Use Back Tap to trigger shortcuts, not just as a feature for people with motor impairments.
The Secret Button You Never Knew Existed
Imagine your phone has a secret, invisible button on its back. This isn’t a myth; it’s Back Tap. A quick double or triple tap on the Apple logo can perform a custom command you’ve chosen. It’s like a secret knock that could instantly open your camera, take a screenshot, or turn on your flashlight. While designed for accessibility, it’s a magical shortcut for everyone. Instead of fumbling through menus, you give your phone a gentle, secret tap, and it immediately does your bidding, turning a multi-step chore into a single, satisfying action.
Stop squinting to read text. Do use the Display Zoom or Larger Text features instead.
The ‘Prescription Glasses’ for Your Phone
Struggling to read the small text on your phone is like trying to read a book without your glasses. It’s a constant, low-grade strain on your eyes. The Larger Text and Display Zoom features are the “prescription glasses” for your device. In your settings, you can adjust a simple slider until every email, message, and article becomes perfectly, comfortably legible for your unique eyes. It’s a two-second adjustment that can eliminate daily eye strain and make using your phone a more relaxing and pleasant experience.
Stop trying to describe what’s on screen to a blind friend. Do teach them how to use the VoiceOver screen reader instead.
The ‘Personal Narrator’ for the Digital World
VoiceOver is the magical, personal narrator for the iPhone. It is the most powerful accessibility tool of all. When activated, it audibly describes every single item on the screen, from the battery life to the name of the app your finger is on. It allows a visually impaired person to navigate their entire device, to write text messages, to browse the web, and to use apps with a level of independence and fluency that is truly life-changing. It is not just a feature; it is a gateway to the digital world.
The #1 secret for anyone with hearing loss is the “Live Listen” feature, which turns your iPhone into a remote microphone.
The ‘Directional Microphone’ for Your Ears
Imagine you’re in a loud, noisy restaurant and you’re struggling to hear the person across the table. The “Live Listen” feature is like a secret, powerful, directional microphone for your ears. You can place your iPhone on the table closer to the person you’re talking to. Your phone will then capture their voice and wirelessly stream it, clearly and directly, to your AirPods or Made for iPhone hearing aids. It’s a brilliant and discreet tool that can turn a frustrating, muddled conversation into a clear and understandable one.
I’m just going to say it: The Accessibility features on the iPhone are so good, they should be considered mainstream features.
The ‘Secret Menu’ at a Five-Star Restaurant
The Accessibility menu is like the secret, “off-menu” list of options at a five-star restaurant. It’s often where the chef (Apple’s engineers) puts their most creative, innovative, and interesting dishes. Features like Back Tap, the Magnifier, and Background Sounds are so universally useful and brilliantly designed that they transcend their “special needs” label. They are not just for a small group of people; they are powerful, life-enhancing “mainstream” features that are simply hiding in a different part of the menu, waiting for everyone to discover them.
The reason you miss notifications is because you haven’t enabled the LED Flash for Alerts.
The ‘Silent Alarm’ for Your Eyes
An audible notification can be easily missed in a loud room, and a vibration can go unnoticed in a busy pocket. The “LED Flash for Alerts” feature is the powerful, silent alarm for your eyes. When you have an incoming call or a new notification, the bright LED flash on the back of your phone—the same one you use for your camera—will emit a series of sharp, unmissable flashes. It’s a fantastic visual cue for anyone with hearing impairments, or for anyone who just wants a silent but impossible-to-ignore way to see their alerts.
If you’re still not using Reader View in Safari, you’re losing a cleaner, more accessible reading experience.
The ‘Ad-Free, Large-Print’ Edition of the Web
A typical webpage is a chaotic, distracting mess of flashing ads, autoplaying videos, and tiny, hard-to-read text. The “Reader View” button in Safari is the magical “declutter” button. With a single tap, it strips away all the distracting junk and reformats the article into a beautiful, clean, and perfectly readable document, like the large-print edition of a high-quality book. You can even customize the font and the background color. It is the secret to a calm, focused, and accessible reading experience on the web.
The biggest lie you’ve been told about accessibility is that it’s only for people with disabilities.
The ‘Curb Cut’ on the Sidewalk
Accessibility features are like the “curb cut”—that little ramp on the corner of a sidewalk. It was originally designed to help people in wheelchairs. But in reality, it is used and loved by everyone: parents with strollers, travelers with rolling luggage, kids on skateboards. The same is true for the iPhone. Features that were designed for a specific need, like higher contrast text or closed captions, can make the device better for everyone, in all sorts of situations. Accessibility is not a niche; it is universal design.
I wish I knew about the Magnifier tool when I was struggling to read the fine print on a medicine bottle.
The ‘Super-Powered Magnifying Glass’ in Your Pocket
The Magnifier tool is the super-powered magnifying glass that is secretly hiding in your phone. It’s not just zooming with your camera. It’s a dedicated tool that you can add to your Control Center. It gives you a slider for precise zoom control, it allows you to turn on the flash for better light, and, most brilliantly, it has a “freeze frame” button. This lets you take a stable, magnified “photo” of the tiny text, so you can then zoom in and read it without having to hold your hand perfectly still.
99% of users make this one mistake: not knowing they can add an Accessibility Shortcut to the Control Center.
The ‘Emergency’ Button for Your Favorite Tool
Imagine you had an “emergency” button that you could program to instantly activate your most-used tool. That is the Accessibility Shortcut. But you can make it even easier to reach. In your Control Center settings, you can add a dedicated button for your Accessibility Shortcuts. This gives you a one-tap, on-screen button that can instantly bring up your pre-selected menu of tools, like the Magnifier or the color filters, without you ever having to remember the triple-click physical shortcut. It’s a shortcut for your shortcut.
This one small action of enabling “Spoken Content” will let your iPhone read articles or books to you.
The ‘Personal Narrator’ for Any Text
The “Spoken Content” feature is like hiring a personal, on-demand narrator for your entire digital world. When you enable it, you unlock a magical ability: you can highlight any piece of text—a long email, a news article, a paragraph in a book—and a “Speak” button will appear. Tapping it will have your phone read that text aloud to you in a clear, natural-sounding voice. It’s a powerful tool for multitasking, for resting your eyes, or for absorbing information in a different way.
Use AssistiveTouch to create a custom on-screen home button, not just if your physical button is broken.
