I discovered an interesting Shortcuts automation VoiceOver bug in iOS 18 and 18.1. This has been confirmed by Apple accessibility with an explanation and workaround below.
Create a new automation. Select the trigger, and choose next. I chose to have it run when the phone connects to a specific wi-fi network. So I choose the wi-fi trigger, and on the next screen select the saved network and then choose next.
There is a list of shortcuts I could run once the trigger is activated. At the top of this list is a button for "new blank automation". The list of shortcuts includes ones I created, starter shortcuts provided by Apple plus shortcuts provided by the various apps I have installed.
But when I tap on any of them, they show as selected, but voiceover doesn't indicate they are selected and the screen does not change.
The workaround is to find the new blank automation button or the shortcut on screen you want. Then being sure you know where it is located, turn off voiceover, tap once on that button, turn voiceover back on and you'll find a new screen has appeared where you can choose actions, just like creating an ordinary shortcut.
I was promised this bug will be reported to Apple accessibility.
By Deborah Armstrong, 14 November, 2024
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
I’ve actually seen this in a few versions of 17.
I forget what version it was, but I remember that bug even before ios18 came out. I think it was like 17.4 or 17.5 when I first saw it. I can’t remember.
Another, perhaps better, work around
You can also find the new blank automation button and triple tap on it. This way you don't have to turn off voiceover and hope to tap the right button.