new Apple update (IOS 8),
I wish the blind would stop complaining regarding all the little bugs found in this release. Apple has been the leader in accessibility, since the Macintosh
was first introduced. Furthermore, Apple did not have to put VoiceOver on any of their devices, allowing the blind and visually impaired to use them. Instead,
Apple could have been like Google-- to have a restricted, out-of-the-box screen reader, called TalkBack, which should really be TalkCrap, because it's
one of the most useless pieces of AT on the market.
My own experiences with Android were inconsistent to say the least-- gestures were very confusing, worked randomly, and the synthesizer of the screen reader
wasn't very responsive. Additionally, Android has little Braille support (yes, there is an app on the Google PlayStore ) called (Braille Back), but it
is very basic at best. Firstly, BrailleBack doesn't support Grade 2, meaning that blind people who have Android have to read in Grade 1--ultimately, making
reading a slower, overall experience.
Yes, I understand where people are coming from. At the same time, though, FS Jaws for Windows has had many bugs, and at times, these were not addressed.
Remember Jaws ver. 3.7? That thing always stuttered and crashed. People expressed their concerns, but FS didn't directly fix the problems. It took several
releases. In my mind, people don't have a right to complain, because, one, there are sites like applevis.com, which are dedicated to covering Apple products
and releases. Before upgrading, every blind/visually impaired person should refer to these sites to see what bug (s) are present. If he or she is unsatisfied,
then do not update, and wait for accessibility issues to be attended to. But, if you update, knowing that, yes, there will in fact be bugs, then you have
no reason to complain, because there was plenty of documentation about them on Release Day. Apple, furthermore, doesn't force its customers to make the
transition to IOS 8, unless of course, you have upgraded. If you were a developer, you would have known that a lot of these bugs (all of the ones I mentioned),
were present through all betas, which means one of two possibilities: First, Apple didn't listen to blind consumers suggestions, or, there wasn't enough
feedback concerning accessibility. Then comes Apple to introduce Touch-Screen accessibility; i believe Apple thought of this on their own, and wasn't mandated to bring it to the
devices by a blindness organization like AFB, etc. At first, really, I was quite skeptical regarding this new, innovative, touch-screen phone, and had
many of the same reservations at the time as other blind consumers did. It was not until the IPhone 4 came out, and more apps were made accessible, that
my mom really thought I should begin learning this fantastic device. That is saying a lot, because, usually, I can't wait or am rather impatient in waiting
and jumping on the latest and greatest tech that comes out, but this time, my mom had to convince me, lol.
So, she bought me the 4 for my graduation/birthday present from High School, and admittedly, it took about 2 to 3 weeks for me to really get the hang of
it. After, however, I loved it.
The IPhone has improved (both in performance and accessibility) since the 3GS. Apple, most of the time, gets their phones and updates right. However, there
are always bugs in a piece of software, no matter how many betas it might be subjected to. Therefore, Apple will fix a lot of these bugs such as (random
numbers sticking, causing a tone to play over and over, VoiceOver randomly restarting, in some cases, for no apparent reason, receiving no speech when
using Siri with VoiceOver; in other words, VoiceOver somehow gets turned off), VoiceOver crashing when status cellls on a Braille display are switched
on, and more, that I can't think of. May I remind the blind that, if you want change, sometimes it requires writing to Apple, either after the bugs are
found, or becoming a developer, downloading the beta, and reporting the glitches, before the update is released. My theory is that, in the beta testing,
there were not enough blind developers, recommending suggestions on how to improve on VoiceOver.
Not such along time ago, blind people were reliant on only select phones, running either Windows Mobile or the Symbian platform. While these were great
devices, often, the final price of the phones would be $600.00, after purchasing the software. Now, you can get a phone on contract from Apple costing $200.00
with built-in accessibility. So, I encourage all of you being negative, to turn that thinking around. Sure, there are glitches; they are even in Jaws,
or whatever screen reader we use. Coincidentally, though, you don't see people fussing about these glitches, just jumping all over a company that has done
so much for the disabled population. We can't demand access; instead, we have to advocate. Remember, there is in fact, a difference.
So, stop complaining about Apple, would you rather not have anything accessible?
Not a developer, but friends who do beta test for Apple told me about them.
There are a few issues, but it could be worse
I would like to take this opportunity toThank theAll the great folks at Applevis for taking the trouble of documenting all of these issues.
okay, so the world is not perfect, there are a few bugs.
however, to put it into perspective,what we have here is still better than what is available in android OS 4.4.
so, yes, it is important to highlight these issues so they may get fixed in a future release, but let's not get too downhearted about it.
Some corrections
Nathan posted a long rambling justification regarding how we should stop complaining and whining, noting of course this is the same Nathan who whined about the KNFB reader not working on newspapers but never mind that, on to the points.
1. Apple were not really the first to make a computer accessible, at least here in Britain. BBC Micros and such had speech synthesis on them.
2. Expecting every blind person to know that this site exists is a bit silly don't you think? Some users won't know of Applevis at all.
3. Calling people whiners doesn't actually make a case really, it just gives you that a little air of superiority you so desperately want us to know you have.
