#iACast 88 – Beta Comparisons

Android P Logo

On this episode of the #iACast, Michael, Jason and Scott discuss the differences between the Apple, Microsoft, and Android beta programs.

We also discuss an overheating issue that affected some 2018 MacBook Pros. While Apple has released a software update that is said to fix the overheating problem, the update was not yet available at the time of recording.

We talk about Apple’s release of the Shortcuts app as a TestFlight beta for developers, Aira shipping Horizon kits, the new photo description features found in the latest update to Seeing AI, and the release of the fourth developer beta of iOS 12.

 

Our ad for this week is the announcement of iAccessibility becoming an LLC.

Michael’s weekly pick is the

Nintendo Switch, Jason’s pick is an app called My Contacts Backup. This app lets you export your contacts as a vCard that you can then import back into a contact manager or a service such as iCloud. Scott’s pick is a food delivery app called MyTown2Go.

 

We love hearing from you. Let us know what you think by sending an email to feedback@iaccessibility.net. You can also follow us on FacebookTwitterReddit, and more.

You can check out our content on YouTube, and you can also find our app in the iOS App Store. If you would like to support iAccessibility, why not consider donating to our Patreon page? Any amount you can give will help us bring you more great content in the future.

Known iOS 11 Bugs

iOS 11

Each year, Apple releases a new version of iOS with new features which change the operating system in ways that can cause bugs for users. While we all wish this did not happen it is inevitable, and it is good to know what works and what does not work, so in this article, you will find what we have found to be known bugs in iOS 11.

  • iPad multitasking with split view apps is broken currently with VoiceOver. Workaround can be found at https://iaccessibility.net/guide-getting-around-ipad-multitasking-bug-ios11/
  • Zoom will not rotate between portrait and landscape properly all the time. This occurs when the device is rotated to landscape and back to portrait. Sometimes, the device will rotate back to portrait but the zoom window will stay in a landscape state.
  • A VoiceOver bug has been found that causes drag and drop of icons to not work correctly in the Dock and on the Home screen This causes the entire device to hang for an unpredictable amount of time, and is not always seen to happen. Only known fix is to reset your device’s settings.
  • A VoiceOver bug has been found that causes Messages on iOS to say, “null” when a conversation is deleted. This does not display visually but does show with VoiceOver. @mcourcel on Twitter reports that closing Messages after deleting a conversation fixes the null conversation.
  • A bug has been found that causes iOS to relaunch Springboard when a user activates the App Switcher or opens an app from the App Switcher while VoiceOver is running. This does not happen if VoiceOver is not running. and does not always happen when switching apps.

What bugs have you found? Let us know and we will post them here. To send us your bugs, email us at feedback@iaccessibility.net or tweet us at @iaccessibility1 on Twitter.

#iACast 45 – Test it up to 11!

iOS 11

On this episode of the iA Cast Aleeha, Jason, and Michael discuss the iOS 11 beta and share their thoughts on the first build. iOS 11 beta 2 for developers has been released since this recording bringing a lot of fixes while also introducing a few new bugs. The public beta for iOS 11 has also been released at beta.apple.com. Head over there to enroll your device.

#iACast 44 #WWDC17 After Party

WWDC17 poster

On this episode of the iA Cast Aleeha, Michael, Jason, Aaron and T. J. discuss the latest news from Apple’s yearly WWDC conference. Here is what was covered in the episode.

What the iA staff would like to see from #WWDC17

WWDC17 poster

Each year, Apple announces their latest software at their Worldwide Developer Conference, and WWDC 2017 starts today. the management staff here at iAccessibility has written down what they would like to see, and is written below.

Matt’s wishlist

Monday, June 5 is Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) where we will most likely see some new hardware and software. Here are a few of my hopes for tomorrow’s conference announcements.
iOS

  1. Updated Braille translation support – I should be able to type quickly on my Braille display without waiting for the operating system/display to sync with each other.
  2. Siri – Hopefully in iOS 11, Siri will be able to support more third party applications with Siri kit. I would love to be able to say, “Hey Siri, Play podcasts with Overcast,” or, “Hey Siri, play my Audible Book.” Also, while using Hey Siri, you should be able to continue to speak to Siri after you’ve asked it a question. This should be true for which ever device, especially if the rumour is true about Apple releasing a Siri speaker.

MacOS

  1. No more lag — personally, there shouldn’t be any lag when moving with VO, whether it be in Safari, Pages or Textedit. At the moment there is also a lag when switching activities with both apple voices and Vocalizer voices.
  2. “Hey Siri,” – Apple is always about the “universal experience across devices.” Hopefully in the next version of both MacOS and TVOS we see “hey Siri” added.

These are just a few things I would love to see at today’s event. It will be great to see what’s added in the upcoming operating systems.

Jason’s Wishlist

As we all know, Apple’s WWDC conference is happening on June fifth. Here are some things I’d like to see.

iOS

I’d like to see Apple put the “Pro” into iPad Pro. From Apple’s website: “iPad Pro is more than the next generation of iPad — it’s an uncompromising vision of personal computing for the modern world. It puts incredible power that leaps past most portable PCs at your fingertips. It makes even complex work as natural as touching, swiping, or writing with a pencil. And whether you choose the 12.9-inch model or the 9.7-inch model, iPad Pro is more capable, versatile, and portable than anything that’s come before. In a word, super.”