The ‘Floating Remote Control’ for Your Phone
AssistiveTouch is like having a small, customizable, floating remote control that you can place anywhere on your screen. While it’s a lifesaver for a broken home button, its real power is in its customization. You can program this on-screen button to do almost anything. A single tap could take a screenshot, a double tap could open your Control Center, and a long press could lock your screen. It’s an incredibly powerful shortcut menu for your most-used functions, especially for making a large phone easier to use one-handed.
Stop getting overwhelmed by motion on screen. Do enable the “Reduce Motion” setting for a calmer interface.
The ‘Teleporter’ vs. The ‘Glass Elevator’
The default iPhone interface is full of cinematic, zooming animations. It’s like riding in a fancy, glass elevator; it’s a pleasant and scenic journey. For some people, however, this motion can be overwhelming or even cause nausea. Turning on “Reduce Motion” is like swapping that elevator for an instant teleporter. The cinematic zooms are replaced with a simple, gentle cross-fade. It makes the entire interface feel calmer, faster, and more direct, eliminating the potentially jarring sense of movement.
Stop struggling with complex gestures. Do create custom gestures with AssistiveTouch instead.
The ‘Macro’ Button for Your Fingers
Imagine you could record a complex sequence of taps and swipes—a special move in a game, or a repetitive action in an app—and then save it as a single, custom button. That is what custom gestures in AssistiveTouch allow you to do. You can literally “record” a series of finger movements on the screen. The feature will then save this “macro,” allowing you to perfectly replicate that complex gesture, in the exact same spot, with a single, simple tap of a button. It’s automation for your fingertips.
The #1 hack for single-handed use is the Reachability feature, which is technically an accessibility tool.
The ‘Elevator’ for Your Screen
Using a large iPhone with one hand can feel like trying to reach a book on the top shelf when you’re too short. Your thumb just can’t get there. Reachability is the secret elevator for your screen. A short, gentle swipe down on the very bottom edge of the screen (the home bar) will make the entire top half of the screen slide down to the middle. This brings all those hard-to-reach buttons and icons down to a comfortable, one-thumb-friendly height, making your giant screen suddenly feel manageable again.
I’m just going to say it: Apple’s commitment to accessibility is a major reason to choose iPhone over Android.
The ‘Architect’ Who Designed the Ramps from the Beginning
Apple’s approach to accessibility is like an architect who designs a beautiful, modern building with the ramps, the wide doorways, and the elevators as a core, integrated part of the original blueprint. The accessibility is deep, powerful, and feels like it belongs. The approach on many other platforms can feel like a contractor who was hired after the fact to bolt on a clunky, metal ramp to the side of the building as an afterthought. It might be functional, but it is not as elegant, as integrated, or as deeply considered.
The reason you’re getting headaches from your screen is because you haven’t tried adjusting the color filters.
The ‘Custom Sunglasses’ for Your Screen
Your iPhone screen is like a bright, powerful light source. For some people, this light can be a trigger for headaches and eye strain. The “Color Filters” feature is like having a pair of custom, prescription sunglasses for your screen. You can apply a gentle, color-tinting overlay—like a soft red or a warm yellow—to the entire display. This can dramatically reduce the intensity of the light and shift the color spectrum, often providing a huge amount of relief for visually-sensitive users.
If you’re still using your iPhone on full brightness, you’re hurting your eyes; use the “Reduce White Point” feature.
The ‘Dimmer Switch’ for the Sun
The brightness slider on your phone is like the main dimmer switch for a light. But even at its lowest setting, the bright white backgrounds of many apps can feel like you’re staring into the sun in a dark room. The “Reduce White Point” feature is a secret, secondary dimmer switch that only affects the brightest parts of the screen. It’s like putting a pair of sunglasses on the sun itself, taking the harsh, glaring edge off the whites and making the entire screen dramatically more comfortable for your eyes.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that these features will slow down your phone.
Painting Your Walls Won’t Weaken Your Foundation
There’s a myth that turning on accessibility features will make your phone slow and sluggish. This is like believing that painting your walls and hanging up pictures will somehow weaken the structural foundation of your house. Modern iPhones are incredibly powerful. The built-in accessibility features are designed by Apple to be extremely efficient. They are the “paint and pictures.” They change the look, the sound, and the feel of your device without ever touching the powerful engine that makes it run smoothly. Your foundation is safe.
I wish I knew about Sound Recognition, which can listen for things like a baby crying or a smoke alarm.
The ‘Second Pair of Ears’ for Your House
The Sound Recognition feature is like having a second, intelligent pair of ears that are always listening to your environment for you. It’s a powerful tool for anyone, especially for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, or for anyone wearing noise-canceling headphones. You can teach your phone to listen for a specific sound—like a doorbell, a dog barking, a baby crying, or a smoke alarm. When it hears that sound, it will send you a distinct, unmissable notification, acting as your personal, always-on audio sentinel.
99% of people don’t know they can use Voice Control to operate their entire iPhone with just their voice.
The ‘Magic Incantation’ for Your Phone
Voice Control is not Siri. It is a much deeper, more powerful form of magic. It’s like learning the secret, underlying “incantation” language of your phone. When you turn it on, you can control every single aspect of the device—tapping, swiping, typing—with spoken commands. You can say “Tap on the grid” and a numbered grid will appear, allowing you to say “Tap 12” to select a specific spot. It’s a stunningly comprehensive feature that provides a complete, hands-free way to interact with your digital world.
This one small habit of using Siri to perform tasks will make your iPhone dramatically more accessible.
The ‘Universal Butler’ for Everyone
Siri is the ultimate, built-in accessibility feature for everyone. The simple habit of remembering to ask Siri to do things for you is like having a helpful, universal butler. For someone with a motor impairment, asking Siri to “send a text” is a profound enabler. For a busy parent with their hands full, it is a game-changing convenience. Siri is the great equalizer, turning complex, multi-tap tasks into a simple, natural conversation, making the power of the iPhone accessible to all, regardless of their physical abilities.
Use audio descriptions for movies and TV shows to get more context, not just if you have a visual impairment.
The ‘Narrator’ Who Describes the Scene
“Audio Description” is a brilliant accessibility feature, but it’s also a fascinating new way to experience a movie. It’s like having a calm, professional narrator who is sitting next to you and, during the silent parts of the film, will quietly and discreetly describe the important visual action on the screen. “A single tear rolls down his cheek.” “She looks at the clock on the wall.” It’s a fantastic tool for when you are “listening” to a movie while you are cooking or working, as it fills in the visual gaps and allows you to follow the story with your ears.
