Explore best practices for creating inclusive apps for users of Apple accessibility features and users from diverse backgrounds.

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iOS 18 - Link to VoiceOver & Display settings
We have an app with a large audience (around 2.1M DAUs) and because of this, we build it with accessibility first in mind. In that app, we link to specific iOS accessibility settings (such as VoiceOver, Display & Text, etc) in our menu screens, to offer the user a shortcut to customize VO behaviour, text size etc. Unfortunately, since iOS 18, these links are no longer working, they all open the Settings app, but don't navigate. It appears (through support) users use these links to easily access the settings, mostly older people trained to go this way in computer courses. We used to open the settings app through the App-prefs scheme, but seems broken in iOS 18. eg. App-prefs:root=ACCESSIBILITY&path=VOICEOVER_TITLE I know about the AccessibilitySettings API, but seems it is only limited to once specific feature. Is there a way we can get these links to work again?
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415
Dec ’24
Apple Vision Pro - Homonymous Hemianopia
Individuals with a stroke can end up with vision impairments: specifically Homonymous Hemianopia which basically means the individual has lost sight in (as an example) the left half of both eyes. I'm interested in understanding if it would be possible to help individuals with this vision impairment by providing an accessibility config within the Apple Vision Pro which would first determine an individuals field of view (possibly by showing a field of dots across the entire "screen" and having the individual look at the dot and click. Based on the results of this field of view, this would determine how the screen would be presented to the user moving forward. My mom (82 years old) had a stroke recently and was diagnosed with Homonymous Hemianopia. She lived on her IPhone and would love to get back the ability to text message, use Facebook, and order items from Amazon. Please advise if you believe the Apple Vision Pro would be capable of helping in this area with the suggested development, or other thoughts.
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472
Jan ’25
Subpath for access to Silence Unknown Callers
Hi, Our app has a section where, we show to users how to activate "Silence Unknown Callers", because is a crucial feature for our app. But, we saw that 30% of users drop the process here, because we can't open directly that setting option in phone app. We are using this url scheme to open phone settings in iOS 18: if let url = URL(string: "App-prefs:com.apple.mobilephone") { UIApplication.shared.open(url) } But, we don't see other way to open directly the path "silence", like in iOS 17, with this url scheme: prefs:root=Phone&path=SILENCE_CALLS So, do you know if is possible open that option directly? We want to improve our accessibility. Thank you!
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339
Mar ’25
New ipados 18.3 beta troubleshooting
Hi apple, ive been having a problem with my ipad pro 5th generation. since updating my ipad it has been acting weird lately… to be specific it keeps closing twice randomly and the widgets turn white andcmy screen keeps going black when i go on apps it keeps exiting out of the app also the new siri is so slow and wouldnt answer when i say [hey siri] only on random ocasions please help me fix this problem because i need my ipad for studying… thank you.
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711
Jan ’25
How to Ensure Data Privacy with VoiceOver Reading Sensitive Information?
VoiceOver reads out all visible content on the screen, which is essential for visually challenged users. However, this raises a privacy concern—what if a user accidentally focuses on sensitive information, like a bank account password, and it gets read aloud? How can developers prevent VoiceOver from exposing confidential data while still maintaining accessibility? Are there best practices or recommended approaches to handle such scenarios effectively?
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325
Mar ’25
FocusState Issue in iOS 18 with Keyboard Navigation
I have implemented a SwiftUI view containing a grid of TextField elements, where focus moves automatically to the next field upon input. This behavior works well on iOS 16 and 17, maintaining proper focus highlighting when keyboard full access is enabled. However, in iOS 18 and above, the keyboard full access focus behaves differently. It always stays behind the actual focus state, causing a mismatch between the visually highlighted field and the active text input. This leads to usability issues, especially for users navigating with an external keyboard. Below is the SwiftUI code for reference: struct AutoFocusGridTextFieldsView: View { private let fieldCount: Int private let columns: Int @State private var textFields: [String] @FocusState private var focusedField: Int? init(fieldCount: Int = 17, columns: Int = 5) { self.fieldCount = fieldCount self.columns = columns _textFields = State(initialValue: Array(repeating: "", count: fieldCount)) } var body: some View { let rows = (fieldCount / columns) + (fieldCount % columns == 0 ? 0 : 1) VStack(spacing: 10) { ForEach(0..<rows, id: \.self) { row in HStack(spacing: 10) { ForEach(0..<columns, id: \.self) { col in let index = row * columns + col if index < fieldCount { TextField("", text: $textFields[index]) .frame(width: 40, height: 40) .multilineTextAlignment(.center) .textFieldStyle(RoundedBorderTextFieldStyle()) .focused($focusedField, equals: index) .onChange(of: textFields[index]) { newValue in if newValue.count > 1 { textFields[index] = String(newValue.prefix(1)) } if !textFields[index].isEmpty { moveToNextField(from: index) } } } } } } } .padding() .onAppear { focusedField = 0 } } private func moveToNextField(from index: Int) { if index + 1 < fieldCount { focusedField = index + 1 } } } struct AutoFocusGridTextFieldsView_Previews: PreviewProvider { static var previews: some View { AutoFocusGridTextFieldsView(fieldCount: 10, columns: 5) } } Has anyone else encountered this issue with FocusState in iOS 18? I really do believe that this is a bug strictly connected to keyboard navigation since I experienced similar problem also on UIKit equivalent of the view. Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
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554
Mar ’25
Iphone 14 plus
I am facing issue of back camera in my iphone 14 plus it is showing the black screen and my iphone is manufacture between april 2023 to april 2024 but its still not eligible for apple program my phone is also getting same issue why its not eligible for it
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329
Jan ’25
Voice Over Sound
Hello, When I listen to title in my app with VoiceOver, it makes a strange sound. This characters make with Korean+number+Alphabet. Is this combination makes some strange sound with voice over? I would like to ask if Apple can fix this issue. Thank you.
