Apple has today released iOS 10.1 to the public, bringing with it a range of bug fixes, changes and improvements.
For blind and low vision users, our initial testing suggests that Apple has made limited progress towards addressing the accessibility bugs present in iOS 10. Specifically, we believe the following bugs have been resolved in this release:
- Users of Braille displays should no longer receive extraneous feedback when using the native Mail app.
- The buttons for the two personalized playlists in Apple Music are now labeled correctly.
As we always stress in these posts, it is impossible for us to test all devices, apps, and use cases. With this and the fact that the first version of iOS 10 introduced a number of bugs which were not common to all users and use cases, it is very likely that there are changes, regressions or improvements that we are not aware of at the time of posting. With this in mind, we would greatly appreciate your help in ensuring that the information on this page is as complete and accurate as possible. If you spot any accessibility-related changes in iOS 10.1, please do let us know in the comments.
According to Apple’s release notes via MacRumors, iOS 10.1 includes the following changes:
- Introduces Portrait Camera for iPhone 7 Plus that creates a depth effect that keeps your subject sharp while creating a beautifully blurred background (beta)
- People names in the Photos app are saved in iCloud backups
- Improved the display of wide color gamut photos in the grid views of the Photos app
- Fixes an issue where opening the Camera app would show a blurred or flashing screen for some users
- Fixes an issue that caused Photos to quit for some users when turning on iCloud Photo Library
- Transit support for every major train, subway, ferry, and national bus line, as well as local bus systems for Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya
- Sign-based transit navigation including layouts of all underground structures and walkways that connect large transit stations
- Transit fare comparison when viewing alternative transit routes
- New option to replay bubble and full screen effects
- Messages effects can play with Reduce Motion enabled
- Fixes an issue that could lead to contact names appearing incorrectly in Messages
- Addresses an issue where Messages could open to a white screen
- Addresses an issue that could prevent the report junk option from displaying with unknown senders
- Fixes an issue where videos captured and sent in the Messages app could be missing audio
- Adds distance and average pace to workout summaries in the Activity app for outdoor wheelchair run pace and outdoor wheelchair walk pace
- Fixes issues that may have prevented Music playlists from syncing to Apple Watch
- Addresses an issue that was preventing invitations and data to appear in Activity Sharing
- Fixes an issue that was allowing Activity Sharing to update over cellular when manually disabled
- Resolves an issue that was causing some third-party apps to crash when inputting text
- Improves Bluetooth connectivity with 3rd party accessories
- Improves AirPlay Mirroring performance when waking a device from sleep
- Fixes an issue where playback would not work for iTunes purchased content when the "Show iTunes Purchases" setting is turned off
- Fixes an issue where certain selfie apps and face filters used with the FaceTime HD camera on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus did not display a live preview
- Fixes an issue in Health where individual strokes are converted to separate characters when using the Chinese handwriting keyboard
- Improves performance of sharing websites from Safari to Messages
- Fixes an issue in Safari that caused web previews in tab view to not display correctly
- Fixes an issue that caused certain Mail messages to be reformatted with very small text
- Fixes an issue that caused some HTML email to be formatted incorrectly
- Fixes an issue that in some cases caused the search field to disappear in Mail
- Fixes an issue that could prevent Today View Widgets from updating when launched
- Fixes an issue where Weather widget sometimes failed to load data
- Fixes an issue on iPhone 7 where Home Button click settings would not appear in search results
- Fixes an issue that prevented spam alert extensions from blocking calls
- Resolves an issue that could prevent alarm sounds from going off
- Fixes an issue where audio playback via Bluetooth would cause the Taptic engine to stop providing feedback for some users
- Resolves an issue preventing some users from restoring from iCloud Backup
iOS 10.1 is available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings>General>Software Update) or via iTunes. As always, we recommend making a backup of your device before installing any iOS update.
Comments
Introducing an irritating bug
Type something into an edit field, then you try to navigate through your characters one by one and see what happens..
Character navigation working for me in the final release
I was consistently experiencing the above mentioned problem with not being able to navigate text fields by character in the beta releases, but haven’t yet been able to reproduce this in the final release. Would be curious to hear if others are seeing this problem.
It seems to work fine in the Safari edit field.
The problem only occurs when using edit fields of other websites.
Oh and by the way
I am using an iPhone 6 Plus.
I have found no bugs whatsoever
iOS 10.1 has given me no issues whatsoever, I have no problems with navigating text fields by character, and all is well. I love the new voices introduced with iOS 10, however I wish that cellos, bad news and all those other hilarious voices would come to iOS 10.2 or if not, maybe iOS 15.1 hahahaha
Introducing an irritating bug report
Try this instead:
Type something in an edit field. Then try to navigate character by character... you did fine, right up until here.
See what happens..
For me, it works fine. That's what happens. How about telling us exactly what is *not* happening for you? Being snide won't get you anywhere. I sure hope you filed more detailed reports than that with Apple if you've ever reported something to them.