Stop just using standard text. Do enable “Bold Text” for better readability across the entire system.
The ‘High-Contrast’ Edition of Your Phone’s Interface
The default iOS font is beautiful and elegant, but it can also be a bit thin and hard to read for some eyes. Enabling “Bold Text” is like switching the entire operating system of your phone to a special, “high-contrast” edition. Every single letter, in every single app, will be slightly thicker and darker. It’s a simple, system-wide change that can dramatically improve the legibility and reduce the eye strain of your device, making every word just a little bit easier and more comfortable to read.
Stop struggling to hear your phone calls. Do use the “Hearing Aid Compatibility” features or Made for iPhone hearing aids.
The ‘Personal Amplifier’ for Your Conversations
“Made for iPhone” hearing aids are a marvel of modern technology. They are like a high-tech, personal amplifier that can stream the audio from your phone calls, your music, and your podcasts directly and wirelessly into your ears with crystal clarity. The “Hearing Aid Compatibility” features in your iPhone are the powerful software controls for that amplifier, allowing you to customize the sound and even use the “Live Listen” feature to turn your phone into a remote microphone. It’s a deeply integrated and life-changing system.
The #1 secret for anyone with color blindness is the “Color Filters” feature.
The ‘Decoder Ring’ for Colors
For a person with color blindness, some colors on the screen can be difficult or impossible to distinguish from each other. The “Color Filters” feature is like a magical, digital “decoder ring” for your eyes. It has a series of pre-set filters for the most common types of color blindness—like red-green or blue-yellow. When you turn on the correct filter, it will subtly shift the entire color palette of the screen, increasing the contrast between the problematic colors and making the entire interface dramatically easier to see and to understand.
I’m just going to say it: Exploring the Accessibility menu is like finding a hidden treasure chest of features.
The ‘Secret,’ Unlocked Treasure Chest in the Castle
The Accessibility menu in Settings is a secret, unlocked treasure chest in the middle of the Apple castle, but most people walk right past it, thinking it’s not for them. Inside this chest is a dazzling collection of powerful, magical items that can make the iPhone better for everyone: a sound machine, a magnifying glass, a secret button on the back of the phone, and dozens of other powerful customization tools. It is the single most underrated and feature-rich part of the entire operating system, waiting to be discovered.
The reason you can’t see your screen in the sun is because you haven’t tried the “Smart Invert” feature.
The ‘High-Contrast Mode’ for a Sunny Day
When you are outside in the bright sun, the glare can make a standard, white-background screen almost impossible to read. “Smart Invert” is the secret weapon for a sunny day. It flips most of the colors on your screen, turning the bright, washed-out white backgrounds into a dark, high-contrast black. This can dramatically reduce the glare and make the text “pop” off the screen, often making your phone usable again even in the most challenging, direct sunlight.
If you’re still not using subtitles and captioning, you’re missing out on dialogue in loud environments.
The ‘Universal Mute Button’ for the World Around You
Subtitles and captions are not just for the hard of hearing. They are the “universal mute button” for the world around you. They allow you to watch a video in a loud, crowded bar, to follow a show while your partner is asleep next to you, or to understand a fast-talking character with a thick accent. They are a powerful, context-shifting tool that can make your video content accessible and enjoyable in a huge variety of situations where the audio alone is simply not enough.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that accessibility features are hard to turn on and off.
The ‘Emergency’ Triple-Click
The idea that accessibility features are buried deep in your settings and are a pain to activate is a complete lie. The “Accessibility Shortcut” is the master key. You can program the triple-click of your side button to be a shortcut for any feature you want. You could set it to instantly turn on the Magnifier, to toggle the color filters, or to start VoiceOver. It’s a powerful, customizable “emergency” button that allows you to activate your favorite tools in a single, physical, and instantaneous action.
I wish I knew about the “Speak Screen” feature (a two-finger swipe down) to have anything on the screen read aloud.
The ‘Magical, Invisible Narrator’
“Speak Screen” is one of the most powerful and most hidden features in the entire iPhone. It’s like a magical, invisible narrator who is always on call. On any screen—a webpage, an email, your settings—you can simply swipe down with two fingers from the very top of the screen. The narrator will then appear and begin to read the entire contents of that screen aloud to you. It’s an incredible tool for multitasking, for absorbing information, and for turning your entire, visual iPhone into an audiobook.
99% of users don’t customize the “Side Button” click speed to match their preference.
The ‘Custom-Tuned’ Physical Button
The side button on your iPhone is used for a variety of double- and triple-click shortcuts. But not everyone’s fingers move at the same speed. In the Accessibility settings, you can find a “Side Button” menu. This is like the custom-tuning shop for your phone’s most important physical button. You can choose from “Default,” “Slow,” or “Slowest” for the double-click speed. This small adjustment can be a game-changer for anyone who has trouble with the fast, default timing, making the button work for their rhythm, not the other way around.
This one small action of setting up a triple-click shortcut for your favorite accessibility feature will be a game-changer.
The ‘Magic Wand’ That’s Always in Your Hand
The Accessibility Shortcut is a magic wand. You can program it to cast almost any “spell” you want. By setting the triple-click of your side button to activate your most-used feature—whether it’s the Magnifier, the color filters, or the background sounds—you are turning an abstract software feature into a tangible, physical, and instantaneous tool. It is no longer a setting; it is a real, physical button that is always in your hand, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. It’s a true game-changer.
Use Guided Access to lock your iPhone into a single app, which is great for kids or for focusing on a task.
The ‘Digital Playpen’ for Your Brain (or Your Kids)
Guided Access is a digital playpen. It is most famously used to lock a child into a single game or a video app, preventing them from wandering off and causing chaos. But it is also an incredibly powerful “playpen” for your own, distractible, adult brain. If you need to focus on a single task—like reading a report or writing a long email—you can use Guided Access to lock yourself into that one app. It disables the home button and prevents you from mindlessly switching to social media, creating a powerful, temporary, and distraction-free zone.
Stop just increasing the volume. Do adjust the left/right audio balance if you have better hearing in one ear.
The ‘Balance Knob’ on Your Stereo
If one of the speakers in your stereo system is slightly weaker than the other, you would adjust the “balance” knob to send a little more power to that side, creating a perfectly centered sound. Your ears are your personal, stereo speakers. If you have better hearing in one ear than the other, the audio from your headphones can feel imbalanced. In the Accessibility settings, there is a simple “balance” slider that allows you to send a little more of the audio signal to your weaker ear, creating a richer, fuller, and perfectly centered stereo experience.
