What are your thoughts on iOS 18? What would you like to see in terms of functionality and accessibility?

I prefer that Apple focus on making sure VO works well instead of getting new features that people will play with it and later stop using. VO had not have major update since it came out. I am not talking of the new voices but how VO manages the apps. I want Apple to focus more on making sure the AI or whatever they going to call it to work well with VO. More likely is that those of us who use VO will have issues or bugs with AI. Every year Apple throw a bone to the disable community about accessibility and people are happy yet bugs continue and VO and Siri get worse.

Agree, just now voiceover won’t read by letter, it just makes the sound but doesn’t say anything

I don't know how much useful something like this will be. I generally find anything to do with voice commands not that exciting because if you use your device a lot in public settings, voice commands are not exactly the coolest way to go about, and hense don't add to efficiency or productivity.

Using voice commands to control apps can be a game-changer. Instead of dealing with clunky controls, imagine just talking to your phone to get things done.

On TikTok, scrolling can be a pain because it's too sensitive. It'd be nice to have Siri in the app to help out.

While Siri can search for TikTok videos, not all apps can do that. For example, Disney+ doesn't support it.

And wouldn't it be cool to share a video on WhatsApp by just saying, "Share this video with [insert name] on WhatsApp" while watching it?

I'm sure there's a lot more you could do, but this is just off the top of my head.

I get that some people don't like that apple has bugs but saying Voiceover doesn't have updates is just wrong. What about screen recognition? Text recognition too, that didn't exist in the old days of Voiceover, trust me.

VO has gone through fixes but nothing major. We still have bugs, VO does not work well, we have focus issues. The 2 features that you mention do not work well and when you use it, it tend to affect VO so you have to turn it off and restart the phone. I had been using iPhone since iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 6, 7, Xs, 11 pro max, 12 pro and now 12 pro.

I hope they can bring back to high quality voices.
some of the voices just down to 40 MB.
but, the original is 90 MB... something like it...

hope the siri will be more clever ..

I've probably expressed my gratitude for the Voice Control accessibility feature before, because I physically rely on it a lot. So usually I find vocal things handy. That said, people who use Voice Control already have the ability to toggle accessibility features by voice; there's a list of voice commands for that. And you can rename them, too, though it's roundabout. You just ask Voice Control to start recording a command, then say the original command (e.g. "Turn on VoiceOver") but then name the command something else in the phrase field, like just "VoiceOver" if you want. I've shortened a few VoiceOver voice commands this way; for instance, "VoiceOver select next rotor option" became "Next option."

But I guess it might be useful for people who don't want to be running Voice Control all the time, which makes sense. As far as voice commands go, I wouldn't mind a few more VoiceOver commands as a minor feature request. Like, there's a command to tell VoiceOver to stop speaking, but not one to resume, which seems illogical. But I don't know how likely more voice commands would be when VoiceOver by normal touch is already buggy.

All that may be true but saying voiceover hasn't had any updates since it was launched is just wrong.

I don't know what's wrong with your phones but when i've used the features I've had no issues.

I do not consider the new features to be part of VO. VO itself has not got any major update. However you are free to believe what you want. I think we will disagree and just move on. Thanks.