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195
Mar ’25
Unable to Add Accessibility Trait to UISegmentedControl
I’m trying to add the .header accessibility trait to a UISegmentedControl so that VoiceOver recognizes it accordingly. However, setting the trait using the following code doesn’t seem to have any effect: segmentControl.accessibilityTraits = segmentControl.accessibilityTraits.union(.header) Even after applying this, VoiceOver doesn’t announce it as a header. Is there any workaround or recommended approach to achieve this?
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195
Mar ’25
Xcode 16.1 broken accessibilityLabel
Accessibility got broken after updated till XCode 16.1 There is a call to accessibilityLabel - it sets an a11y label for a title of a view. This used to work (pronounced by VoiceOver) with XCode 15.4 + iOS 17.5. Xcode 16.1 + iOS 18.1 + Physical device/ iOS SImulator - with Accessibility Inspector - no a11y label set. Tried Xcode 16.2 beta 3 - the same result - accessibilityLabel does not work - a11y label is not set.
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532
Dec ’24
Accessibility Issue - Date Picker Colour Contrast
In SwiftUI, the date picker component is breaking in colour contrast accessibility. Below code has been use to create date picker: struct ContentView: View { @State private var date = Date() @State private var selectedDate: Date = .init() var body: some View { let min = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .day, value: 14, to: Date()) ?? Date() let max = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .year, value: 4, to: Date()) ?? Date() DatePicker( "Start Date", selection: $date, in: min ... max, displayedComponents: [.date] ) .datePickerStyle(.graphical) .frame(alignment: .topLeading) .onAppear { selectedDate = Calendar.current.date(byAdding: .day, value: 14, to: Date()) ?? Date() } } } #Preview { ContentView() } attaching the screenshot of failure accessibility.
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135
Mar ’25
How to force VoiceOver to read decimal point even when there are 6 or more decimal digits?
When VoiceOver reads decimal numbers with six or more digits after the decimal, it stops announcing the decimal separator and also adds pauses between each digit. Text("0.12345") // VoiceOver: "zero **point** one two three four five" Text("0.123456") // VoiceOver: "zero one, two, three, four, five, six" How can I force VoiceOver to announce the decimal separator ("point") and not insert pauses regardless of the number of decimal digits?
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245
Jun ’25
Add custom emoji tags
Allow the user to add their own tags to the default emoji tags. For instance, this emoji, for me, is nonna: 🤌🏻. My efficiency would improve immensely if I could search for it as the “Nonna” emoji, rather than searching for nonna, remembering it doesn’t exist, trying the search for other things it might be called, realising I don’t know what it is, then having to scroll through all the hand emojis twice to find it. 🤌🏻🤞🏼👌
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486
Jan ’25
The brightness of the iPad Pro screen is gone after new ios26
After 26 IOS update, the colors on my new iPad Pro M4 have become extremely dull almost like those on a very old device. The screen brightness is significantly reduced, and it's now difficult to see UI elements clearly. This is very disappointing considering the device’s high display quality before the update. Please advise if this is a known issue or if there's a fix.
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86
Jun ’25
CARPLAY IPH15PMX DOES NOT CONNECT to MERCEDES GLC
I m unable to connect CarPlay to Mercedes GLC 2024 with Apple 15PMX. Made all recommendations by Apple, renew the car's sw too. It didn't work despite I tried many times. Funny that my iPhone 11 connects flawlessly both with cord or wireless. However my iPhone 15PMX does connect to any other cars too either with cable or wireless. Is it a bug or a really inability?
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455
Nov ’24
Assistive Access Bugs
Hi! I have noticed a few glitches as well as some overall unfortunate cons with the assistive access mode. Alarms, timers, stopwatch, etc. do not sound or alert. However, I have an infant monitor app and I do get that sound alert so I know it is possible.. do I need to download a separate alarm app for it to work? Cannot make FaceTime calls with favorite contacts. Find My iPhone cannot jump to the maps app. Camera cannot zoom in or out. Photos cannot be deleted, edited, or shared in a shared album in the photos app. Photos/videos cannot be sent in messages. Spotify cannot be accessed from the lock screen. Apps do not stay open if you lock the phone screen or leave it on too long without touching the screen (auto locks). There is no flashlight option. I downloaded an app to have this feature but without being touched the screen will lock which shuts off the flashlight feature in the app until I unlock the phone again.
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105
Mar ’25