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

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Unable to set dialect of Chinese of AVSpeechSynthesisVoice in iOS 18
The AVSpeechSynthesizer on some iOS 18 device has a bug that it will read always read Chinese of: AVSpeechUtterance(string: "中文") // Any Chinese Content in the dialect specified by: Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content > Voices > Chinese > Spoken Language instead of the dialect that I specified in AVSpeechUtterance.voice: AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: "zh-HK") // Cantonese AVSpeechSynthesisVoice(language: "zh-TW") // Mandarin However, setting Chinese dialect of AVSpeechSynthesisVoice by "zh-HK" or "zh-TW" has been working on iOS 17 and below. My app has a feature that requires reading sentences in Mandarin followed by Cantonese, i.e., both dialects is needed every time. Therefore, setting the dialect in Spoken Language of Settings is not a workaround to make my app to function correctly in iOS 18. Further to the above, I've also discovered that, if iOS 18 (in my case, 18.5 is tested) is freshly installed (not upgrading from iOS 17 or below, nor restoring backup after fresh installation of iOS 18), the bug above will not happen. However, if it was an upgrade from iOS 17 or below, or backup is restored (in my case, I freshly installed iOS 18.5 on a new iPhone and then restored a backup from another iPhone on iOS 16.2), the bug above happens. This bug puzzled me because I need both dialect of Chinese to be read aloud one by one, but as reported by many users, on most iOS 18 devices (since a fresh installation of latest iOS without upgrading or restoring is uncommon nowadays), my app will read Cantonese two times or Mandarin two times (depending on Spoken Language in Settings). It is the iOS 18 bug which made my app unable to perform the expected behavior. Would Apple developers look into this and advise if there are any possible workaround within the code of app to overcome this bug, or please fix this bug with an iOS 18 update. Thank you.
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Jun ’25
Fullscreen Detection
Hi, I want to detect if there is a fullscreen window on each screen. _AXUIElementGetWindow and kAXFullscreenAttribute methods work, but I have to be in a non-sandbox environment to use them. Is there any other way that also works? I don't think it's enough to judge if it's fullscreen by comparing the window size to the screen size, since it doesn't work on MacBook with notch, or the menu bar is set to 'auto-hide'. Thanks.
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Jul ’25
ar quicklook suddenly is grayed out on iphone 15 pro
ar quicklook suddenly is grayed out on iphone 15 pro, I bought the phone new recently ot was working great, 2 days ago updated to ios 18.1.4, ar mode kept opening but i started getting a move iphone over surface message and the object wouldn’t detect surfaces correctly, updated to ios 18.5, now when i open quicklook modesl ar is completely greyed out, can someone help me fix or detect the issue thank you
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256
May ’25
iOS 26 regression: `DeviceActivityEvent`: `eventDidReachThreshold` called immediately (instead of waiting till threshold is reached)
Hello Albert! I am experiencing some strange bugs around DeviceActivityEvents (part of the DeviceActivity framework) on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta: When creating a DeviceActivityEvent we can assign a threshold and applicationTokens. The idea is, that after the user has spent said threshold on said apps, eventDidReachThreshold() is called. The property includesPastActivity is set to false. On iOS 26 however, it happens (quite reliably after updating to a new beta seed) quite often that eventDidReachThreshold() is called immediately (after a couple of seconds) instead of waiting for the threshold to be met. Is anyone else seeing similar issues on iOS 26 / iOS 26.1 / iOS 26.2 beta? Only workaround I have found is to ask users to revoke and re-grant Screen Time permissions. This only holds for about two weeks though or at most until the next iOS 26 beta update is installed, so it is not a permanent solution unfortunately. Feedback (incl. sysdiagnoses and sample project) is filed under: FB18061981 FB18927456 One of our users has filed their own feedback request as well: FB20817853 Thanks a lot for any help on this!
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Nov ’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
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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May ’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
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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Sep ’25
App Store Policy for apps that allows users to unlock contact details of person who posted content.
We have an app under development which allows musicians to unlock contact details of people who posted about an upcoming event. The musician pays a fees to unlock this contact details. Both the musician & the post owner are registered users. We will reveal the same contact info that the post owner used for account signup verification. Questions: Is this allowed? (given that we obtain consent to share contact info to other people and clearly mention this in privacy policy) If yes, will we have to use App store in-app purchase to facilitate this transaction or are we free to use a payment processor such as Stripe.
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Feb ’25
Live Captions only partially works - help?
Hope it's okay to post here - I haven't gotten resolution anywhere else. Apple's iOs Live Captions is supposed to translate speech into written text either on the phone (works like a charm!) or via microphone (think meeting in a conference room). Microphone doesn't work anywhere, anytime on a new iPhone 14 purchased November 2024. Anyone out there want to fix this and help a lot of people who have trouble hearing? I'm part of an entire generation that didn't know we were supposed to protect our hearing at concerts and clubs and worse, thought it was cool to snag a spot by the speakers...
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Mar ’25
Accessibility full keyboard access issue.
In our application we are using UIAlertViewController. When accessibility full keyboard access is enabled, and we are trying to dismiss that AlertViewController with Esc key from external keyboard that is not working. We are presenting AlertViewController as a popover. We need dismiss the AlertViewController with Esc key press from external keyboard.
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Mar ’25
AssistiveTouch pointer cannot move past center of screen in landscape orientation on iPhone
Hello everyone, I’d like to report an issue I’ve encountered when using a Bluetooth mouse together with AssistiveTouch on iPhone running iOS 16.5. This has also been reported via Feedback Assistant with Feedback ID: FB17806167 Description: When using a Bluetooth mouse together with AssistiveTouch on iPhone (iOS), the pointer behaves incorrectly in landscape orientation. Specifically: The pointer cannot move past the center of the screen Horizontal and vertical (X/Y) movements appear to be swapped or misaligned Natural movement of the pointer is not possible It seems as if the internal coordinate mapping remains locked in portrait orientation, even when the device is physically rotated to landscape. This issue occurs system-wide, regardless of the current app. It is observable in Settings, on the Home screen, and in third-party apps. Steps to Reproduce: Enable AssistiveTouch Connect a Bluetooth mouse to the iPhone Rotate the device to landscape orientation Try moving the mouse pointer across the screen → Notice that: Pointer cannot move past the center Horizontal/vertical input is interpreted incorrectly (as if still in portrait) Expected Behavior: The mouse pointer should move across the entire screen correctly, regardless of device orientation. Actual Behavior: In landscape orientation, the pointer is either restricted to part of the screen or misaligned. It behaves as if the device is still in portrait. Horizontal mouse movement causes vertical pointer movement, and vice versa User experience feels broken and unintuitive Feature Suggestion: Please improve the synchronization between physical device orientation and AssistiveTouch pointer mapping on iOS. I also suggest exposing AssistiveTouch orientation control via a public API, so developers can help maintain consistent pointer behavior. Thanks in advance for any insights or suggestions. Best regards, Jannis
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Jun ’25
System clock ancs notification is not sent on iPhone >= 14
I'm working on a ble connected device that use ancs and system clock to receive alarm notification events for earing impaired people. It used to work until iPhone 13 with latest iOS 18.x. Starting with iPhone 14 onward (iOS 18.x), system clock alarm notification is not sent anymore. Is There any reason for this to happening?. Is anyone aware of this behaviour? Any suggestion would be really appreciated. Cheers
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Jun ’25