New Apple updates incoming at WWDC, what would you like to see?

I don't miss anything major.
BSI improvements are welcome, as well as new voices. But bug fixes are a must, it shouldn't count as a request.

I really hope Apple has been working more on Mac VoiceOver. Much better web so I can use Salesforce and Google Docs/Sheets better, stuff like that. Better scripting support so more addons can be made, performance improvements in Safari. Like the hardware is amazing, and so many sighted developers use it, and they don't wanna test their sites/apps on Windows. So we should be able to just move all our accessibility stuff, games, mods, all to the Mac.

Right now I am not sure who has more bugs Apple or a NY hotel.

I don't care. the NEW BSI features is the only think I'm looking forward too plus new voices however with that being said, Please, fix the bugs! I care about that the most!

Just describe the bug you are experiencing to Siri, and Siri, powered by our state of the art on device AI model will fix the app or operating system code on the spot.
It's coming folks, the future is brighter!

I will always applaud Apple for the accessibility of its software, but one thing is really annoying, each version of the iPhone I get there seems to be little improvement in dictation, which I find both frustrating and embarrassing. This needs to be sorted, plus bugs need to be fixed, particularly on Mac, “Safari busy and Safari not responding“ has to go.

for macos. It's a must must at this point. I still have less than an year of experience but being totally honest I would have sacrificed the battery at any cost for an actual os and accessibility components that are stable and I feel productive with..

I think what I am reading is that iOS won't let you have empty spaces between apps, for example, having the Clock app at the top left and the Apple Store app somewhere at the bottom right with no other apps between them.
I actually never thought of doing that, and I hope that's most of the reason I had to think about it for a while...

I'd be hoping for siri to have the kind of multimodal capability that Open AI was showing off earlier in the year. Come on folks! bash me!

I hope we can have more voice over voices from other company...
and also can use our own voice for voice over as well...

I hope that siri can let us use 2 languages as one
right now it is good that it can read message in other languages... if I am not choosing that language at siri...
but, it still have improvement...
google assistant already can let us use 2 languages together without switching between them

I would be completely content if no new features were added but bugs were fixed... mainly the focus issue, and Voiceover stuttering.

Hi! I admit that I'm not very excited about AI as so many people are, but if extra AI in iOS can make Siri work better, that would definitely be a good thing. I have read recently that iOS 18 will bring improvements to Braille Screen Input, which I use nearly all the time on my iPhone, so I definitely look forward to those. As for new VoiceOver voices, whether I use them will depend on whether I like them, but that's the same for everyone.

I was just thinking about the whole iOS 18 rumor that there will be word level effects in Messages. So, the accessibility for this could happen in a few ways that I can think of:

• VoiceOver uses the "attachment start" and "attachment end" sounds like in Mail for attachments on Mac.
• VoiceOver uses pitch or some other speech change to speak the words, each effect maybe having its own speech change.
• VoiceOver plays the effect's sound with each word spoken. This seems the most useful to me honestly.

But, if they do go with the speech changes, and they also have formatting like bold or italics, this could mark the time when VoiceOver can both show Braille, and speech, formatting. Already, in Notes and the Books app, VoiceOver is able to show formatting in Braille. So if an author uses italics to show that someone is thinking, or bold to show telepathy, or even more important, marks important words in a text book in bold! Very freaking important for homework! Braille readers can know that. So the next logical move is to add that to speech. So, iOS 18 might, just might, be the first mainstream OS with a screen reader to rival Emacspeak! The flexible voice rotor may allow us to configure how formatted text is output as well.

