Apple Releases iOS 10.2; Bringing Fixes, But Also Some New Bugs for
VoiceOver & Focus Braille Display Users
Apple has today released iOS 10.2 to the public.
For blind & low vision users, our limited testing suggests that Apple has
made continued progress towards addressing the accessibility bugs present in
iOS 10 <http://www.applevis.com/bugs/ios/active> . However, despite this
progress, our testing also suggests that a number of accessibility bugs have
been introduced in this release-one of which we believe to be potentially
critical for those who use the Focus line of braille displays. Thus, if you
have not already updated your device to iOS 10.2, we strongly recommend that
you read this post below before doing so.
As we always stress in these posts, it is impossible for us to test all
devices, apps, and use cases. With this and the fact that the first version
of iOS 10 introduced a number of bugs which were not common to all users and
use cases, it is very likely that there are changes, regressions or
improvements that we are not aware of at the time of posting.
Accessibility Bugs Introduced in iOS 10.2
* Users of the Freedom Scientific Focus line of braille displays may
experience issues pairing their display with devices running iOS 10.2. The
information we have available to us suggests that this issue primarily
affects users who attempt to re-pair a Focus display which has previously
been un-paired from the same iOS device, although in our testing it was also
impossible to pair a Focus display for the first time when running iOS 10.2.
It is our understanding that Focus displays paired before updating to iOS
10.2 should continue to work correctly. This issue was apparently discovered
very late in the beta cycle, and Apple has assured us that a fix is in the
works and will be released in the near future. In the meantime, we recommend
that you do not upgrade to iOS 10.2 if you use a Focus braille display and
have a use case which may require you to un-pair and re-pair the display, or
if you may need to pair a Focus display for the first time before Apple
releases a fix. At the time of posting, we believe that the Focus line of
displays are the only displays affected by this issue; in addition to the
Focus 14 Blue and Focus 40 Blue, the models we were able to test under iOS
10.2 include the Braille Edge, Braille Sense, Refreshabraille, VarioUltra,
and Brailliant.
* When opening a message in the Mail app, VoiceOver focus is no
longer automatically placed in the body of the message. To find the body of
the message, the user must either swipe or explore by touch. It is our
understanding that this change is not by design, and that we should expect
to see this revert back to the previous behavior in a future iOS release.
* The VoiceOver rotor no longer consistently switches to the
'Actions' rotor item when VoiceOver focus lands on an element which has
actions available.
* In certain situations, VoiceOver will randomly speak the contents
of previous notifications which do not appear onscreen visually. This issue
does not occur consistently, and the notifications are no longer spoken once
speech is stopped or focus is moved to another element.
Accessibility Bugs Fixed in iOS 10.2
* It is once again possible to navigate by character when in a text
field on a web page.
* Enhanced Quality voices no longer occasionally revert to their
compact variants.
* The Enhanced Quality Siri voices are once again available for use
with VoiceOver in all use cases.
* It is now possible to manage shared access in the Home app using
VoiceOver.
* VoiceOver now correctly announces the status of the Love and
Dislike buttons in the Music app.
* VoiceOver now correctly provides feedback on the current selection
status when editing the list of mailboxes / folders in the Mail app.
* There is no longer a duplicated heading at the top of the 'For You'
tab of the native News app.
* VoiceOver now behaves as expected when using 3D Touch and the scrub
gesture inside Home Screen folders.
* VoiceOver rotor actions now work as expected in the 'Up Next'
section of the Music app.
* VoiceOver now behaves as expected in the Weather app when you have
multiple locations set.
* When new widgets are available while browsing the list of all
widgets, VoiceOver correctly reads their names.
* It is once again possible to rearrange the order of favorites in
the Phone app when VoiceOver is enabled.
New Features & Changes
In regard to general changes & new features, here are some that you may wish
to explore in iOS 10.2:
1. The new TV app introduced by Apple in its most recent keynote is coming
to iOS with iOS 10.2. This new app is intended to be a central location for
TV content & video subscriptions; and will suggest new shows based on your
preferences. This app will replace the native Videos app. It is believed
that the app will only be available in the US at launch, with other regional
roll-outs expected to follow in coming months.
2. iOS 10.2 introduces 72 new emojis. These include some new smiley & sick
faces, new professions that include both men & women, more food essentials &
a selfie arm.
3. A new option enables you to preserve camera settings for the next time
that you open the Camera app. So, instead of defaulting to the original
camera settings every time you launch the app, you can choose what mode or
filter to open on. This option is available under Photos & Camera in the
Settings app.
How to Update to iOS 10.2
iOS 10.2 is available via Over-the-Air Update (Settings>General>Software
Update) or via iTunes on your Mac or Windows PC. As always, we recommend
making a backup of your device before performing any software update.
Apple Releases Software Updates for watchOS & tvOS
Today has seen another round of software updates from Apple. In addition to
the release of iOS 10.2, there have also been updates for the Apple Watch &
fourth-generation Apple TV.
At the time of posting, full release notes for these updates are not yet
available; however, it is safe to assume that there will be the standard mix
of bug fixes, security patches, & under-the-hood performance improvements.
One change that we are aware of is the new TV app introduced by Apple in its
most recent keynote coming to the fourth-generation Apple TV with today's
tvOS update. This new app is intended to be a central location for TV
content & video subscriptions; & will suggest new shows based on your
preferences. It is believed that the app will only be available in the US at
launch, with other regional roll-outs expected to follow in coming months.
We will update this post if we learn of further significant new features or
changes.
We have been able to carry out some limited testing of watchOS 3.1.1 prior
to today's public release, and our experience suggests that blind & low
vision users are likely to find no accessibility-related changes.
As we always stress, it is impossible for us to test all applications and
use cases.
How to Update
watchOS 3.1.1 is available by going to the Watch app on your iPhone and
navigating to General> Software Update. To install the update, your Watch
must be connected to its charger and have at least 50% battery power.
To install tvOS 10.1 on a fourth-generation Apple TV, go to the Settings
channel, then look for the System section near the bottom. From here, look
for Software Updates under Maintenance, then select Update Software and
Download and Install.
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