In general, I think it's always good to wait until at least the first
major update, sometimes the second of any new operating system so the
major bugs can get worked out. Upgrading to a new version of an
operating system as soon as it's released is far too risky.
Original message:
Hi everyone, now that the NDA is lifted, here are some things I think
you might like to be aware of in iOS 9.
I am enthusiastic about iOS 9. It is significantly more responsive than
its predecessor, and there are many new features that I'm sure you'll
enjoy. Unfortunately, there are also some VoiceOver bugs in iOS 9 that
range from minor annoyances to potentially critical, depending on how
you use your device and whether you find yourself affected. Here are
just a few that you might like to take into consideration before
deciding whether to wait for a bug fix release before installing iOS 9.
Remember that a few days following iOS 9's release, it will not be
possible to downgrade again, so you should consider the upgrade to iOS
9 a one-way trip, and proceed with caution if anything below concerns you.
1. Audio routing bug. This is potentially the most significant
accessibility bug I can recall ever to slip through an iOS release, due
to the number of people who may be affected. Not everyone will be, and
at present, even after extensive testing with a range of people owning
different devices, I have no information about why it affects some
users, but not others. It is not device specific, for example it is
happening to me on my iPhone 6 Plus, but I know iPhone 6 Plus users
where the problem isn't so severe. Nor does it seem to be affected by
any setting. If you're lucky, it won't happen to you, but the only way
I am aware of to determine this is to upgrade.
This bug may affect you when you have earbuds or headphones connected
to the headphone socket of your iPhone. The primary way the audio
routing bug manifests itself is when you receive an incoming phone or
FaceTime call. You can usually hear if you're going to be affected by
the bug because your ring-tone will fade in and out, rather like the
way VOiceOver causes system audio to fade in and out when audio ducking
is enabled. At this point, if you press the power button to silence the
ringer and then flick through the screen, you will find that not only
has VOiceOver become unresponsive, but the entire phone has as well.
If you don't press the power button while the phone is ringing, but
instead opt to flick through the iPHone's screen to locate the Answer
button or review caller ID information, VoiceOver may not speak at all.
Finally, if you attempt to answer the incoming call with a two-finger
double-tap, you may not be able to, since VoiceOver has effectively locked up.
The bottom line is that if you have earbuds connected, you may not be
able to answer a call.
Some people have also reported similar problems answering calls when
their phone is set to silent.
If you rely on your phone for business or safety, this could be a deal
breaker in terms of upgrading at this point.
What makes this bug so fascinating is that not only is it completely
absent for some people, but of those who experience it, not all
symptoms are present for all users. For example, some people experience
the issues I have described when they press the power button to mute
the ringer, but not when the phone is ringing. Others can answer a call
by pressing the button on their EarPods, while others cannot.
If you upgrade and are affected by this, here are a few things to try.
(A) If you have the more moderate version of this bug, avoid pressing
the power button when you receive an incoming call.
(B) Turning off audio ducking seems to help a little for some users.
(C) If you can't answer a call with a two-finger double-tap, try
pressing the button on your EarPods or similar device if you have such
a device connected.
(D) If all else fails, you can disconnect any device from the headphone
jack, answer the call with a two-finger double-tap, then reconnect the
device to the headphone jack.
(E) Given the critical nature of this bug, if you've upgraded and now
find yourself afflicted by it, enrol in the iOS beta program so you can
receive early copies of any fixes Apple is working on. But keep in mind
that since you will be running beta software, you may well be swapping
one set of bugs for another.
2. Bluetooth keyboard support unreliable. Sometimes, users may input
double letters when typing. This is a bug that was introduced in the
iOS 8 cycle, and can easily be worked around by toggling VoiceOver off and on.
However, a new bug now exists where at times, no text is entered into a
field at all when VO is active. Toggling VO doesn't help, nor does
switching the keyboard off and on. The only immediate remedy is to turn
Vo off, and keep typing without it. If you turn VO back on again, the
arrow keys don't work when you're trying to navigate your text, and you
can't edit it.
3. In the Today view of Notification Center, VO frequently restarts
itself when flicking through your widgets, and sometimes the phone
locks up entirely.
4. It's much less likely you can return to your previous position on
screen after taking an action. For example, flick through the list of
podcasts in Downcast. Find a podcast you wish to download. Double-tap,
and a shortcut menu appears. Choose Download. You should then be able
to tap on the screen and return to the list where you left off. This
worked in previous iOS versions, but it doesn't work now, you're
returned to near the top of the list. If you're in a large news-related
podcast where there are dozens of episodes, it takes a lot of effort to
get back to your place. This also impacts a number of other apps
including some Twitter clients.
5. Less reliable audio ducking. You may find that if you use VoiceOver
while listening to audio from another app, audio ducking does not work
as well as it used to. Some times, it works perfectly, while at others,
VoiceOver ducks the audio but does not restore the app to its normal
level when VO has finished speaking. On other occasions, VoiceOver
won't duck the audio at all, as if audio ducking had been disabled. If
VoiceOver has not restored system audio to its usual level, sometimes
toggling speech off and on again with a three-finger double-tap will
help. At other times, you may need to toggle VoiceOver completely off
and on again.
Jonathan Mosen
Mosen Consulting
Blindness technology eBooks, tutorials and training
http://Mosen.org <http://mosen.org>
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