Apple’s new accessibility features, including Assistive Access, Live Speech, and more, will arrive later this year. Apple today previewed software features for cognitive, vision, hearing, and mobility accessibility, along with innovative tools for individuals who are nonspeaking or at risk of losing their ability to speak. These updates draw on advances in hardware and software, include on-device machine learning to ensure user privacy, and expand on Apple’s long-standing commitment to making products for everyone. Apple works in deep collaboration with community groups representing a broad spectrum of users with disabilities to develop accessibility features that make a real impact on people’s lives. Coming later this year, users with cognitive disabilities can use iPhone and iPad with greater ease and independence…

Apple today previewed a wide range of new accessibility features for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac that are set to arrive later this year. Apple says that the "new software features for cognitive, speech, and vision accessibility are coming later this year," which strongly suggests that they will be part of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS 14. The new operating systems are expected to be previewed at WWDC in early June before launching in the fall. Assistive Access Assistive Access distills ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌ apps and experiences to their core features. The mode includes a customized experience for Phone and FaceTime, which are combined into a single Calls app, as well as Messages, Camera, Photos, and Music. The feature…

WhatsApp is rolling out a new Chat Lock feature that allows users to secure select conversations in their inbox behind a passcode, fingerprint, or Face ID authentication, parent company Meta has announced. In a post on its news page, Meta explained that locked conversations are removed from the regular chat list and hidden in a password-protected folder. Notification previews for any locked chats don't show sender or message content, while any media shared in locked chats won't be auto-saved to the phone's photo library, altogether keeping the conversations more private. "We believe this feature will be great for people who share their phones from time to time with a family member, or in moments where someone else is holding your…

It’s been a while since WhatsApp added the option to ask for Face ID or Touch ID to unlock the app, so that other people using your phone can’t access your conversations. With its latest update, WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature that lets users lock specific chats instead of the entire app. more… The post iOS 17 should copy this new WhatsApp feature for locking chats with Face ID and Touch ID appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Image: Microsoft Microsoft promised to make its Phone Link app available for iPhone users (so you can use iMessage from a PC) by mid-May, and it’s May 15th now, so the company is delivering on that promise today. Phone Link now allows iPhone owners to connect to a Windows 11 PC and send and receive messages via iMessage, make and receive calls, and see any phone app notifications on a PC or laptop. The Phone Link app update is now available in 85 countries and will work with an iPhone over Bluetooth for calls, messages, and notifications. Microsoft is able to send messages via iMessage on Phone Link by intercepting incoming ones over Bluetooth and sending them by taking advantage…

Macworld Apple has planted its own flag in the streaming wars with Apple TV+, its in-house streaming service that focuses almost entirely on original programming rather than an extensive library of existing TV shows or movies. This resource will list all the Apple TV+ content you can watch today, grouped into: TV shows, limited series, and movies. There’s also a ton of new content in the works for Apple’s $6.99-a-month service. If you want to know what’s on the way, check out our list of upcoming Apple TV+ shows and movies. Updated 05/12/23: Documentary film STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie and drama series City on Fire are now streaming. u003cbru003eMentioned IN THIS story Apple TV 4K (2022, 3. Gen.)…