Apple Releases OS X Yosemite 10.10.2 With VoiceOver Fixes And More

By AppleVis, 27 January, 2015

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Apple today released OS X 10.10.2 to the public. This second update to OS X Yosemite is believed to include a number of VoiceOver fixes.

We keep a running list of Yosemite bugs on our main Yosemite announcement page. You'll find all the new, fixed, and unaddressed bugs there.

Other notable changes and fixes include the addition of iCloud Drive support in Time Machine, a fix for the WiFi connectivity problems experienced by some users, and security fixes.

At the time of writing, the following changes are believed to have been made in this release:

  • Resolves an issue that causes VoiceOver to echo characters when entering text on a web page
  • Improves VoiceOver speech performance
  • Improves stability and security in Safari
  • Resolves an issue that may cause WiFi to disconnect Adds the ability to browse iCloud Drive in Time Machine
  • Resolves an issue that may cause web pages to load slowly
  • Fixes an issue that caused Spotlight to load remote email content when the preference was disabled in Mail
  • Improves audio and video sync when using Bluetooth headphones
  • Addresses an issue that may cause the input method to switch languages unexpectedly

If you spot any further accessibility-specific changes or improvements, please let us know by adding a comment below. We can't test every app or situation, so we value your help in spotting potential problems. Please also remember to continue to report bugs to accessibility@apple.com.

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Comments

By Usman on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

I'm running yosemite 10.10.2 and have to admit that it is a welcomed update. From what I noticed, voiceover is snappier, and as rumoured, it is in fact possible to play audio messages.. However, the fix I'm enjoying the most is the "new line" bug, and the overall lack of much lag. I can't tell if it is as snappy as mavericks, but certainly a lot better than 10.10. so far, so good!

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

Yes I am noticing the snappiness in voiceover especially when navigating safari.
Webpages are starting to load faster in safari as well.

By dvdmth on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

I have only used this update for a short time, but I already like it. I can definitely confirm that the feedback while typing text in Safari is back to normal, no more duplicate character feedback and no more newline selected nonsense.

One odd thing I had happen is that, after applying the update, I was asked five times to give my iCloud password, for various services like iMessage and FaceTime. The alert asking for the password was in the background and not announced by VoiceOver, but I could see that there was something onscreen, and bringing up the window chooser (VO-F2-F2) confirmed the alert dialog's presence.

I can't speak for the overall responsiveness of the Mac mini yet, but any improvement will be welcome, for this thing has been incredibly sluggish over the past couple of months. It wasn't a problem when I first installed Yosemite, but it has become a major issue since.

By dvdmth on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

I should mention that, although the typing echo issues in Safari were addressed, the other major issue regarding going back to a previous page remains an issue after the update. Going back on some sites, including AppleVis, continues to cause VoiceOver to behave improperly until the page is reloaded. The issue remains present under iOS 8.1.3 as well.

By Juliette on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

A couple of quick notes regarding the Yosemite update. As I am typing this, responsiveness has definitely improved when using VoiceOver. However, in Safari, I still have to reload the page when I click the go back a page command because VoiceOver seems to not behave properly. Also, I seem to have discovered a new bug when navigating by heading in Safari using QuickNav. When I press h to go forward by heading and then shift h to go backward, it acts as though there is only one heading on the page. But if I use the up and down arrows to navigate from heading to heading, it works properly. Is anyone reproducing this? Thanks.

By Ekaj on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

Hello. I just updated to 10.10.2 with the help of my tutor. I think the wiring here is just messed up somehow; it's an old building but several needed repairs are going to be done starting in just a few weeks, if not sooner. But anyway, I have only had 10.10.2 for not even an hour and haven't come across the headings bug referred to here. I am noticing, though, that Alex is a bit snappier still, and that bug with the double-speaking of letters when navigating with the arrow keys seems to be fixed.

By Riss on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

hi everyone i was impatiently waiting for voice over automatic language detection, but unfortunately its not there yet.
or if anyone can help me to over come this problem i'd be much appreciated.
here is the problem: if i'm on an english page and there is some text that are not english it won't detect it at all any help please thanks

By Lielle ben simon on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

In reply to by Riss

Sumthing and not sumthing of apple. It's will be in pade. From appstore in mac.Hi! Also i am need switch languages on the mac, i know that have there autto switch languages and it's in , development it's, external

By Isaac Hebert (not verified) on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

Even after the update I am still experiencing the go back a page issue.
Every time I go back a page voiceover doesn't act properly.
There for I have to reload the page every time.

By Voracious P. Brain on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

When people said that 10.10.1 resolved much of the speech lag introduced with Yosemite, I gave it a shot and it was like trying to run underwater, compared to Eloquence under Windows. This was my first attempt to become a "switcher," and so it failed. Bootcamp here I came. But I just installed 10.10.2 and now it's almost as responsive as Jaws or NVDA with Eloquence on my MBA. Although it shouldn't have happened, I'm glad it was a bug and not just the state of Alex and Voiceover.

By Ekaj on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

It also appears the 2 email issues I had were fixed, i.e., sending and deleting messages. Last night I had to hit Delete twice to get rid of a message, but that was the only time. Earlier this week when replying to a sister of mine, Mail prompted me for my log-in credentials, but I'm pretty sure that was because I hadn't tried to send any email since my iCloud issue was fixed. I just tried out the Messages app for the first time since getting my Mac, but there was a problem with the connection here.

By KE7ZUM on Saturday, January 24, 2015 - 06:15

I heard from apple accessibility today. Here is what they said.

Hello, Thank you for your email. I am unable to reproduce this. I’ve tested Tom, Samantha, Alex, and Karen on Mac OS X 10.0.1 on an iMac and a MacBook Pro with the following sentence: Type some text with the letter e in it. It can be both caps and lower case. I also randomly added in some capital Es in as well.

After turning quick NAV off I arrowed back and forth through the text, VO called out the es and capital Es as expected.

You may have a bad preference file. One way to determine if that is the case would be to create a new test user account on your computer, log in under that account and test again.

If you discover some other circumstances that can cause this to unintentionally happen please let us know.

So it looks like I have my work cut out for me for the next few weeks I guess.

By John Dowling Jr. on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

open my mac it becomes normal.hi there.
when I start up my mac I have to hit command f 5 I here voice over is slower and it says username I type it in and I hit enter amd I type in my password and I have to close my mac and then when I

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

Your comment went out of order, but as far as I understand, I have no issues. I log in, and it's nice and quick. I can type in myusername and pass for logging in to my computer at the start up screen and all is well. no slow downs. Did you do a permissions repair?

By Sean Terry on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

Hi there, I'm noticing while using my Mac and having using the Daniel voice as my content voice. Sometimes his voice sounds like a monster when he says certain things. Is there a reason for this, or is it a bug?

By Justin on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

Turn the use pitch when announcing capitals off, it should be under the VO settings screen.

By Justin on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

I forget where to go for that option, but I remember it was somewhere under the VO preferences pages.
HTH

By Pavel Ondra on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

I am running nuance and sometimes echo of some characters, like a and e disappears when i type. The solution for me is switching between nuance compact and HQ voice and echo returns.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 - 06:15

I reported this to apple. See their response in the comments. Try reporting the same bug and the work around. For me it's e and C but not always. It works fine in the terminal but in text edit and other apps it fails