For me, two things come to mind that would make the iPad “super.” 1. Finder for iOS, and 2. xCode for iOS. If apple wants the iPad Pro to be an “uncompromising vision of personal computing,” adding those two features to iOS would, I think, really help Apple meet that goal.

Siri

I’d like to see Siri get smarter, and more capable.

More app categories being added to Siri kit would be nice, especially if Apple is indeed going to announce a Siri speaker.

I think Siri needs to have a more natural conversation stile than it currently does, and that stile should be hands-free. We can already say something like “Hey Siri. What’s the weather?” And it’ll respond. But if you want to ask something else, you would keep having to say “Hey Siri.”

Maybe Siri could listen for a couple seconds to see if you have something else to ask before waiting for the “Hey Siri” command again?

I can already see a downside to my idea, but it leads me to the last thing I’d like to see for Siri, and that would be to improve Siri’s ability to only respond to your specific voice.

Conclusion

These are just a few things I’d like to see announced at WWDC. Will they happen? Well, all I can say is it’s going to be fun to watch it and find out.

Michael’s Wishlist

WWDC is one of my favorite announcements of the year, and I can’t wait to see what Apple brings us today. There is so many things that I would like to see them release today, so I will separate them out by OS.

iOS

  1. I have to agree with what Jason said about the iPad Pro. I would really like to see this become more of a Pro device for dev and others.
  2. I would like to see a full file system come to iOS
  3. I would like to see full audio support come to iOS where multiple media types can play at the same time, so I could have TeamTalk and music playing at the same time, or have recording from multiple inputs work.
  4. Better support for Siri to learn new skills
  5. Removal of Apple Music Cache files. You can do this on Android, so iOS should have this as well.
  6. less use of iTunes to get items like Ringtones on your device.

macOS

  1. Support for, “Hey Siri”
  2. Support for touch screen macs

WatchOS

  1. Allow the watch to unpaid and pair with different phones.
  2. Speed improvements
  3. Siri Improvements

Windows

  1. Support for iMessage for Windows

Android

  1. Support for iMessage
  2. Support for Apple Watch
  3. iCloud contacts and sync for Android

While I am sure much of my list will not be on the list for today’s event I can hope that some things will make it to reality.

Conclusion

I think our team has put together some awesome ideas of things we would like to see today at WWDC, and we will see what we get in an hour.

WWDC 2017 – Apple

VO Starter 3.0 Public Beta

VO Starter App Icon

iAccessibility is proud to announce that VO Starter 3.0 is now in the Beta phase of development. As such, we are offering the opportunity for a public beta test through TestFlight. If you are interested, please fill out the form below and you will receive a TestFlight invite in your email. We will remove the form if or when we run out of testing slots. We hope you enjoy the app.

#iACast 14: Wi-Pi

Raspberry Pi Logo

Episode notes

ON this episode of iA Cast we discuss the latest Apple news, and we talk about the new version of the Raspberry Pi, a $35 computer that can fit in your pocket We discuss that Sony is bringing their streaming PlayStation game playing service to the Mac, and the latest in gaming news.

We hope you enjoy iA Cast. Please use our social links to leave us feedback about the podcast, and please rate us in the iTunes Store, or wherever you listen to our podcast.

#iACast 12 – Digital Accessible Art!

Image of Apple Pencil being used with iPad Pro on flat surface

Episode Notes

It has been since December since we recorded a new podcast, so here is what we have covered this week.

  • We discussed the updates that have been made here at iAccessibility concerning the podcast and our website.
  • Review of the new iPhone 6s battery case
  • Discuss the pros and cons of removing the iPhone headphone jack in the iPhone 7
  • Discuss error 53 and what it means. We also touch on the new iOS date bug.
  • We discuss the latest news about iOS 9.3 which will come out to everyone in March
  • Apple is rumored to release the iPhone 5se next month, and we talk about what features it should have and if people want a 4 inch iPhone
  • We discuss the New Apple TV and if people still use it
  • Facebook is a modern name in browsing the web, but do we really need the app on our devices to use their services?
  • We discuss the latest in entertainment news, which include movies, gaming and books
  • The Apple Pencil is a new way to draw on a tablet screen, and you can learn how to pair it and draw with it by listening to this episode

We will continue this podcast each week now and all episodes have been migrated over to this site. If you do not see episodes 11 and 12 in your podcast app of choice then please unsubscribe and re-subscribe to our podcast and you should see the new episodes there.

iAccessibility is on slack at iaccessibildtyslack.slack.com We encourage everyone who wants to communicate on what we discuss to contact us and we can add you to the accessibility Slack community.

Slack is accessible and it will work with all modern screen readers on any platform.

Please email Michael Doise if you have any questions or suggestions for this podcast. You may also find us online at the social links below these show notes.

We hope you have enjoyed this podcast and will listen next week.

Back to Top