IOS has basically been the same since iOS7, so I feel like if accessibility isn't affected, and most likely it won't be because it's Apple, I'm ok with design changes.
I'd love for Voiceover on MacOS to get some love. Things are in a better state pre WWDC IMPO, but web could still be improved so all browser engines worked the same at least at Voiceover level.
But as long as they don't have it like the photos app redisign that camed with iOS 18 i'm good.
If they do, I might consider calling Apple and tell them the situation.
If not I will consider downgrading.
If memory serves, 2014 was the last time iOS had a significant redesign. That was when iOS 8 was released, also OSX Yosemite as well. That is when Apple took on the, "flat", design. So, a little over a decade later, and I suppose it is time for a redesign. One thing I would like to see changed, is the way Siri acts when activated via a hardware button, or software gesture. Whether you use a device with a home button, or a flagship device with the side button, seems to be a lot more sluggish than it used to be back in the day. I'd also love to have the ability to change the sound scheme that Siri uses, like how we can have our own notification sounds these days. I want dedicated controls for the different media types that iOS uses. Not just the ability to adjust volume by whatever application is in the foreground, but a dedicated control panel to control the volume for every thing media-related. Next, I want the ability to dictate during a phone call. Android can do this, and I jealously want this for my iOS. I would also like to see single use voice control actions, again this is a feature that Android has, and I desperately want this for iOS.
I think a lot of people would agree with this next one, the ability to upload ringtones to iOS without the need for GarageBand or iTunes, or whatever the equivalent is these days. The handwriting rotor feature is nice, but I would prefer a dedicated and accessible handwriting keyboard. I love being able to draw my PIN on my phone, but having to access the rotor in order to do it is just a waste of time. So a dedicated And accessible ability to do this would be awesome. Maybe an activation gesture similar to BSI? Could be interesting.
The lock rotation feature is really nice, but I would also like to see the ability to have the rotation lock be on a per app basis. Would also like to see the weird display bug with Bluetooth be fixed. What I mean by this is that I have a few Bluetooth devices, that although they are actively connected, they always say disconnected when I explore by touch with voiceover. It's not game breaking or anything, but for posterity sake, I want this issue resolved.
Would like to see the wallpaper system be redesigned again. This new system as of iOS 17 is interesting, but it is a bit wacky. I'd like it to be a little more intuitive and less confusing for future iOS updates.
What? I like color and art, don't judge me ...
Would also like to see more lock screen widgets, and have the ability to have more than just three lock screen widgets at a time on older devices, or just in general. Not including the customizable shortcuts on the newer iPhone models.
I mentioned this in another thread, but I would love it, if the back tap feature had a small haptic feedback added, so that we know when we have successfully activated those gestures. Speaking of gestures, and sorry if this offends anyone, but I would love to see the angled gestures from Android be brought to iOS. Purely as an optional feature, of course.
Focus. Want Apple to fix the ridiculousness that is VO focus. 'Nuff said!
I'm just awaiting my next upgrade cycle, when that rolls around, I will either have the new iPhone (likely an iPhone 17E or 18), or a Pixel 10 Pro or 11 Pro. 😉
It suppose to look like the Visual pro that apple tried people to get. The same type of format. Hope they focus on bugs. Apple at this time have more bugs than a NY hotel.
Supposedly there are already hints of this in the Apple sports and invites apps. I haven't tried the latter, but the former works great with VO, so right now I'm not too worried about the accessibility of a visual redesign.
It’ll be grand as we say in Ireland. A redesign isn’t high on my priority list but I’m sure it will be fine.
I like some of Brian’s requests, not least the angle gestures. And for all that is holy, yes please, fix focus wackiness.
As for switching to Android, the grass isn’t always greener, trust me.
I agree. Apple has had a great accessibility track record at least ever since I first got a Mac at the end of 2013. I'm therefore confident that this new design will be fine for us. Regarding the native sports app, I've only tested it out with speech but it is very good. This coming from someone who considers himself to only be somewhat of a sports fan at present.
I barely use the photos app in iOS 18, but I will agree that its new redesign is pretty bad, coming from a VO exclusive user.
So, if they care about accessibility, and every app doesn't become inaccessible, with buttons that VO read as "Possibly, close", or "Possibly, back", etc. I guess a redesign isn't going to hurt.
Considering the state of VO, and the amount of bugs people face (SNR, the Focus Bug, etc.), I hope apple puts a lot of time and effort into making sure that the redesign "Just works", as Steve Jobs would say.
