Hello,
I am a student studying accessibility.
I aim to analyze the smartphone usage patterns of visually impaired individuals.
Therefore, I would like to log the VoiceOver usage records of visually impaired iPhone users.
Is there a way to output VoiceOver logs, similar to the AccessibilityService API on Android?
Thank you in advance for your responses.
Accessibility
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Hello all.
Currently I am trying to get WKWebView to scroll with a physical keyboard and it just will not work. I tried allowsKeyboardScrolling( ) and it did not work. UIWebView works but its no longer supported. Trying to get full keyboard access to work to make our app more accessible but WKWebView does not want to play nice.
Has anyone else had issues trying to use WKWebView with an external keyboard, and if so did you find any solutions? Greatly appreciated!
In our application we are using a pop over view and we have enabled the accessibility VoiceOver, When user navigating inside the popover and reached to the last element that time with the right swipe we need to dismiss the popover.
I am trying to grant Input Monitoring permission using MDM (Mobile Device Management), but I am facing issues. While I am able to deny the permission, I am unable to grant it.
In some profile configurator tools, I noticed a note stating:
"Allows the application to use CoreGraphics and HID APIs to listen to (receive) CGEvents and HID events from all processes. Access to these events cannot be given in a profile; it can only be denied."
This seems to suggest that granting Input Monitoring permission via an MDM profile may not be possible.
Has anyone successfully granted Input Monitoring permission using MDM, or is there an alternative way to achieve this on managed macOS devices?
I am trying to simulate a paste command and it seems to not want to paste. It worked at one point with the same code and now is causing issues.
My code looks like this:
` func simulatePaste() {
guard let source = CGEventSource(stateID: .hidSystemState) else {
print("Failed to create event source")
return
}
let keyDown = CGEvent(keyboardEventSource: source, virtualKey: CGKeyCode(9), keyDown: true)
let keyUp = CGEvent(keyboardEventSource: source, virtualKey: CGKeyCode(9), keyDown: false)
keyDown?.flags = .maskCommand
keyUp?.flags = .maskCommand
keyDown?.post(tap: .cgAnnotatedSessionEventTap)
keyUp?.post(tap: .cgAnnotatedSessionEventTap)
print("Simulated Cmd + V")
}
I know that there is some issues around permissions and so in my Info.plist I have this:
<string>NSApplication</string>
<key>NSAppleEventsUsageDescription</key>
<string>This app requires permission to send keyboard input for pasting from the clipboard.</string>
I have also disabled sandbox. It does ask me if I want to give the app permissions but after approving it, it still doesn't paste.
home button cannot be pressed.
attempting to enable developer mode says "press home to continue"
the usual accessibility switch "assistive touch" that is shown on iOS is not available on this screen
so dev mode cannot be enabled
this is an accessibility issue
When using an app via external keyboard, FocusState and .focused used to work just fine until iOS17. Vertical-axis textfields were also accessible without any issues. But after iOS18 update, adding focused modifier removes elements out of focus order of external keyboard.
1 such example is -when a button using focused modifier and @FocusSate is inside a ScrollView and if this view is getting opened via NavigationLink, that button is not accessible via Bluetooth (external) keyboard.
TextEditor / Vertical-axis TextFields also seem to be impacted in external-keyboard-focus-order when added inside ScrollView.
Is this a known iOS18 issue with ScrollView / any tip to get this fixed ?
Sample code that can reproduce this issue:
struct ContentView: View {
@State private var showBottomSheet: Bool = false
@State private var goToNextView: Bool = false
@FocusState private var focused: Bool
@AccessibilityFocusState private var voFocused: Bool
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
VStack {
Text("Hello, world!")
