The History of Apple iPhones: How to fix iPhone battery life in the age of Snapc...

How to fix iPhone battery life in the age of Snapchat and Pokémon Go

As more users spend their days in battery-demanding apps, Apple needs to consider evolving battery life to meet that demand.   So, how can Apple and the iPhone evolve to handle them? Read the full story at iMore!

Assistive Technology Blog: Apple's New Features For People With Disabilities

Assistive Technology Blog: Apple's New Features For People With Disabilities: 

Just yesterday, Apple announced several new features that will bring in lots of additional functionality and convenience across all products in this coming fall. However, what are some of the features that can be used by people with disabilities?

It seems like a lot of new features will enable people who have visual impairment, impaired motor skills, muscular dystrophies/atrophy, and other similar disabilities to interact with the devices just with their voice and get desired results very quickly and efficiently. Using the new features with an additional eye tracking device for those who need it can definitely enhance their experience as well.

iOS

iOS for iPhone and iPad get the most features in the upcoming release. By just talking to Siri, a user would be order a ride, send money to someone, order food, and do similar activities.

Contextual prediction is being introduced which means that iOS will predict what a person is trying to type by making suggestions in various contexts. For example, if someone is typing "I am available today at", the free time on their calendar will pop up as an option. Similarly, when typing "John's phone number is", John's phone number will be pulled from the address book and displayed as an option.

Search has been enhanced to use  artificial intelligence. iOS can detect objects in photos, and a user can now search for just the photos that were taken at the beach, for example.

Apple Pay is coming to various shopping websites so no need to type in a credit card number and other information every time a user goes to a shopping website. Purchases can now be made with just a click of a button in a secure manner.

WatchOS

In the upcoming release, apps will load much faster. A user would also be able to add minutes to a parking meter, order their food, and make other similar purchases using Apple Pay on their watch. 

The fitness aspect of the watch has included a wider audience now - wheelchair users! Wheelchair users will be able to track their physical activity through various pushing techniques for various speeds and terrains. Wheelchair specific workouts have now been included, and notifications will be sent every hour for "time to roll" when a person has been sitting and not moving for a long time, to encourage them to be active.

Pressing the side button initiates a call with local emergency services anywhere in the world. It can also be used to send a quick text to a user's emergency contacts.

Wearing an Apple Watch will also work as an authentication mechanism for a user's Mac. When a user wearing an Apple Watch approaches their Mac, the Mac senses their presence and logs them in automatically. No need to type the password for  unlocking the computer.

The new "Home" app will also let users control connected (Internet of Things) devices around the house using their phone, tablet, watch or TV. Location based automation can also be set up using the Home app - if a user is approaching the house, turn on the lights, pull up the blinds, and set the thermostat to 68 degrees.

MacOS (formerly OS X)

Siri is now coming to Mac. Siri can locate files for a user ("Show the pdfs in my Downloads folder", "Show my photos from yesterday"), add and modify events ("Add Laura to my 10 AM meeting"), search for images from the internet ("Show me images of Lake Tahoe"), play music, check weather, and do lots of other things.

These are some of the features that people with disabilities can use that will make things easier for them. We should hopefully see a full list of accessibility features from Apple in the near future.

Source: Apple

Image Sources: Appleacross all pro...

Here is my latest experience with my iPhone 6 and Apple..

 I woke up on  Thursday morning and noticed my iPhone 6's battery wasn't working right. 

So I grabbed a cable and a wallplug and started charging my phone.  I put the phone to charge at 8:00 AM this morning.  By noon, my phones battery only charged to 2%. 

I have tried five different cables, and six different wall plugs. I'm now on cable number five. 

I've tried charging it with the phone off and also tried charging it in airplane mode.  

But the battery stayed at 2%. 

So I decided to call Apple and see if there's something they can do for me. 

The lady on the phone walked me through some diagnostic steps. 

But since the fact that my phone was now 1% charge, it would not do anything other then turn on. Occasionally, it will turn off and back on. 

So she tried to book me a appointment same-day to get my phone looked at.

 She looked if there was any openings in any of the stores near me. 

But apparently there were no openings until Sunday. 

But she said that my phone would probably not make it till then. 

So she called the Apple store that is closest to me and told them that I was blind and needed my phone. Since it was my lifeline and how I do day-to-day things. Somehow, she managed to get them to give me an appointment in one hour. Robert took me to the Apple Store in Townsquare, and I only had to wait one hour before someone was able to help me. 

We went through all the diagnostics. 

Which took 10 minutes. They said it looks like I need a new battery.

 They said come back in two hours and your phone should be ready. It will cost you $85.

 If the new battery does not solve the problem, they will give me a new phone for the same amount. 