Stop struggling with small touch targets. Do use “Touch Accommodations” to change how the screen responds to your touch.
The ‘Fine-Tuning’ for a Super-Sensitive Screen
The iPhone’s screen is incredibly responsive. For some people, especially those with motor tremors or certain physical disabilities, it can be too responsive, leading to accidental taps. “Touch Accommodations” is the powerful, “fine-tuning” dashboard for your screen’s sensitivity. You can increase the “hold duration,” which is like telling the screen to wait for a moment before it registers a tap. It’s a powerful set of tools that allows you to customize the physical feel of the screen to perfectly match your unique touch.
The #1 hack for a quieter life is using RTT/TTY for phone calls instead of voice.
The ‘Silent, Text-Based’ Phone Call
RTT (Real-Time Text) is a powerful and deeply underrated feature. It is a silent phone call. When you make an RTT call, instead of speaking and listening, you are typing and reading. It’s like a live, instantaneous, and silent text message conversation that happens within the phone call itself. It’s a game-changing technology for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, but it is also a fantastic tool for anyone who needs to make a silent, discreet “phone call” from a quiet library or a loud, noisy concert.
I’m just going to say it: The best way to help an older relative with their iPhone is to set up a few key accessibility features for them.
The ‘Custom-Built’ Easy Mode for Your Loved Ones
Handing a standard iPhone to an older, tech-phobic relative can be an overwhelming and frustrating experience for them. The best thing you can do is to be their personal “customization” expert. By taking fifteen minutes to set up a few, key accessibility features—like a larger text size, a louder ringer, and adding their favorite contacts to the Home Screen—you can transform the complex, standard interface into a simple, comfortable, and custom-built “easy mode” that is perfectly tailored to their specific needs and abilities.
The reason you’re accidentally triggering things on screen is because you haven’t adjusted the Haptic Touch duration.
The ‘Hair Trigger’ vs. The ‘Firm Press’
Haptic Touch is the “long-press” feature that reveals hidden menus and shortcuts. By default, the trigger for this is very fast. For some people, this “hair trigger” can lead to them accidentally opening menus they didn’t mean to. In the Accessibility settings, you can adjust the Haptic Touch duration. It’s like changing the trigger on a high-end rifle. You can switch it from a “hair trigger” to a setting that requires a longer, firmer, and more deliberate “press.” This small adjustment can completely eliminate those frustrating, accidental triggers.
If you’re still not using dictation for typing, you’re wasting a lot of time and effort.
The ‘Personal Stenographer’ for Your Thumbs
Typing out a long, detailed email or message with your thumbs is a slow, error-prone, and deeply inefficient process. The dictation feature (the little microphone on your keyboard) is like having a professional, high-speed stenographer ready at a moment’s notice. You can simply speak your thoughts naturally, and your phone will type them out with surprising accuracy. It allows you to compose long-form text at the speed of speech, turning a tedious, manual task into an effortless, hands-free conversation.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that these features are an afterthought; they are deeply integrated.
The ‘Foundation’ vs. The ‘Coat of Paint’
The biggest lie about accessibility is that it is a “coat of paint” that is applied at the end of the design process. On the iPhone, this is not true. Accessibility is the foundation of the house. Features like VoiceOver and Switch Control are not simple apps; they are deeply woven into the very fabric of the operating system. This foundational approach is why they work so well, and why they are so powerful. They are a core, fundamental part of the architecture, not a decorative afterthought.
I wish I knew that the Magnifier could use the flash to illuminate what I’m looking at.
The ‘Maglite’ for Your Magnifying Glass
The Magnifier is a powerful tool, but it’s like a traditional magnifying glass. It’s not very useful in the dark. But the Magnifier on your iPhone has a secret superpower. It has a built-in, adjustable “flashlight.” You can turn on your phone’s LED flash from right inside the Magnifier interface, illuminating the tiny text on the back of a dark electronic device or helping you to read a menu in a dimly-lit restaurant. It is the brilliant fusion of two classic, real-world tools into one powerful, digital one.
99% of people have never looked at the “Per-App Settings” in Accessibility to customize apps individually.
The ‘Custom Rules’ for Each Room in Your House
The main Accessibility settings are the “master rules” for your entire house. But what if you want the “lights” (the text size) to be brighter in the “library” (your Books app) but dimmer in the “living room” (your Messages app)? The “Per-App Settings” are the custom, room-by-room rules. You can create a unique, personalized set of accessibility settings—from the text size to the contrast—for any individual app on your phone. It’s a stunningly granular level of control that allows you to create the perfect environment for every different task.
This one small action of enabling “On/Off Labels” will make it clearer which toggles are active.
The ‘Light Switch’ That Says ‘On’ or ‘Off’
The standard toggle switches in iOS are minimalist and elegant. A green switch is “on,” and a grey switch is “off.” For some people, this color-only distinction can be hard to see. Enabling “On/Off Labels” is a simple, brilliant fix. It’s like adding a small, clear, written label to every single light switch in your house. The “on” switches will now have a small “I” symbol, and the “off” switches will have a small “O” symbol. It’s a simple, universal, and instantly understandable visual cue.
Use Headphone Accommodations to tune the audio to your specific hearing profile, not just using the default EQ.
The ‘Prescription Glasses’ for Your Ears
“Headphone Accommodations” is one of the most powerful and most hidden audio features on the iPhone. It is like getting a pair of custom-made, prescription glasses for your ears. It can run you through a short, audiogram-style hearing test. It will then use this data to create a custom, personalized audio profile, subtly boosting the specific frequencies that your unique ears have trouble hearing. It can make your music sound dramatically richer, your phone calls sound clearer, and your movies sound more immersive. It’s a truly life-changing feature.
Stop getting lost in text. Do use the “Speak Selection” feature to have a specific phrase read to you.
The ‘Audio Highlighter’ for Your Documents
When you are reading a long, dense document, it can be easy to lose your place or for your eyes to glaze over. The “Speak Selection” feature is like a magical, audio highlighter. You can highlight any single sentence or a long paragraph, and a “Speak” button will appear. Your phone will then read just that specific selection aloud to you. It’s a fantastic tool for proofreading your own writing, or for focusing your attention on a particularly complex or important part of a text.