I'm now working on the third edition of my Personal Power guide for blind iPhone users. It will very likely exceed four hundred thousand words. Much of that length is spent explaining aspects of iOs and VoiceOver. Apple could make learning VoiceOver much less of a challenge if they added a tutorial bringing users up to at least a basic level of competence before they started using their devices in earnest. That in itself would do so much good for beginners who don't yet know where to turn for help.
We should be at a point now where people don't have to worry that something basic which they could easily do before updating will suddenly become harder or outright impossible after installing the latest operating system. Bugs in brand new features are bound to happen no matter how careful a company is. However, people should at least be able to have some certainty that they won't regret updating because they'll then find that it's impossible to make phone calls without losing VoiceOver speech when you hang up. Braille users shouldn't have to worry about losing critical functionality of how their Braille displays work with their iPhones. There should be a solid floor of functionality below which we can't sink, but sadly, that isn't yet the case.
Awareness of accessible apps is the last piece of the puzzle that I do my best to help with through my book. Once again, Apple could do a far better job of this with its resources than I can ever hope to working alone. For sighted people, the app store does a lot to advertise apps. There are top charts, feature articles, sections to help you fine-tune your searches for those apps or games which will meet your needs. For blind users, I usually recommend they go to Applevis and search the app directory or subscribe to tech podcasts and social media to find out about apps which are accessible with VoiceOver. The vast majority of the millions of apps out there aren't accessible. This turns all of the helpful curative aids and categorical searches into minefields of almost certain disappointment for blind users. I particularly feel for beginners who may try a number of times, perhaps even spending money on apps they find which seem promising, only to have their hope and optimism smashed out of them bit by bit. Somehow, without blocking people from trying new apps which might be accessible, Apple needs to find a way of directing people using VoiceOver towards apps which work well with it. Perhaps, some sort of on off switch for limiting search results to apps known to work with VoiceOver or which are self-voicing and don't need it for blind people to use them. Perhaps, a far larger constantly updated collection of apps which could be browsed through which work well with VoiceOver. Efforts like this would do a ton of good for people who aren't connected enough or perhaps don't even know about the wider community of blind users and the resources available online.

I want a new AI-based virtual assistant that would outperform existing SIRI. Here are a few things I'd like my new smart assistant to be able to do.

• Turn on or turn off lock rotation.
• Turn on or turn off silence unknown callers.
• Open phone settings.
• Find the checkbox and select it. Or better yet, agree to the terms and conditions.
• Find and open the hamburger menu.
• Solve the CAPTCHA puzzle.

Agree and make coffee.

I know we're a global community, so maybe some aren't familiar with these companies. Both Verizon (for cell service) and Xfinity (my ISP) make it incredibly difficult to do pretty much anything with my account online, which means I always end up calling a service representative. And for any change I make, I have to acknowledge that change with a digital signature. Here's how it works. They text me a link. I have to select it. Safari opens. I have to read through the boilerplate text enough to at least find the checkboxes and select them, usually multiple checkboxes. Once they're all checked, a continue button becomes active, and I have to select it. This is a task that an AI-driven smart assistant should be able to perform on my behalf.

And make coffee.

Almost every screen reader I’ve used has a tutorial, jaws, NVDA, and talkback all have some form of a tutorial that you can go through, voiceover needs this

We already have several third-party apps designed to teach kids and adults how to use VoiceOver, which means two things at once:
1. Apple could make something similar so easily, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a game.
2. It is the very lack of this that makes third-party developers attempt at filling this gap.

I hope that voice over will have AI that can help us to play mainstream games...

Perhaps people could recommend that to the accessibility people through [email protected]

Also, NVDA has a tutorial?

While NVDA has a fair amount of user-facing documentation, from a quick start guide to a user guide to a command list, I do not believe it has an interactive tutorial like VoiceOver on macOS or TalkBack on Android.

how about 4 fingers double tap

The four finger double tap gets you into practice mode. There, you can practice making gestures or try keyboard commands an hear what they do. That's absolutely vital and helpful, but it doesn't actually teach and inform you about the gestures or give you context about when to use them. A tutorial would explain the VoiceOver screen reader to new users and give them the experience and information needed to start using their iPhones with VoiceOver. That's the big missing piece. I've suggested it to Apple accessibility more than once over the years. I think part of the problem is that it's so intuitive for people with sight who can see what they're tapping and swiping on. Things simply can't be that intuitive for blind people. There'll always be a learning curve.

A tutorial would be great but convincing apple of that fact is the issue. Maybe I'm asking too much but by now any AI powered assistant should be able to delete emails or text messages, while making coffee...

If Apple has not done one, they will not do so. I have a better chance that becoming ruler of the world than Apple doing so.

