iOS6 disappointment

By blind fury, 29 September, 2012

Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Hi all, What's happenned to iOS6 upgrade for us voiceover users. Well 4 of my apps don't work properly any more plus i've lost youtube with my favs and bookmarks. The 4 apps cost over £50 between them. The apps affected are Ariadne gps, Sendero gps both of which rely on Google maps which have also gone, Awareness the headphone app which just buzzes now and navigon which never really worked properly from the start, however is fine when vo is turned off which is no good for me. 2 of these apps are specifically designed for blind persons to navigate themselves around locally which is just unreasonable having them taken away after paying for them. Youtube with bookmarks and favourites have also all gone. iOS6 feels like a step back despite all the rave reviews. I do have an Ipad as well which has not been upgraded however I wished I hadn't upgraded my Iphone4 trusting that I would definitely get extra capability. If anyone has had a similar experience or, can suggest an alternative solution, pls post comment. thanks

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Comments

By Bahzad on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Although I've heard of the GPS applications you mentioned, I'm a bit unfamiliar with how they work. However, I can say with certainty that a YouTube app is available in the app store. It's accessible to use, but there are differences that take some getting used to. For instance, you can't pause or play a video by doing a two finger double-tap—you must now find the play/pause button to pause or play content. In spite of this problem, the app does have a benefit, especially for iPhone 4 users: You can perform voice searches for the videos you want to watch or hear. A post detailing these features can be found on this website, along with comments from users about the app.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

As far as Ariande and look around, they aren't working because you said it, Maps have been removed and replaced with Apple's Maps. This means that the developers are responsible for updating their apps and making them work with the new interface. Likewise, since IOS 6.0 has been released with a noticable amount of changes, many app developers might need to update their apps so that they work properly. I just purchased an IPhone 5, and since putting my 4s apps on it, I've been getting updates regularly; Almost garanteed to have at least one a day since IOS 6.0 was officially released; It takes time for developers to catch up sometimes. As far as youtube goes, since updating to IOS 6.0 removes the built in app, you will not have your favorites. However, if you had a youtube or google account (gmail), you can download the new youtube app from the app store, sign in, and your subscriptions and video history remain intact; you may be able to locate some of your favorites in the history menu if you've watched any of them recently. Unfortunately though, this means that your favorites cannot be retrieved because the original app which held them does not exist any longer unless you are using IOS5x or lower. Also, because the new youtube app is directly developed by google, it has a different interface and though it is pretty accessible, it has some small accessibility issues. These can be ironed out, but again, it takes time and efforts on our part as the user to ensure they are aware of the accessibility issues. If you are facing inaccessibility issues with third party apps, it is important to write to the developers who created them. Apple is not responsible for developers maintaining the third party apps and calling IOS 6.0 a disapointment because of just 1 week of use is unfair. Ariande gps and Lookaround are third party apps and apple has no control over its usability or accessibility; the developers do. The same thing applies to the other apps you mentioned. Youtube is an exception because yes, it was once a built in app, and it is unfair that a user cannot hold on to their favorite videos. Its just a part of progress, regression, or change. Sometimes things happen and a user simply has to start over.

I was about ready to post something on this topic. But I see you did already. ios 6 people is new. old apps have to update so that they work with ios 6. Be patient or better yet like previously stated contact the developer of the app and say your app isn't working with ios 6 could you please fix this. I for one am quite happy with ios 6. I absolutely love it. there are tons of new things. And they are all beneficial. It is like the app store everyone was antsy about that because it wasn't accessible then it was but still had issues. Now it is fully accessible. What is more. I find people on here a lot of the time stick their foot in their mouth so to speak. If something does not work it doesn't mean necessarily a bug. It may mean you may need to do something differently to access it. I am not saying bugs don't exist. I however myself haven't run into any except old apps not working with ios 6 like they should and most of those have been fixed like stating above by the developersof said apps actually making their apps accessible. Also if you take time to play with the new maps app rather than fussing because you don't have the one your used too. You may be pleasantly surprised. I also like that in most cases if an app have maps in it. They don't behave like the same as the maps app does where you can trace streets and such. But the accessibility has quite improved. I think ariadne actually made this happen by their revolutionary design of the ariadne app. Although with the new maps app ariadne almost is useless now. Although it still has a few features I think that the maps app doesn't have. Anyway. Sorry I don't mean to dig in here really. But I am kind of getting tired of people saying something doesn't work as it should. When in truth it is working just like it should considering the changes in ios. But enough said. The person before me pointed this out a lot better than I did.

