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 Personal Voice and Live Speech accessibility features. | Image: Apple Today, Apple previewed a bundle of new features designed for cognitive, vision, hearing, and mobility accessibility. That includes a new Personal Voice feature for people who may lose their ability to speak, allowing them to create “a synthesized voice that sounds like them” to talk with friends or family members. According to Apple, users can create a Personal Voice by reading a set of text prompts aloud for a total of 15 minutes of audio on the iPhone or iPad. Since the feature integrates with Live Speech, users can then type what they want to say and have their Personal Voice read it to whomever they want to talk…

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…

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.

Macworld Every year there is a major update to macOS, the Mac operating system, followed by smaller updates bringing fixes and new features in the months that follow. In 2022 Apple previewed macOS Ventura at WWDC in June and then, following an extensive beta testing phase, released the final version to Mac users on Monday, October 24. If you are yet to update to Ventura, here’s what you need to know about the new features, whether Ventura will run on your Mac, and how Apple’s apps including Mail and Safari have changed. We’ll also discuss details of any issues and flaws people are encountering with the new software Apple continues to develop macOS even after a major release, so throughout…

Apple is expected to announce iOS 17 during its WWDC 2023 keynote on June 5, which is just over a month away. Ahead of time, rumors suggest the update will include at least eight new features and changes for iPhones, as outlined below. The first iOS 17 beta should be made available to members of Apple's Developer Program moments after the keynote, while a public beta will likely be available in July for members of Apple's Beta Software Program. As usual, the update should be widely released in September, around the time that new iPhones launch. Some of the features and changes listed below might not be added until later iOS 17 versions, such as iOS 17.1 or iOS 17.2.…