Apple Releases iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2; Bringing Apple Music Voice Plan, App Privacy Report, New Safety Features, and Bug Fixes

By AppleVis, 13 December, 2021

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Apple has today released iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 to the public.

Our experience is that the following accessibility bugs have been resolved or significantly addressed in iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2:

Additionally, members of our community have reported that the issue with Zoom sensitivity on iPhone 13 models is resolved in iOS 15.2.

According to iDownloadBlog, the following Siri commands have been reintroduced in iOS 15.2:

  • Do I have any voicemails?
  • Play my voicemail messages
  • Check my call history
  • Check my recent calls
  • Who called me?
  • Send an email
  • Send an email to [person]

Since the release of iOS 15.0, Siri had been responding to these commands with “Sorry, I can’t help with that“.

At the time of writing we are unaware of any new bugs or regressions for blind and low vision users in these releases.

As we always stress, we can make no claims on the completeness or accuracy of our testing. We are only a small team, and it is simply impossible for us to test all devices, configurations, applications, and use cases. Accordingly, to help us ensure that the information on this page is as complete and accurate as possible, please let us know in the comments of any additional fixes; enhancements; or regressions that you find in your own use of iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2.

iOS 15.2 Release Notes

iOS 15.2 adds Apple Music Voice Plan, a new subscription tier that provides access to music using Siri. This update also includes the App Privacy Report, new safety features for children and parents in Messages, and other features and bug fixes for your iPhone.

Apple Music Voice Plan

  • Apple Music Voice Plan is a new subscription tier that gives you access to all songs, playlists, and stations in Apple Music using Siri
  • Just Ask Siri suggests music based on your listening history and likes or dislikes
  • Play it Again lets you access a list of your recently played music

Privacy

  • App Privacy Report in Settings lets you see how often apps have accessed your location, photos, camera, microphone, contacts and more during the last seven days, as well as their network activity

Messages

  • Communication safety setting gives parents the ability to enable warnings for children when they receive or send photos that contain nudity
  • Safety warnings contain helpful resources for children when they receive photos that contain nudity

Siri and Search

  • Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight, and Safari Search to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations

Apple ID

  • Digital Legacy allows you to designate people as Legacy Contacts so they can access your iCloud account and personal information in the event of your death

Camera

  • Macro photo control for switching to the Ultra Wide lens to capture macro photos and videos can be enabled in Settings on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

TV app

  • Store tab lets you browse, buy, and rent movies and TV Shows all in one place

CarPlay

  • Enhanced city map in Apple Maps with road details like turn lanes, medians, bike lanes, and pedestrian crosswalks for supported cities

This release also includes the following enhancements for your iPhone:

  • Hide My Email is available in the Mail app for iCloud+ subscribers to create unique, random email addresses
  • Find My can locate iPhone for up to five hours when in Power Reserve
  • Stocks allows you to view the currency for a ticker and see year-to-date performance when viewing charts
  • Reminders and Notes now allow you to delete or rename tags

This release also includes bug fixes for your iPhone:

  • Siri may not respond while VoiceOver is running and iPhone is locked
  • ProRAW photos may appear overexposed when viewing in third-party photo editing apps
  • HomeKit scenes that include a garage door may not run from CarPlay when your iPhone is locked
  • CarPlay may not update Now Playing information for certain apps
  • Video streaming apps may not load content on iPhone 13 models
  • Calendar events may appear on the wrong day for Microsoft Exchange users

How to Update

iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 are available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings > General > Software Update) via Finder on a Mac with macOS Catalina or later, or via iTunes on a PC or Mac with macOS Mojave or earlier.

Before updating, we strongly recommend making a full and complete backup of your device (either locally or in iCloud, depending on personal preference). This will ensure that, in the unlikely event that something goes wrong during the update process, you will have a current backup on hand in case a device restore becomes necessary. Also, if using OTA update, we recommend plugging your device into a power source for the duration of the download/installation process, so as to prevent the unlikely event of your battery going dead during the update.

More information on how to update the software on your device is available on this Apple Support page.

As always, we look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences of the new features and enhancements in these releases, so please let us know by posting a comment below.

Options

Comments

By Daniel Angus M… on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

I've been using iOS 15.2 a lot. I am a beta tester, so I got the public release early. I am thankful the bug with Siri not responding running VoiceOver with the screen locked has been finally fixt. . this bug placed me since iOS 15 developer beta 1. I pay to test so it's nice and legal. I looked at the voice plan for Apple Music, it's the same price as the student plan. since I like to download music for online listening, I'll keep my annual plan. I was also looking into Apple One. I have subscriptions to most apple services, and I think I'll be getting it in the near future. this update is absolutely safe to install, for those who don't install updates or are wondering if iOS 15 is a good release from iOS 14.8.

By Jose Damian-Puga on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

In reply to by Daniel Angus M…

I agree they should include the HomePod updates because I recently updated my HomePods to the same version but it’s a good update though for iOS and other devices that run iOS 15.2

By Kelly Sapergia on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

I asked this question when the last update came out, but, to my knowledge, didn't get a response.
I'm currently using version 14.8.1, but heard--at least with the first version of 15--that sounds from clock chiming apps didn't play properly from the notification screen. I'm just wondering if this has been resolved, as I rely on this feature?