Well, it doesn't read the characters when navigating.
Instead, it reads everything i typed followed by a description of where my cursor is standing.
Braille Screen Input Bug Fixed, but...
The braille screen input bug, where when you tried to delete something, VoiceOver wouldn't tell you what you were deleting, has been fixed. It works with both character and word deletion again.
The braille display bug, where some websites will show on the display in Unified English Braille, no matter what you have the default braille translation set to, is still present in iOS 10.1.
An example of this is: Type a search into the address bar of Safari, hit enter. At least with Google set as my default search engine, the search results are in Unified English Braille. There are other websites, too.
I'll probably write another email to Apple Accessibility either later today or tomorrow, telling them that this bug is still present and giving examples.
Siri enhance quality voice
I still don't get the Siri enhanced quality voice on my iphone 7..
Thank you, that's what everyone needs to do when writing
Thank you, that's what everyone needs to do when writing to Apple accessibility. How I do it is I state what the problem or bug is, then I give a numbered list of the steps I took, then the result I should've gotten, followed by what happened instead. Also I tell them if the problem is re-producible every single time I try, or if it only happens every so often. The ones where the bug happens every single time are probably a lot easier to squash. But i'm glad people are still giving Apple good feedback. The more feedback we give them, the better they can make things. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like they're listening, but trust me, they are.
Perhaps it may be linked to
Perhaps it may be linked to the bug fixes regarding the web previews and the fact that pages weren't being sent appropriately from messages, but the information relative to the columns and tables that Safari announced in the first few builds of iOS has now disappeared! It could, of course, also be because of the reports that Apple has received. In any case, I'm thrilled about this. I've still yet to look through the options to see whether or not there's a feature to disable and enable it since I've recently finished going through the final process to complete the update. Whether or not they've fixed it because of our phone calls and e-mails or because of another bug, I'm definitely glad that the problem has been resolved. Pangeran Satrya: If you haven't attempted it yet, try to connect your phone to Wi-Fi, given that the voice is usually installed when on a network outside your service provider. Good luck.
No enhanced quality siri voices here either
My actual Siri voice is enhanced, but it seems that it's no longer possible to download the enhanced siri voices for use with VO; just the compact versions. I'm using an iphone 7 plus. I called the Apple Accessibility phone number to report this, and they say they're aware of the issue, but so far, no idea when it'll be fixed. I'd advise that if you have this issue and it bothers you, call the apple accessibility number to report it. The rep I spoke with said that the more people who report it, the better the chances are that they'll be able to fix it.
character bug
I have occasionally randomly had problems reading by character via the one finger swipe down in any form field for a couple of years. I first noticed it in the Facebook messaging ap a couple of years ago so assumed it may have been an issue with the app itself clashing with VO.
I am yet to download IOS 10.1 so I will see if it's worse for me.
notification and voiceover
Well Vo is not reading any news notification from braking. I did report this issue to accessibility at apple.com. They said : they never heard any problem with this". They made several suggestion about my setting but I already have them setup the way they wanted me to do. PS. Anyone else have this issue. Please contact them and let them know.
Lots of voiceover reboots when reading news in nfb newsline.
I generally download my newspapers using the subscriptions feature. Voiceover will often crash if it is reading along and i swipe down to go to next heading which should start reading the next article. I generally hear screen curtain on then it stops talking. I had some of these before, in other places, but this this the first time in nfb newsline.
One thing I don't like
I don't like that they brought back the annoying setup screens after the update. I was actually really pleased to see that in iOS 10.0 and 10.0.1, the update simply processed and left all your settings in tact, unlike previous updates. Now though, it appears they've reverted to doing stupid things like making you sign back into your iCloud account, asking if you want location services and Siri turned on (which I already answered during initial setup) and other such nonsense. Most disappointing. What's the point of asking me questions I've already answered every time there's an update?
News Refresh Issue
I still have the issue where the News App refreshes and I lose my place. I'm going to email Apple about this.
UEB bug
Hi, out of curiosity, what is your Braille table set to? I use UEB so don't see this bug. I'm wondering though, since most (if not all) English countries have made a final decision to go to UEB, if Apple has simply programmed the default table for English to be UEB, because that's what it is inevitably going to be? Are you using a different English table by default, or a table for another language?
UEB shouldn't matter
UEB shouldn't matter all Braille tables should work equally. Also horrible UEB shouldn't be forced on anyone that doesn't want it.
Reply to Jake
I have my translation table set to US braille.
Reply to Jeff
I know. I hate UEB. I'm using a Refreshabraille 18, so I only have eighteen cells. UEB takes up so much more room than US braille. Also, I have to read slower because they got rid of so many contractions, and it kind of confuses me.
I wrote my email to Apple Accessibility a bit ago, including several websites where this bug occurs. There are also a lot of sites where this *doesn't* occur, which leads me to think it's a bug.
Definitely a bug then
If your translation is set to US then I'd sure say that was a bug indeed.