Stop being annoyed by app badges. Do use the “Show in App Library” only setting to hide them from your Home Screen.
The ‘Tidy Desk’ with a ‘Full Inbox’
Notification badges can be a stressful, visual clutter on your clean Home Screen. But you might still want to see them when you go to your “main office.” This setting is the perfect compromise. It’s like telling your butler, “Please don’t leave any of the red, ‘urgent’ memos on my clean, minimalist desk (the Home Screen). Just file them away, and I will see them when I go into the main mail room (the App Library).” It gives you a calm, clean workspace without losing the information completely.
The #1 secret for users with limited mobility is using Switch Control with an external adaptive device.
The ‘Single Button’ That Controls the Entire World
Switch Control is a profound and life-altering accessibility feature. It is a powerful system that allows a person with extremely limited physical mobility to control their entire iPhone, iPad, or Mac. By using an external, adaptive “switch”—which can be a simple button, a sip-and-puff device, or even a head movement—a user can navigate through every single part of the interface. It is a masterpiece of inclusive design that can open up the entire digital world to someone who might otherwise be completely locked out.
I’m just going to say it: The level of detail in the VoiceOver rotor is a masterpiece of engineering.
The ‘Fine-Tuning Knob’ for the Digital World
VoiceOver is the narrator for the iPhone. The “Rotor” is the fine-tuning knob that gives the user a level of granular control that is simply astonishing. It’s like a virtual dial that you can turn with a two-finger twisting gesture on the screen. It allows a blind user to switch from navigating by “headings” to navigating by “links,” or to even change the speaking rate or the typing feedback on the fly. It is a deep, powerful, and brilliantly designed tool that transforms a flat screen into a rich, textured, and fully navigable landscape.
The reason you find the iPhone overwhelming is because you haven’t simplified the interface with a custom Focus Mode.
The ‘Guest Mode’ for Your Own Brain
The standard iPhone interface, with its dozens of apps and its constant notifications, can be an overwhelming and over-stimulating place. A custom Focus Mode is like creating a special, simplified “guest mode” for your own brain. You can create a “Simple” mode that, with a single tap, will hide all but your six most essential apps and will silence all notifications. It’s a powerful way to instantly transform the complex, powerful supercomputer into a simple, calm, and focused communication device.
If you’re still typing everything character by character, you’re not using the predictive text bar to its full potential.
The ‘Assistant’ Who Finishes Your Sentences
The predictive text bar above your keyboard is not just for correcting your spelling. It is an intelligent assistant who is constantly trying to anticipate your needs and to finish your sentences for you. It will learn your unique speech patterns and will start to suggest the exact word you are about to type next. By paying attention to these suggestions and by tapping on them, you can dramatically increase your typing speed. It’s a smart, adaptive feature that can save you thousands of individual keystrokes every single day.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that you have to use the iPhone the “way it was designed.”
The ‘Custom-Tailored’ vs. The ‘Off-the-Rack’ Suit
The idea that there is one single, “correct” way to use an iPhone is a complete lie. The default, “out of the box” experience is the “off-the-rack” suit. It’s a fantastic starting point that is designed to fit most people pretty well. But the massive and powerful suite of Accessibility and customization features are the master tailor’s tools. They allow you to take that off-the-rack suit and have it perfectly and precisely tailored to fit your unique body, your unique needs, and your unique style.
I wish I knew that I could use my Apple Watch to control my iPhone with VoiceOver.
The ‘Remote Control’ for the Narrator
For a blind user, VoiceOver is the essential narrator for their iPhone. The Apple Watch can act as a discreet, powerful, and tactile remote control for that narrator. Instead of having to perform all the gestures on the phone’s screen, a user can use the Digital Crown and the buttons on their watch to navigate through the phone’s interface, to select items, and to go back. It’s a brilliant piece of ecosystem integration that provides a more convenient and eyes-free way to control their most important device.
99% of users don’t know they can change the appearance of subtitles and captions.
The ‘Custom Typesetter’ for Your Movies
The default subtitles on a video can sometimes be hard to read against a bright or a busy background. Hidden in the Accessibility settings is a powerful, custom typesetter for your captions. You can change the font, the size, and the color of the text. But most powerfully, you can add a semi-transparent, black background box behind the text. This is a pro-level feature that will make your subtitles and captions dramatically easier to read in any and every situation, just like the ones you see in a professional movie theater.
This one small action of teaching a tech-phobic relative how to use Siri will open up a new world for them.
The ‘Friendly Translator’ for a Foreign Language
For an older or a tech-phobic person, the modern, gesture-based interface of an iPhone can feel like a strange and intimidating foreign language. Siri is the friendly, patient, and bilingual translator for that language. The simple act of teaching them that they can just press a button and ask the phone, in plain English, to “Call my daughter” or “What’s the weather like?” can be a profound, breakthrough moment. It bypasses the intimidating “foreign language” and provides a direct, natural, and conversational bridge to the phone’s powerful capabilities.
Use “Background Sounds” like rain or a stream to mask distracting environmental noise, not just for relaxation.
The ‘Sound-Proofing’ for Your Ears
“Background Sounds” is not just a relaxation tool; it is a powerful, productivity-enhancing “sound-proofing” machine. When you are trying to work in a noisy office or a distracting coffee shop, the constant, gentle, and predictable sound of rain or a stream can act like a soft, auditory blanket. It can mask the jarring, unpredictable, and distracting noises of the outside world, allowing your brain to settle into a state of deep, focused work. It’s a simple, free, and incredibly effective tool for concentration.
Stop just using the default pointer. Do customize the AssistiveTouch pointer’s size and color.
The ‘Custom-Made’ Cursor
When you are using a mouse or a trackpad with your iPhone or iPad, the default, circular pointer is fine. But you are not stuck with it. You are the designer. In the AssistiveTouch settings, you can become a custom cursor creator. You can change the size of the pointer, from small and discreet to large and easy-to-see. You can also change its color to a high-contrast red or blue. It’s a great customization that can make the pointer easier to track and to use, especially on a large screen.
Stop struggling with your password. Do use Face ID or Touch ID for a more accessible login.
The ‘Key’ That is Your Own Face
For many people, remembering and typing a complex password can be a significant barrier. It can be a frustrating and difficult task. Face ID and Touch ID are the ultimate accessibility upgrades for security. They transform the abstract, cognitive task of remembering a secret code into a simple, effortless, and physical action. The “key” is no longer something you have to remember; the “key” is a part of you. It is a more secure, more convenient, and dramatically more accessible way to unlock your digital world.
