iOS 26 and iPadOS 26: A Summary of VoiceOver and Braille Issues and Improvements

Important Update: Multiple AppleVis community members have reported loss of speech upon updating to iOS 26. (See: https://www.applevis.com/comment/195382#comment-195382 and https://www.applevis.com/comment/195385#comment-195385.) It is unclear to us if there are any common factors (such as use of a particular voice, etc.) that produce this situation. We will update this post if more information becomes available.

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 were released to the public on Monday, September 15, 2025. This post contains a summary of new bugs and fixes impacting VoiceOver and Braille support that we have independently validated during our use and testing of these releases.

The information contained in this post is compiled from our own use and testing of iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 during the beta period from June to September 2025; as well as from reports submitted by others through our Community Bug Program. Our sincere appreciation goes to everyone who so generously took the time to share their findings with us.

As is our routine practice, each bug in this post has been given a severity rating. These ratings are based upon what we believe to be the implications for accessing and using features and functionality for the average user; the level of impact on the overall user experience; and whether or not there is an effective workaround for the issue. However, as these ratings are subjective to an extent, it is very possible that they may not reflect your own opinion or use case. With this in mind, we strongly recommend reading this full post and any replies before updating to iOS 26 and iPadOS 26; as we believe this will help you make an informed decision on whether to install the software at the current time or to wait for a future release.

While we are confident in the status of issues contained in this post, we do not claim that our bug list is definitive or that our assessments are infallible. Some issues may manifest only under specific conditions; this is all the more likely as software continues to add more features and the number of devices, available configurations, and use cases in Apple's ecosystem continues to grow. You likely will not experience every bug that we list, and you likely will not agree with every severity rating for the bugs that you do experience. While we wish it were otherwise, this is to be expected. And as is the nature with all software, it is also likely that you will encounter issues that we did not experience during our own testing and daily use of these releases. This was certainly the case for us when attempting to validate reports received through the Community Bug Program. Just because we do not list an issue in this post does not mean it does not exist; it simply means that we are unaware of or were unable to independently validate it.

To ensure the information here is as complete and accurate as possible, we would appreciate input from those who have installed iOS 26 or iPadOS 26. Please confirm if you are encountering the same problems listed or if you have found workarounds. Please also let us know about any additional issues not mentioned here. Of course, it is even more important that you report any new bugs directly to Apple - they are already aware of the ones listed here. For an explanation of why and how to report bugs to Apple, see this post.

With all of the preamble out of the way, here are the new bugs for VoiceOver and Braille users which we have personally experienced and believe to be present in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26:

Serious Bugs

• In Braille Access, Live Captions does not work with FaceTime or FaceTime Audio calls. We are not aware of any workaround for this issue at this time.

Moderate Bugs

• When typing with a Perkins-style keyboard, typed characters are sometimes missed. In our experience, this happens most regularly in the Mail app. As a workaround, we recommend typing text in the Braille Notes app in Braille Access and then pasting them into the desired app. The Notes app also has shown to drop fewer characters in our testing.
• In WhatsApp, if VoiceOver is on, the Message Actions menu (which includes Reactions) disappears before it can be interacted with. We are listing this as an iOS 26 VoiceOver issue because it is not present on iOS 18. While some message actions are available through the VoiceOver Actions Rotor, we are not aware of a workaround for message reactions.
• When focusing on an episode on the homepage of the TV app and double-tapping to play it, that episode's context menu is revealed instead. To play the episode, select "Go to episode" from this menu, and then select an option under the "how to watch" heading.
• In the Games app, the buttons for individual games under the 'Continue Playing' heading are unlabeled.
• On occasions, custom VoiceOver labels that were previously deleted are re-added. We are not aware of any workaround for this issue at this time.
• On Occasions, VoiceOver Fails to Indicate the Presence of Notifications on the Lock Screen When the Device is Woken. The presentation of this issue is very inconsistent, with no user-discernable pattern or cause. In our experience, locking and re-waking the screen will usually work to have VoiceOver announce the presence of notifications if there are any; and notifications are also accessible by swiping through the Lock Screen.

Minor Bugs

• When using Braille Access, if no folders have been created, attempting to move a BRF file or braille note will crash the app. We recommend creating a folder prior to attempting to move a BRF file or braille note.
• When VoiceOver's Audio Ducking feature is enabled, Keyboard sounds do not play as expected when typing or deleting text. To regain keyboard sounds, disable Audio Ducking in Settings> Accessibility> VoiceOver> Audio> Audio Ducking.
• When using Safari's "Top" view, the button in the toolbar to show bookmarks is labeled as "Bookmark" instead of "show bookmarks." This button appears to be labeled correctly when using the "bottom" view.
• When using Sleep Mode with iPhone and Apple Watch and the alarm is set to go off on Apple Watch, the iPhone wakes and VoiceOver speaks just prior to the alarm starting on the Watch. To work around this issue, turn off VoiceOver on the iPhone prior to going to sleep.
• It is not possible to dismiss the Player controls in the TV app when VoiceOver is enabled. To dismiss the Player controls, temporarily turn off VoiceOver and tap a blank space on the screen.
• When adding or editing a Rotor voice, VoiceOver can sometimes become sluggish. As an alternative to the Edit Voice screen, we recommend changing Rate and other settings via the Rotor where available.

