Blog

Welcome to AppleVis Unlimited, our new monthly series which aims to highlight what’s new and noteworthy in the accessible app landscape. Below, you’ll find a recap of the best content posted to AppleVis during the previous month - from new app entries, to app updates, to podcasts and blogs. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

Be My Eyes - helping…

Update: this giveaway is now closed.

Marconius recently submitted an iOS app called PracticeLooper to our App Directory. This app allows you to loop sections of music that you want to practice and learn by ear at your own speed. You are also able to slow down music without changing the pitch, or transpose without changing the tempo.

Generally, this might not be the type of app…

Apple has today released iOS 8.1.3 to the public.

According to MacRumors, iOS 8.1.3 fixes include a fix for an issue that prevented some users from entering their Apple ID passwords for Messages and FaceTime, a bug that caused Spotlight to stop displaying app results, and a problem that prevented multitasking gestures from working on the iPad.

iOS 8.1.3 also…

Apple today released OS X 10.10.2 to the public. This second update to OS X Yosemite is believed to include a number of VoiceOver fixes.

We keep a running list of Yosemite bugs on our main Yosemite announcement page. You'll find all the new, fixed, and unaddressed bugs there.

Other notable changes and fixes include the addition of iCloud Drive support in Time Machine, a fix for…

Over the last couple years, I’ve come to a conclusion about life as a blind person: it isn’t the physical lack of sight that’s the biggest difficulty I face; but rather, it is attempting to overcome peoples’ negative stereotypes and misconceptions about what I can—and cannot—do that is the real problem.

When I think of situations where negative stereotypes about blind people come into play, the use of technology isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. I tend to think about…

We are pleased to announce that veteran podcaster and content producer Jamie Pauls has joined the AppleVis Editorial Team.

Jamie Pauls brings an impressive resume to the AppleVis community. He is probably best known for his time hosting and producing ACB Radio’s Main Menu radio show; he has also hosted and produced the SeroTalk Podcast, been a voice in SeroTalk Podcast Network convention coverage, and…

Update 2 February: Although not specifically mentioned in the release notes, it’s great to see that version 3.0.1 addresses many of the issues mentioned in the original post below. For example, the Share button is now accessible and you can add topics of interest to your custom feed (although you currently need to use a combination of the 3-finger swipe up/down and exploring by touch to access all available topics, as swiping is not reliable). So, although the…

The developer of Voice Dream Writer, a new and innovative writing app for people with print disabilities, has graciously given the AppleVis community a limited number of promo codes for the app. Voice Dream Writer was released on January 21, 2015, and it currently costs $9.99.

While there are many text editors available on iOS, Voice Dream Writer is unique in that it was designed specifically for blind and print-disabled users. Below…

It's nearly time for the AppleVis community to select the next inductee into our iOS App Hall of Fame, so we’re asking that you take just a moment to nominate any apps which you think should be on the shortlist.

As you should know, the Hall of Fame is where we showcase the apps which our community believes to be the best that the App Store has to offer and to acknowledge the hard work and commitment that…

A One-Port Mac?

Yes, the latest rumor to come out of the mill is that Apple is going to introduce a radically re-designed, one-port Macbook Air sometime this year. It will have a 12-inch screen, a keyboard, a trackpad… and a single USB C port, along with the usual 3.5mm headphone jack. That's just one lonely little port for power, printers, external drives or card readers, USB audio peripherals, connecting…

GoodReader, reportedly the world’s top-selling PDF file management, viewing, and annotation app for iPhone and iPad, has recently released an update which adds VoiceOver compatibility.

“We are excited to be able to provide better access to documents on iPads and iPhones to those with visual or reading disabilities,” said Yuri Selukoff, president of Good.iWare. “Our aim is for GoodReader to be…

Here in the UK we have a saying that goes roughly like this - you can wait ages for a bus, to then find that 2 come along at the same time.

Replace ‘a bus’ with ‘an app to help the blind identify objects and situations that they encounter in their daily lives’, and you have what is about to happen in the iTunes App Store.

In the past few days, the respective teams behind Specular and…

Be My Eyes - helping blind see, an iPhone app which aims to connect blind users in need of assistance with sighted volunteers via video-conferencing, will be launching worldwide on January 15, 2015.

According to the Be My Eyes website, the app works as follows:

• A blind user opens the Be My Eyes app and requests assistance. Provided examples of assistance requests include determining the expiration date of milk and crossing a…

At the end of each month, members of the AppleVis Editorial Team take a look at all the apps that have been posted to the site during that month—either for the first time, or where there has been a significant update—and decide which of these they think is the most noteworthy.

The AppleVis Editorial Team app picks of the month for December 2014 are as follows:

1. Google Docs (Free)

New iOS App Directory entry (version 1.1.6); December, 2014.

From the App…

Update 13 January: 9To5Mac reports that some users - presumably those with an excessive number of refunds on file with Apple - are now receiving a notification when they attempt to make purchases. They are being prompted to agree with the dialog before they can proceed with the purchase. By doing so, they…

We are pleased to announce the results of the third annual AppleVis Golden Apple Awards.

The AppleVis Golden Apple Awards were launched in 2012 as a way for the community to recognize the best apps, products, and developers of a given year.

To be shortlisted for the Golden Apple Awards, apps must be completely accessible to blind and low vision users; they must be exceptionally good at their intended purpose; and they must have a developer who has continually demonstrated a…

We are pleased and excited to announce that voting for the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2014 is now open.

This is our community’s opportunity to acknowledge the tremendous work by developers over the past 12 months in creating great and accessible iOS and OS X applications.

The shortlist for each Award has been compiled from the nominations that were submitted by members of our community.

Voting will close at 23:59 PDT on 24 December 2014. You are not required to…

Apple today released iOS 8.1.2 as an over-the-air software update.

This update reportedly includes a number of bug fixes, including a fix for a problem regarding ringtones purchased through the iTunes Store. Apple advises users who have lost ringtones to restore them by visiting https://itunes.com/restore-tones from their iOS devices.

iOS 8.1.2 was not seeded to developers before being released to the public, so we do not know at…

At the end of each month, members of the AppleVis Editorial Team review all of the apps that have been posted to the site during that month--either for the first time, or where there has been a significant update--and decide which of these they think is the most noteworthy.

The AppleVis Editorial Team app picks of the month for November 2014 are as follows:

1. Dropbox

Updated to version 3.5.2 (now at version 3.6); November, 2014.

"Dropbox lets you bring all…

Intro

As most of you know by now, iOS8 brought with it a huge feature: the ability to type in braille anywhere you can type on an on-screen keyboard. From your passcode, to passwords, to emails, to Spotlight searches, and everywhere else, a single twist of the rotor is all it takes to start typing braille. You can even use it on your Home Screen, to locate and open any app…