The last major redesign was iOS 7, back in 2013.
I hope VO gets some improvements. iOS 7 felt like a step up as far as VO features.
As an example, before iOS 7, you could only have one enhanced voice, which was the default language of your device (English U.S. for me, which ment Samantha). With the release of iOS 7, you could have multiple enhanced voices on your device, as well as a bunch of other changes we take for granted.
MacOS had its redesign a year later, with macOS 10.10 Yosemite.
At first I wasn't so worried, but after looking at an old blog post and seeing some minor bugs still not fixed, it makes me wonder what we are going to expect with macOS 16.
With the release of macOS 26 and iOS 29, will we be saying, "Wow, can't believe that bug from macOS 16 and iOS 19 is still not fixed"? Only time will tell.
To those who aren't worried that accessibility might get worse, just remember the bugs from Yosemite that almost everybody forgot about that still exist in one way or another.
For me, putting brand new software on my device is a really cool experience, and so I do run the risk of show stopping bugs. That is why I dual boot macOS when testing early betas so I can have a fully functioning macOS just in case.
I still feel like Apple's focus on accessibility is declining. Remember the days of iOS 10? That felt like the golden age of Apple's accessibility for me—VoiceOver bugs were almost nonexistent.
I know that you guys like Dennis Long are diehard Apple fans, to the point where even a slight mention of Android seems to enrage you to the core. LOL. But being open-minded and critical of Apple’s treatment of accessibility isn’t wrong. In fact, I think that’s exactly what Apple needs right now, instead of pampering them with praises— so they can be reminded to stay committed to accessibility and recognize that we have the right to expect better from them.
I don’t believe Apple would completely abandon accessibility with their redesign of IOS, that is for sure, but the real question is how well they’ll maintain it.
Remember, being blind is okay—being blinded is not.
Apple has a track record of listening to user feedback. This goes for the iOS app developers as well. If you find an inaccessible app chances are pretty good they will fix it. Is Apple perfect no it could be a lot worse. The fact that accessibility was built into the vision pro says something about Apple's commitment to accessibility.
Those 1 finger angled gestures really make it a joy to operate phone with 1 hand, just like how sighted people do. I hold phone in my right hand, and with my thumb of the same hand, navigate most of the areas of the Android phone. On IOS also it's possible, but roter gesture requires 2 hands no matter what.
Even beyond that, I want more gestures. We have back-tap, how about side-tap? How about 4 finger tap on left or right edge of the screen?
VO should also think about getting detailed image descriptions with a gesture, just like Google's Talkback Gemini powered image descriptions. Current VO descriptions are great to quickly understand things, but sometimes I want more visual details without going through share-sheet.
I am sure lot of redesign is going to be focused around Siri's AI capabilities. I hope it finally get's AI capabilities of it's own rather than asking me each time if it can use Chat GPT to answer.
What Brian said in this regard is also super important, as if these AI models are not on device, Siri's responces might have some latency. So, as much as possible, on-device AI please.
And, please please, allow 15 Pro users to remap their action button to visual inteligence. If it can run Apple Inteligence, why can't it run Visual inteligence? Seems like a cheep trick to sell the latest and greatest.
Some BSI improvements as well may be? I would like BSI to stay on once turned on, even when screen goes off and turns on after pressing power button.
If you can't make Apple intelligence work for the people who upgraded thinking it would, redesign the user interface. Seems to me Apple is floundering.
I don’t think there’s any point to that message whatsoever. I can appreciate that theres frustration that there’s no meaningful tools on iOS and macOS. But it’s coming. It’ll be here in a year or two. Besides the meta glasses and the occasional ChatGPT search, what are you really using it for? And the meta glasses are very problematic. You don’t really want conversational AI without it being an actual user agent which can go online and do stuff for you. And that’s generally not out yet.
People paid for new phones partially for the Apple intelligence, and they are having problems getting it out. If I'd bought a new phone for that reason, I'd be somewhat unhappy, and if things don't get better by the introduction of the iPhone 17, I'd be really upset.
When a company attempts to do one thing, fails and pivots, you really have to wonder how strong the commitment to promises may be.
Yes, I got my 16 pro max for AI. Now we know it was never ready and Apple lie to us. Now it might come up in 2026 or not. False advertisement? Heard that the Siri new EO is the person in charge of Visual pro. Will see if he can fix it. Nuts.
Last summer, I worked a freelance tech writing gig for National Braille Press, in which I updated both their iOS books for iOS 18. A complete redesign of iOS means NBP will need to revise those manuals yet again, that paying me to include iOS 18 content was a waste of money.
