Hidden iPhone features that could improve your tech life on Global Accessibility Awareness Day
Your iPhone has hidden features you might be yet to discover and Global Accessibility Awareness Day is the moment to find them.
DID YOU know your phone could tell you when the washing machine beeps or when someone is standing too close to you at the shops?
It can also play soothing sounds while you check your email, ask you smartwatch to respond to hand gestures, or tell your earbuds to work like hearing aids in crowded places.
These features are available in the Accessibility menu of Apple iPhones — often overlooked options that will be put under the spotlight on May 19 for Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
And Apple plans to launch even more, including a feature to recognise doors and door handles for those with low vision, ways to control an Apple Watch on an iPhone screen, and Live Captions that can transcribe phone and video calls as they happen.
Apple Accessibility Policy and Initiatives senior director Sarah Herrlinger said the company first added accessible options to its technology in 1985, before laws about digital inclusion, and the features have only become more important and advanced since that time.
“Our commitment to this work wasn’t based on a regulation or someone telling us that we had to do it but because there were people here who honestly believed that technology should work for everyone and that, as part of our work, the more we can build to think about the use cases of everyone out there, the better products we make in general,” she says.
Ms Herrlinger says more than one billion people worldwide had some form of disability, and many may not realise smartphone additions could make the technology work for them.
These features can also help users with modest hearing or vision challenges, she says.
A feature Apple introduced to iPhones and iPads called Voice Control, for example, can be used by blind people or those with low vision, but is also popular with “research scientists who might be up to their elbows in some sort of matter” and snowboarders who don’t “want to take off their gloves”.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is a “really a time to take a beat,” Ms Herrlinger says, and think about how technology could work better for everyone.
To recognise the event, the company will introduce new features, like Door Detection and Live Captions for calls, as well as expanding others like Voice Control with new languages.
“We’re excited to introduce these new features, which combine innovation and creativity from teams across Apple to give users more options to use our products in ways that best suit their needs and lives,” she says.
Phia Damsma, based on the Gold Coast, knows the importance of features like Voice Control when it comes to helping children of all abilities to access technology.
The developer says without accessibility features, some children would be excluded from opportunities and conversations.
Her company, Sonokids Australia, creates apps for children who are blind or have low vision; apps made to feel like games that encourage kids to get high scores but that teach them how to use smartphones.
“If you have the skills to use technology you can be more included and we take a lot of that for granted,” she says.
“A lot of people don’t realise how things are very easy to use if you don’t have a vision impairment, and how difficult they can be to access if you do.”
The company’s latest app, CosmoBally, is an audio-only adventure that helps children explore signification, or turning images into sound.
Ms Damsma says she believes that with the right support “these students can do anything they want”.
APPLE ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT
Sound Recognition: This surprising hidden feature will listen for sounds you might often miss (like washing machines, door knocks, or kettles) as well as sounds no one should miss (like sirens, fires, and babies crying). The phone can alert you to these sounds with the sound of your choice and a notification.
Back Tap: Like a secret button for your iPhone, Back Tap can provide a speedy shortcut to notifications, or to features and apps you use a lot, like the camera or Mail. After selecting Accessibility and Touch you can choose which apps or features open when you tap the back of your phone two and three times.
AssistiveTouch: This can be used on an Apple Watch to let the wearer control it without actually touching its screen. Pinching the air or making a fist can be used to answer calls or see notifications, for example, with the Watch registering movements using its built-in sensors.
Type to Siri: If Apple’s assistant doesn’t understand you, or if you feel awkward talking to your phone, you can choose the Type to Siri option. When deployed, a text box will appear when you hold down your iPhone’s side button.
Headphone Accommodations: A useful addition for anyone who struggles to hear in noisy environments, this feature can get your AirPods to amplify sounds and certain sound frequencies around you that you find hard to discern. It’s can be used with some Apple and Beats products.
Background Sounds: If you find it hard to concentrate when using your phone or you’d like a soothing soundtrack, this feature may assist. It can be used to play sounds like rain, a stream, the ocean, or bright noises while you use your phone, and can stop when you lock the screen.
Closed Captions: Useful for hearing impaired iPhone users and those whose phones are always on silent, this option will automatically play subtitles or closed captions on videos when they’re available.
Magnifier: Available as a stand-alone app, Magnifier packs in plenty of features. It can be used to zoom into anything in front of its camera, add a colour filter for easier viewing, and it can even detect people nearby and tell you how far away they are (and whether they’re keeping correct distance).
Originally published as Hidden iPhone features that could improve your tech life on Global Accessibility Awareness Day
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