So I left and went back two hours later. Apparently, the new battery did the trick. 

My phone is now running great. I am now at 100%. I'm extremely happy with the service I got from the Apple Store in Townsquare. 

I've heard a lot of people complaints about apples service. But are no complaints here for me.  

It cost me $85 to get a new battery installed in my phone that I probably had for a year and six months. But it is the cheapest fix and I don't need to worry about loading all my stuff on a new phone. If I had to get a new phone, I probably would've paid a little extra and  got a iPhone 6+. 

I was extremely happy that my original phone is now running excellent. Thank you to the awesome people at the Apple Store in Town Square in Las Vegas.

Change your Apple ID

Follow these steps to change the email address that you use as your Apple ID.

1. Sign out of every Apple service and devicethat uses your Apple ID.
2. Sign in to your Apple ID account page.
3. In the Account section, click Edit. Under your Apple ID, click Change Email Address.
4. Enter the email address you want to use as your Apple ID. A verification code will be sent to your new email address.
5. Enter the verification code from the email into the fields provided and start using your updated Apple ID. Didn't get the email?
6. Sign back in to all Apple services with your new Apple ID.

You can change your Apple ID to any other email address you control, as long as it's not already in use as an Apple ID. If your email address ends with @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, you might not be able to change your Apple ID. You also won't see Change Email Address on your account page.

Learn more

After you change your Apple ID, you need to use your new sign-in information with all Apple services that you use.

If you want to change the Apple ID that you use on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch—and not change the email address that you use as your Apple ID—follow these steps to sign out, then back in with a different Apple ID.

FaceTime isn't available in all countries or regions.

Last Modified: Apr 13, 2016

iPad & iOS9 Accessibility Features Part3

VoiceOver

VoiceOver is the built in screenreader that comes with all Apple products. VoiceOver was updated for iOS9 with multiple voices and dialects, as well as more options, like configuring how you want VoiceOver to handle describing images on your screen. Customizable gestures are possible so you can control VoiceOver through the touch screen. You can also access a Speak Screen that lets you toggle VoiceOver on by a simple two-finger swipe from the top of the screen (to set this up you need to go intoSettings > General > Accessibility > Speech > Speak Screen). iOS9 updates also allow you to speed up the rate of speech for VoiceOver more than before. Even though you may not be able to understand the speech at a very quick speed, your child may and this can be a huge advantage for an auditory learner!

So this is all great for text, but what about video? You can still turn on Audio Descriptions for accessible videos in iOS9, too, with increased accessibility in iTunes Movies and TV. Just go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Audio Descriptions and now the accessible audio descriptions on videos will play automatically whenever available.

If you're not familiar with the built-in braille keyboard that was presented in the VoiceOver update of iOS8, be sure to check it out since it is still an active feature in iOS9! Yes, a built-in braille keyboard! That's right! If you're using VoiceOver, you have the option to turn on Braille Screen Input in the Rotor menu. You can enter text through an on-screen six-dot braille input. Just turn the iPad so that the screen is perpendicular to the floor and 6 dots appear on the screen which you can use to input text using a braille interface into any app! Check out the Assistive Technology Blog for more info on the Built-in Braille Keyboard for Six-Dot Input.

Learn more about VoiceOver for iOS.

Speak Selection

If VoiceOver is too much for you and you just want the iPad to read a word or phrase here and there, you can activate Speak Selection. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speech > Speak Selection and turn Speak Selection on. Now you can highlight any text in any app and you'll be given the option to hear it spoken (as seen to the right). Just tap on the "Speak" button to hear your selection.

Camera

The camera on iOS9 devices comes with VoiceOver compatibility, which means when you hold up your camera it will let you know how many faces are in frame and whether or not they are centered. Very cool!

The zoom feature in the camera can also be used as a magnifier. For example, you could place the camera over a menu, "pinch" the screen in order to zoom in, and voilà! The words appear in large text on your screen!

Hearing Impairments

For children with hearing impairments, iOS9 offers some handy features. For example, you have complete control over how the audio is played back through speakers or headphones on your iPad. Many songs or videos split their audio so that the left and right ear jacks hear different sounds. But if you go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Hearing you can turn Mono Audio on so that both ear jacks receive the same sounds. You can also play with the left and right audio volumes separately, allowing you to leave one louder than the other if you wish.

Previously, in the iOS7 update they also added customization features to subtitles and captioning. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Subtitles & Captioning. Here you can choose to turn captioning on or off and also change the style of captions. You can choose large print captions (as seen to the right) or even completely customize them by changing the font, size, color etc.

The iPhone also allows you to set different (and fully customizable) vibration patterns for different alerts and phone calls. This way you can tell who's calling you just by the feel of your phone!

