I’m trying to customize the keyboard focus appearance in SwiftUI. In UIKit (see WWDC 2021 session Focus on iPad keyboard navigation), it’s possible to remove the default UIFocusHaloEffect and change a view’s appearance depending on whether it has focus or not. In SwiftUI I’ve tried the following: .focusable() // .focusable(true, interactions: .activate) .focusEffectDisabled() .focused($isFocused) However, I’m running into several issues: .focusable(true, interactions: .activate) causes an infinite loop, so keyboard navigation stops responding .focusEffectDisabled() doesn’t seem to remove the default focus effect on iOS Using @FocusState prevents Space from triggering the action when the view has keyboard focus My main questions: How can I reliably detect whether a SwiftUI view has keyboard focus? (Is there an alternative to FocusState that integrates better with keyboard navigation on iOS?) What’s the recommended way in SwiftUI to disable the default focus effect (the blue overlay) and replace it with a custom border? Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated! Here's my sample code: import SwiftUI struct KeyboardFocusExample: View { var body: some View { // The ScrollView is required, otherwise the custom focus value resets to false after a few seconds. I also need it for my actual use case ScrollView { VStack { Text("First button") .keyboardFocus() .button { print("First button tapped") } Text("Second button") .keyboardFocus() .button { print("Second button tapped") } } } } } // MARK: - Focus Modifier struct KeyboardFocusModifier: ViewModifier { @FocusState private var isFocused: Bool func body(content: Content) -> some View { content .focusable() // ⚠️ Must come before .focused(), otherwise the FocusState won’t be recognized // .focusable(true, interactions: .activate) // ⚠️ This causes an infinite loop, so keyboard navigation no longer responds .focusEffectDisabled() // ⚠️ Has no effect on iOS .focused($isFocused) // Custom Halo effect .padding(4) .overlay( RoundedRectangle(cornerRadius: 18) .strokeBorder( isFocused ? .red : .clear, lineWidth: 2 ) ) .padding(-4) } } extension View { public func keyboardFocus() -> some View { modifier(KeyboardFocusModifier()) } } // MARK: - Button Modifier /// ⚠️ Using a Button view makes no difference struct ButtonModifier: ViewModifier { let action: () -> Void func body(content: Content) -> some View { content .contentShape(Rectangle()) .onTapGesture { action() } .accessibilityAction { action() } .accessibilityAddTraits(.isButton) .accessibilityElement(children: .combine) .accessibilityRespondsToUserInteraction() } } extension View { public func button(action: @escaping () -> Void) -> some View { modifier(ButtonModifier(action: action)) } }

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

why did the screen recorder button disappear? It cannot be found anywhere.

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!

Request: Name Recognition → Shortcut for SOS Flashlight + Vibration Right now, iOS Name Recognition works, but all I can do is flash the tiny notification light. It would be much more useful if Name Recognition could trigger a Shortcut. That way, I could set it to flash the flashlight in an SOS pattern and vibrate, making the alert impossible to miss. I tried using Custom Alarm, but it won’t let me record my spoken name, so it doesn’t really solve the problem. If Apple allowed Name Recognition to trigger Shortcuts — or expanded “Custom” to support names/words — this would open up far more practical, real-world alerts.

I want to open a developer account, but it is not personal, but rather a company, and I have an existing company, and I have DUNS, and I have a website that has been made, and everything is ready, and an official email, but when the application is made at Apple, he sends to my email that he wants a public website for people, and it will be in the name of the organization, and all of these matters have been resolved. Why do they not respond to us?

Context: We are using UIKit to provide accessibility in our app for our iOS users. Our app majorly contains documents/books that user can read. Issue: The issue is VoiceOver is skipping the lines given to it when there are some leading spaces in it. We have observed this issue in different languages. This is only happening for line granularity, other granularities seems to be working as expected. Implementation: We are using below API's to provide line content to voice over. UIAccessibilityReadingContent - accessibilityPageContent - accessibilityFrameForLineNumber - accessibilityContentForLineNumber We are creating UIAccessibilityElement objects to pass to VoiceOver and each UIAccessibilityElement implements UIAccessibilityReadingContent to provide readable content. We also use below APIs to cross element boundaries for all granular navigations. accessibilityNextTextNavigationElement accessibilityPreviousTextNavigationElement We want to know whether skipping the line when provided with leading spaces is expected or a bug in UIKit.