// This button works fine in Bluetooth keyboard in all versions
Button("Trigger a bottomsheet") {
showBottomSheet = true
}
.focused($focused)
.accessibilityFocused($voFocused)
Button("Goto another view") {
goToNextView = true
}
NavigationLink(
destination: View2(),
isActive: $goToNextView
) { EmptyView() }
.accessibility(hidden: true)
}
.sheet(isPresented: $showBottomSheet,
onDismiss: {
focused = true
voFocused = true
}, content: {
VStack() {
Text("Hello World ! I'm in a bottomsheet")
Button("Close me") {
showBottomSheet = false
}
}
})
.padding()
}
}
}
#Preview {
ContentView()
}
struct View2: View {
@FocusState private var focused: Bool
@AccessibilityFocusState private var voFocused: Bool
@State private var showBottomSheet: Bool = false
var body: some View {
ScrollView {
VStack {
Text("check")
// In iOS18, this button doesn't get focused in Bluetooth / external keyboard
// This issue occurs when these 3 combine in iOS 18 - a button using FocusState inside a view that has a ScrollView & it is opened via NavigationLink
Button("Trigger a bottomsheet") {
showBottomSheet = true
}
.focused($focused)
.accessibilityFocused($voFocused)
Button("Test button") { }
}
.sheet(isPresented: $showBottomSheet,
onDismiss: {
focused = true
voFocused = true
}, content: {
VStack() {
Text("Hello World ! I'm in a bottomsheet")
Button("Close me") {
showBottomSheet = false
}
}
})
.padding()
}
}
}
When turning VoiceOver ON, GCController does not send button press events for "Button A" and "Button Center".
This happens when using Siri 2nd generation remote (with dedicated arrow buttons on the circle around center button) and also when using iOS remote. I didn't test it on old Siri 1st generation with touchpad without arrow buttons.
Example:
gameController.microGamepad?.allButtons.forEach { button in
button.valueChangedHandler = { [weak self] _, _, _ in
self?.buttonHandler(gameController: gameController, button: button)
}
private func buttonHandler(gameController: GCController, button: GCControllerButtonInput) {
print("BUTTON: Pressed \(button.description) isPressed=\(button.isPressed) isTouched=\(button.isTouched)")
}
#endif
VoiceOver ON (incorrect behavior):
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Left (value: 0.030, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Down (value: 0.079, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Left (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Down (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
VoiceOver OFF (correct behavior):
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Left (value: 0.137, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Up (value: 0.078, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Button A (value: 1.000, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Button Center (value: 1.000, pressed: 1) isPressed=true isTouched=true
BUTTON: Pressed Button A (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
BUTTON: Pressed Button Center (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Left (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
BUTTON: Pressed Direction Pad Up (value: 0.000, pressed: 0) isPressed=false isTouched=false
I could use for detection Direction Pad Left/Right/Up/Down and detect position between -0.7 and +0.7 and handle it as center button press, because I use that on old Siri remote where I need to distinguish center button and arrows (for switching TV channels by Up/Down and Skip forward/back by Left/Right arrows), but for new Siri remote it would be unnecessary workaround.
Does anybody know why the center/select button is not detected when VoiceOver is ON. Is there another way of detecting it using GCController?
I don't want to use SwiftUI onTapGesture for this one particular case.
Is it an unexpected bug in tvOS APIs or is there some specific reason why center button is not handled by GCController when VoiceOver is ON?
Thanks.
I like to suggest a different microphone dot icon for Voice Control. I had customized Voice Control to turn on a Flashlight. This caused confusion with the orange dot being switched on constantly.
I made an error in sending a security vulnerability to Apple Security about the orange dot microphone in always ON mode when iPhone is unlocked.
Hi,
I am writing in the hope to receive some clarification about the rationale of the Audit type sufficientElementDescription - in context with Accessibility Audit API.
Please see my test below:
And another example in context with Xcode, where the strings visible in the UI are also set as accessible labels of their respective elements.
Thanks for your help!
Hello,
I’m developing a sandboxed macOS app using Qt, which will be distributed via the Mac App Store. The app:
Monitors the clipboard to store copied items.