Braille Displays and Other Equipment

All iOS9 devices support Bluetooth wireless braille displays so you can read in braille everything that appears on your screen. Along with VoiceOver, this turns the iPad into a fully accessible piece of equipment. For a list of all the braille displays supported by Apple, click here.

Below is a video explaining how to use a refreshable braille display with an iPad:

You can also look at getting a stylus for your iPad if holding a pen or pencil is easier for you child than using their fingers. ThePogo Stylus is a nice choice.

And on a practical note, the iPad really does seem able to take quite a bit of abuse. Ours has survived slapping and even dropping (at least on our carpeted floor). But you still might want to invest in a nice sturdy case to protect it. We like the Gumdrop Tech Series Case both for it's durability and the nice red border it places around the screen which is great for kids with CVI.

There are many updates to iOS9 that were system wide and not just for users with visual impairments but are still very useful for many users, regardless of their unique needs. For independent travelers, iDevice users can now get public transit support via the Apple Maps app. This is a huge step for giving much needed access and information to independent blind travelers. Other advances include Siri's functions including activating her without having to have your iPad or iPhone plugged into a power source and increased speech recognition tailored to your voice. Siri can be a great motivator for kids working on speech goals, as well as just her overall usefulness in finding information and accessing apps using verbal prompts. You may also be interested in the 3D Touchfeatures introduced in the iPhone 6S and Plus with increased accessibility.

I hope these tips and reviews will help you create an iPad that works perfectly for your child. If you have any questions on how to adapt your iPad or if you have other tips that you'd like to share with others, please leave a comment below or contact me.

Facebook programs computers to describe photos for the blind

ap.orghttp://www.ap.org

April 5, 2016

FILE - This Feb. 19, 2014, file photo shows the Facebook app icon on an iPhone in New York. A feature rolling out Tuesday, April 5, 2016, on Facebook's iPhone app interprets what's in a photo using a form of artificial intelligence to recognize faces and objects for blind and visually impaired people as they scroll through the pictures posted on the world's largest online social network (AP Photo/Karly Domb Sadof, File)

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Facebook is training its computers to become seeing-eye guides for blind and visually impaired people as they scroll through the pictures posted on the world's largest online social network.

The feature rolling out Tuesday on Facebook's iPhone and iPad apps interprets what's in a picture using a form of artificial intelligence that recognizes faces and objects. VoiceOver, a screen reader built into the software powering the iPhone and iPad, must be turned on for Facebook's photo descriptions to be read. For now, the feature will only be available in English.

Until now, people relying on screen readers on Facebook would only hear that a person had shared a photo without any elaboration.

The photo descriptions initially will be confined to a vocabulary of 100 words in a restriction that will prevent the computer from providing a lot of details. For instance, the automated voice may only tell a user that a photo features three people smiling outdoors without adding that the trio also has drinks in their hands. Or it may say the photo is of pizza without adding that there's pepperoni and olives on top of it.

Facebook is being careful with the technology, called "automatic alternative text," in an attempt to avoid making a mistake that offends its audience. Google learned the risks of automation last year when an image recognition feature in its Photos app labeled a black couple as gorillas, prompting the company to issue an apology.

Eventually, though, Facebook hopes to refine the technology so it provides more precise descriptions and even answers questions that a user might pose about a picture.

The vocabulary of Facebook's photo-recognition program includes "car," ''sky," ''dessert," ''baby," ''shoes," and, of course, "selfie."

Facebook also plans to turn on the technology for its Android app and make it available through Web browsers visiting its site.

The Menlo Park, California, company is trying to ensure the world's nearly 300 million blind and visually impaired people remain interested in its social network as a steadily increasing number of photos appear on its service. On an average day, Facebook says more than 2 billion photos are posted on its social network and other apps that it owns, a list that includes Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp.

In a Tuesday post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg hailed the photo description tool as "an important step towards making sure everyone has equal access to information and is included in the conversation."

___

Online:

Facebook's post: https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/04/using-artificial-intelligence-to-help-blind-people-see-facebook/

iPad & iOS9 Accessibility Features Part2

Guided Access

Guided Access is a way to set certain parts of your screen off limits. Are you using a free app with ads and your child keeps clicking the ads? Just draw a square around those ads and suddenly they aren't clickable anymore! Guided Access has not changed since the iOS8 updates, but is definitely a feature worth mentioning for kids with motor challenges or just learning to use the iPad!

Here's how it works: Go to Settings > General > Accessibility and turn Guided Access on. You can set a passcode at this point if you want to (make it something easy, like 1-2-3-4) or you can do it later when you use the feature. You'll need the passcode to turn Guided Access off.