To Jeff
Unfortunately, UEB does matter. It's what the world is doing. It doesn't matter whether we like it or hate it, we'd darned well better get used to it.
That said, Apple should not be overriding a user's choice of translation table. Bad, bad Apple.
Reply to Jake and another bug
It may be what the world is doing but it sure ain't what I'm doing. There's nothing wrong with the US Braille table and as they said if it ain't broke don't fix it. I think I found a bug in the app store search field with my qwerty keyboard where it won't let me move by word or character, and it won't say the letters I write or delete.
Indecisive
I read all the comments about iOs 10, and now all of these comments. I am currently using an iPhone 5s. Should I or should I not update to the newest iOs version? Is it worth the possible pain? Or I know some people aren't havnying trouble at all, just don't know what to do.
I would recommend updating
I would recommend updating to the latest version of iOS 10 so you don't miss out on the new features.
only way to know is to try it
Everyone always asks this question and really, the only way to know is to just break down and try it. Everyone uses their iPhone's differently so you have to sit back, think seriously about how you use your phone and figure out if the *possible* bugs are going to effect your daily use. It may not run as fast as an iPhone 7 would but iOS 10.1 will run on a 5s for sure.
yeah i recommend to update
i am using iPhone 5s and using the latest 10.1 and looks perfect for me now, it is fix my concern bugs early like the voices are now complete in list, and the memory issue are now ok, even the battery issue, what i just notice is in the when i type some search in appstore and then hit search after i download my apps and then typing again the next to download can't move my cursor by character, that's what i found to my own phone, but generally it is now fine
updating
I agree with Toonhead. While I'm having issues still with ios. 10, I sure do hope the update will fix at least one of them! My thing is, I still update, but wait until you get the alert for a software update. I have the logic that if I wait, then that gives Apple time to fix any bugs that may have come up. Once the alert comes up, then I begin the update. Sometimes it'll take a few days to a month for me jo get the alert, but that's just my logic & my opinion.
Alarm but present in 10.1
For those who have not read the forum, the alarm issue present in iOS 10 with audio ducking on is still present in 10.1.
iPhone 5s
The 5s handles iOS 10 very nicely. I think Apple software updates on old devices have substantially improved in quality now that we have phones with multiple CPU cores and more ram. The iPhones before iPhone 5 or even 5s had crummy hardware that didn't seem to last nearly as long. Of course, it could also be planned obsolescence on Apple's part.
Less Loss of Focus with Voiceover
One improvement I noticed is voiceover seems to lose focus a lot less.
upgrade? or not
One of the best sources for advice on whether or not to update when a new version of the operating system can be found by listening to a podcast that comes out on a regular basis. The app, which is totally Voice-Over friendly, for getting this podcase is in the app store. Do a search for "tii" or look for "today in iPhone" on your existing podcatcher app. Due to the host taking a few days off for a vacation, his next podcast won't be out until around the seventh or ninth of next month. The podcast takes eMail and voice recorded questions from listeners, and Voice-Over issues are covered. Good or bad, Rob tells it like it is, whether Apple likes it or not. During the latest podcast, he mentions a list of what is new in firmware 10.1, including some security issues. With this in mind, upgrade to it.
Alarm Fix
I thought that this update broke my alarm as it wasn't playing when audio ducking was on. What I did seemed to fix it I went into settings sounds and made sure that volume was at 100 then I hit the volume up button untill Vo was its loudist then hit the volume down and saw it was lowering both. When I tested the alarm again it played the alarm sound.
notification and voiceover
Voiceover still not read any notification I get all the times. Anyone have this issue, please, please let accessibility at apple.com know. They told me they never got a report about this. Apparently we are not reporting this issue. All who have this issue send email reporting this bug.
Looks like the audio
Looks like the audio destination rotor doesn't work anymore. In 10, it would switch all audio between my BT speaker and the iPhone, but in 10.1 it's back to the way it used to be, where if I switch the audio back to my phone, if I want to switch back to the speaker I have to turn the speaker off and on again. Really annoying!
Edit field character bug
Ok, I'm seeing the edit field issue where setting the rotor to character and flicking up and down won't move to and read the next or previous characters. This is in Safari on the mobile Facebook site in multiple line edit fields: iPhone 6, Ios 10.1. The cursor gets stuck between the first and second character and VO reads the contents of the edit field and position of the cursor.
I need to test other sites with edit fields and also see what happens with a bluetooth keyboard.
Edit:
Looks like the edit field here on AppleVis with this post results in the same behavior, except flicking up and down with the rotor just gives the bottom of page bonk sound. The bluetooth keyboard with quick nav off in the edit field with the left right and up down keys do nothing, so are not working. I couldn't edit this post on my phone so had to get back on my desk top.
All the sign in fields work fine, so I'm thinking still that it is multi line edit fields.
This might need its own thread.
I have this issue
Ihad this issue too in one of the aps I use... Is it fixed in ios 10.2? I'm afraid to update because there always seems to be new problems with updates...