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Discussion on Location Services and Green light (Will someone deaf or blind ever know when their location was last on?)
Haptic or Sound queue to allow for the accessibility of the blind (sound) and deaf population (haptic) for even knowing when location services and the camera were last used? Also, the grey notification rather than the purple notification for location services should appear for the full 24 hours after an application has used the app, if the correct description is within the "copy" of Settings The green light lets them know that the application has changed to the camera and fade out orange light both could even have subtle simply click sounds, like a shutter, big haptic, softer sound, but editable in Settings, of course
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May ’25
Need app blocking permission for Screen Time Limit app - CAN'T GET ANSWER FROM SUPPORT FOR 3 WEEKS. APP HAS 100K FOLLOWERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALREADY
Hey everyone! I am developing a screen time limit app to help people spend less time in distracting apps. It works this way: people choose unhealthy apps for them and opposite productivity apps. In the app you can exchange time spent on healthy habits to scroll or use other distracting apps. This idea was loved by social media, and the app already has 100k followers on social media without even being launched yet. So I am waiting just for one feature permission from Apple, and they have not given me any answer since I applied 3 weeks ago. There are a lot of similar apps on the market, and this feature exists in other screen time limit apps. Why is app blocking permission needed? Time Exchange Functionality: Users independently select which apps are productive and which are distracting for them. The system blocks the "negative" apps until the user accumulates enough time in the "positive" ones. This encourages healthy device usage. Full User Control: All apps to be blocked are manually selected by the user in the settings. The extension does not impose any restrictions without explicit permission. Transparency and Security: Blocking happens locally, with no data collected about app usage. We adhere to Apple’s privacy policy. Compliance with App Store Guidelines: We understand that app blocking is a sensitive feature, but in our case it: Is used for the benefit of the user (digital detox, productivity improvement). Does not interfere with system processes or other developers’ apps. Does not misuse access to APIs. My question to the forum is: Did you have similar problems, and how did you resolve them? Are there any ways to speed up the process or contact someone from the approval team directly? Should I give up and release it on Android? I am very disappointed and frustrated. Hope to get some useful tips. Thank you very much!
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159
May ’25
iOS: How to maintain good app icon contrast in grayscale mode?
I’m developing an iOS app, and I’ve noticed that when the user enables Accessibility → Display & Text Size → Color Filters → Grayscale, my app icon loses a lot of visual contrast. The original colored version looks fine, but in grayscale it appears “flat” and harder to distinguish, unlike a pure black-and-white design. What I want to achieve: Ensure the app icon remains visually clear and high-contrast even when iOS renders it in grayscale. Ideally, provide an alternate “high-contrast” app icon version when grayscale mode is enabled. What I’ve tried: Increased color contrast in the original icon design. Added outlines and stronger shapes. Tested with grayscale filters in design tools. Researched Asset Catalog and alternate icons, but found no documented API to detect or respond to grayscale mode. Questions: Is there any API in iOS that allows detecting when the system is in grayscale mode so that I can programmatically switch to an alternate app icon? If not, are there Apple-recommended best practices for designing app icons that still look clear in grayscale? Are there any accessibility guidelines specifically addressing icon design for grayscale or color-blind modes? Additional info: iOS version tested: iOS 17.5 Development in Swift + SwiftUI, using Asset Catalog for icons. I am aware that iOS supports alternate icons via setAlternateIconName, but I haven’t found a trigger for grayscale mode.
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456
Aug ’25
AVSpeechSynthesisVoice ignores user-selected voices in iOS 26 (Regression)
We've identified a regression in iOS 26.0 and 26.1 Beta 4 where AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language:) no longer respects user-selected voices from Accessibility settings. Issue: When users select a specific voice in Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices, calling AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language:) returns the system default voice instead of the user's selection. This worked correctly in iOS 18.6.2. Particularly affects: Third-party speech synthesis voices (CereProc, Grammatek, etc.) Apps relying on automatic voice selection based on user preferences Example: // User selected CereProc Heather for en-GB in Accessibility settings let voice = AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: "en-GB") print(voice?.name) // iOS 18.6.2: "HEATHER", iOS 26: "Daniel" (system default) Interesting observation: The new Accessibility Reader feature in iOS 26 correctly uses the user-selected voice, but Tap to Speak and the API both ignore the setting. Tested methods: AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language:) AVSpeechUtterance auto-selection Reflection for new APIs All return the system default voice, not the user's preference. Filed: FB[20271264] Has anyone else encountered this? Any known workarounds to programmatically access the user's preferred voice selection?