Someone above set improvements to Siri As well as it gaining multimodal capabilities. I would love this as well. Siri is So simple and incapable compared to some of the things we have now. Anyway that conversation has been had a million times and I think we all agree that a solid improvement even if chat GPT were not to be incorporated would be amazing. But I can imagine doing so many things with Siri and being productive in a way that I never have before with iphone. Right now I use chat gpt to accomplish so much, compiling documents and to do lists creating concise notes And explaining difficult concepts. I feel I have grown immensely with the use of AI and imagining Siri having that capability it is amazing but I would like her to be able to add and edit multiple calendar entries All in one string. I would love her to be able to create reminders and alarms all at the same time. I would like to be able to say create calendar entry and give her the information and say could you please create an alarm two minutes before each Calendar entry. Or I would like to tell her to create a note and then following I would like to be able to say “O yeah a reminder at 2:30 PM that I have a dinner later on tonight and put that dinner in my calendar for 6:30 PM. It seems like we have these engines now with the ability To understand and carry out multiple tasks at once and then we have siri needing to be guided turn by turn with misunderstandings about fifty percent of the time

I know this won't happen but I just wish they'd spend a release cycle fixing the many bugs. Adding shiny new features is only cool if they work reliably; which they only seem to if a person's usecase is mostly average.

What I would love to see with the next major update; is for Apple to have the same end goal logic and mindset they had when developing OS X Snow Leopard.
That. . . would make me actually excited for the next major releases. 😰

Like, folks, really, please make a basic search on AI and what it can actually do.
Yeah, it's powerful, but it isn't the one and only solution for everything.

I would love to see a redesign of the Notes application. I've been having some problems with it lately, and, it would be nice if that could be resolved. It would be efficient to be able to work with plane text, without all the formatting getting in the way. I don't use it much, but I wish we could go back to the dictation engine that we had when iOS 7 was a thing. It was so much better then. I don't know what they did wrong here. Sometimes, it's easier for me to speak my thoughts out loud, and then edit the text afterwards. Even if I'm not using dictation exclusively, sometimes, I want to be able to quickly get the idea, like the basic concept of the idea, out of my head so that I don't forget it later on. Regarding voiceover, and getting new voices, I honestly don't think that I would personally like to use my own voice for a screen reader. I'm sure that it would be modified to sound better, for the sake of the fact that I would be using it on the device, but, yeah. I'm not sure that's something I would like. I'm not saying it's a bad idea. I think they already have something like this, where you're able to create a custom voice, but if I remember correctly, it's for persons who are losing their speech, so that's always a good thing. I don't know if this is what the original commenter was talking about. I don't know if they are able to use it for voiceover, because I'm pretty sure it's for live speech only. Nobody likes to hear the sound up their own voice. At least, I don't. I would love for iMessage to work with other devices, especially if we're able to use our email address to send and receive messages. I love WhatsApp, but I hate giving out my number. I wish the audio quality, and the interface, was better for iMessage, similar to WhatsApp, but, better.

It seems, in my limited use of LLM/AI/all that stuff, that it has wildly, insane potential for use in accessibility for screen readers.
* The rest wasn't important.

Well, what Ollie was suggesting is indeed possible, if not in this itteration of the IOS, then in the next or the one after that. In fact, a basic understanding of what LLMs are, and more inportantly, what AI is, will tell us that AI-based operating systems are indeed possible; not to mention microsoft has already taken a step in that direction with the new copilotPCs about to hit the market.

Now they're saying the AI features are going to be a beta and will only be available on the later models of the iPhone.

So anything that's an iPhone 15 and above.

I do hope this one isn't true, but knowing Apple, it is something they would come up with, if only to sell more phones.

All I want is for me to be able to use my Mac without it feeling like a fight. I would like text editing to work in a sensible, predictable and stable way. I want to be able to use Safari without having to do laps round the page to find what I want. I want to be able to navigate headings that have child elements in them and actually hear what the heading says (like in Ventura). What I really want is for them to stabilise and find a way to be able to bring the platform forwards without introducing new bugs. The problem is that every time they touch VO they break something.

When the new macos comes out I won't know if I can upgrade to it - doing so will always be a huge risk and my fingers were well and truly burned after Sonoma. I now feel like I have no idea what I am supposed to do when the new version comes out. Other than maybe learn how to take a proper backup first.

I don't know if they would have to rewrite VO just to make it sensible, but they need to get a handle on it.

