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 with Assistive Access; nonspeaking individuals can type to speak during calls and conversations with Live Speech; and those at risk of losing their ability to speak can use Personal Voice to create a synthesized voice that sounds like them for connecting with family and friends. For users who are blind or have low vision, Detection Mode in Magnifier offers Point and Speak, which identifies text users point toward and reads it out loud to help them interact with physical objects such as household appliances.
Apple has registered a wordmark for “xrOS” in New Zealand, the first time the company has indirectly revealed both the name of the operating system for its upcoming headset and the official font and styling that accompanies it.
Photomator 3.0 today got its official release on macOS, bringing Pixelmator’s iPhone and iPad photo-editing app to MacBooks and Mac desktops for the first time.
The release adds a 10-second delay option for screenshots (accessed by holding down the Option key when choosing Image > New Image from Layered Screenshot), adds a new Shortcuts action for taking screenshots (requires macOS 11 Big Sur or later), and introduces an AppleScript command that can be used to take a layered screenshot.
1Password customers are finally gaining access to the passwordless future we’ve been promised. Starting from June 6th this year, anyone with a 1Password account will be able to save and manage their passkeys — a biometric-based login technology that allows users to ditch passwords in favor of their device’s own authentication.
FitnessView Teams is an elegant solution to track and manage the health and activity data on iPhone and iPad for entire teams or multiple clients using Apple Watch to help you deliver insightful and actionable feedback.
Ever feel stressed and overwhelmed by piles of laundry or a sink filled with dishes? Designed to make tidying up easier, the Tody app tracks and prioritizes your cleaning habits.
“There is a high chance that in a few years, Apple’s release of passkeys as part of iOS 16 will be remembered as the beginning of a revolutionary change in how companies implement sign-in for their products,” wrote Matthias Keller, Kayak’s chief scientist and SVP of technology, in a 2022 op-ed piece on the subject.
Passkeys offer a faster, easier, and more secure sign-in experience for your apps and websites. They’re strong, resistant to phishing, and designed to work across Apple devices, as well as nearby non-Apple devices. And because they’re integrated with Touch ID and Face ID, people can use passkeys like they would any other sign-in system or routine.
To help explain how to implement passkeys, the Apple privacy and security team hosted a Q&A to answer common questions about device support, use cases, account recovery, and more. Here are some highlights from that conversation.
As outages go, Apple's was nothing out of the ordinary, a momentary blip on an otherwise normal Monday morning. Within an hour, Apple services had started coming back online, and all was more or less well again.
Yet, if you were looking for the cause of the outage, Apple's status page wasn't much help. All you'd have seen was a field of green dots. It was only after the outage had been resolved that Apple saw fit to update the status page.
I'm not in love with the xrOS name. It feels clumsy and heavy.
In fact, I am not in love with all the names of Apple's operating systems, with the sole exception of iOS. The others, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS, all sound tacky.
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