4. Discussion of bugs is perfectly reasonable, that's what this site is here for. People are entitled to wonder, quite rightly actually, Apple's commitment because so many of these bugs shouldn't be present in a modern OS that has had many years to improve. I personally took the plunge on the iPhone 5S but have left our iPad mini's and my partner's 4S out of it for now. that way, I get to play choice of games on iPad at least.
Problem with Alex
When I tried to use Alex voice, only then I had a problem of stucking of keys in phone, otherwise the Phone App works normal.
To Nathan, please correct me
To Nathan, please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought in the US there is legislation that forces companies to make products accessible if it is likely they will be used in government contracts. I think its called something like section 500 or something I am not sure. But as I understand it if companies fail to make products accessible that means they can't be used for the fulfilment of government contracts because that sort of work has to be inclusive and open to everyone.
As I say I don't know if I have all the details right and welcome any corrections but I am pretty sure there was some good sound business and legal reason for apples commitment to accessibility and they weren't just doing it out of the kindness of there heart or because they were visionary and forward thinking.
Hi guys, apple has just
Hi guys, apple has just released ios 8.0.1, I have posted the change log below,
I wonder if this release means apple will soon close the door on ios 7.1.2 downgrades, I would say maybe those of you wanting to do it should move sooner rather than later. Idownload blog have just advised in a tweet users not to update, there tweet says Don't update to iOS 8.0.1! It contains more bugs than fixes. Seriously, don't udpate!" Iam going to wait to see why they advise that.
the ios 8.0.1 changelog begins now.
nts and bug fixes, including:
• Fixes a bug so HealthKit apps can now be made available on the App Store
• Addresses an issue where 3rd party keyboards could become deselected when a user enters their passcode
• Fixes an issue that prevented some apps from accessing photos from the Photo Library
• Improves the reliability of the Reachability feature on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
• Fixes an issue that could cause unexpected cellular data usage when receiving SMS/MMS messages
• Better support of Ask To Buy for Family Sharing for In-App Purchases
• Fixes an issue where ringtones were sometimes not restored from iCloud backups
• Fixes a bug that prevented uploading photos and videos from Safari
iOS 8.0.1
iOS 8.0.1 has a lot of bugs, including issues with cellular service.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/24/6839235/apple-ios-8-0-1-released
hmm steering well away from
hmm steering well away from this update as well then, there entire testing team really needs to be fired, I mean how can these issues not have been picked up in testing? given that 8.0.1 was reportedly being tested before the release of 8.0? the fact they also haven't closed the signing window on 7.1.2 suggests they know there are problems. It feels like they are trying to cut corners.
IOS 8 and iBooks purchase button
Hi. I recently posted that I could not activate the purchase button in iBooks running my iPod Touch with IOS 8. Reading through the posts, someone said that a one-finger triple tap on the purchase button worked in iTunes. I tried this with the Purchase button in iBooks and it worked. Glad to know that there's a workaround for this. I'm wondering if this is a bug or a new gesture, smile.
iOS 8.0.1 Pulled
Apple have revoked the signature. Funny how the tides turn, eh? :)
here's some tips that may help
Hi all, I have sent my bug report to apple and called them and again we can't stress enough to do this and do it in a polite way. Here's some work arounds I have discovered.
1. My 4s was sluggish, I did a backup and whiped my phone clean, this fixed the sluggishness, yes it's still a bit slow but it's fine by me. I actually had to do a reset after upgrading to 7 as well.
2. Ciri cutting off or not responding at all. You can actually swipe left and right on the screen and have vo read siri's response.
I agree. This sloppiness
I agree. This sloppiness affects far more than us, the blind. but I maintain this isn't unique to Apple; for my money, the whole software industry (at least for windows and Apple systems) has become very slipshod insofar as testing and bug eradication is concerned, preferring instead emphasizing bling over quality, expecting the users to do their beta-testing for them. GRRR.
A bug supposedly going to be fixed
Very irritating. When replying to a message from the lock screen, my typing method reverts from direct touch typing to standard typing, i.e. having to find each letter and then either double tap or split tap. Very annoying bug. Great stuff.
Nathan, I feel you're being unfair
Nathan, I believe that you are being unfair. Even if people are "Whining," they have a right to at this point being that the accessibility bugs are making the use of the phone very difficult.
I do not think that anyone is "whining" like you say. Rather, the individuals have invested a great deal of time and money into products that should work with little to no issues, not a growing list thatthey are not sure will be fixed.
They only worry I have is wondering if people realize Applevis is not a Apple site. Some might come here, post bugs thinking that Apple engineers are reading and taking note. The only way these bugs have a chance at being fixed is by reporting to accessibility@apple.com, calling the accessibility team, submitting feedback at apple.com/feedback, or submitting bug reports at bugreporter.apple.com.
The fact that you as customers have so much choice is a great thing. Similarly, expressing frustration is one thing, but belittling a whole community is unfair.
I confess that there have been times where I have been more than frustrated with some of the posts on this website, and have expressly written that some of the posters should be ashamed of their reactions without taking the time to recognize that people have many things to handle from day to day. Many of the individuals have been beta testing, many have been reporting bugs after ios 8.0 release, and many have been providing tech and emotional support for others going through the frustration of running a pretty buggy operationg system (right now).
