Blog

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This newsletter features a curated selection of community-submitted content, including new app entries; updates; news; podcasts; how-to guides; and popular discussions. We hope that you find this publication to be both helpful and informative.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

µBrowser: Watch Web…

Welcome to WWDC 2025

As has been the case for many years now, Apple kicked off this year's Worldwide Developers Conference by announcing all the major software changes coming to all your favorite devices later this year. We got a look at everything we can expect in iOS 19, watchOS 12, and... No, wait, that's not right--they changed the name!

For the first time in the history of iOS and watchOS, and (arguably) the second time since macOS came out, we have new numbers. All of…

Apple's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) Keynote is set to take place on June 9, 2025 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time.

At the Keynote, Apple is widely expected to announce the next major versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS, and HomePod Software. It is always possible we may see some surprise announcements as well.

WWDC Keynote Day is also when Apple will likely release the first developer betas for their various platforms, allowing developers (and…

Ahead of its annual Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC), Apple has announced the winners and finalists for its 2025 Apple Design Awards--including 2 winners in the Inclusivity Category: Speechify and Art of…

Welcome to the May 2025 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This newsletter features a curated selection of community-submitted content, including new app entries; updates; news; podcasts; how-to guides; and popular discussions.

An Opening Thought

May 2025 was an exciting month at AppleVis, with much more on the way in the coming months as we enter Apple's software and hardware release season.…

**Update June 16, 2025: The Community Bug Reporting program is now live. Please find the report form at the bottom of this post or at https://www.applevis.com/form/community-bug-report-form.

We are excited to announce the upcoming launch of a new community bug tracking initiative at AppleVis.

Since at least 2012, AppleVis has regularly published lists of new and fixed accessibility bugs in Apple…

Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Apple is offering a preview of accessibility features coming to its platforms later this year; including Accessibility Nutrition labels for App Store apps, Magnifier for Mac, Braille Access, and more.

Accessibility Nutrition Labels

• Similar to the Privacy…

Apple has today released macOS Sequoia 15.5, watchOS 11.5, tvOS 18.5, and HomePod Software 18.5 to the public.

In our testing of these releases, we did not identify any changes that specifically affect the experience for blind, deaf blind, or low vision users. If you notice any changes in your own use of these releases, please do let us know by posting a comment.

Release notes

macOS Sequoia 15.5

This update includes enhancements, bug fixes,…

Apple has today released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5 to the public, bringing a handful of minor enhancements and bug fixes, as well as a new Pride Harmony wallpaper.

In our testing of iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, we did not identify any changes that specifically affect the experience for blind, deaf blind, or low vision users. If you notice any changes in your own use of iOS 18.5 or iPadOS 18.5, please do let us know by posting a comment.

Release notes

iOS 18.5

Welcome to the April 2025 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This newsletter features a curated selection of community-submitted content, including new app entries; updates; news; podcasts; how-to guides; and popular discussions.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

Accelerate for Safari (iOS, Free with In-App Purchases)

Accelerate is a Safari extension with powerful,…

Intro

Apple recently launched new features for the USB-C AirPods Max, which include lossless audio over USB-C, ultra-low latency audio, as well as the ability to use AirPods Max with a USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable for wired playback. This also means that when Bluetooth is turned on, you will have access to all features that you would with a Bluetooth connection but…

The iPhone 16e (released February 2025) is Apple’s newest member of the iPhone 16 family. Apple kindly lent me an iPhone 16e for review; since its release, I’ve spent a little over a month using the iPhone 16e as my daily driver and have enjoyed the experience much more than I ever thought I would. The speaker quality is head and shoulders above my much larger (and much more expensive) iPhone 16 Pro Max. VoiceOver performance is fast and responsive. Battery life is strong and better than…

Apple has today released iOS 18.4.1, iPadOS 18.4.1, macOS Sequoia 15.4.1, and tvOS 18.4.1, bringing bug fixes and security updates, including for vulnerabilities that Apple believes may have been actively exploited.

As these updates were not distributed to external testers prior to their release, we do not have any information on whether they contain any accessibility fixes for blind, def blind, or low vision users at the time of…

Welcome to the March 2025 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This edition features a curated selection of community-submitted content, including new app entries; updates; news; podcasts; how-to guides; and popular discussions.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

ally, everywhere ai assistant (iOS, Free)

meet ally – your AI assistant, always by your side

ally is…

Update, 4/1/2025

As of 1:00 PM Eastern time, Apple has released WatchOS 11.4 to the public. The release notes are the same as listed below.

Apple has today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, watchOS 11.4, tvOS 18.4, and HomePod Software 18.4 to the public.

As with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, macOS Sequoia 15.4 brings expanded language support for Apple Intelligence, as well as new emoji characters, Mail categorization, and several accessibility fixes and refinements for…

Apple has today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 to the public; bringing new functionality for VoiceOver and braille users; several enhancements to Apple Intelligence, including priority notifications and expanded language support; as well as new emoji characters, a new "Ambient Music" feature in Control Center, Mail categorization for iPadOS, and more. Apple has also released iOS 15.8.4 and iOS 16.7.11 for older devices unable to run iOS 18.

New Features and Changes for VoiceOver…

We are pleased to announce that Levi Gobin has joined the AppleVis Editorial Team.

Levi brings a wealth of experience to the team and to our community. He is both an experienced user of macOS (since 2015) and an avid beta tester. In addition, Levi excels at communication and content creation; as demonstrated by the in-depth guides he regularly shares with the community and his active participation on our forums.

In his new role, Levi will work with our team to bolster our…

Are you passionate about the use of Apple products, particularly macOS accessibility and beta testing? Do you have some free time that you would like to put towards serving the community? If so, AppleVis may have an exciting volunteer opportunity for you!

AppleVis' mission is to empower people who are blind, DeafBlind, or have low vision to get the most from Apple products and services. Founded in 2010 and now a Be My Eyes…

Apple has today released iOS 18.3.2, iPadOS 18.3.2, macOS Sequoia 15.3.2, and tvOS 18.3.1, bringing bug fixes and security updates, including one for a vulnerability that Apple believes may have been actively exploited.

As these updates were not distributed to external testers prior to their release, we do not have any information on whether they contain any accessibility fixes for blind, def blind, or low vision users at the time…

Apple today updated the MacBook Air and Mac Studio product lines, bringing the M4 chip and an upgraded camera to the MacBook Air, and M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips, Thunderbolt 5 support, and support for up to 512GB of ram to the Mac Studio.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air has been updated with the M4 chip, an upgraded camera, a new "Sky Blue" finish, and a lower starting price of US$999.

With M4, the new MacBook Air is 2X faster than the MacBook Air with M1, and up to 23X…