What I would like to be able to do is, add multiple calendar entry is at once. I would like to be able to submit a list to her and have her put every day and time on that list into my calendar.
Doing multiple tasks and once would be great.
If I could have a conversation where I was telling her what I would like😭, for example adding a few reminders then adding a few entries creating a note.
Basically the ability to have everything I say in one conversation done. No matter if I say several things at once.
Having to make every entry individually can be tedious especially if you have 20 or 30 things to add at the beginning of each month.
A first world problem you might say but since I can see the capability is not that far off this is what I would choose to ask for.

To me, a better screen recognition feature would do a lot. I can't see that it has improved since it was launched a few years ago. But now with better recognition, AI and all that sort of stuff that has come a long way since this was introduced, should help a lot.
For the most, this feature is almost useless.
Even if such an improvement only would be accessible on the iPhone 16 lineup, it would be a thing.

Oh I doubt we'll be hearing 11labs on our phones but I'm sure apple has something in the works, if they don't I'd be shocked with the amount of awesome AI nural network tts's out there these days.

I must say, I am quite concerned about iOS 18.
I'd like to point out before I dive in that this is probably not entirely accurate. As such, I'm trying to get this from legit sources. Take everything here with a grain of salt.
Apple is planning a redesign. No, I do not mean a new homescreen or widgets. Apparently, since iOS 7, Apple has kept the same flat layout. However, ever since the launch of visionOS, their plan is to change the design of iOS completely, with more in-depth icons and a newer look system-wide.
I feel like this would break VoiceOver even further, and considering its quirky state right now, I'm not sure what will happen when iOS 18 rolls around.
Also, Siri is apparently getting a massive, and I mean massive redesign. Apple has finally decided to make Siri AI-based, giving way more accurate results and no longer acting like a broken assistant who does not know anything.
Spotlight is also receiving a massive update, where it will have the ability to not only search for apps and web snippets. It will actually be able to pull from apps themselves. I wonder how this would go, imagine opening a book from BARD. It would be quite an upgrade.
I would like to remind anyone reading this comment that these are simply rumors and/or leaks. Apple is bound to make changes, hold off on features, and not implement them altogether. So keep your eyes and ears open for more accurate content, such as the WWDC which is coming up surprisingly fast.

I don't think any redesign or overhall of IOS would affect us negatively in long run. In short run, it would be bugs galore for sure.
All I want is a consistant, reliable, always available back jesture. Siriously, Android gets it right. This Z with 2 fingers is not always working in every app or screen.
I also want IOS to implement notifications the way it has been done on Android. Granular controle over what kind of notifications the app can send. I don't want my ride booking apps sending notifications about any new offers, but I want them to send me notifications on my ride status. On IOS, it's currently allow all notifications from this app, or disallow all notifications. Crazy!
I also want Apple pay to work in my country, but that's another topic probably.

I would like to see voiceover be more stable, I just did get a new iPad today for free, it’s an iPad 9 64 GB storage, I would also like apple to add angle gestures and back and forth gestures like android, being to move apps where ever on the Home Screen would be awesome too

Apple is in discussions with Google to integrate its Gemini AI engine into the iPhone as part of iOS 18, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

So make of that what you want. So far, it does appear that Apple is behind its competitors in the AI implementations, but let's see, iOS 18 may hopefully surprise us.

I would absolutely love if Apple would invest more time in fixing long-standing bugs and defficiencies instead of constantly releasing new features and unexpectedly changing the UI.

I am happy with the functionality of iOS since roughly 5 years. But I know long-standing VoiceOver bugs which exist much longer then that.

So, if iOS 18 were a bug and security-fix only release, I'd be thrilled. However, that will unfortunately never happen.

Nope. Sadly not. Apple really only cares about fixing things in the minor versions or patches, and not the main version.

Hi. If Siri is getting a massive over hall then great. We will see how AI is implemented here. Siri is in need of an improvement. My wish is for it to delete emails and VMs and to be more in line with Alexa's capabilities. I agree apple is behind when it comes to AI.

Right now, we are able to delete the app but keep its documents and data. I would like to see the ability to actually keep the app, but delete its documents and data.

I really look forward to that. I like learning new things.

I'm not so excited about Gemini. I tried it and it can't search for videos and when it does it gives you dead links but we'll see what happens.