Please try to be more patient (I will do the same) and let's all try to stay more constructive and productive with our posts and efforts.
Not Sure About Apple and Accessibility
Hi Alex,
I am not sure if Apple was mandated by a blindness organization to make iPhones accessible. So far, I haven't found any evidence of lawsuits lodged against Apple in terms of accessibility, except for ITunes.
Further, of course Apple is trying to cut corners; it's called competition-- who can release the best product first, and Apple is trying to catch up. Unfortunateley, in that process, there has been some minor and major annoyances. They will get fixed, though how long that will take, is anyone's guess. All we can do is politely write to Apple.
Nathan.
James, Apple was the first to make computers here in the U.S. accessible, I am pretty sure. I only said that the KNFB Reader didn't read newspapers well, because, it's true. Of course, anyone with a modern search engine can find AppleVis; it's not hard. Finally, yes this site does permit the listing of bugs and the discussion of them, but everyone discussing them are very "down", and acting like there phone is an expensive, unusable paperweight.
Thank for the Apple vis team
Hi everyone!
First of all forgive me about my english if I type something mistake.
By the way thanks so much for the apple vis team that make the beginner users like me to aware about the bug of the IOS 8.
Because I did try to update my device and face such a serious bug like the apple vis team mention for real that's why.
Luckily I got some help from the post in here to bring me back to the IOS 7.
So thanks so much for that.
I did not complain or anything about bug.
I think for the apple team they will fix it soon.
Hopefully I will be able to use IOS 8 again with my IPhone 5 in the future.
With all the best!
Nathan I don't think it was a
Nathan I don't think it was a law suit from a blindness organisation that forced apple to implement accessibility I think it was an anti disability discrimination law relating to the use of products in government contracts and buy the use of government agencies, I will do a bit of digging now and see what I can find, I definitely heard something along these lines from someone. I think the affect of this law would have been that government departments couldn't have used apple products without accessibility and that apple couldn't have bid for government contracts without it.
Question about number nineteen in moderate bugs
Hi. I was just wondering, since I haven't updated to iOS 8 yet, if the following possible workarounds for this bug might work.
Option 1: If your braille display has panning buttons, just hit the left panning button to go to the previous line.
Option 2: If your braille display doesn't have panning buttons, hit dot two with space, which is the keyboard command for panning the display.
Option 3: Just flick left on the touchscreen if it's close by.
I'm hoping to get a new iPhone soon, which will have iOS 8. I don't want to install it on my 4S.
I hope this helps someone.
Tried to Contact Apple about my Problem IOS8.0.2 Hasn't Fixed
VoiceOver still freezing and restarting in messages and mail. Hate going back into a mail to find loads of the same letter. Quick-nav seems to only work when it feels like it. In messages, VoiceOver automatically tells me every character I've typed, instead of Words as I selected. Tried to contact Apple on the phone, but they ask for iPhone's serial number. Getting VoiceOver to read it to them doesn't work and remembering it all doesn't either.
Accessibility Team Collecting Data!
Hey Guys,
Accessibility is definitely listening.
I have been having trouble activating links when double tapping. It got worse with 8.02. So much so, my device freezes completely.
I called Accessibility this morning. They were able to duplicate. After that, they asked for permission to access my configuration logs.
Be patient, they are working on many of the issues.
re: accessibility is listening!
For those who are having vo lag on the 4s, they were able to duplicate that issue as well, I was able to get mine to run a bit better by resetting the phone, if you do this, back up first!
Attachments in Mail while composing
I haven't seen anyone mention this one yet, so I'm going to.
If you either paste an attachment into an e-mail message or share it with mail, VoiceOver does not report the attachments. VoiceOver only says "new line," and that is not necessarily an indicator that an attachment is present.
This becomes obvious when you try inserting linebreaks and the number of linebreaks does not always change. This bug has been around for years, unfortunately.
Problems that updating doesn't fix.
The text book thing to do in this situation is to reset all settings. The next step is to do the dreaded restore. All steps should be proceeded by a backup to iTunes, iCloud or both. I have been in this situation and reset all settings fixed the problem. Just remember to turn off Find My Phone before you reset all settings or restore your device.
regarding the extreme lag
Hello,
I'm going to try to restore my iPad Mini, since I noticed it was quite laggy tonight. I heard that helps with the lag issue. Usually restoring devices to factory defaults without restoring backups from iTunes or iCloud helps.
Bug in iTunes
Indeed, I have had the "Moderate bug" in iTunes Store. On my iPhone 5S, it only occured when trying to purchase one extract from an EP. I've tried googling on this subject and even browsed Apple Support pages and Forums but found no answer. Thank you for letting me know I'm not alone with this!
iTunes Store bug
I've just tried the trouble-shooting advice for the "iTunes Store"-bug. Apparently, the double-tap and hold until you hear a rising chimesound (like when moving an icon) seems to work. If Apple is to implement this on a long term, it would be Wise to let users know, e.g. in tutor messages!