In the upcoming releases of iOS 14.2 and iPadOS 14.2, Apple is adding a new People Detection feature to its Magnifier app on liDAR-equipped devices that will enable blind and low vision users to determine the distance between themselves and nearby people.
With the introduction of People Detection, Apple is delivering the first example of how the LiDAR Scanner's ability to quickly and accurately scan and map nearby objects can be harnessed to offer significant added value to blind and…
Coming away from Apple's recent “Hi, Speed” event, I found my thoughts travelling back ten years to being in line to buy my first iPhone, when the only decision needed before reaching the front of the line was whether I wanted the 16GB or 32GB model. With Apple releasing five new iPhone models this year - the SE, 12 mini, the 12, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max - it was hard not to feel some nostalgia for the purity and…
Today was Apple's second event this fall, named "Hi, Speed". The previous one, about a month ago, introduced new Apple Watch and iPad models, among other announcements. Notably absent that day was any mention of iPhone.
That's what today was all about. We now have all the details on iPhone 12, which is seeing some changes to its line-up with the inclusion of a "mini" option. Of course, today's announcements covered more than just iPhone; we also got the details on…
Update #2: It's been confirmed that audio description will be available for the event when it airs (rather than a described version being made available later, which is what Apple typically does with live stream events).
The event starts at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. UTC.
I cut my own hair last week. I purchased the Elite Pro electric hair clippers through Amazon, and unpacked the much anticipated and quickly sanitized cardboard box. My overly long, unruly, very silver hair felt yucky and gross. It was time to shed the extra weight. I plugged in the clippers, stripped off my shirt and sat on a low plastic footstool over the tiled kitchen floor. Now, I was poised and personally empowered to do great damage. This was going to be fun! I drove those clippers…
As the number of active Apple devices increases, so too do the different choices that the consumer has. The latest offering from Apple is the new iPhone SE 2020. This iPhone is a mix of the old and new: it retains the build size of the iPhone 8, but has the new A13 Bionic chip offered in the iPhone 11 series. It offers Bluetooth 5.0, but retains the Home…
Today is the Eighth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). This day has been set aside "to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) access/inclusion and people with different disabilities." This according to the above linked web page on GAAD. In recent years on AppleVis, we have supported this day, with posts about…
Apple has today announced the launch of a second-generation iPhone SE featuring a 4.7-inch Retina HD LCD display, A13 Bionic chip, Touch ID and a single 12-megapixel camera.
Although visually similar to the iPhone 8 and sharing the same physical dimensions, the new iPhone SE features some upgraded internals to the iPhone 8 (which has been discontinued today). Probably the…
Hello AppleVis community. It's been some time since I blogged. Other writing tasks have occupied my time. But the real reason I haven't blogged is because bugs are getting me down.
I could remain silent about the bugs as I've been doing for the past seven months. Or I could post a rant on the forum. But ultimately, I decided to approach the topic with some seasonal levity. So if you can read this blog as constructive criticism and humor, then join me on a merry sleigh ride through…
Welcome to the September 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
I am totally blind and wear Made For iPhone (MFI) hearing aids, in my case the Oticon OPN S 1. My primary method of input on iPhone is Braille Screen Input, but when working on more complex documents, I use my Apple Magic Keyboard.
Until last Friday, I was running an iPhone 10S Max, but I have now upgraded to an iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Users of MFI hearing aids are well aware that there has been an ongoing issue using Bluetooth keyboards, VoiceOver, and the aids together. This…
It's September, and that means a lot of things. For users of iOS devices, it's time for a new major iOS update.
Just like other releases, this latest build brings a lot of new features and enhancements to supported iOS Devices. Major changes include a system-wide Dark Mode, QuickPath keyboard, support for thumb drives and other USB external memory devices, call blocking features for spam callers, and much more. Many blogs will be highlighting these new…
Before there was an iPod or an iPhone, and even before Microsoft had Windows 95, there was the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. In those early years, I was a regular attendee at the WWDC. I was extremely fortunate to make great connections with many Apple employees and other Macintosh developers. I also established very close ties with the event organizers. Instead of sitting in one of the thousands of tightly packed stackable chairs in the main hall, where I would never see the slide…
Apple has just concluded its annual September media event. This year's, which it titled "By Innovation Only", gave us new iPhones, the Series 5 Apple Watch, and more details on the company's new Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus subscription services. Innovation, though, wasn't exactly the word I first thought of when I considered how to sum up the announcements. Don't get me wrong: the new iPhones have some great new features, and it will be interesting to see where the new…
Don and I met during college Orientation in late July 1972. He was 18 and I was 17. Don was blind and I was heading in that direction. I have retinitis pigmentosa and had already lost my night vision. Don and I saw advantages to becoming roommates. He would teach me essential future blindness skills and, per his request, I would hide his bottle of Southern Comfort.
I started my university career with a serious problem. After the sun set, I could not find my way from my dorm in the…
I flick around the screen, double-tapping when I want to select something. As I do so, VoiceOver's speech comes through my Aftershokz headset, which I wear most of the time. That makes me a cyborg, or so I'm told. Nothing is showing on my screen. "Is your phone on?" One of the students on my course at university once asked me, as I called a taxi. "The screen is black." Or as one train manager once remarked, as I was searching for my E-ticket to show him, "…
Some folks regard me as a tad eccentric. Although I have been retired for many years, I still wake up every morning, put on a nice pair of slacks, a long sleeved dress shirt, and hard soled leather shoes. Basically, I dress for work, but I don't leave for the office and no one writes me a check. Other fellow retirees around my neighborhood would likely sport tennis shoes or slippers, shorts or blue jeans, and they would almost certainly don a comfy shirt without a pocket. Those same guys…
Apple has today shared a profile of Scott Leason, a blind veteran and competition longboard surfer from San Diego, in which it showcases his use of the accessibility features of iPhone and Apple Watch to prepare for his daily surfing sessions:
Scott Leason is an early riser. By 5:30 a.m., he’s checked his email, social media, the news and the weather. He’…
Welcome to the September 2018 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the nights have started to draw in and temperatures drop. This can mean only one thing - we're now in what is traditionally Apple's main season for new product launches.
Last week saw the releases of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and Apple Watch Series 4. The iPhone XR will begin shipping next month, and it's likely that at the very least there will also be an update to iPad Pro before the season ends. Beyond this, there might be new MacBooks;…