The #1 hack for a more readable webpage is using Safari’s Reader Mode, which is an accessibility feature.
The ‘Instant Large-Print Edition’ of Any Article
Safari’s Reader Mode is one of the most powerful and most mainstream accessibility features of all. It is the instant “large-print” button for the entire internet. With a single tap, it can take a cluttered, ad-filled, and tiny-fonted webpage and instantly transform it into a beautiful, clean, and perfectly readable document. It is a powerful, focus-enhancing, and eye-strain-reducing tool that was born from the world of accessibility but has become an essential, everyday feature for millions of people.
I’m just going to say it: Accessibility is not a niche; it’s a fundamental aspect of good design.
The ‘Sturdy Handrail’ on the Staircase
A sturdy, well-placed handrail on a staircase is not a “niche” feature that is only for the elderly. It makes the staircase safer, more comfortable, and more “accessible” for everyone—for a child, for a person carrying groceries, for someone who is feeling tired. Good accessibility is good design. It is the “handrail” for technology. It is the art of creating products that are not just powerful, but are also considerate, flexible, and usable by the widest possible range of people, in the widest possible range of situations.
The reason you don’t like reading on your iPhone is because you haven’t found the right combination of font, size, and background color.
The ‘Custom-Built’ Reading Room
Saying you don’t like reading on your iPhone is like saying you don’t like reading because you once tried to read in a dark, noisy room with an uncomfortable chair. The Apple Books app is a custom-built, personal reading room. You are the interior designer. You can change the “lighting” (the brightness and the background color), you can change the “wallpaper” (the font), and you can change the size of the “furniture” (the text size). With a few, simple adjustments, you can create a perfectly-lit, perfectly-comfortable, and deeply-pleasurable reading environment.
If you’re still manually announcing who is calling, you’re not using the “Announce Calls” feature.
The ‘Personal Butler’ Who Announces Your Guests
The “Announce Calls” feature is like having a personal, professional butler who is always at your side. When a call comes in, instead of just a generic ringtone, the butler will lean in and discreetly announce, in a clear voice, “Sir, your mother is calling,” or “A call from a ‘Scam Likely’ number.” This allows you to know exactly who is trying to reach you without ever having to look at your screen. It’s an incredibly useful feature when you are driving, cooking, or wearing headphones.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that you’re too “old” to learn how to use an iPhone.
Learning a New ‘Language,’ Not a New ‘Brain’
The idea that you can be “too old” to learn something new is a destructive lie. Learning to use an iPhone is not about having a “young” brain; it is about learning a new, simple, and very visual language. It is a language of taps, swipes, and icons. It might feel a little strange and unfamiliar at first, just like learning a few words of French or Spanish. But with a little bit of patience and a good, friendly “teacher,” anyone, at any age, can become a fluent and confident speaker of this new language.
I wish I knew about the “Shake to Undo” feature when I was constantly deleting large blocks of text by accident.
The ‘Etch A Sketch’ of Your Phone
The “Shake to Undo” feature is the digital equivalent of the deeply satisfying shake of an Etch A Sketch toy. When you’ve just made a huge mistake—like accidentally deleting an entire paragraph of a carefully-crafted email—you don’t have to panic. You can just give your phone a single, firm, and deliberate shake. A small confirmation will pop up, and your text will be instantly restored. It’s a physical, intuitive, and life-saving gesture for correcting your biggest and most frustrating typing blunders.
99% of people don’t know they can use their iPhone to detect people and doors with the Magnifier.
The ‘Sci-Fi’ Scanner for Your Environment
The “Detection Mode” in the Magnifier is a piece of science fiction that has become a reality. It is like a real-life, Star Trek-style tricorder. Using the power of the LiDAR scanner on the newer iPhones, it can actively scan the environment and give you real-time feedback. It can tell you how far away a person is, and it can help you to find a doorway in an unfamiliar room by reading the text on the signs. It’s a stunning and powerful tool that provides a new, audible “vision” of the world.
This one small action of increasing the contrast will make text and icons much easier to see.
The ‘Fine-Tuning’ Knob on Your Television
The “Increase Contrast” setting is like the “sharpness” or the “contrast” knob on your television. It is a subtle, but powerful, fine-tuning tool. When you enable it, it will slightly darken the background colors and lighten the text, making the boundaries between the different elements on your screen just a little bit clearer and more distinct. It’s a simple, system-wide adjustment that can reduce visual ambiguity and make the entire interface feel just a little bit crisper and easier to read.
Use the “Button Shapes” option to make it clearer where you can tap, not just guessing.
The ‘Underline’ for Your Digital Buttons
Modern iOS design is very minimalist. Sometimes, a “button” is just a simple, blue word. For some people, this can be visually ambiguous. The “Button Shapes” feature is the simple, clear “underline” for those words. When you turn it on, any piece of text that is a tappable button will get a subtle, grey underline or a shape around it. It’s a fantastic feature that removes the guesswork from the interface, providing a clear, consistent, and instantly-understandable visual cue for where you can and cannot tap.
Stop just using the default keyboard. Do try the one-handed keyboard for easier typing.
The ‘Keyboard That Scooches Over’
Trying to type on a large iPhone with one hand while holding a coffee or a bag in the other is a clumsy, thumb-stretching exercise in frustration. The one-handed keyboard is a brilliant, hidden solution. If you long-press the little globe or emoji icon on your keyboard, you can choose to have the entire keyboard “scooch” over to the left or the right side of the screen. This brings all the keys within the comfortable, easy reach of a single thumb, making one-handed typing feel natural and effortless again.
Stop getting lost in menus. Do use the search bar in Settings to find any feature.
The ‘GPS’ for a Sprawling City
The Settings app on your iPhone is like a huge, sprawling city with hundreds of streets and alleys. Trying to find one specific setting is like trying to find a single address without a map. The search bar at the very top of the Settings app is the GPS for that city. Instead of wandering through endless menus, you can simply type what you’re looking for, and it will instantly give you a direct, clickable link to that exact location, turning a frustrating search into an effortless journey.
The #1 secret for anyone who is easily distracted is using Guided Access to lock themselves into a single app.