Overrides the paste function of the operating system via keyboard shortcuts.
Modifies clipboard content, replacing what the user pastes with stored data.
So, I have some questions:
Can a sandboxed app continuously read and modify clipboard content?
What entitlements are required?
What permissions should I request from the user to ensure that my app works?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
Beril Bayram
Topic:
App Store Distribution & Marketing
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Entitlements
Accessibility
Mac App Store
App Sandbox
A common UI idiom in Apple's first party iOS apps is a circle icon with three dots in the upper right of the screen. This serves as a pop-up menu of more options. Some examples include:
Apple Music, Library tab
Photos, Album view
Reminders
In all these cases, VoiceOver reads this element as "More, Button".
In my SwiftUI app, I've implemented a visually identical button.
Menu {
// Button for Menu Item 1
// Button for Menu Item 2
// ...
} label: {
Image(systemName: "ellipsis.circle")
.accessibilityHidden(true)
}
.accessibilityLabel("More")
However, the VoiceOver output in my app is much more verbose. It speaks "More, Button, Pop Up Button, Double Tap To Activate The Picker". Any guidance on how to make this more concise in line with the apps mentioned above?
Using gesture recognizers it is easy to implement a long-press gesture to open a menu, show a preview or something else on the iOS platform. And you can provide the duration the user must hold down the finger until the gesture recognizer fires.
But I could not yet find out how to determine the default duration for a long-press gesture that is configured in the system settings within the "accessibility" settings under "Haptic Touch" (the available options are fast, standard and slow here).
Is it possible to read out this setting, so my App can adapt to this system setting as well?
Hello Apple Community,
I'm experiencing an issue with "Vocal Shortcuts" on iOS. I created a trigger in Vocal Shortcuts to run a specific shortcut, and it works perfectly on the first day. However, by the next day, the voice command stops functioning entirely. To make it work again, I have to disable and then re-enable Vocal Shortcuts in the settings.
I've tested this on multiple devices (iPhone 11, iPhone 13, and iPhone X), all running the latest iOS version, and the same problem occurs on each one. Is there any additional configuration needed, or could this be a bug?
Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance,
Hey there! Hope you are starting the year with great joy.
My situation
I'm building a new product that is based on detecting certain text on screen in realtime. The product is only targeted for Mac and it's built with Swift
My problem
I need to get the exact position of a text element with the Apple Accessibility API but I can't figurate it out. I managed to get the AXUIElement where the text is placed but it's position is too broad and off target.
My discoveries so far
I've tried OCR but is too slow for what I'm building, so the only possible way I can think of is with the Accessibility API.
Thank you in advanced.
I am currently developing a macOS application that listens for system-wide mouse clicks to simulate typing with user-provided text. The app requires Accessibility permissions to function properly, and I want to ensure compliance with Apple’s latest privacy and security guidelines.
The app listens to global mouse clicks.
It simulates keyboard input with user-provided text
I would like detailed guidance on the following aspects:
What specific entitlements are required to allow system-wide mouse click monitoring and simulating user input ?
App Sandbox enable or disable?
what keys required to explain global mouse click monitoring and keyboard input simulation in the info.plist
What will be the configuration of Privacy Manifest
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Frameworks
Entitlements
Privacy
Accessibility
macOS 15 includes a neat section in System Preferences Settings to change the dynamic text size, as outlined see: https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/make-text-and-icons-bigger-mchld786f2cd/mac
However, it's not immediately clear a) how to get one's app in this list, and b) if the usual methods from iOS to react to text size even work on macOS. Does anyone have any experience here? Or should I implement my own controls in my app's settings and call it a day?
For context, my app is a macOS-native SwiftUI app.
My SwiftUI app uses an Image with a tap gesture:
Image(systemName: "xmark.circle.fill")
.accessibilityIdentifier(kTextFieldClearButton)
.foregroundColor(.secondary)
.padding(.trailing, 6)
.onTapGesture {
dataSource.textFieldText = ""
}
In a UI test, I want to tap this image to execute its action:
let clearButton = app.images[kTextFieldClearButton]
clearButton.tap()
However the action is not executed.