As for iOS - again I'm getting more anxious all the time that they will break stuff. But I would love better descriptions of images and videos. I'd like to be able to browse my photo library and know what everything is without having to ask the pixies.

They said they were bringing new voices, and much as I Hate to admit it, I will likely be excited to try them. It's a bit like being in an abusive relationship and your partner buys you a jumper and it's supposed to make everything ok. But if we start getting closer to the AI voices in VoiceOver - without all the sass - then that could be good. If the voices were better at pronouncing things, and maybe could pronounce a number in square brackets properly then that would be an improvement.

I personally don't think Siri is as bad as everyone else but I will be interested to find out what it will be able to do if they are introducing lots of AI smarts to it.

My worry is that they seem quite far behind in the AI race and the new versions of the operating systems might end up suffering in quality as a result of the rush to catch up.

I'd be more excited about new features if all the current features worked as expected more reliably. Focus issues in particular are getting really old. Also, I have a funny feeling that any new features that might be even remotely appealing will only work on new devices. I was hoping to use my iPhone 13 pro for at least one more year since it's paid off, but I guess only time will tell. If there's a feature compelling enough, and that I know would truly benefit me on a daily basis, I might consider a new phone, but otherwise, as of now, I'm just feeling kind-a meh about iOS 18.

Until the announcements, I won't know whether my iPhone XS is on the iOS 18 compatibility list. If not, then this will strengthen the case for a hardware upgrade.

The Mac is a 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro, which shouldn't need any upgrade.

I believe Siri, at least outside of any AI/LLM addition, should be universal across the board, and I too would be very pleased to see a lot of the long time standing bugs resolved.

If reports that Apple's most advanced AI features will be limited to the latest iPhones are correct, I interpret this to mean that only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be fully supported, as they are the only current models to include the A17 chip and 8 GB of ram. If, on the other hand, all iPhones in the 15 series are supported, I can't think of any technical reason why the 14 Pro wouldn't also be supported, as it has the same A16 chip and 6 GB of ram as the base-model iPhone 15.

The new AI stuff will run on the 15 pro pro max and above from what I've read.

According to Apple Insider, here is what Siri will be capable of.

If any of this is true, it will be a huge improvement.

It's quite a long list.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/06/08/siri-is-reborn-in-ios-18----everything-apples-voice-assistant-will-be-able-to-do?utm_medium=rss

I'd be interested to know if the Siri updates are specifically tied to Apple's own apps or if developers will be able to tap into that. The improvements sounds useful but not sure how essential. I do want better recognition in photos and I guess being able to more intelligently find mail will be useful. I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and don't feel entirely ready to upgrade yet - usually I wait for updates to stop or it to break before replacing a phone. But I could be tempted I suppose.

More of a dilemma with the Mac - I'm sure mine is powerful enough to run AI stuff on it but dare I risk it?

One thing that was interesting was the magnifier options. It's always been a bit odd that things like door detection and so on are tucked away in there. And maybe it's because I don't use it that often, but when I do I find the UI quite cumbersome and it takes me a while to find something. If I could just ask the S lady to find me the door then that might start becoming useful.

I'd also like to be able to use Siri with VoiceOver and be able to type single characters without it sounding like a teacher trying to spell out a word to a two year old.

Anyway not long to go now.

I reckon third-party apps will get it next year. Gotta have something for next year after all.

This is why I like what some of these AI startups are doing with the over-the-air updates. They update when a feature is ready, not like these tech giants who save features for the following year.

apparently Siri will be able to take pictures on command, toggle cameras etc. How I wish an AI-puffed up Siri/VO would guide me to capture a perfect (or, as good a photo as possible).

If that clean-up feature is true, that's the thing that's the most exciting for me. I've been wanting the ability to crop screenshots and edit pictures in general for ages. I don't just mean adding filters and so on, I mean proper image editing like removing objects etc.. And Gokul yes, guideance when taking a photo or video would be great. I would love something like that.

