I’m sharing a long-standing VoiceOver issue here in hopes that more users (and possibly Apple engineers) can see it, reproduce it, and help push it toward resolution.
This problem has existed for nearly one and a half years , and despite multiple reports, it appears the underlying cause may have been difficult to identify. After extensive testing, I believe I have found a critical and reproducible trigger condition . Issue Summary In VoiceOver → Live Recognition, the “Scene” recognition mode stops working under specific conditions. Key Discovery (Highly Reproducible) Through repeated testing, I observed the following behavior: • When Image Descriptions is disabled and its data package is not present ,
→ Live Recognition – Scene works normally .
• Once Image Descriptions is enabled and the ~43.7 MB data package is downloaded ,
→ Live Recognition – Scene no longer works . Scene recognition only returns to normal after the Image Descriptions data file is removed . Simply toggling the setting off does not restore Scene recognition if the data package remains on the device. Why This May Have Been Hard to Find • The issue appears to be tied to the presence of a specific data package , not just a visible setting.
• Standard actions such as toggling features or resetting settings do not clearly remove this data file.
• Without an explicit hypothesis linking Scene recognition to Image Descriptions data, this conflict is easy to overlook. Why I’m Posting This I’m not posting this as a complaint, but as a technical clue .
If others can confirm similar behavior, this may help Apple identify the root cause more efficiently.
If you rely on VoiceOver Live Recognition, especially Scene recognition, I encourage you to test this scenario and share your findings.
This issue has already been reported to Apple (Case ID: 16845855 ), and broader visibility may help move it toward resolution.
Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read, test, or share this.