It sounds like iOS 19 will be a dramatic change. Even typical iOS releases invalidate muscle memory and require users to develop new workflows. I'll repeat my oft-voiced call for a third party analysis to summarize the productivity impact on society as a whole. I suspect it would show a net loss. If technology companies were actually improving their products in a tangible way, I'd feel different. But change for the sake of marketing splash is inefficient.
As for Chris Hill's comment, I must agree with them. Apple's AI release has only demonstrated that they were leapfrogged. Rather than address Apple Intelligence's many shortcomings, which would only draw negative press to their failure, they've decided to move on with an unneeded iOS revamp. Sad.
I think it is extremely naive to buy tech based purely on what has been promised in the future unless you are prepared to accept that it might not come to pass. I had a similar thing with the Meta Ray-bans. I already had audio glasses and these felt like an upgrade on their own, but I was really after the look and ask feature and I am still waiting for that over a year later. I have to remind myself that I still use them a lot and get benefit even if one of the big selling points has not been made available to me. (Well it's worse in this case as it was available then taken away when they plugged the VPN hole but that's another story).
If you find you must upgrade your phone - maybe your old one has died for example - then I'm sure the iPhone 16 of today is a decent choice with or without Apple Intelligence. Time will tell what happens there, but it seems that many big companies are struggling with this and Apple are no exception.
As for the UI refresh, it just reminds me of Big Sur. We'd been stuck on OSX for such a long time, and Big Sur was when they finally made it MacOs 11 and it was supposed to be a really big deal and a massive overhaul etc etc. As far as I remember, the only change was that all the icons ended up looking the same. They were just big and white and hard to distinguish.
Now as a screen reader user, I don't think the user interface change will have the slightest impact on me. No doubt they will introduce a load of new bugs with it, but that's the same with each big upgrade.
I agree with @PaulMartz. When you take a system that has worked for people for years and a system that they are used to and change it dramatically, it rarely leads to a better experience unless there are dramatically new features that couldn't work with the old system.
Yes iOS has bugs, but there isn't any reason to think that a totally new UI won't have bugs of its own. In fact, it is more likely to have more bugs. Plus, as @PaulMartz indicates, we do rely on our muscle memory and learning to interact with a new UI always has its learning curve. Hopefully Apple makes this change worth while for all of its users.
As my wife always says, an OS "upgrade" isn't always and upgrade or benefit. to the end user.
Life is about change. Nothing stays the same forever. We have no idea what any of this is gonna be like. And I despise the thought that people would rather use the same boring stuff over and over again then to take a chance on something new. This could be 100 times better. And it might be 100 times worse. Isn’t it interesting that we have the opportunity to find out?
Muscle memory is silly. I get that everybody’s used to things being a certain way. It’ll take you all of a week to get used to the new way of doing things; whatever those things are gonna be. You can do it. It’s going to be OK.
When people start catching on to a government's bs, the people vote them out. The same will be for bs business practices, so Apple should be careful not to alienate users. That's all I'll say.
Well. For macOS Sequoia they said there will be deep change in the codebase, and overall we got much needed accessibility improvements with this. So why not. I'd much rather have esthetic's change rather than apple intelligence for a second year in a row, that would be to me the end of the Apple as we know it.
I won't target anyone here, but please, be mindful of what you write (including myself) and how you write it. Believing every word out of the mouth of Apple's pr and being ultra biased with apple and blind accessibility don't do anything constructive at all especially when you say if you don't like it don't use it. We must be more critical than ever with these companies... This is the deepest problem with the Apple cult and is especially worst among blind for blind.
Most of you aren’t being critical. You’re coming on a random website and saying things that have almost no substance. What? You think that if you write a post about how angry you are, then you’ve done your job? Instead of one or two of you sending feedback, it’s supposed to be 50 or 100 of you. And in that, you’re supposed to have a unified organized voice. Maybe then things would actually get fixed. Instead, almost none of you can even agree on how something is supposed to work.
They will do what they will do. And until you start sending emails by the hundred every day, every week, they’re going to assume that the vast majority of you are OK with those changes. Similarly, if only one or two of you decide to send feedback about an issue, they’re going to decide that The vast majority of you are OK with those issues. Even if they know that something is a bug.