The ‘Digital Blinders’ for Your Brain
Guided Access is a powerful tool for creating “digital blinders.” If you need to focus on a single, important task—like writing a report or finishing an online test—you can use Guided Access to lock yourself into that one app. It disables the home button, it blocks notifications, and it prevents you from mindlessly switching to social media or a game. It is a powerful, temporary, and self-imposed “prison” that creates an unbreakable, distraction-free zone, forcing your brain to stay on task.
I’m just going to say it: You don’t need perfect vision or hearing to be an iPhone power user.
The ‘Custom-Built’ Cockpit for Every Pilot
The iPhone is not a “one size fits all” machine. It is a high-performance jet with a deeply customizable cockpit. You do not need to be the “perfect” pilot to fly it. The vast and powerful suite of Accessibility features are the tools that allow you to move the seat, to adjust the controls, and to change the displays to perfectly match your unique body and your unique senses. It is a flexible and adaptable machine that is designed to be a “power tool” for everyone, not just for the people with perfect vision.
The reason you have trouble with typing is because you haven’t enabled the haptic feedback on the keyboard.
The ‘Silent Click’ of a High-End Pen
The haptic feedback for your keyboard is like switching from a cheap, plastic pen to a high-end, weighted fountain pen. It is silent to the outside world, but with every single letter you type, you feel a subtle, precise, and deeply satisfying “thump” under your finger. This tactile feedback provides a confirmation that a key has been pressed, which can lead to a more confident, accurate, and enjoyable typing experience. It adds a rich, physical dimension to the flat, glass screen, making it feel more like a real keyboard.
If you’re still struggling to see your screen, you’re not using the Zoom feature.
The ‘High-Powered Binoculars’ for Your Phone
The “Zoom” feature is the high-powered, military-grade “binoculars” for your iPhone. It is not the same as just increasing the text size. It is a powerful, full-screen magnifier that you can use in any app, on any screen. With a simple, three-finger double-tap, you can instantly zoom in on a specific part of the interface, making a tiny button or a small piece of text large and legible. It’s a powerful and flexible tool for anyone who needs a little extra help to see the small details.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that these features are only for a small group of people.
The ‘Tools’ in the Toolbox
The Accessibility menu is a toolbox. Inside that toolbox, there is a hammer, a screwdriver, and a wrench. The biggest lie is that you need to be a “carpenter” to use the hammer, or a “plumber” to use the wrench. These are just useful tools. And you might find that the “wrench” (the color filters) is the perfect tool for your headache, even if you are not a “plumber” (colorblind). These features are not labels; they are powerful, universal tools that can solve a huge variety of problems for a huge variety of people.
I wish I knew that I could use my iPhone to control my Apple TV with Switch Control.
The ‘Universal Remote’ for the Entire Ecosystem
Switch Control is a powerful accessibility feature that allows a user with very limited mobility to control their device with a single “switch.” But its power extends beyond the phone. It is a universal remote for the entire Apple ecosystem. A user can be controlling their iPhone, and then, using the same, single switch, they can seamlessly transition to controlling their Apple TV on the big screen, or their Mac on their desk. It’s a profound and deeply integrated system that creates a single, unified control scheme for a person’s entire digital world.
99% of users don’t know about the “Full Keyboard Access” feature to control their iPhone with a physical keyboard.
The ‘Desktop Computer’ Experience on Your iPhone
“Full Keyboard Access” is a powerful and deeply hidden feature for “pro” users. It allows you to connect a physical, Bluetooth keyboard to your iPhone or iPad and then control every single aspect of the interface without ever having to touch the screen. You can navigate between apps, select buttons, and activate controls, all with a series of simple keyboard commands, just like you would on a desktop computer. It’s a stunningly comprehensive feature that can transform your tablet into a true, professional-grade workstation.
This one small action of enabling “Text Message Forwarding” will let you read and reply to texts on a larger iPad or Mac screen.
The ‘Mail Forwarding Service’ for Your Text Messages
“Text Message Forwarding” is the simple, magical “mail forwarding service” for all your text messages. By flipping a single switch in your settings, you are telling your iPhone, “From now on, please deliver a perfect, high-fidelity copy of every single one of my text messages, including the green-bubble ‘SMS’ messages, to my iPad and my Mac.” This one small action will transform your other devices into powerful, full-featured communication hubs, allowing you to read and reply to all your messages on a larger, more comfortable screen.
Use mono audio if you only use one earbud, not just getting half of the stereo sound.
The ‘Two-Speaker’ Song on a ‘One-Speaker’ System
A stereo audio track is like a song that is designed to be played on a two-speaker system, with the guitar coming out of the left speaker and the piano coming out of the right. If you are only listening with one earbud, it’s like you are only listening to the right speaker. You are literally only hearing half of the song. The “Mono Audio” setting is the intelligent “sound engineer” that takes that two-speaker song and perfectly mixes it down so that you can hear 100% of the music through your single speaker.
Stop just dealing with a sensitive screen. Do adjust the “3D & Haptic Touch” sensitivity.
The ‘Feather-Light’ vs. The ‘Firm’ Button
The “3D & Haptic Touch” sensitivity setting is like adjusting the trigger pull on a high-end camera. You can set it to be a “feather-light” trigger that fires with the slightest touch, or you can set it to be a “firm” trigger that requires a more deliberate, confident press. There is no right or wrong answer. By going into the settings and trying out the different speeds, you can perfectly tune the physical “feel” of your screen to match your own, personal preference, making your interactions feel more natural and predictable.
Stop trying to remember everything. Do use the Reminders app with spoken alerts.
The ‘Butler’ Who Reminds You Out Loud
The Reminders app is the perfect, digital “second brain.” But a silent, visual notification can be easy to miss. You can make your reminders audible. It’s like having a helpful, verbal butler. By setting up spoken alerts, your phone will not just buzz; it will announce, in a clear voice, “Reminder: Call the doctor at 2 PM.” This is a fantastic accessibility feature, but it’s also a powerful tool for anyone who is busy, driving, or just needs a more assertive and un-ignorable reminder to stay on track.
The #1 hack for a more comfortable experience is simply taking the time to explore the Accessibility menu.
The ‘Custom-Fitting’ Session for Your Phone
The #1 hack is to realize that your iPhone is not a “one size fits all” device. It is a high-end, custom-tailored suit. The Accessibility menu is the fitting room, and you are the client. By taking just fifteen minutes to explore this menu, you can have a “custom-fitting” session. You can have the “sleeves” (the text size) adjusted, you can change the “color” (the filters), and you can add a “secret pocket” (a Back Tap shortcut). It is the one place where you can have the device perfectly tailored to your own, unique body and preferences.