By blind fury on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Hi Bahzad, Thanks for your info on the Youtube app which I was aware of but hadn’t tried until I read your post . You were right, it does work with vo and the voice search is a handy extra which we didn’t have before. It would have been good if the 2 finger tap still worked as it appears to have affected the headphones paws-play button as well, however its better to have a working app than none at all. True, I’ve not had it long but so far so good and I can say that one solution to the issues I’ve been having with iOS6 has been resolved. I will write again if further problems with youtube and Ios6 develop. However, with respect to the other apps, I was using a combination of Ariadne, Sendero and Navigon in unfamiliar surroundings to help get around. I have spent much time and cash in the pursuit of finding the right app for me. Just when I thought I had the right combination, I unwisely upgraded my Iphone4 to iOS6 and lost functionality as originally described. Apple maps might get better in the future but so far comes a poor second to google maps and ariadne, although apple maps do allow you to track streets with your finger and give pois using the rotery 2 fingered switch. I suppose i’m saying I would have been better off waiting for these issues to be ironed out rather than upgrading as soon as the message to do so came up because the apps I paid the most for, still don’t work properly. This has been the biggest update iphone has undergone for at least 3 years which is how long I have had the Iphone. Previous iOS upgrades have until now always added and enhanced features/functionality. iOS6 has not done so for me yet. Meanwhile, I’m still looking for a navigation app that gives announcements at every intersection and poi on route to the final destination. Usually, satnav only announces intersections and destonations you need. For example, if my destination was 200 metres ahead of me, most gps systems will say just that. I need to know all the roads and pois as i approach them along the 200 metres, which may have 3 roads and shops before the road i need. As I have already mentioned, I almost achieved this using these other apps. There is a purpose-built device called Trekker Breeze which do make these type of announcements but costs over £500 and apart from the cash I don’t really want another device to carry around. I would appreciate any suggestions. thanks.

By Dave Nason on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
YouTube Favourites actually are available in the new free YouTube app available in the App Store. 1. Tap the Guide button in top left to bring up menu. 2. Select "Sign In" at top of menu and sign in to your YouTube account. 3. Visually, once signed in, this Sign In button in the Guide menu changes to your username, but VoiceOver continues to read it as "Sign In". 4. Now when you click on this Sign In button it brings up a menu which includes your favourites. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any problems with this.

After speaking to a friend (I needed to be certain of what I wanted to tell you), he suggested using Blind Square. Blind Square can be useful when you are trying to navigate outdoors. Both of us use the app, and I can assure you that it works well in my area. I live in the U.S., so you may want to check if it works outside the country. From what I deduced, you shouldn't have a problem because it employs data from foursquare and open street maps. Blind Square does not give verbal step-by-step directions, but it verbalizes what's around you along with indications about the streets you are approaching. My friend noted that earlier this year, the developer of the application stated that he will be adding turn-by-turn navigation, but we don't know when this will occur. Perhaps other users can provide more of a response to this news in further comments. Good luck with trying to find apps for your needs.

By Maria on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Hi. is it possible to share videos and like and comment on them etc? haven't figured out how to do this with the new youtube app. Thanks.

By Darrell Hilliker on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Hello, Sendero GPS LookAround works just fine for me on iOS 6. What issues are you experiencing? Keep in mind that, just because Apple no longer uses Google Maps, other apps can still use it.

By Carlos Taylor on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

I upgraded my iPhone 4s to ios 6 and have not had any problems with Sendero's Look Around, ariadne gps nor navigon. They work just as well as they did in ios 5. These apps are not dependent on the maps used by the maps app which comes with ios. Ariadne and Look around require a wifi or 3g cellular connection as they access map data from a remote server. Navigon downloads map data and stores it on your phone, allowing you to use the app without a wifi or 3g connection. Can you describe the problems you are experiencing? Do you have location services on and have you allowed these apps to use this service? If you can be more specific, I'm sure we can resolve your problem.