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Oct ’25
Custom prediction panel not working in Google Docs
I’m working on a macOS Accessibility setup for a French-speaking user and I’ve hit a wall. (I'm not a developper and I'm trying to help my kid with dyslexia) I successfully built a custom word prediction panel using the Panel Editor (Keyboard) in macOS Accessibility > Keyboard > Accessibility Keyboard. Here’s what I have so far: • The prediction panel works system-wide: I can use it to type in Finder, Safari, Notes, TextEdit, and even browser search bars. • The panel appears above all applications and suggestions show up correctly. • However, it does not work inside Google Docs (tested in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox). Selecting a word from the panel does nothing in the Docs editor. I suspect this is because: • Google Docs does not use a standard macOS text input field. • Docs is a web app that relies on custom JavaScript editors, contentEditable elements, and canvas rendering, so macOS Accessibility APIs (AXTextField, AXInsertText, etc.) don’t register or inject text events. • Accessibility tools like the Accessibility Keyboard rely on native macOS text input methods, which don’t hook into Google Docs’ custom editor. Important: I’m not a programmer. I’d like to know if there is an easy fix or option in macOS, Google Chrome, or Google Docs that would make my custom prediction panel work, before going into custom development. Technical setup: • MacBook Air (M2, 2022) • RAM: 8 GB • macOS: Sequoia 15.3.1 • Language: French (system and keyboard) • Accessibility Keyboard: Enabled via Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard • Custom panel: Built using Panel Editor (Keyboard), named “Philemon Prédiction” • Browsers tested: Chrome, Safari, Firefox (same issue) • Behavior: Panel is visible, suggestions appear, but inserting text does nothing in Google Docs Has anyone worked around this limitation? Is there a simple setting, workaround, or accessibility option to bridge macOS Accessibility input with Google Docs’ editor? Thanks a lot!
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940
Aug ’25
Autocomplete Select not working with VoiceOver in iOS 18.6.2
Hey folksI, I would like to ask for help on this topic: I think this is exactly the same problem Combobox not working with VoiceOver after… - Apple Community. VoiceOver also breaks the combobox from the official ARIA W3C website https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/combobox/examples/combobox-autocomplete-list/. When VO is turned off, I can use the up/down arrow to go through the menu items from the dropdown, but when VO is turned on, the up/down arrows cannot access the dropdown menu items. Is there an official tutorial on how to control it using voice over? Kind regards, Jakub
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Sep ’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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Mar ’25
"Captions" in the Accessibility Nutrition Label for text-based apps
My game app is text-based interactive fiction, containing no audio/video content, making captions unnecessary. Our game is completely accessible to deaf users. Despite this, in the Accessibility Nutrition Label, I'm only able to leave the "Captions" box checked or unchecked. Leaving it unchecked would leave deaf players with the wrong impression that they can't enjoy our game. Leaving it checked would imply that we do have A/V content with captions included. In the WWDC video on this, https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/224/ the video says: After we completed common tasks, we realized our app doesn’t have any video or audio only content. In this case, we aren’t going to indicate that Landmarks supports Captions. That's okay. This accurately describes the features that people will expect to be available while using the app. Maybe that's "OK," but I wish the form allowed me to say "This app doesn't contain audio/video content."
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135
Jun ’25
IOS 26 Full Keyboard Access (navigation) and WKWebView
We use an embedded WKWebView for several screens in our app. Recently, we have been testing keyboard navigation via Full Keyboard Access in our apps. On IOS 18, everything works pretty much as expected. On IOS 26, it does not. On IOS 26, you can "tab" away from the webview and then never tab back to the webview for keyboard navigation. Is this a known issue? Are there workarounds for this issue that anyone is aware of?
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555
Nov ’25
HID Braille keyboard support on iPhone 6S
Hello, I am working on a Braille keyboard by using HID approach. Current the device works with iPhone 11 and SE3. However, when tested in iPhone 6s with iOS 15, although the device can be connected and recognized as Braille device in VoiceOver screen, the phone shows no response to key press report. Would there be any requirement at points such as HID descriptor for iPhone 6s support on Braille device? If iPhone 6s does not support such devices, what is the minimum system requirements? Thank you!
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1.5k
Sep ’25
how accessible is enough for Accessibility Nutrition Labels?
My team has a robust digital accessibility program and processes for WCAG conformance in our apps. Because of this, there are definitely accessibility defects that get caught and addressed in order of impact and business priority like any other bug. Obviously we want to aim for 100% accessibility for our users, but it's a continual work in progress as new enhancements or changes are released. I'm stuck on the appropriate measurement to indicate support. If we have 50 common tasks and the most central 10 tasks are solid but some supporting (but also common) tasks have a contrast fail or accessibleLabel missing, does that make the whole app not supporting the feature? If "completing the task" is the rubric there are a whole range of interpretations for that. In a complex app, I anticipate that a group like ours will have strong support for many of the Accessibility Nutrition Labels accessibility features across tasks and devices, but realistically never be 100% free of defects for a given Apple Accessibility feature, even among core tasks. As I consider the next steps for Nutrition Labels, I do not see anything in the documentation that gives a sort of baseline or measurement for inclusion. We plan to test all steps to complete a task, and log defects accordingly with an assigned timeline for fixing them (as would be true for functional defects).
