From iPhone 8 to 14 Pro: Accessibility Improvements
By Misty Dawn, 17 May, 2023
Forum
Hardware and Accessories
Now that I have an iPhone 14 Pro after having moved from an 8, I was wondering what the various accessibility improvements were from the one to the other and where I can find a good run-down of them.
The iPhone 8 could still use the current IOS, so there are really no accessibility improvements. Sure, the new cameras can do some interesting stuff with the right software, but in every-day use, it is the same old with one less button and more gestures to learn.
VoiceOver will no longer crash and restart randomly because of the new Neural Engine
VoiceOver Recognition support
Magnifier app provides access to all detection modes: door detection, people detection and image description (When iOS 17 comes out, the new Point and Speak feature as well)
Dynamic Island provides quicker access to background activities like Timers and Music playback
Screen curtain saves a lot of battery life as the iPhone now uses an OLED panel
Improved dictaction and speech recognition including on-device processing
Make sure you turn off wall paper off on display. It reduces battery. Is on setting and brightness. Now you can hear your phone restart whenever you ask siri to restart your phone. This year I had no issues with VO regarding crashes or anything else. Only issue is when I use messanger VO starts to describe images. Need to turn off VO and up to stop this. I think is a bugg but not sure VO or facebook.
The problem is that all the new stuff is powered by the neural engine. Those phones which don't have this NPU (Neural Processing Unit) available, won't work right in all places. Currently, these are iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. On all those devices, you should encounter the "VoiceOver crash" issue. On all devices newer than the iPhone X, which are powered by an A12 or newer, the problems should not occur.
The key element of VoiceOver crashing on older devices than the iPhone XS is the new TTS engine which works with AI algorithms. On all A11-powered devices, the necessary Neural Unit is missing and VoiceOver crashes.
Plenty of users with iPhone 13, such as myself, have the Voiceover crashing and restarting issue, if that's the one you're referring to. I can't recall whether anyone with the 14 pro has had it but it's definitely not the case that you're immune from it if you have an 11 or above.
My 14 pro max is crashing and losing focus sometimes every minute or so. No neural engine is definitely not the problem. I’ve also cleared the storage down to under 50% full on a 256GB phone so its not that either.
The key element of VoiceOver crashing on older devices than the iPhone XS is the new TTS engine which works with AI algorithms. On all A11-powered devices, the necessary Neural Unit is missing and VoiceOver crashes.
Then please answer why my iPhone SE 2022 is crashing every couple of minutes?
The constant crashing issue followed by screen curtain on and focus at the top is nothing to do with the mural engine being absent. I have a 14 Pro Max which has this exact problem.
It seems like most people encountering these crashes are using a varient of a Siri voice, though I understand that's not always the case. Bottom line: you will still have that issue on the new phone, but everything will certainly load faster and be more responsive.Also, you should have much better battery life. I hope yu enjoy the new iPhone 14 Pro!
I am glad I commented as I did a few hours ago. i would not want someone to get the 14 pro because escaping these crashes was influential in their thinking. There are lots of other reasons to get it - I think some of the magnifier stuff both now and down the tracks is very exciting - but Voiceover crashing is a big deal. it is actually unbelievable how often it happens.
Comments
Why would there be any?
The iPhone 8 could still use the current IOS, so there are really no accessibility improvements. Sure, the new cameras can do some interesting stuff with the right software, but in every-day use, it is the same old with one less button and more gestures to learn.
Few improvements
Here are some noteworthy advantes of the 14 Pro:
I hope I don't forgot anything.
Pro
Make sure you turn off wall paper off on display. It reduces battery. Is on setting and brightness. Now you can hear your phone restart whenever you ask siri to restart your phone. This year I had no issues with VO regarding crashes or anything else. Only issue is when I use messanger VO starts to describe images. Need to turn off VO and up to stop this. I think is a bugg but not sure VO or facebook.
iPhone 14 Pro
In my iPhone 14 Pro I have had no issues whatsoever. Apple has done a very good job overall with everything Older software will always have bugs.
The problem is that all the…
The problem is that all the new stuff is powered by the neural engine. Those phones which don't have this NPU (Neural Processing Unit) available, won't work right in all places. Currently, these are iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. On all those devices, you should encounter the "VoiceOver crash" issue. On all devices newer than the iPhone X, which are powered by an A12 or newer, the problems should not occur.
The key element of VoiceOver crashing on older devices than the iPhone XS is the new TTS engine which works with AI algorithms. On all A11-powered devices, the necessary Neural Unit is missing and VoiceOver crashes.
iPhone 13 and I still have it
Plenty of users with iPhone 13, such as myself, have the Voiceover crashing and restarting issue, if that's the one you're referring to. I can't recall whether anyone with the 14 pro has had it but it's definitely not the case that you're immune from it if you have an 11 or above.
14 Pro Max.
My 14 pro max is crashing and losing focus sometimes every minute or so. No neural engine is definitely not the problem. I’ve also cleared the storage down to under 50% full on a 256GB phone so its not that either.
iPhone SE crashing
The key element of VoiceOver crashing on older devices than the iPhone XS is the new TTS engine which works with AI algorithms. On all A11-powered devices, the necessary Neural Unit is missing and VoiceOver crashes.
Then please answer why my iPhone SE 2022 is crashing every couple of minutes?
Crashing issue
I refer to the issue that VoiceOver suddenly restarts and say "Screen curtain on" if enabled. Maybe you mean another issue?
Well that happens on my SE, 2022
The SE has the neural ship, so it’s not about the neural chip
Again, thats not whats going on.
The constant crashing issue followed by screen curtain on and focus at the top is nothing to do with the mural engine being absent. I have a 14 Pro Max which has this exact problem.
TTS causing the crashes?
It seems like most people encountering these crashes are using a varient of a Siri voice, though I understand that's not always the case. Bottom line: you will still have that issue on the new phone, but everything will certainly load faster and be more responsive.Also, you should have much better battery life. I hope yu enjoy the new iPhone 14 Pro!
It happens to me using every voice, Weber’s contact or high quao
This bug is really disappointing
I am glad i said what I said though
I am glad I commented as I did a few hours ago. i would not want someone to get the 14 pro because escaping these crashes was influential in their thinking. There are lots of other reasons to get it - I think some of the magnifier stuff both now and down the tracks is very exciting - but Voiceover crashing is a big deal. it is actually unbelievable how often it happens.
Cause I never ever get the latest devices
I don’t care about flashy hardware. If I want an iPhone, I’ll get an iPhone 11 or iPhone 12