More Bugs

In addition to the aforementioned bugs, members of the AppleVis community have shared their findings and experiences with the Release Candidates of the '26' releases on the AppleVis Forum. Alongside any comments to this post, the above-linked topic captures use cases and experiences outside of our own and is worth a read for those seeking as complete of a picture as possible.

Improvements for VoiceOver and Braille in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26

To the best of our knowledge, Apple does not routinely publish lists of bug fixes for VoiceOver or braille across releases; thus, it is difficult to get a complete accounting of every issue that has been resolved or what fixes users can expect to see upon upgrading to iOS 26 or iPadOS 26. With this in mind, our testing suggests that the following issues present in iOS/iPadOS 18 have been resolved or meaningfully improved in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26:

• When using the App Switcher, VoiceOver now only closes the app in focus.
• The Eloquence speech synthesizer now uses the proper inflection when speaking and encountering a comma.

Thank You to Community Bug Program Participants

In 2025, AppleVis launched the Community Bug Program; with the goal of creating a way for members of the community to contribute to our bug tracking and software releases by sharing their findings with us upon reporting them to Apple. We would like to thank all those who participated in our Community Bug Program during the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 beta cycles. Our testing and reporting efforts, including in this post, are more complete and comprehensive because of your efforts. While we were not able to independently validate every issue that was shared with us (see the introduction of this post about the increasing fragmentation of the user experience across Apple platforms), our appreciation for your efforts remains the same. In addition to those who requested to remain anonymous, we would like to recognize and thank the following contributors for sharing iOS and iPadOS reports with us:

• Ayub
• Christopher Hallsworth
• Cliff Isaksen
• Dennis Long
• Emily Chia
• Jesse Anderson
• Jim Pickens
• Joaquin Garcia-Cano
• KE8UPE
• Mahmood
• Mani L
• Nikola Jović
• Pisces
• Ricardo da Silva Brandão
• Satyanarayana
• Selvarajan
• Seamus Jackson

In Conclusion

Our team has compiled lists of new accessibility bugs for every major iOS and iPadOS release since iOS 7. No software is completely free of bugs. With this in mind, when evaluating these releases against recent years, we believe that iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 compare favorably. Keeping in mind that everyone's use case is unique and there are no right or wrong answers, below are our general iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 upgrade recommendations based on use case:

• VoiceOver-Only Users: For most VoiceOver-only users, we believe that iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 represent a safe upgrade.
• Braille Users: Braille users may wish to hold off upgrading for now, due to the aforementioned issues with text sometimes not being captured when typing in Mail and other apps. Note that the new Braille Notes app in Braille Access provides a workaround for this issue.
• Low Vision Users: As iOS 26 includes a new Liquid Glass user interface redesign, we recommend that low vision users try iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 on a secondary device prior to installing it on their daily driver. We also recommend that users explore the available transparency options by navigating to Settings> Accessibility and scrolling down through the options under the 'Vision' heading.

If you have not already upgraded to iOS 26 or iPadOS 26, we would strongly recommend that you take a few moments to read through any replies to this post before doing so; in case other users' experiences differ from our own. Also, consider that historically, Apple has delivered fixes for many accessibility bugs within the first few x.x.1 updates following major releases, and waiting briefly may allow Apple to resolve any initial problems reported after the public release.

In the event that you do encounter an issue that is particularly bothersome, there are some troubleshooting steps you can take. Sometimes, simply toggling VoiceOver off and on again or restarting your device can resolve some issues that may arise following an OS update. Therefore, we highly recommend including these steps as part of your standard troubleshooting process.

In iOS 26, Apple introduced a new option to reset all VoiceOver settings. If restarting VoiceOver and/or your device does not resolve the issue, it might be worth considering a reset of your VoiceOver Settings; to do this, navigate to Settings> Accessibility> VoiceOver> Reset VoiceOver Settings. While this approach requires manually reconfiguring your customized VoiceOver settings, we have heard of multiple instances where a VoiceOver settings reset resolved issues during the iOS 26 beta cycle. This suggests that occasionally, problems can be attributed to local factors rather than being OS bugs.

Finally, when commenting below, please keep the discussion focused on accessibility issues specifically introduced or fixed in iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. Our release posts tend to be widely read and garner many helpful responses, so it is all the more important that readers can easily find relevant information.

Also, please remember that upgrade decisions are personal, with each user's situation unique - there is no right or wrong choice. Comments criticizing others' decisions are not constructive and do nothing to add to the discussion; but they do set a negative tone and get in the way of readers finding helpful information. Furthermore, not experiencing an issue yourself does not mean that it doesn't exist for others, as bugs can be configuration-specific. Stating that an issue doesn't exist simply because you haven't encountered it is unhelpful. Our aim with these posts is to provide a forum for respectful, constructive, and honest sharing of experiences that inform decisions and empower people.

In closing, we would like to publicly thank Apple's Accessibility Team for their attention to our reports during the beta cycle. Our experience is that a majority of the issues we reported during the beta cycle were resolved. We encourage Apple to prioritize quickly fixing the bugs listed in this post, as well as those on The AppleVis Bug Tracker.