For the guidance part to be a reality, it'll have to come in as an accessibility feature. I mean, there's not much of a reason it'd be part of a regular Siri upgrade.
@Tara but yes, the ability to remove that offending overhead cable from an otherwise instagram worthy picture is indeed exciting

I would love to be able to clear and delete the storage for the iPhone. If my device can't process certain features, I don't want it logged in the cash taking up space. The system and other storage shouldn't be 10 or 15 gigabytes. It should be cleared with the updates. For the life of me, I don't think I will ever understand iCloud storage. Just like I don't understand the other or system storage on the iPhone. I don't know what, for the iOS update, is taking up almost 10 GB of storage. Makes no sense. You can't even offload it. I'm guessing most of that is for visual aspects that I don't need, or features that my device doesn't support. Apple needs to do better in this regard. I thought there was an iCloud plan where you could pay $350 for a certain amount of storage, and that was a one off purchase. I don't see that option anymore, so I'm wondering if I only imagined it. Not everyone wants to pay for storage on a monthly basis. It would be nice if we had plans where we could purchase a set amount of storage for one price, and be done with it. Other devices have memory card slots directly built into the phone. None of this paying for extra storage, or even the device storage in the first place. I think I remember Apple saying something like, we wanted to minimize the amount of ports that the device had, but that's a flimsy excuse. Personally, I would rather have a memory card slot, than having to worry about an extra slot on the device, or having a separate device for storage. It could very well be that they're pushing users to upgrade to this whole iCloud plus subscription. Don't come for me. That's only my opinion. Seems like a money grab at best, if you ask me. The devices are already expensive. Now, you're telling me that if I want extra storage, I have to pay for it? What's the point of me having a device with 500 GB, if I only have 5 GB free of iCloud storage. I'm going to have to spend even more money for Storage to back up my information. Plus, when you start to think about it, you're not getting the actual storage that you're paying for. When you buy a device with 128 GB of storage, or any storage level, at least 10 or more gigabytes is already in use by the system. Come on, tell me that you don't see an issue with this business model. When I purchase a certain amount of storage, that's what I expect to get, not after you've already taken your share of it.
New voices would be nice. I actually stick to using the Samantha default voice. I don't use any of the other voices. Sometimes, I might use some of the Siri voices for reading, or Alex enhanced. I also use my device at 100% when it comes to the speed, and some of the voices don't sound well at that rate. I need to be able to navigate information quickly since I can't see the screen. When it comes to the grandpa laughing, and the other weird voices, those are called novelty voices. Apparently, it's for people who want to have fun with their device, but that takes away this seriousness of the product, but that's just my opinion. I don't know why anybody would want to use them, maybe for a joke, or something, but that's it. I would rather the company focus on better quality voices, rather than spending time on that aspect, but maybe that's only me. I'm guessing it would be like wallpapers, except audio versions, something for fun, for having a laugh, but these aren't voices that you're going to actually use in daily life. I would say that they are on the device to give individuals a sense of personality, or for individuals who are more on the silly side of things, which I'm not, and that's perfectly fine. And, if you stop to think about it, most of the voices sound the same. Except, with different variations. I genuinely have to wonder who records these voices. I wonder if it's one or two persons recording the voices, and then they change up the pitch a little bit, use some sound Voice changers, and slap a new name on it, telling you that this is a completely new voice. I actually think the Samantha default voice sounds better than the enhanced version, but maybe that's just me. Why wouldn't you not have a great voice from day one, instead of variations? I like having variations, but, still. It can be pretty frustrating. Also, some of the voices low-key sounds creepy, and weird. I can't imagine any actual human being talking like that. I don't know if their voices are distorted for the sake of the screen reader, but I can hardly understand them. They sound off, like some major weirdos, recording voices for fun in their basement.

I don't mean Braille screen Input; I mean braille! there's always a stellar suite of Braille bugs with every IOS release. How lovely it would be to have an IOS release where Braille just worked, eh? all right, I know it's a good experience when compared with android but let's not have any more of that race to the bottom thinking.