Hi everyone, I’ve been analyzing the current state of Sign Language accessibility tools, and I noticed a significant gap in learning tools: we lack real-time feedback for students (e.g., "Is my hand position correct?"). Most current solutions rely on 2D video processing, which struggles with depth perception and occlusion (hand-over-hand or hand-over-face gestures), which are critical in Sign Language grammar. I'd like to propose/discuss an architecture leveraging the current LiDAR + Neural Engine capabilities found in iPhone devices to solve this. The Concept: Skeleton-based Normalization Instead of training ML models on raw video frames (which introduces noise from lighting, skin tone, and clothing), we could use ARKit's Body Tracking to abstract the input. Capture: Use ARKit/LiDAR to track the user's upper body and hand joints in 3D space. Data Normalization: Extract only the vector coordinates (X, Y, Z of joints). This creates a "clean" dataset, effectively normalizing the user regardless of physical appearance. Comparison: Feed these vectors into a CoreML model trained on "Reference Skeletons" (recorded by native signers). Feedback Loop: The app calculates the geometric distance between the user's pose and the reference pose to provide specific correction (e.g., "Raise your elbow 10 degrees"). Why this approach? Solves Occlusion: LiDAR handles depth much better than standard RGB cameras when hands cross the body. Privacy: We are processing coordinates, not video streams. Efficiency: Comparing vector sequences is computationally cheaper than video analysis, preserving battery life. Has anyone experimented with using ARKit Body Anchors specifically for comparing complex gesture sequences against a stored "correct" database? I believe this "Skeleton First" approach is the key to scalable Sign Language education apps. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Hello! I was doing some accessibility testing for my app and found out that when the user switches the text size, all of the data in the text fields is reset, which causes major disruption. I've tried looking for documentation, but all I've found is information on how to dynamically scale the UI for different text sizes, which I've already implemented. My guess is that every time Dynamic Type registers a change, it redraws my UI instead of just updating it. How can I make sure the data is not reset when the text size changes?

Hi everyone — I’m implementing the new Hearing Device Support API described here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/accessibility/hearing-device-support I have MFi hearing aids paired and visible under Settings → Accessibility → Hearing Devices, and I’ve added the com.apple.developer.hearing.aid.app entitlement (and also tested with Wireless Accessory Configuration: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/entitlements/com.apple.external-accessory.wireless-configuration ). com.apple.developer.hearing.aid.app xxxxx but the app won't even compile with this entitlement Problem NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(...) for pairedUUIDsDidChangeNotification never fires — not on app launch, not after pairing/unpairing, and not after reconnecting the hearing aids. Because the notification never triggers, calls like: HearingDeviceSession.shared.pairedDevices always return an empty list. What I expected According to the docs, the notification should be posted whenever paired device UUIDs change, and the session should expose those devices — but nothing happens. Questions Does the hearing.aid.app entitlement require special approval from Apple beyond adding it to the entitlements file? Is there a way to verify that iOS is actually honoring this entitlement? Has anyone successfully received this notification on a real device? Any help or confirmation would be greatly appreciated.

I have an app that needs Input Monitoring permissions to get keyboard access in the background. I've attempted to use both IOHIDCheckAccess(kIOHIDRequestTypeListenEvent) and IOHIDRequestAccess(kIOHIDRequestTypeListenEvent), but they always return denied, even though I have given the permission for Input Monitoring to the app in Settings. Is there something I need to put in my Info.plist to enable this permission to work?

Hey, We've run into an issue where WKWebView contents are not always available for VoiceOver users. It seems to occur when WKWebView contents are loaded asynchronously. I have a sample project where this can be reproduced and a video showing the issue. See FB21257352 The only solution we currently see is forcing an update continuously using UIAccessibility.post(notification: .layoutChanged, argument: nil), but this is ofc a last resort as it may have other unintended side effects.

