3️⃣ Accessibility features of iPhone that improve the you'ser experience
Turning a few things on brings new tools and the world to attention. And the world becomes more accessible to you while on the go. Go figure. 🤔📲🗣️👂
The imperceptible limits of our knowledge and awareness can define us. We, ourselves, silently rebel, in blissful ignorance, to that which we do not know, see, or hear — or simply tune out. But what if we could get a constant helping hand, to redefine our limits. The helping hand of a phone configured with a few features turned ON makes life (around us) more accessible. Less ignorance and even more bliss lie in the sometimes-hidden features of Accessibility.
My hope with this article is that you learn a trick or two that brings the busy of the world to your attention, when you want it to - and at times, need it to. As I age, I’ve become more open to accessibility features, either by necessity or simply because I’m open to discover that they are handy in a pinch. And I can turn them on and off at will. And my non-agist view: Accessibility features can help us all.
“An investment in accessibility is an investment in natural user interface design. We are all aging into disability and frankly we all have experienced moments of temporary disability as well.” — Megan Lawrence, PhD, Global Senior Director of Accessibility – Microsoft
OK, let’s dig into three accessibility features that have come in handy with my iPhone in hand - to speak aloud, recognize when your name has been called, and listen live.
Speak aloud
When you’re on the move, it can be easier to hear something spoken aloud rather than try and bouncy read it. The Speak aloud feature provides a new menu item that appears across applications and experiences: Speak. Long-hold on a text message and select Speak. Highlight text of a written article in a third-party app and select Speak. Or highlight text on a page within the mobile browser and select Speak. I think you might see, or better, hear the pattern here.
If you see something, let iPhone Speak something. And then simply listen and keep on bouncy walking. This works great when you have headphones or buds in but does not require it.
To start | Go to the Settings app on your iPhone > Tap Accessibility, then tap Read & Speak > Turn on and customize. Learn how to hear iPhone speak the screen, selected text, and typing feedback.
Bonus Speak aloud tip: If you are reading an article in Safari on an Apple device, you can say “Hey Siri” ➡️ “Read this” and it will read aloud the full page like a built-in podcast. (Kudos to Brooke Tierney for this bonus tip - from her “10 COOL Siri Features You’re Probably Not Using but Should Be!“ video. Her channel is worth a subscribe 🔔, imo; great ‘how to’ content).
Name recognition
What about when you’re in a noisy environment and your attention is not entirely tuned to when someone calls your name. Or you’re hard of hearing it. Here’s a scenario: You walk into a coffee shop, order your favorite 12-ounce oat milk latte - not too hot, and give them your name for the order - in my case: Mark 🧔🏻♂️. And then, you wait. Tap toe. Twirl thumbs. Hem and haw. Don’t you want to get back to that podcast you were listening to, or that call you were on, or digesting that tidbit of news…? Most likely yes. So, do.
But you don’t want to miss it when they call your name. Cold coffee is the worst!
This name recognition feature does just that. It listens for your name being spoken, and when it hears it, it sends you a time-sensitive notification (see screenshot below). This feature is particularly fun for me at the start of a race, “Runners to your Mark…” Joking aside, it’s also a feature you can add to Control Center to easily toggle on and off. My tip: Turn it on when you walk into the coffee shop and turn it off when you leave. It can send false notifications; not 100% foolproof — might I say it can be a little off the Mark, at times. 🥁 (joking aside, again)
To start | Go to the Settings app on your iPhone > Tap Accessibility, tap Sound & Name Recognition, tap Name Recognition, then tap Set Up Name Recognition. Learn more how you can get iPhone to help recognize your name when it’s spoken aloud.
Bonus: If you like this feature, there’s another part of it that can recognize sounds using iPhone — to help detect the things like barking dogs, doorbells, a siren, or a crying baby. This one does work AND can send a lot of notifications, especially if you have it listening for a lot of different kinds of sounds. Again, quickly turn it on or off by adding it to Control Center.
Live Listen
Disclaimer | This requires headphones or ear buds of some sort, full specs in linked article below.
OK, now that that is out of the way. Let’s highlight the value of Live Listen - A feature that “can help you hear a conversation in a noisy area or even hear someone speaking across the room.” It’s based on your iPhone microphone and proximity to the subject or noise that you’re trying to hear. It can also help visually as it has a nice feature where you can read a real-time transcript of what live listen hears; works well in my testing.
Add Live Listen to Control Center. And when you want to use it, open Control Center > Tap the Live Listen button > Place your iPhone or iPad in front of the person that you want to hear. Learn more how to use Live Listen with AirPods or Beats on your iPhone. Note: If you don’t have your ear buds connected via Bluetooth or wired headphones connected, you won’t see the Live Listen option.
So, whether you’re addressing a newly discovered challenge or simply curious, I hope these features offer a nudge, when you want one, that brings the world to you, so fewer things pass you by. 🙉🙈🙊😉
Cheers and happy accessing a little more bliss, Mark “I can hear you now” Kashman
These are great! I activated them all.
One bummer for me is that my hearing aids don't seem to be compatible with Live Listen. That would be double good.