And all of the people that are complaining about new not being great if it doesn’t serve a purpose. How many of you are going out of your minds with something like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses or glide? The meta glasses barely work. The images and videos are at best grainy. The bemy eyes volunteers eers can barely even make out what you’re pointing at. The AI itself is laughable. Glide doesn’t even have a release date. It’s almost assuredly going to be delayed into 2027. And that’s because it’s a start up and most startups delay their products. They aren’t telling you because they’re trying to procure funding. That’s why you’re not seeing any actual footage of people using things on the street in real time. It’s not ready. And it won’t be for a while. And the fact that they haven’t talked about anything for the past almost 4 months is indicative of that.
Fundamentally They’re not going to be able to live up to most of their promises simply because it’s using wheels.
Thehre new. And you guys are thinking it’s the greatest things that have ever been created. And you’re foolish. You’re all blinded by something shiny with almost no substance. There’s no objective thinking here. It’s all just emotion and impulse. Instead of saying something like let’s support each other and figure out how to use this, and let’s see if we can organize and send meaningful feedback to address the issues that are going to arise, you just sit there and type away and say fluff. And I don’t mind anger. I don’t mind frustration. I celebrate that people have the right to voice their opinion. Except that it gets exhausting having to read comment after comment about what must be or what will be or what this is or what that is without any actual critical thinking or meaningful suggestions.
Any change that implies a voiceover rewrite / revision for x or y feature or specific ui component / element is ultimately a good thing for everyone.
Reporting properly is very important, my first year or so with the mac was nothing less than horrible but I kept trying, I did less and less rant but rather feedback in mass and ovviously everything hasn't been fixed yet but iwork is amazing now, web browsing is not the car crash it was used to be on ventura and early sonoma, we got proper command customizations, cursor blinking for braille displays, mathml patch, numbers specific patch, almost 100% usable calculator with voiceover... Overall the racio for told and untold fixes in 1 year for me is incredible and that's why I'm keeping my mac.
This complaint around watchos 7 beta that vo wasn't working at all didn't deserve the backlash it got from the community (unfortunately led by a prominent and most influenceable member of the community) because
1 It was a beta and I welcome any crash from minor to major to happen
2 it was apparently explicitly told in the release note, for a public beta/dev program, there was a voiceover section just for us to be aware
3 it was a beta.
Yes, ios voiceover is more polished just because it's on a flagship and is used more. Apple has systemic problems with their feedback systems, yes, and this secrecy culture does in my opinion more harm than gooe for everyone... And there certainly are a lot of problems that are just Apple problems... But at least they still relatively value us a lot. In fact all big tech to a certain degree does an amazing job at keeping us functional with most of the core features of most of their products. Because they have enough money to invest on us long term that other companies might and do not have.
...
Hi, I agree with the prevous poster. yes, we have had some bugs, but it was no big deal for me. same goes for the beta, but the more reporting feedback the better. I'm keeping my mac as well, it's been working very well.
I have definitely missed the part where Sequoia is any better than Sonoma. I gues it depends on what you are using exactly. From my point of view, it feels generally more erratic and worse even though a couple of annoying long-standing bugs were fixed.
It will be interesting to see if this big new UI refresh is just another Big Sur and it's all just exactly the same except for minor visual differences, or if it will involve anything deeper and more fundamental. If I was a betting man I would say that us VoiceOver users will notice absolutely no difference except the usual round of new bugs.
I've always been very cynical about this kind of thing. I remember in the old Windows days "fresh new user interface" meant the buttons went flat.
Maybe Apple will introduce those lovely Microsoft ribbons across the board. Everyone loves a good ribbon, right?
Comments
I'm ready for it
IOS has basically been the same since iOS7, so I feel like if accessibility isn't affected, and most likely it won't be because it's Apple, I'm ok with design changes.
I'd love for Voiceover on MacOS to get some love. Things are in a better state pre WWDC IMPO, but web could still be improved so all browser engines worked the same at least at Voiceover level.
As long as it isn't like the photos app
I'm ready for this new design also.
But as long as they don't have it like the photos app redisign that camed with iOS 18 i'm good.
If they do, I might consider calling Apple and tell them the situation.
If not I will consider downgrading.
2014
If memory serves, 2014 was the last time iOS had a significant redesign. That was when iOS 8 was released, also OSX Yosemite as well. That is when Apple took on the, "flat", design. So, a little over a decade later, and I suppose it is time for a redesign. One thing I would like to see changed, is the way Siri acts when activated via a hardware button, or software gesture. Whether you use a device with a home button, or a flagship device with the side button, seems to be a lot more sluggish than it used to be back in the day. I'd also love to have the ability to change the sound scheme that Siri uses, like how we can have our own notification sounds these days. I want dedicated controls for the different media types that iOS uses. Not just the ability to adjust volume by whatever application is in the foreground, but a dedicated control panel to control the volume for every thing media-related. Next, I want the ability to dictate during a phone call. Android can do this, and I jealously want this for my iOS. I would also like to see single use voice control actions, again this is a feature that Android has, and I desperately want this for iOS.
