Can I have my iPhone speak passwords?

By Danni, 28 July, 2017

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I recently bought an iPhone SE and would like to know if it's possible to get it to speak passwords? If so how?

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Comments

By Fatima.Hamoud10 on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Getting your iPhone to speak passwords sounds like a great idea, but someone else could be in the same room with you and they would here the passwords. That is why Apple doesn't have a speak passwords feature for security reasons.

Okay then! instead I have to share my password to get anything done so uhh that argument hardly makes sense! I'm smart enough to know if someone is in the room with me and wouldknow when and when not to type my password outloud but thanks to this I have to have someone else type it so uhh yeah same boat only worse cuz now I have no choice but to share or not use anything on my phone!

Oh well thanks anyway!

By Fatima.Hamoud10 on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

I actually know one way to have your phone speak passwords. When you go on any website that allows you to log in, you can double tap the button that says "show password." Then when you tap on the password field, voiceOver will read the password out to you.

You still have to enter the password before it can show it which means I am still going to have toshare it since I can't hear it as I type? I want to be independent of help from others which is why I chose this phone and now I have to have help with the most sensitive part of all my passwords ugg

Thanks anyway! am not happpy that am now stuck sharing my password to get anything done it's ridiculous when the whole point of buying an Iphone is to have full use as a blind person and I don't!

By Danni on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

I sent an email and will be making some calls tomorrow! am stuck now and it really irks me that as an adult they are choosing for me as if am too stupid to knowwhen and when not to type my password! maybe I should have gone with an android phone at least when I had 1 a couple years ago I was allowed to choose for myself whether or not I had it say my password!

Iwas reasonably happy with this phone until now!

By Jeff on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

I don't understand why you think you need to hear your password read back to you. There are hundreds of Voiceover users, including myself, who manage to type in passwords without sighted assistance. Voiceover will speak the characters as you enter them and there's an audible click when the character is entered, so you should hear when that happens. If you would explain where you're running into trouble, perhaps someone can offer some suggestions to help.

By kool_turk on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

The letters and numbers are spoken on the keyboard, just not when you enter the characters, so I don't really see what the big deal is.

The only time you won't hear the characters is when using braille screen input, and I only do that when I know for certain the password being entered will work.

Sometimes, even that doesn't work so I have to resort to using the normal onscreen keyboard.

If you're that concerned when typing your password, use screen curtain, and a pair of headphones.

I use to do that when entering my wi-fi password for my nephews.

Another alternative is to use a blutooth keyboard, that way you have a physical keyboard.

By ming on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

I think when your finger is on the the on screen keyboard. it will speak the letters or numbers and when you are releasing it it is not speak it
I think it is for safety issue.

By Justin on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Hi,
Agree with previous comments. I don't see the n need for passwords to be spoken. I know you are safe, etc etc. But, the only way to hear what you are typing is to actually type the password with the on-screen keyboard, it'll speak as you type etc. It's all about safety/privacy!!

By Michael Hansen on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Hello Danni,

Unfortunately, VoiceOver does not read the contents of password fields; unless I'm very much mistaken, the contents of password fields are not visible to sighted users, either.

When typing into password fields, VoiceOver will tell you what letter you are on as you navigate around the keyboard; however, because the contents of password fields isn't visible, you will instead hear a click when you type a character into password fields. To reiterate, though... You do still have spoken feedback as you navigate the keyboard to find the correct character to type--you'll just hear a click when you type instead of VoiceOver repeating the character back to you.

Hope this helps,
Michael

By Toonhead on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Michael is very much correct. In fact, in the password field visually, you don't even see the letters you're typing. So even if you wanted to hear what you're typing, you couldn't hear the contents of the password field. The other folks are right as well, you can hear the different letters as you move around the on-screen keyboard, but when you type in a character, an audible click is heard. This is how it works on the iPhone, even when VoiceOver is turned off. It's just something you have to get used to, and many, many VoiceOver users, including myself, are entering passwords several times a day without issues. You can do it!

By david s on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Hello,

Go for it. If you think android is a better platform for a visually impaired person, go for it and have fun with talk back.

As you mentioned, this is your first time entering passwords so it is likely you just aren’t familiar with IOS. Whether you’re using IOS, Mac OS or Windows, the password fields are usually populated with stars or dots so even if you could see the fields, you wouldn’t know what they are. And the screen reader you use will not know either. In this case, how would a sighted person be of use?

The better question would be how do I enter a password if I can’t see? In this case, when you run into a password field, double one finger tap and you will hear you’re in edit mode. The keyboard will appear at the bottom. Explore by touch or swipe until you find the letter you want. Double tap and you will hear a click. If you have a long password and you lose track of how many characters you entered, swipe back to the user id, double tap, then swipe back down to the password field and double tap. VO will let you know how many characters are in the field. Make sure Vo says edit test on the end and continue typing.

It’s not broken nor is it difficult. If it was, half of the folks here at applevis would be using an android.

HTH and good luck.

By Danni on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

Am done with this and sorry I bothered! I'll do what I said or did what I said and got help from a neighbor! not everyone is perfeft at doing things and I still am of the belief that it should be my choice whether or not I hear it say passwords not apples choice so those of you I made a mistake! I asked a question and got ticked off at the answer hmm I guess buying an expensive item means I should be happy that the company I purchase from should have a right to dictate how I receive info hmm disagree but that's okay who am I besides the 1 spending the money!

Totally done with this topic and moving on!

By Toonhead on Wednesday, July 26, 2017 - 22:18

even on an android phone, you aren't going to hear passwords spoken out like you want them to be. So, no matter what operating system you choose, you're still going to experience the same issue. Also, you can't just bother a neighbor every single time you want to enter a password. Sorry if my message sounds a bit harsh, but this is how it is with pretty much all smart phones these days. Remember, you've got choices. I use a Bluetooth keyboard and it works beautifully for entering something as short as a password or for longer bits of text. The only difference is that when using a Bluetooth keyboard and while in a password field, all you're going to get are audible clicks. But if you choose to use the on-screen keyboard on the phone itself, VoiceOver will read what key you are focused on before you enter it. so you do have verbal feedback as to which keys you're entering.