Hi Bahzad, Wow, you sure have given me something to think about re Blindsquare. It sounds just the thing I’m looking for, although I would like to see more reviews and perhaps a demo of how it works before spending any more cash. I’ll research it a bit more generally on the net as there appears to only be 1 review in the app store.

I use various apps for navigation one of which is Sendero 1.2. of the 5 buttons Map, Compass, ShakeOn Settings and Poi Category that no longer works is the Map button.

Perhaps I shouldn't blame Apple as much as I do for the problems i've had recently. I expected more having the best device in the world. Or, costing the most in the world, regardless of third party apps. What I should have done is, wait for these issues all to be ironed out instead of upgrading as soon as it was available. as I have done with the Ipad

When I double tapped on the maps button in sendero look around, I was taken to the ios 6 map app where I was able to explore nearby streets using voice over, a feature which wasn't possible in ios 5. So in this since, this is more accessible with ios 6 than before since voice over now works in the map app.

By Doug on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

I have an IPhone 4S now running ios 6. Being a relative newby, and perhaps not the brightest bulb in the circuit, I decided after the initial upgrade to do it using the vaguaries of the windows ITunes and restore the phone to factory defaults. I have back-ups both on my computer and Icloud. I thought using factory defaults might deal with some of the bugs after the results of my first attempts in which I did not use the factory defaults.. My first frustration was the total lack of documentation to match the new OS and IPhone; (Steve might be rolling over in his grave) and were it not for the outstanding work of folks like Dave, and the golden resources of Applevis, I'd would have been heading off to the apple store a lot sooner than I eventually did. The good folks there indeed found the most recent OS 6 docs which I am moving through, just in case; I hadn't checked after the first few days of my install and so suspect that documentation may have been placed there by the time I visited the store, or maybe I'm just incompetent! One example is the installation of the quality voices for which I could find no documentation on the apple web site but the suggestions made by some of you about wifi did work. My bugs so far are: 1. The three-finger swipe doesn't always work as expected and it always did before; naturally, this is intermitant. I sometimes do not get the next page either swiping down or to the right (or left.) At times turning off and on Voiceover fixes the problem, sometimes repeated stroking does it, other times exiting and re-entering the ap. I've never experienced this problem before the upgrade. 2. I suspect that related to this is reading a document which sometimes goes automaticly to the next page, sometimes it doesn't. I have experienced this using the AudioBooks ap, as well as other aps as in areas like Safary. Perhaps OS 6 is more picky about where one swipes, the speed, distance, pressure, etc? YIKES! 3. I find inconsistency in how one deletes items in the supplied aps. For example, in the music ap, when a title is highlighted, The suggestions tell me to "swipe up or down to select a custom action. Double tapping, as expected, plays the item. It seems that the same gestures are not present when titles are highlighted either in the podcast or the IBooks ap. Double tap does play the item but there no suggestions, and no possibility to delete as is done in the music app. 4. When using Siri with headphones, holding the button to wake siri up then releasing often causes the screen to lock after the information is announced, like when I ask, "where am I," or "why is there air." (try this second one, results are quite funny.) Again the screen lock after working on Siri does not occur consistently and appears never to happen whenb using the phone without headphones and pressing and holding the home button. Feedback, comments, suggestions, all gratefully received.

Hi, I have an iphone4 which ran more or less perfectly before upgrading. Unlike you, my map function in sendero or ariadne reports "legal not available". I can still use other features of those apps, however they don't work as they did. I understand the iphone4 and lower, did not have as many changes in iOS6 as the 4s and iphone5 which maybe the reason why my apps don't work as they should. The ability to track streets in apple maps used to be apart of ariadne and was better there in my humble oppinion. Hearing that these apps work ok on your 4s suggest that updates might be a long time coming, if at all.

I think it's a good idea to do some research before you purchase the app, because you can learn more about it and maybe even how to use it for daily occurrances. Good luck with everything.

I am also having that issue with Siri when using headphones. I hadn't noticed it yet until I read your comment. I have just checked and it is happening when VoiceOver is turned off too, so is not specific to us.