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2.1k
Jan ’26
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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Jun ’25
Imessage and Facetime error
Yesterday I installed iOS 26 on my iPhone as a beta tester. At first there was no problem, but during the afternoon I noticed that neither FaceTime nor IMessage worked... I tried to go through the settings as described by Apple Support, but my phone number would not activate. Sometimes I was even asked to activate iCloud. I always get a REG-RESP message. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?
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Jun ’25
Download Voices screen
System settings => Accessibility => System Voice => the little (i) beside the pulldown => Voices => THIS SCREEN will allow you to download Premium Voices Is there a way to trigger this screen programmatically. Or at least a link to get my users there without having to dig thru that swamp of screens?
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619
Nov ’25
Feature Idea: Autonomous, Motion-Powered Clock Display on iPhone.
Hey everyone, I've been thinking about a truly innovative way to enhance iPhone battery life and user convenience, drawing inspiration from kinetic energy harvesting. What if we could have a clock display on the main iPhone screen that's powered purely by user motion, and activates only when you look at it, without touching your main battery? The Core Idea Imagine this: Kinetic Energy Harvesting: Your iPhone would have a tiny, integrated kinetic energy generator. This generator would capture the energy from your everyday movements – walking, picking up the phone, putting it in your pocket. Independent Power Source: This harvested energy would be stored in a small, dedicated capacitor or micro-battery, completely separate from your iPhone's main battery. Acelerometer-Activated Display: Instead of relying on power-hungry facial recognition, the phone's accelerometer (a very low-power sensor) would detect specific "raise to wake" or "tap to look" gestures. On-Demand, Ultra-Low Power Clock: Only when the accelerometer detects one of these specific gestures would the stored kinetic energy be used to illuminate just the necessary pixels on the main OLED/AMOLED screen to display the time. The rest of the screen stays completely black (consuming no power on OLED). Automatic Shut-Off: As soon as the gesture ends or the phone is put down, the clock display would turn off, conserving the limited harvested energy. Why This Matters This isn't just a cool gimmick; it offers significant benefits: True Battery Independence: Get the time at a glance, anytime, without touching your main battery or even the power button. This means more main battery life for apps, calls, and everything else. Ultimate Convenience: A "magical" interaction – just pick up your phone, and the time instantly appears. No taps, no button presses. Sustainable & Innovative: Showcases practical "energy harvesting" in a consumer device, pushing boundaries for self-sufficient tech. Extreme Energy Efficiency: By using a low-power accelerometer as the trigger and only lighting a few pixels on demand, the system is designed for minimal power draw, making kinetic power a viable source. This concept combines existing low-power sensing (accelerometer), efficient display technology (OLED/AMOLED's true blacks), and cutting-edge energy harvesting, creating a genuinely innovative user experience.
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Jun ’25
Already Enrolled, but Now Asked to Re-Enroll – Certificates Revoked, No Response
Our company enrolled in the Apple Developer Program as an organization in July 2024. Everything was fine for several months, but in early January 2025, our developer noticed that the certificates were missing. When we logged into our developer account, we were shocked to see a page prompting us to “Enroll Today”—as if we had never joined in the first place. Clicking the enrollment button led us to an error page stating we cannot enroll. We immediately reached out to Apple Developer Support via email, but despite multiple attempts, we received no response. Strangely, our apps remain live on the App Store, App Store Connect functions as usual, and we continue receiving payments every month. However, we are completely blocked from developing and releasing updates. Today, I managed to reach Apple by phone. After being transferred to a senior representative, I was told they couldn’t tell me why this was happening. They only confirmed that a request had been made and that I should “wait.” That’s it—no explanation, no timeline, nothing. While it’s somewhat reassuring that they acknowledge the issue, I’ve already seen other developers with the same problem go unanswered for months. My suspicion? This account might be linked to an individual developer account from way back in 2015 when Apple’s registration process was far less strict. Could that be the issue? No idea—because Apple won’t say a word. Meanwhile, both of our apps have been exposed to several bugs, and customers are waiting for updates. If there’s still no response from Apple, I have no choice but to register a new account—purely to continue supporting our users. CASE ID: 102508598957
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Mar ’25
Problem with the note application
I have more than 1000 notes classified in parent/child folders up to 5 levels. From the 5th level of files I can no longer share the note. The note is not shared. It is that of the parent file that is shared. Thank you very much Good to you Christophe
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May ’25