I think a lot of people would agree with this next one, the ability to upload ringtones to iOS without the need for GarageBand or iTunes, or whatever the equivalent is these days. The handwriting rotor feature is nice, but I would prefer a dedicated and accessible handwriting keyboard. I love being able to draw my PIN on my phone, but having to access the rotor in order to do it is just a waste of time. So a dedicated And accessible ability to do this would be awesome. Maybe an activation gesture similar to BSI? Could be interesting.
The lock rotation feature is really nice, but I would also like to see the ability to have the rotation lock be on a per app basis. Would also like to see the weird display bug with Bluetooth be fixed. What I mean by this is that I have a few Bluetooth devices, that although they are actively connected, they always say disconnected when I explore by touch with voiceover. It's not game breaking or anything, but for posterity sake, I want this issue resolved.
Would like to see the wallpaper system be redesigned again. This new system as of iOS 17 is interesting, but it is a bit wacky. I'd like it to be a little more intuitive and less confusing for future iOS updates.
What? I like color and art, don't judge me ...
Would also like to see more lock screen widgets, and have the ability to have more than just three lock screen widgets at a time on older devices, or just in general. Not including the customizable shortcuts on the newer iPhone models.
I mentioned this in another thread, but I would love it, if the back tap feature had a small haptic feedback added, so that we know when we have successfully activated those gestures. Speaking of gestures, and sorry if this offends anyone, but I would love to see the angled gestures from Android be brought to iOS. Purely as an optional feature, of course.
Focus. Want Apple to fix the ridiculousness that is VO focus. 'Nuff said!
Sideloading
I know is crazy but I would like Apple to bring sideloading to the US in iOS 19 or a future iOS version.
if you want all of androids features then use android
I'm sorry but things like side loading will never come to android. If you like all of android's features then use it :)
I do want to
I do want to switch to Android but all my family has Apple and they don't want me to leave the Apple world.
Oh, I have been considering it, Dennis
I'm just awaiting my next upgrade cycle, when that rolls around, I will either have the new iPhone (likely an iPhone 17E or 18), or a Pixel 10 Pro or 11 Pro. 😉
Visual pro
It suppose to look like the Visual pro that apple tried people to get. The same type of format. Hope they focus on bugs. Apple at this time have more bugs than a NY hotel.
Vision Pro
Yep, the new design is going to be the same as on the vision pro. As long as it's accessible with VoiceOver. I'm ready for it.
Supposedly there are already…
Supposedly there are already hints of this in the Apple sports and invites apps. I haven't tried the latter, but the former works great with VO, so right now I'm not too worried about the accessibility of a visual redesign.
not worried about this either
Apple always builds accessibility in from the ground up so not worried a bit.
It’ll be grand
It’ll be grand as we say in Ireland. A redesign isn’t high on my priority list but I’m sure it will be fine.
I like some of Brian’s requests, not least the angle gestures. And for all that is holy, yes please, fix focus wackiness.
As for switching to Android, the grass isn’t always greener, trust me.
I'm with Those who say...
I agree. Apple has had a great accessibility track record at least ever since I first got a Mac at the end of 2013. I'm therefore confident that this new design will be fine for us. Regarding the native sports app, I've only tested it out with speech but it is very good. This coming from someone who considers himself to only be somewhat of a sports fan at present.
I have mixed feelings about this...
WhenUIs are redesigned, accessibility is the first victim
I barely use the photos app in iOS 18, but I will agree that its new redesign is pretty bad, coming from a VO exclusive user.
So, if they care about accessibility, and every app doesn't become inaccessible, with buttons that VO read as "Possibly, close", or "Possibly, back", etc. I guess a redesign isn't going to hurt.
Considering the state of VO, and the amount of bugs people face (SNR, the Focus Bug, etc.), I hope apple puts a lot of time and effort into making sure that the redesign "Just works", as Steve Jobs would say. The last major redesign was iOS 7, back in 2013. I hope VO gets some improvements. iOS 7 felt like a step up as far as VO features.