We have a requirement to manage the shortcuts and hotkeys in our application, and have it to be intuitive and support multi-lingual fully. The understanding that we have currently is that most universal shortcuts and hotkeys on MacOS/iOS are expressed using English/Latin characters’ – and now, when a ‘pure foreign language physical or virtual keyboard’ is the ‘input device’ – we are unclear how the user would invoke such a hotkey. Now, considering cases where other language keyboards have no Latin characters, in these environments, managing shortcuts and hotkeys becomes a rather difficult task. Taking a very simple example, the shortcut for Printing a page is Command/Control + 'P'. This can be an issue on Non English character keyboards like Arabic, where not only are there no letters for P, there is also no equivalent phonetic character as well, since the language itself does not have it. Also – when we are wanting customizability of a hotkey by the user, how would the user express ‘which is the key combination for a given action they want to perform’. So, based on these conditions, in order to provide the most comprehensive and optimal experience for the user in their own language, what is it that Apple recommend we do here, for Hotkeys/Shortcuts support in Pure Languages

Hi Community, I'm excited to share R Helper, a speech practice app I built with accessibility as the core focus from day one. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/speak-r-clearly/id6751442522 WHY I BUILT THIS I personally struggled with R sound pronunciation growing up. It affected my confidence in school and job interviews. That experience taught me how important accessible practice tools are. R Helper helps children and adults practice R sounds with full accessibility support. ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES IMPLEMENTED VoiceOver - complete navigation and feedback Voice Control - hands-free operation Dynamic Type - scales to large accessibility sizes Reduce Motion - respects user preference Dark Mode - user controllable High Contrast compatibility Differentiate Without Color THE CHALLENGE Most speech practice apps ignore accessibility. I wanted to change that and prove that specialized educational apps can be fully accessible. KEY FEATURES Works 100% offline, no internet needed Zero data collection, privacy first Generous free tier with all accessibility features included 10 story missions with gamification 7 languages supported including RTL for Arabic LESSONS LEARNED Accessibility is not hard when you prioritize it from the start. VoiceOver labels and hints make a huge difference. Testing with accessibility features enabled is essential. Standard SwiftUI components handle most accessibility automatically. Reducing motion significantly helps users with vestibular issues. TECHNICAL DETAILS Built with SwiftUI, targets iOS 17 and up. Universal app for iPhone and iPad. Fully offline using CoreData and local storage. No third party analytics, privacy focused. QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY What accessibility features do you find users request most? How do you test accessibility features efficiently? WHATS NEXT I'm currently working on expanding the word library, adding more story content, improving haptic feedback Thanks for reading. Nour

Hello everyone, I am currently evaluating my app's accessibility features to accurately display the "Accessibility" information on the App Store. I have encountered two specific issues regarding Voice Control testing and would appreciate any guidance. Voice Command for "Stop Recording" According to the evaluation criteria, if an app supports audio recording or dictation, users must be able to start and stop recording using only their voice. Behavior: I can successfully trigger the recording using the command "Start Recording". However, I cannot find a command to stop it. Commands like "Stop Recording" or "Stop" are not recognized by the system. Question: Is there a specific standard voice command intended for stopping a recording? Item Number Overlays on Non-Interactive Web Elements (WKWebView) I noticed an inconsistency between native views and web content regarding Voice Control item numbering. Behavior: When testing web content within the app (WKWebView) or in Safari, Voice Control displays item number overlays on non-interactive text elements (such as standard or tags). In native views, static labels do not receive item numbers. Question: Is this expected behavior for web content? Since these elements are not interactive, I am unsure if this should be considered a bug (fail) or an acceptable exception for the accessibility evaluation. Has anyone experienced similar issues or know the correct criteria for these cases? Thank you.