Photo guidance/integration/general fiddle about withery would be most welcome. Presumably the on-device AI would be used for this sort of thing. I just have one, very important point to make about AI and photos: for it to be truly useful, there will have to be some acceptance that sometimes, some of us have to look at photos of very unpleasant things, and not for nefarious purposes. as a children law barrister, for example, it goes without saying that I have to do precisely this. So far, AI will not assist with what is an essential facet of the evaluation of evidence, on the basis that it imputes to me machine-generated wickedness. In short, if Siri can help me with object-removal and recognition and so on, I hope i am not stuck with value judgments as to what I need help with; but I suspect that is what will happen.

We've all been discussing what AI will bring to the world of the sighted as well as the blind. I now bring you evidence of where exactly AI is taking us. Not to the limits of our imagination. not to new and exciting innovations in assistive technology.

Nay. AI is taking over the modelling industry.

The world may never be the same. . .

On a side note, I vote for Winter Roses for the next CEO of Apple Inc.

Thank you, that is all. 😃

What I want is to be able to ask Siri to write a summary of a page in Safari and hear it say "sorry, I can't do that, it's not responding. Would you like me to write you a haiku about the miserable experience you are having?" I think what we really need in Safari is to have something using more computational power as it's obviously got free time on its hands. (Says me writing this..)

I think the most useful thing they could add to Siri would allow me to ask Siri to create a video and send it along with a diagnostic dump to Apple accessibility and then follow it up every week asking for a progress report. Maybe intelligently converting the email to uppercase after a few weeks, then adding in more exclamation marks from that point on. Now that is an AI feature I would use.

Since the rumours are that Siri is going to be getting a massive AI improvement, I’ve got this image in my head of being able to construct our very own custom personal assistant with a face body personality voice and everything! I would also love to have the option to have it run in the background at all times sort of like what you see in those crime dramas where you always have an audio link to the analyst or whatever it’s called. Would also be great to have Siri be able to understand emotions, Learn our voices as time goes on and have a voice that actually sounds decent. Would also love to have moods and emotions of its own but that probably won’t happen.

I still wonder how and why we have got to the point where we are trying to make our computers appear more and ore human. I don't want to be friends with my Mac or my phone. I want them to do a job. I basically want them to do whatever I command. I don't want to get to the point where I'm worried about asking Siri because I think maybe she needs a bit of time off as I've been bothering her too much recently.

Like everyone I get caught up in it, but I also feel quite uncomfortable about this trend.

I think services like Call Annie are fine - it's not for me to judge if you like having a chat with a pretend person. I'm more thinking about how we will end up with all tech working this way whether we want it to or not.

All of these personality choices would be optional of course. If you prefer the way that it is now except you want it more smarter, that should be an option. I’m not necessarily talking about emotions that would affect the assistance job, but more something along the lines of having a much more expressive voice. Then again, it would be cool to have the option of negative emotions for those who wanted something more human. Also, Will WWDC have audio description? If so, how do I access it

I hope Apple leapfrogs current AI trends. We need - and current AI should be able to provide - more than overly detailed descriptions of images and videos. I want SIRI to be able to interact with websites on my behalf to, say, schedule flights, reserve AirBnBs, solve CAPTCHAs, or anything else I would normally need sighted help with.

Now who had the brilliant idea about Siri being an omnipresent personal assistant like in those crime dramas? Well, hurrah for that! except, my first thought was: no, not like in those crime dramas. 'So, Lewis, have you worked it out yet?' no no no - give me sidekick simon from Midmorning Matters where midmorning matters anytime. What a fine supplement to alan Partridge he has been! Or, better still, imagine having your Siri behaving like the great Michael from 'I'm Alan Partridge'? Telling you stories about its time in the army, or about how one day its pet monkey ate all its cigarettes so he picked it up and threw it in the sea? 'aye, well it didn't go straight in; it bounced off a rock.'

Siri, can you do me a cup of beans?

An XTC reference on AppleVis.