I would first and formoast like the vocalizer voices to be the way they were pre-iOS16.
I would also like it if VoiceOver could overall be more responsive, like macOS Sonoma. When I press control+option+right or left on mac, VoiceOver immediately speaks the option selected, while after you swipe on iOS, it takes a bit longer for VoiceOver to respond aspecially on headphones. I would over all like things to be more responsive.
If apple can do all that, then maybe add some ai image descriptions, and while you're at it, add screen recognition and automatic immage descriptions to macOS as well.
and another thing, everyone is so obsessed with calling siri dum.. I personally don't think she's dum, but she used to be better. In older versions, you could say something like "open music settings", and it would work. Now, she says "Sorry, I can't do that," even though she could if she so choosed to.
another option I would like to see is the ability to change the siri voice to something besides the voices apple say are "Siri" Voices. I feel like a voice like Alex or maybe Nicky or even Samantha for old time sake would sound nicer to me rather than the AI stuff we put up with now.
These are just thaughts. We will see if one or any of these changes get implamented into iOS.

I'd like to see tons of bug fixes around Braille. I've seen a lot less of the input translation system freeze when I'm typing lately, but it does still happen. I'd also love to be able to perform Siri Shortcuts with a Braille display. I'd also love better image descriptions, and if possible, a description engine that runs fast enough so that I could have Youtube videos, or games, described at least near realtime. I kinda feel like maybe a smaller model with Apple's iPhone 16 Pro could come close. We'll see just how wild they get with their AI though.

I have the feeling it will be similar to what google or galaxy uses. Whether is accessible that is the question.

As long as there are no major bugs, like, they don't break something that works right now, I'm excited to see what they come up with. I think that videos and games are too dynamic, too fast-paced, to be described, but that would be nice. It would be great if the engine could give us an overview of what is happening in the video, and then we tell them what we want to hear described in more detail. This would ideally work for shorter videos, such as music videos.

Honestly I could care less about the new stuff they're working on. I would commit a crime if it would get the larger font sizes to stop breaking just about every app when you use them and I am so very sick of the Voiceover focus bug that has just about bricked my phone at this point. Fix what used to work first!

I would love for them to finally fix the focus issue. It's been so long that I almost forget what it's like to double tap the screen and have the correct item activated. I don't even recall which was the last version of iOS where this was stable and behaved normally. Case in point... I've just tried to save this twice, and both times, the wrong button was activated.

I would love for there to be a way to clear system storage, and other storage directly from the iPhone. I would also like to be able to delete the documents and data from an application, without actually deleting the application. Even if we don't have control over it on the device, whenever there's a new update, I think that should be cleared automatically. There's no reason that these storage methods should take up to 10 GB of data. I understand that we need certain components in the background to keep the device functioning correctly, but then the advertisement for storage is incorrect. If you purchase a device with 100 GB of storage, and when you open up the device, 30 GB is already being used for the system to work correctly, you're not actually getting 100 GB of storage. Yes, we have devices that go up to 500 GB now, but not everybody has that capacity. The more storage you want, the more money you have to pay for it. Believe it or not, some people still have 64 GB of space, and why are we paying for extra storage when other devices have memory cards that can be inserted for free? iCloud is not so bad, because if I remember correctly, I think there was a one off lifetime purchase for $350 where you could get a set amount of storage, and it's not monthly-based, so that solved that issue. Well, I'm not entirely sure about this. I can't seem to find that option anymore, but I thought something must have existed like this at one time. Anyway, don't come for me. I know that this is a necessary evil, but, still. It's beyond frustrating. Even if I, supposedly, had 128 GB of storage, sometimes, the system storage is taking up 10 GB of the storage, and, other, whatever that is, is taking up another 10 GB. My device might not even be able to access some of the features that come out, so maybe it shouldn't be using that storage capacity. Some of the components on the device are really for the visual aesthetics, which I don't need, so it would be nice if I could delete them.

personally, I’m a tiny bit underwhelmed. Most of the features mention this year are around AI, but nearly most, devices won’t really be able to support half of these AI features.