Since the last bet upgrade for iPad to 26.3 labels have disappeared. Going into system/accessibility the toggle setting for labels makes no difference whether on or off. labels are permanently not there/missing.

after the 26.3 beta update, my mouse has been having major problems with transparency, have to keep going to reset colors in display, but it doesn't hold, anyone else?

Greetings! I'm facing a problem handleling full keyboard access in my app. This is a simpler version of the code: struct PrimerTest: View { @FocusState private var focusedImage: Int? var body: some View { VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 20) { Link("Go to google or smth", destination: URL(string: "https://google.com")!) .font(.headline) Text("First text") Text("Second text") HStack { Text("Label") .accessibilityHidden(true) Spacer() Button("Play") { print("Im a button") } } Text("Selecciona un perfil con el teclado (Tab):") .font(.caption) .foregroundColor(.secondary) HStack { ForEach(0..<5, id: \.self) { index in Image(systemName: "person.circle.fill") .resizable() .frame(width: 30, height: 30) .focusable(true) .focused($focusedImage, equals: index) .foregroundStyle(focusedImage == index ? Color.blue : Color.gray) .scaleEffect(focusedImage == index ? 1.2 : 1.0) .animation(.easeInOut, value: focusedImage) .accessibilityHidden(true) } } } .navigationTitle("Title n stuff") .padding() } } And the focus behaves as expected and the important thing, we can access que button on the right side of the screen But as soon as we introduce the scrollview, the right side button is unaccessible, since when we hit tab we go back to the back button in the nav stack header. struct PrimerTest: View { @FocusState private var focusedImage: Int? var body: some View { ScrollView { VStack(alignment: .leading, spacing: 20) { Link("Go to google or smth", destination: URL(string: "https://google.com")!) .font(.headline) Text("First text") Text("Second text") HStack { Text("Label") .accessibilityHidden(true) Spacer() Button("Play") { print("Im a button") } } Text("Selecciona un perfil con el teclado (Tab):") .font(.caption) .foregroundColor(.secondary) HStack { ForEach(0..<5, id: \.self) { index in Image(systemName: "person.circle.fill") .resizable() .frame(width: 30, height: 30) .focusable(true) .focused($focusedImage, equals: index) .foregroundStyle(focusedImage == index ? Color.blue : Color.gray) .scaleEffect(focusedImage == index ? 1.2 : 1.0) .animation(.easeInOut, value: focusedImage) .accessibilityHidden(true) } } } } .navigationTitle("Title n stuff") .padding() } } I've tried all the things I found online and none achieves an acceptable behavoir, I've seen ppl saying this issue has been fixed in ipados with the focusSection modifier, but I have not seen any fix fot this issue in ios.

Scrivo questo post per farmi notare meglio, il 6 marzo ho mandato un feedback (poi aggiornato oggi, 18 marzo) tramite l‘app Feedback installata su iPhone chiedo a chiunque lavori all’interno di Apple, specialmente agli ingegneri informatici che si occupano delle funzioni di accessibilità di iOS 26 di visionare questo Feedback per aumentare ancora di più le opzioni di accessibilità degli utenti Apple, vi lascio di seguito l’ID del Feedback, grazie mille per il lavoro che fate FB22142615

After replacing Big Sur OSX 11.0 with the latest 11.5, my app's AXObserverAddNotification methods fails. Here is sample code I tested from StackOverflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/853833/how-can-my-app-detect-a-change-to-another-apps-window AXUIElementRef app = AXUIElementCreateApplication(82695); // the pid for front-running Xcode 12.5.1 CFTypeRef frontWindow = NULL; AXError err = AXUIElementCopyAttributeValue( app, kAXFocusedWindowAttribute, &frontWindow );     if ( err != kAXErrorSuccess ){         NSLog(@"failed with error: %i",err);     } NSLog(@"app: %@  frontWindow: %@",app,frontWindow); 'frontWindow' reference is never created and I get the error number -25204. It seems like the latest Big Sur 11.5 has revised the Accessibility API or perhaps there is some permission switch I am unaware of that would make things work. What am I doing wrong?