Now when you're in your app (I'm going to use Talking Tom as my example), triple click the home button to open up your Guided Access options. Draw a box around the areas you don't want your child to access (for Talking Tom, I drew a box around the ad at the top of the screen and the buttons that ask you to buy things on the right of the screen). Click start and you're back in the app, but now those areas are not accessible. Those areas are also grayed out a bit so they are less likely to draw your child's attention, too. Another hint is to make sure that you do not draw a box in the middle of the screen where you will need to enter your passcode to turn Guided Access off later!

You can also use Guided Access to set a time limit on apps. Are you using iPad play as a reward, but want your child to get back to another task in 10 minutes? Set Guided Access to 10 minutes and when the time is up, the session will end and you'll have to use a passcode to get the iPad up and running again.

When you're done using Guided Access, triple click the home button again and enter your passcode or place your finger on the Touch ID. Easy!

Switch Control

Switch access for the iPad allows users to interact with one or two large buttons rather than have to maneuver through the complexities of the touch screen. The iPad has always been switch accessible, particularly with apps designed specifically for switches, but starting in iOS7 the iPad now allows for complete system-wide switch control.

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control to turn Switch Control on. You can then tell the iPad how many switches you wish to use and you can fully customize how the switches interact with the iPad, from changing the cursor speed, size and color to adding sound effects and speech options (which is perfect for children who are visually impaired). A feature new to iOS9 is Recipes. A Recipe is a set of specialized actions you can temporarily assign to switches in place of their normal actions. Need to record a series of gestures to perform a complex action in an app? You can make it happen with a Recipe. You can also create a customized Launch Recipe that will be applied automatically whenever Switch Control starts.

For more information on Switch Control, check out this post from Assistive Technology Blog or this very in-depth piece (which includes screenshots and videos) from Jane Farrall's Blog. To learn more about the specific iOS9 updates, read this guide from AbleNet, "iOS9 Accessibility Switch Control - The Missing User Guide."

If you're looking to purchase switches, AbleNet sells a Bluetooth iPad switch that allows you to use either one or two built-in switches or even attach your own favorite switch. There is also the Bluetooth Switch Interface from RJ Cooper. Also, Inclusive Technology creates a series of fun and educational iPad apps that are designed specifically to work with a switch.

Head Gestures & Other Switch Options

Another really interesting feature of the iPad is the ability to do everything a switch allows you to do... but without a switch! Go toSettings > General > Accessibility > Switch Control > Switches > Add New Switch. You have three options here: "External" allows you to hook up a traditional external switch with your iPad; "Screen" lets you use the whole iPad screen as your switch; and "Camera" lets you use head gestures (a move of the head to the left or the right) as your switch. Isn't that neat?

So with "Screen" you can use your iPad just like you would when using a switch, but the touch screen itself acts as a large interactive switch.

And with "Camera" you control the cursor on the screen with a move of your head from left to right. You get to choose which movements control which features in the settings. For more information and a walk through on using head gestures to control the iPad, watch this video below:

Low Vision Options

Go to Settings > General > Accessibility and you have a few options to change the way your screen looks. You can Zoom to magnify the entire screen. It takes a somewhat complicated move (once turned on in your settings, you need to double-tap with three fingers in order to zoom in), but if you can help you child learn to control the zoom it can be a really powerful tool (unfortunately AssistiveTouch doesn't seem to be able to pull off the three-fingered double tap for you).

In iBooks it's a terrific way of showing a child with low vision what the illustrations are and because of how sweetly it functions, you or your child can move through the pictures smoothly, enlarged as required, to find out things like how sad Eyore's face looks or how big Pooh's tummy is.

The Zoom feature underwent a pretty major upgrade in iOS8. Once turned on, you can choose to magnify the entire screen (which is the default setting) or create a Window Zoom. Go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom > Zoom Region and choose Window Zoom. Now, instead of enlarging the entire screen with your three-fingered double tap, you'll just see a zoom lens (sort of like using a magnifying glass on your iPad) so you can zoom in on specific areas of the screen. If you also turn on the Zoom controller (Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom > Show Controller), you can control the power of the zoom, resize your lens or even add filters. So now, you could create a lens that zooms and gives you a higher contrast! Wow!

In the same area in your settings, you can also Invert Colors (for more contrast) or turn on Larger Text (to increase just the text font size). You can also turn on Bold Text under Accessibility options. This creates bold text in apps, the keyboard and the calculator (not just in eBooks). There's also an option to turn on Button Shapes, which highlights buttons and links throughout the iPad or iPhone making them much easier to see, or you can choose the Grayscale option, giving you another way to make the screen clearer for users with low vision.