By Daniel Angus M… on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

In reply to by Kelly Sapergia

you are correct in that the first builds of iOS 15 had compatibility
problems with talking clock apps. since 15.0, the various developers have fix issues. you will be safe to update.

By Wayne Scott Jr on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

I have noticed a few things.

1. When my bluetooth drops drops from my braille display, the only way I can reconnect my braille display is to totally restart my phone. The normal ways don't work.

2. When I was in Safari (and Google), whenever I went to scroll down a page, VoiceOver and my braille display kept showing dollar signs and numbers.

can. This is a minor concern. But Siri Voice 4 doesn't say button right.

I forgot to tell you I'm using a Focus 14 5th generation braille display. I have also had the same problem (issue 1) with my BI20.

By ming on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

so, if I subscribe the apple music? can we sue the Apple Music Voice features?

By Maldalain on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

When I enter my passcode on my iPad Pro with a bluetooth keyboard I no longer can hear the clicking sound effect.

By LaBoheme on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

like the one in call history? not fixed yet? in that case, i'd better wait. stick to my update in march cycle.

By bonerobot on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Normaly I'm very Patient with Apple, but even 15.2 doesn't resolved one of very long knoewn Voiceover bugs in IOS.
For Ex. the three finger gesture isn't working correctly since 15.0, and Voiceover is still freaking out when your iPhone is connected with a Bluetooth speaker.
Both bugs which I can imagine could get fixed in a few minutes. This is very anoying.

You can keep using Apple Music just as you always have. You can ask Siri to play anything on Apple Music. The only thing the new voice plan does is lets you play Apple Music
only
by asking Siri. It sounds like you will get a limitting amount of suggestions in the music app as well as some things you've recently played, but you can't go browsing through the AM library and choose songs to play in the app, or view lyrics and music videos, listen to songs in spatial audio, or download music to play offline. I don't play Apple Music by using Siri; I prefer to browse through AM with the Music app, so this new plan isn't for me.
That said, it'll be interesting to see what the voice plan is like when the reviews come out. Will it let you access your own personal library in the music app? It sounds like a modern version of the iPod Shuffle compared to a regular iPod... history repeating itself.

Hi there, as far as I know the only app that works really well with iOS 15 and chiming apps is Westminster app which recently did get an update. Has seem to fix the issue with iOS 15 at least for me and I’m sure other people as well.

By Holger Fiallo on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Looks like the bug where voiceover reads notification when on mute is fix. Works 90%. Sometimes VO does read them.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

I was having an issue on 15.1 where there would be so much input lag on the lockscreen when voiceover was active that it was borderline unusable. That appears to be fixed now.

By Holger Fiallo on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Bug is back. I thought the bug was fix but no. Is back. I even remove the 3 people I could get calls and messages to avoid them and nothing.

By Wahid Raza on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi all, facing different and annoying issue.
When i triple click the side-button for toggle VO on Iphone, i m not able to turn it on easily
Prier IOS15.2 its normal turn VO on and off by triple click side button, but after 15.2 when triple click side button to VO on or off. I am getting a dialog page 3 opptions
Emergency SOS, power ofand medical ID. Though mentioning opptions not in sequence, but these are main opptions and very last one is cancel.
Their is no workaround to disable this dialog, if unaccedently triple click side button I’ll get light haptic feedvack and VO turn off
Now turn back it on, i should touch little up side towards bottom of screen to toch cancel button to come out that window, then VO turn on and should enter passcode.
Sorry for lenthy explanation in comment. If any one can reproduce this issue on their iphone and explain whats the exact issue and also suggest any workaround to disable the dialog screen. Cant figure out whether its a new bug or a falt from my side.
Thanks

I just triple click and VO stop and triple click again and VO came up. Check the setting for. Using 12 pro with iOS 15.2 triple click

By Maldalain on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Braille does not seem to work as it has been in the previous version. I get frequent disconnections and it is impossible reconnect unless I restart or unpair. Although the braille display connections show the device is connected.

By Adrian Wyka on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi,
Do you also have that on iOS 15.2 that during a call, when you receive a notification, the screen lights up and VoiceOver starts responding to the touch with its cheek?
My connection was broken several times because I did not manage to move the phone away and again to lock the screen, and VO randomly selected functions on the screen.
This is incredibly frustrating.
If this error is more widespread, then it should be considered very serious.

IPHone XS phone.
If you know that something is wrong with me device, please share how to fix it.

Thanks.

By Kerry Fielding on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi all. I also get the bug when connecting a Bluetooth speaker using VoiceOver. VoiceOver dips and gets louder for no apparent reason and frankly, it’s really annoying. I am using a Sonos roam speaker connected to Bluetooth when out and about on the odd occasion. The other bug I’ve noticed since iOS 15 relates to adding music to certain playlists. If I ask Siri to add a specific song to my Kerry playlist, it tells me it can’t find that playlist. This happens on HomePod mini, iPad and iPhone.