By Dave Nason on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Hi Maria, I've played around with the YouTube app a bit and yes you can like, comment and share. Though I seem to have to wait til the video has finished playing. Here's how: - I recommend you don't try to explore by touch for these buttons as VoiceOver goes a bit mad and reads things that aren't even on the screen. - Easiest thing is to find the search bar at the top of the screen, after the video has finished playing as I said above. - From there flick right through the various options. You'll get buttons for Like, Dislike, More, Replay, Some track progress info and controls, Suggested, Comments and the video info. - To Share,select the More option to bring up a new menu, which includes Share, Add to Watch Later, Add to Favourites, Add to Playlist and Flag. - Suggested and Comments both bring up new stuff in the bottom half of the screen, in place of the video information. Kind of tabs I guess. - You can add a comment and read comments. As I write this I notice that sometimes the Like, Dislike and More buttons can disappear. I got these back by turning VoiceOver off and touching in the top half of the screen where the video screen is, then turning Voiceover back on again. All of this was done in portrait orientation. Enjoy! Any problems or if I've explained it badly let me know!

By chris R on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Hi. I would just like to try and explain what I understand to be happening with maps in iOS six. It seems to me, that any application using a standard interface that includes a map view, is now usually accessible with voice-over in IOS six. I think this is a huge leap forward. Taking Sendero GPS as an example, when I double tap on the map button it does not take me to the Apple maps app, instead, it takes me to the same map screen with in Sendero GPS as in iOS 5. However, now,voice-over is able to read the map as if it was in the maps app. In the top left corner of the screen is a back button, and the top centre of the screen is the window title. Below this is the map, where you can explore cities Amtrak streets using voice over just like in the native app. If you zoom out all the way, , you can see all the cities in a country or even a continent. Just double tap The back button to return to the main Sendero screen. What I'm trying to say is, the accessible maps interface is universal throughout all apps on iOS six. You can even access information overlaid on top of a map in certain apps. For example I have an app called lightning, which allows me to locate lightning strikes overlaid on a map. The map and the overlay are both accessible to voice-over, and as I am interested in meteorology, this feature has been a game changer. There are certain apps however, that display non-standard overlays. In these apps, often both the map and the overlay will be in-accessible. When you touch the map using voice over, nothing is spoken, . On some apps, the overlays are partially accessible. The map will be accessible, however the overlaid icons will all be announced as Map pins. The map in Ariadne GPS currently seems to fall into the in-accessible overlay category, as its non standard overlay results in nothing being spoken when you touch it. Hope this helps, but keep in mind that any app using a satellite or hybrid map view is not yet accessible with voice-over. Of course, some of what I say may be wrong, but this is what I have been able to gather from long hours of testing,

Hi. You say when you try to use the map in Sendero GPS, voice-over says legal not available. I know that there is a button called legal, present on all maps when using voice over. And when there are no features, for example streets or cities showing on the map, voice-over will say no features visible. This means that you should try to zoom out or pan the map using the 3 finger swipe in order to find some features to show. Hope this helps, Chris.

By treky fan on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

i was looking through my favorites and i came across some videos that I don't want anymore, but there doesn't seem to be a way to get rid of them. Does anybody know how I can get rid of these videos?

By blind fury on Monday, October 22, 2012 - 20:11

Hi Bahzad, Thanks again for a good suggestion that works. After trying to find as much blerb I could on Blindsquare and not finding much out there, I finally purchased it. I have now spent around £80 so far on trying to get a satisfactory solution for my mobility needs and appreciate learning of other possibilities to improve my general experience. Briefly, re the other navigational apps previously mentioned, I have got Sendero map working but still no Ariadne maps. Meanwhile, back to Blindsquare, the best feature is the one I have been looking for, the announcements of some pois and all intersections on route to a destination. I do need to play with it a little longer to get to know it and learn its full functionality. It is reasonably priced at £10.47, which is cheaper than many apps of this type. Ok its not perfect, but it has performed well so far and is better than what I had previously. Also just a quick word on the Youtube app, the voice search works very well and can considerably speed up searches. Finally, re iOS6, I am still unsure of the advantages of having it on my iphone4, as I have been distracted somewhat with Blindsquare and Still won't update my ipad yet.