As an example, before iOS 7, you could only have one enhanced voice, which was the default language of your device (English U.S. for me, which ment Samantha). With the release of iOS 7, you could have multiple enhanced voices on your device, as well as a bunch of other changes we take for granted. MacOS had its redesign a year later, with macOS 10.10 Yosemite. At first I wasn't so worried, but after looking at an old blog post and seeing some minor bugs still not fixed, it makes me wonder what we are going to expect with macOS 16.
With the release of macOS 26 and iOS 29, will we be saying, "Wow, can't believe that bug from macOS 16 and iOS 19 is still not fixed"? Only time will tell.
To those who aren't worried that accessibility might get worse, just remember the bugs from Yosemite that almost everybody forgot about that still exist in one way or another.
For me, putting brand new software on my device is a really cool experience, and so I do run the risk of show stopping bugs. That is why I dual boot macOS when testing early betas so I can have a fully functioning macOS just in case.
My personal thoughts.
I still feel like Apple's focus on accessibility is declining. Remember the days of iOS 10? That felt like the golden age of Apple's accessibility for me—VoiceOver bugs were almost nonexistent.
I know that you guys like Dennis Long are diehard Apple fans, to the point where even a slight mention of Android seems to enrage you to the core. LOL. But being open-minded and critical of Apple’s treatment of accessibility isn’t wrong. In fact, I think that’s exactly what Apple needs right now, instead of pampering them with praises— so they can be reminded to stay committed to accessibility and recognize that we have the right to expect better from them.
I don’t believe Apple would completely abandon accessibility with their redesign of IOS, that is for sure, but the real question is how well they’ll maintain it.
Remember, being blind is okay—being blinded is not.
I'm looking forward to the new design.
Yes apple has bugs but the accessibility has always been reasonable, not great for some people, but usable.
I personally think it's fine but I understand it has bugs like any other software.
For those that talk about bugs and want to, I'm sure you can report them in some way.
apple listens to user feedback
Apple has a track record of listening to user feedback. This goes for the iOS app developers as well. If you find an inaccessible app chances are pretty good they will fix it. Is Apple perfect no it could be a lot worse. The fact that accessibility was built into the vision pro says something about Apple's commitment to accessibility.
Brian is on to something
Those 1 finger angled gestures really make it a joy to operate phone with 1 hand, just like how sighted people do. I hold phone in my right hand, and with my thumb of the same hand, navigate most of the areas of the Android phone. On IOS also it's possible, but roter gesture requires 2 hands no matter what.
Even beyond that, I want more gestures. We have back-tap, how about side-tap? How about 4 finger tap on left or right edge of the screen?
VO should also think about getting detailed image descriptions with a gesture, just like Google's Talkback Gemini powered image descriptions. Current VO descriptions are great to quickly understand things, but sometimes I want more visual details without going through share-sheet.
I am sure lot of redesign is going to be focused around Siri's AI capabilities. I hope it finally get's AI capabilities of it's own rather than asking me each time if it can use Chat GPT to answer.
What Brian said in this regard is also super important, as if these AI models are not on device, Siri's responces might have some latency. So, as much as possible, on-device AI please.
And, please please, allow 15 Pro users to remap their action button to visual inteligence. If it can run Apple Inteligence, why can't it run Visual inteligence? Seems like a cheep trick to sell the latest and greatest.
Some BSI improvements as well may be? I would like BSI to stay on once turned on, even when screen goes off and turns on after pressing power button.
rearranging the deck chairs.
If you can't make Apple intelligence work for the people who upgraded thinking it would, redesign the user interface. Seems to me Apple is floundering.
Chris Hill
I don’t think there’s any point to that message whatsoever. I can appreciate that theres frustration that there’s no meaningful tools on iOS and macOS. But it’s coming. It’ll be here in a year or two. Besides the meta glasses and the occasional ChatGPT search, what are you really using it for? And the meta glasses are very problematic. You don’t really want conversational AI without it being an actual user agent which can go online and do stuff for you. And that’s generally not out yet.
@Ash Rein I agree with you
I agree with you. I'd rather Apple take its time to get it right then release something before its ready.
The point is...
People paid for new phones partially for the Apple intelligence, and they are having problems getting it out. If I'd bought a new phone for that reason, I'd be somewhat unhappy, and if things don't get better by the introduction of the iPhone 17, I'd be really upset.
When a company attempts to do one thing, fails and pivots, you really have to wonder how strong the commitment to promises may be.