I am running the latest software on all three devices. Both bugs have been around since the introduction of iOS 15 as far as I can gather. The other thing that really irritates is the fact that now I can no longer get my battery status when asking Siri for my AirPods Max, AirPods Pro or Apple Watch. I found this a very handy feature indeed. My final issue, as far as I can see at the moment, relates to focus mode. I have a sleep focus set to start with a wind down at 10 pm on work nights. When I stop the alarm at my specified wake up time, my phone goes into do not disturb. This is definitely a new one introduced since iOS 15.2 as it was working perfectly before I updated.

By Lielle ben simon on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hello, I have this issue with VoiceOver getting loudness when my Bluetooth speaker is connected.I am using in Bose Soundlink Revolve plus.

By KE8UPE on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi,

I noticed that with my new AirPods Max.
Since this bug is related to VoiceOver, would we report it to Apple Accessability, or just the regular support line?

By Peter Holdstock on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Is anyone else finding using an iPhone 13 pro, that VoiceOver pauses briefly and then jumps elsewhere on the screen? I’m sure I’ve seen other comments about this but wondering whether to contact my network provider or Apple to see if this is an issue with my device

I get that in a couple of apps, like Photos, but I have an iPhone7. I think it's an issue with the IOS 15 update. And of course, only random devices have the bug.

Hi,

This bug is known since IOS 14.8. Apple is also aware to it and told me, that they're looking into that.
I use a Bose Soundlink speaker and if music or something else is get played on it, Voiceover is totally freaking out.
A little work around is to turn the Voiceover sound out, but the result is not the best, because it happened even then sometimes.

By Scott Davert on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Hi Wayne.
Are you using hearing aids that are connected to your iOS device? If you turn the speech off and let the connection drop from your hearing aids, do you still experience this?

Yes to both questions. I always leave my hearing aids on. But even with them off, it still happens. Also, in the mail app, the Focus will start jumping.

By Ekaj on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

I've seen the jumpy mail too, but only some of the time. It happened to me before I updated to 15.2 though. But it's definitely not a show-stopper over here, especially because I have about a gazillion old emails in that account which I've just been hanging onto. Regarding the privacy reporting feature, I checked it out in some detail a few days ago and I for one am happy that it's there.

By Dan Cook on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

So I've updated to 15.2, and all appears well apart from the slider that usually adjusts track position doesn't appear to be a slider anymore. anybody else found this?

By Dan Cook on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

SO apparently it's working as expected now. I have no idea why, maybe there are a few kinks that persist a little while after updating? either way it's working the way it should. :P

By Carter Wu on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

In addition, I will add two bugs.
1 , If you turn on the screen recognition function in an app and then turn it off, the first operation after that will not be able to use the swipe method to browse.For example, you turn on the screen recognition in the WeChat app for a while, and then turn off the screen recognition. At this time, you need to delete a WeChat conversation message record. WeChat will ask you if you want to confirm the deletion. You cannot browse to this page by swiping. The confirm or cancel button can only be completed with the help of touch browsing.However, you only need to do it once by touching and browsing, and then you can swipe and browse again.
2 , When we need to respond to an iMessage message, the response I said is to use the pre-made options of the system, such as a thumbs up. At this time, it is very likely that the message app will crash.
I am using iPhone 13 Pro.I hope this information can provide you with a reference for whether to upgrade.

By Dawn 👩🏻‍🦯 on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi! So, I've noticed one fix, and 2 bugs. First, the bugs. First off, I'm experiencing the braille bug on a Brailliant BI. 40X. The Ipad and display will freeze. Only way to get it back is to do a cold restart with powering on and holding the home button. Had to do that least 3 times since updating. Second, sometimes, voiceover lags. In particular if the display is in use. for example, I'll move to the next app on my homescreen, and it'll move there... after I count to 30. I counted, just to see how long it'd take. I have to do cold restarts there too. I have no hearing aids. It's been kind of frustrating. Been thinking about and meaning to contact Apple Accessibility, but, haven't had the time. With prepping for the Holiday and all that.
Now, to the fix! So, before, I would ask Siri to play a song and specify which app I wanted to play it on. For example, I'd say, "hey Secretary, play If these scars could speak by Citizen Soldier on YouTube Music". and she's say she was playing it, but then that I'd have to continue to YouTube Music, and then there'd be a YouTube Music button. Once I hit the button, it'd play like it should. Since 15.2, any time I've asked Siri to play a song she's played it without any need to hit buttons! Let me tell you, that's wonderful news for me! I'm using an Ipad 7th Gen. and a Brailliant BI. 40X. and I'm running the latest version of Ipad-OS, as well as the latest firmware on thebraille display.

By Lielle ben simon on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

Hi, I having the same experienceing. I use on the same device. Wen I press on "reconnect" option in the menu it works fine. I will emailing to Apple accessibility team to inform them about the problem.

By Adrianne on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 - 15:51

The following bug was mentioned in the original IOS 15 release. Can anyone tell me if it has been fixed? It would be a deal breaker for me!
• VoiceOver may not speak the labels of all Actions available on the system-wide share sheet. We understand that when this occurs, VoiceOver will simply
announce “activity” for the share sheet action rather than its title.