I then set a breakpoint at clearButton.tap(), to execute lldb commands. Here are the results:
(lldb) p clearButton.isHittable
t = 439.54s Find the "TextFieldClearButton" Imag
(Bool) true
e
It is a little strange that "Image" has been interrupted by (Bool) true, but the image is hittable.
p clearButton.isAccessibilityElement
gives
(lldb) p clearButton.isAccessibilityElement
(Bool) false
I don't understand why this Image is no accessibility element. I thought, SwiftUI Views are by default accessible.
What can I do to make it accessible so that clearButton.tap() works as expected?
Following the official documentation, I'm trying to create a set of three localised Help Books.
The Help Books should be available in Spanish, English and Polish. Presently, I'm trying to complete English version.
App Structure
This is the plugin application consisting of main app and the plugin. The main app structure would looks as follows:
Files
. <XcodeProject Top>
├── Localizable.xcstrings
├── MyAppExtension
│ ├── MyAppExtension.swift
│ └── <other swift files>.swift
├──MyApp
│ ├── Info.plist
│ ├── +Array.swift
│ ├── +ButtonStyle.swift
│ ├── <other app swift files>.swift
├── Resources
└── MyApp.help
└── MyApp.help
└── Contents
├── Info.plist
└── Resources
├── English.lproj
│ ├── ExactMatch.plist
│ ├── InfoPlist.strings
│ ├── MyApp.helpindex
│ ├── MyApp.html
│ └── pgs
└── shrd
MyApp / MyApp.help / Info.plist file
Consists the following values:
Bundle name: MyApp
HPDBookAccessPath: MyApp.html
HPDBookTitle: My App Help
Default localization: en_gb
MyApp / Info.plist file
Contains the following entries:
Help Book directory name: MyApp.help
Help Book Identifier: MyApp Help
Build phase
The Copy Bundle Resources copies MyApp.help in MyApp/Resources.
Questions
Is the provided folder structure valid for creating a localised help books
Is there anything that is missing from across Info.plist files or is in the wrong places?
Why the MyApp -> Help opens the main help menu, not the app help
Description
As of iOS 18, AVAudioSession.setPreferredIOBufferDuration ignores the requested buffer size when Sound Recognition or Vocal Shortcuts is enabled. This results in 1) much larger buffer sizes and 2) mismatched buffer sizes between input and output buffers, which causes ‘glitchy’ audio and increased latency.
Additionally, when this issue occurs AVAudioSession.setPreferredIOBufferDuration continues to return ‘true’ and no error is produced.
Steps to Reproduce:
Enable Vocal Shortcuts on a device running iOS 18. Enable at least one shortcut (e.g. Control Center).
Open or clone the example project (https://github.com/cwalo/SoundRecognitionBug)
Build and install the example project
Attach a headset and launch the application
Observe console logs showing
a requested buffer size of 0.005805 (256 samples @ 48k)
an actual buffer size of 0.023220 (1104 samples @48k - this is regularly the resulting buffer size in all of our tests)
Quit the app and detach the headset. Enable mutesOutput in AudioSystem.mm (to avoid feedback)
Launch the application
Observe
Same result from step 4
Mismatched hardware buffer size of 1104 and recorded frame count of 1024
Mismatched playbackCount and recordCount
Quit the app and disable vocal shortcuts
Launch the app
Observe IOBufferDuration matching the requested duration and matched buffer sizes (expected behavior)
Expected results:
Requested IOBufferDuration is respected or AVAudioSession returns false or error is produced
Input and output buffer sizes match
Device(s): iPhone 11 Pro, iPad Pro
OS: iOS 18.0.1
Environment: Xcode 16.1
FB: FB15715421
Related to: https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/765477