Chris Hill
Yes, I got my 16 pro max for AI. Now we know it was never ready and Apple lie to us. Now it might come up in 2026 or not. False advertisement? Heard that the Siri new EO is the person in charge of Visual pro. Will see if he can fix it. Nuts.
Documentation and muscle memory
Last summer, I worked a freelance tech writing gig for National Braille Press, in which I updated both their iOS books for iOS 18. A complete redesign of iOS means NBP will need to revise those manuals yet again, that paying me to include iOS 18 content was a waste of money.
It sounds like iOS 19 will be a dramatic change. Even typical iOS releases invalidate muscle memory and require users to develop new workflows. I'll repeat my oft-voiced call for a third party analysis to summarize the productivity impact on society as a whole. I suspect it would show a net loss. If technology companies were actually improving their products in a tangible way, I'd feel different. But change for the sake of marketing splash is inefficient.
As for Chris Hill's comment, I must agree with them. Apple's AI release has only demonstrated that they were leapfrogged. Rather than address Apple Intelligence's many shortcomings, which would only draw negative press to their failure, they've decided to move on with an unneeded iOS revamp. Sad.
UI and Intelligence
I think it is extremely naive to buy tech based purely on what has been promised in the future unless you are prepared to accept that it might not come to pass. I had a similar thing with the Meta Ray-bans. I already had audio glasses and these felt like an upgrade on their own, but I was really after the look and ask feature and I am still waiting for that over a year later. I have to remind myself that I still use them a lot and get benefit even if one of the big selling points has not been made available to me. (Well it's worse in this case as it was available then taken away when they plugged the VPN hole but that's another story).
If you find you must upgrade your phone - maybe your old one has died for example - then I'm sure the iPhone 16 of today is a decent choice with or without Apple Intelligence. Time will tell what happens there, but it seems that many big companies are struggling with this and Apple are no exception.
As for the UI refresh, it just reminds me of Big Sur. We'd been stuck on OSX for such a long time, and Big Sur was when they finally made it MacOs 11 and it was supposed to be a really big deal and a massive overhaul etc etc. As far as I remember, the only change was that all the icons ended up looking the same. They were just big and white and hard to distinguish.
Now as a screen reader user, I don't think the user interface change will have the slightest impact on me. No doubt they will introduce a load of new bugs with it, but that's the same with each big upgrade.
I don't need the AI features.
That's why I haven't upgraded yet, when the IPhone 17 comes out I might think about it for the battery life.
Having said all that, apple does have a tendency to say they'll do a thing and then not really do it.
I'm sure we all know how bad siri can be but how much appple hiped it up.
New Designs, Muscle Memory, etc.
I agree with @PaulMartz. When you take a system that has worked for people for years and a system that they are used to and change it dramatically, it rarely leads to a better experience unless there are dramatically new features that couldn't work with the old system.
Yes iOS has bugs, but there isn't any reason to think that a totally new UI won't have bugs of its own. In fact, it is more likely to have more bugs. Plus, as @PaulMartz indicates, we do rely on our muscle memory and learning to interact with a new UI always has its learning curve. Hopefully Apple makes this change worth while for all of its users.
As my wife always says, an OS "upgrade" isn't always and upgrade or benefit. to the end user.
--Pete
Flexibilities more important
Life is about change. Nothing stays the same forever. We have no idea what any of this is gonna be like. And I despise the thought that people would rather use the same boring stuff over and over again then to take a chance on something new. This could be 100 times better. And it might be 100 times worse. Isn’t it interesting that we have the opportunity to find out?
Muscle memory is silly. I get that everybody’s used to things being a certain way. It’ll take you all of a week to get used to the new way of doing things; whatever those things are gonna be. You can do it. It’s going to be OK.
New is only okay if it works.
When people start catching on to a government's bs, the people vote them out. The same will be for bs business practices, so Apple should be careful not to alienate users. That's all I'll say.
Well. For macOS Sequoia they…
Well. For macOS Sequoia they said there will be deep change in the codebase, and overall we got much needed accessibility improvements with this. So why not. I'd much rather have esthetic's change rather than apple intelligence for a second year in a row, that would be to me the end of the Apple as we know it.
I won't target anyone here, but please, be mindful of what you write (including myself) and how you write it. Believing every word out of the mouth of Apple's pr and being ultra biased with apple and blind accessibility don't do anything constructive at all especially when you say if you don't like it don't use it. We must be more critical than ever with these companies... This is the deepest problem with the Apple cult and is especially worst among blind for blind.
Most of you aren’t being critical
Most of you aren’t being critical. You’re coming on a random website and saying things that have almost no substance. What? You think that if you write a post about how angry you are, then you’ve done your job? Instead of one or two of you sending feedback, it’s supposed to be 50 or 100 of you. And in that, you’re supposed to have a unified organized voice. Maybe then things would actually get fixed. Instead, almost none of you can even agree on how something is supposed to work.
They will do what they will do. And until you start sending emails by the hundred every day, every week, they’re going to assume that the vast majority of you are OK with those changes. Similarly, if only one or two of you decide to send feedback about an issue, they’re going to decide that The vast majority of you are OK with those issues. Even if they know that something is a bug.
And all of the people that are complaining about new not being great if it doesn’t serve a purpose. How many of you are going out of your minds with something like the Meta Ray-Ban glasses or glide? The meta glasses barely work. The images and videos are at best grainy. The bemy eyes volunteers eers can barely even make out what you’re pointing at. The AI itself is laughable. Glide doesn’t even have a release date. It’s almost assuredly going to be delayed into 2027. And that’s because it’s a start up and most startups delay their products. They aren’t telling you because they’re trying to procure funding. That’s why you’re not seeing any actual footage of people using things on the street in real time. It’s not ready. And it won’t be for a while. And the fact that they haven’t talked about anything for the past almost 4 months is indicative of that.
Fundamentally They’re not going to be able to live up to most of their promises simply because it’s using wheels.
Thehre new. And you guys are thinking it’s the greatest things that have ever been created. And you’re foolish. You’re all blinded by something shiny with almost no substance. There’s no objective thinking here. It’s all just emotion and impulse. Instead of saying something like let’s support each other and figure out how to use this, and let’s see if we can organize and send meaningful feedback to address the issues that are going to arise, you just sit there and type away and say fluff. And I don’t mind anger. I don’t mind frustration. I celebrate that people have the right to voice their opinion. Except that it gets exhausting having to read comment after comment about what must be or what will be or what this is or what that is without any actual critical thinking or meaningful suggestions.
Any change that implies a…
Any change that implies a voiceover rewrite / revision for x or y feature or specific ui component / element is ultimately a good thing for everyone.
Reporting properly is very important, my first year or so with the mac was nothing less than horrible but I kept trying, I did less and less rant but rather feedback in mass and ovviously everything hasn't been fixed yet but iwork is amazing now, web browsing is not the car crash it was used to be on ventura and early sonoma, we got proper command customizations, cursor blinking for braille displays, mathml patch, numbers specific patch, almost 100% usable calculator with voiceover... Overall the racio for told and untold fixes in 1 year for me is incredible and that's why I'm keeping my mac.
This complaint around watchos 7 beta that vo wasn't working at all didn't deserve the backlash it got from the community (unfortunately led by a prominent and most influenceable member of the community) because
1 It was a beta and I welcome any crash from minor to major to happen
2 it was apparently explicitly told in the release note, for a public beta/dev program, there was a voiceover section just for us to be aware
3 it was a beta.
Yes, ios voiceover is more polished just because it's on a flagship and is used more. Apple has systemic problems with their feedback systems, yes, and this secrecy culture does in my opinion more harm than gooe for everyone... And there certainly are a lot of problems that are just Apple problems... But at least they still relatively value us a lot. In fact all big tech to a certain degree does an amazing job at keeping us functional with most of the core features of most of their products. Because they have enough money to invest on us long term that other companies might and do not have.
...
I agree with the previous poster
Hi, I agree with the prevous poster. yes, we have had some bugs, but it was no big deal for me. same goes for the beta, but the more reporting feedback the better. I'm keeping my mac as well, it's been working very well.
mr grieves
That is Monday morning Quarterback. I trusted what Apple was saying. Now I will do what R Reagan stated, "Trust but verify".
Re: Sequoia
I have definitely missed the part where Sequoia is any better than Sonoma. I gues it depends on what you are using exactly. From my point of view, it feels generally more erratic and worse even though a couple of annoying long-standing bugs were fixed.
It will be interesting to see if this big new UI refresh is just another Big Sur and it's all just exactly the same except for minor visual differences, or if it will involve anything deeper and more fundamental. If I was a betting man I would say that us VoiceOver users will notice absolutely no difference except the usual round of new bugs.
I've always been very cynical about this kind of thing. I remember in the old Windows days "fresh new user interface" meant the buttons went flat.
Maybe Apple will introduce those lovely Microsoft ribbons across the board. Everyone loves a good ribbon, right?