I’m just going to say it: The iPhone’s accessibility features are light-years ahead of the competition.
The ‘Blueprint’ vs. The ‘Bolt-On’
Apple’s accessibility features are like the ramps, the wide doorways, and the elevators that were a core part of a beautiful building’s original, master blueprint. They are deep, powerful, and feel like they belong. The accessibility features on many other platforms can feel like a clunky, metal ramp that was bolted on to the side of the building as an afterthought, years after it was constructed. It might be functional, but it is not as elegant, as integrated, as powerful, or as deeply considered as the one that was designed from the ground up.
The reason you’re getting motion sickness from your phone is because you haven’t turned on “Reduce Motion.”
The ‘Roller Coaster’ vs. The ‘Calm Monorail’
For some people, the fast, zooming, and parallaxing animations of the default iPhone interface can feel like a dizzying, disorienting roller coaster. It can be a genuine trigger for motion sickness and vertigo. The “Reduce Motion” setting is the calm, gentle, and predictable monorail. It replaces all the fast-paced, three-dimensional movement with a simple, gentle, and two-dimensional cross-fade. It’s a powerful and effective tool for transforming a potentially nauseating experience into a calm and stable one.
If you’re still not using Siri for basic tasks, you’re missing the easiest accessibility feature of all.
The ‘Universal Butler’ for Every Task
Siri is the great equalizer. She is the universal, built-in accessibility feature that can make the entire, complex world of the iPhone accessible to anyone. The simple act of using your voice to “send a text,” to “set a timer,” or to “open the camera” can be a profound enabler for a person with a physical disability, a game-changing convenience for a person with their hands full, or a simple, helpful shortcut for an older person who is intimidated by the touch screen. She is the friendly, conversational bridge to the phone’s power.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that accessibility compromises the aesthetic of the iPhone.
The ‘Invisible’ Handrail
The biggest lie is that accessibility means making things “ugly” or “clunky.” It’s like believing that the only way to make a staircase safer is to add a giant, ugly, industrial-sized handrail. Apple’s design philosophy is to make the “handrail” as beautiful, as elegant, and as invisible as possible. Features like the haptic keyboard, the gentle wake-up alarms, and the seamless auto-switching of AirPods are all accessibility-minded features that are so beautifully integrated into the experience that you don’t even notice they are there. They just make the product better.
I wish I knew about the “Typing Feedback” options that can speak characters, words, or auto-corrections aloud.
The ‘Proofreader’ Who Whispers in Your Ear
The “Typing Feedback” feature is like having a helpful proofreader who is sitting on your shoulder and whispering in your ear as you type. It’s a powerful tool for anyone, especially for those with visual impairments or learning disabilities. You can set it to speak each character as you type it, to speak each completed word, or, most powerfully, to only speak the auto-corrections that the phone makes. This provides an instant, audible confirmation of what you are writing, helping you to catch errors and to type with more confidence.
99% of people think the Accessibility menu is just for people with disabilities.
The ‘Pro’ Menu in Disguise
The idea that the Accessibility menu is only for people with disabilities is the single biggest misconception about the iPhone. In reality, it is the secret, hidden “Pro” menu. It is a treasure chest of advanced, powerful, and deeply useful customization features that can make the iPhone better for every single user. It’s where you’ll find the secret button on the back of your phone, the built-in sound machine, and the powerful screen-reading tools. It is not a “remedial” menu; it is the menu for people who want to unlock the true power of their device.
This one small action of turning on captions for FaceTime calls will help you in noisy environments.
The ‘Subtitles’ for Your Real-Life Conversations
Live Captions for FaceTime is a brilliant and futuristic feature. It’s like having real-time, instantaneous subtitles for your real-life conversations. While it’s a game-changing tool for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, it’s also incredibly useful for everyone. If you are trying to have a FaceTime call in a loud, crowded airport or a noisy coffee shop, the live captions can be the crucial, secondary source of information that allows you to understand what the other person is saying, even when you can’t hear them perfectly.
Use Voice Memos to record conversations you have trouble remembering, not just for business meetings.
The ‘Perfect, Digital Memory’
For anyone who has trouble with their short-term memory, the Voice Memos app can be a powerful and discreet cognitive aid. It’s like having a perfect, high-fidelity, and searchable digital memory. With the other person’s permission, you can use it to record important conversations, like a detailed discussion with your doctor or a complex set of instructions from a family member. You can then listen back to the conversation at your own pace, ensuring that you don’t miss any important details.
Stop just accepting the default alert sounds. Do choose ones that are in a frequency range you can hear easily.
The ‘Custom-Tuned’ Doorbell
The default iPhone ringtones and alert sounds are designed for the “average” human ear. But everyone’s hearing is different. If you have trouble hearing high-pitched sounds, a high-pitched “ding” is a terrible doorbell for you. In your Sound & Haptics settings, you have a huge library of different chimes and alerts. By taking a minute to listen through them and to choose a sound that is in a frequency range that is clear and distinct for your unique ears, you can create a much more effective and reliable notification system.
Stop struggling with pull-down menus. Do use Reachability to bring the top of the screen down.
The ‘Step Stool’ for Your Thumb
Trying to reach the very top of a large iPhone’s screen with one hand is like trying to get a book off the top shelf when you are just a few inches too short. Reachability is the portable, magical “step stool” for your thumb. A gentle, deliberate swipe down on the very bottom edge of the screen will make the entire top half of the interface slide down into the comfortable, easy reach of your thumb. It’s a brilliant and simple solution to the ergonomic challenges of a large screen.
The #1 secret for a better visual experience is True Tone, which adapts the screen to the ambient lighting.
The ‘Smart Paper’ That Changes its Color
A piece of white paper looks different in the warm, yellow light of an indoor lamp than it does in the cool, blue light of the midday sun. True Tone is the magical “smart paper” technology in your iPhone’s screen. It uses a sensor to see the color temperature of the light that is in the room with you, and it will then subtly and automatically adjust the “white point” of your screen to match that light. This makes the whites on your screen look more natural, more consistent, and more like a real piece of paper, which can dramatically reduce eye strain.
I’m just going to say it: Every app developer should be required to learn and implement Apple’s accessibility guidelines.
The ‘Building Code’ for the Digital World
In the physical world, we have a building code. Every new building is legally required to have ramps, accessible bathrooms, and other features to ensure that it is usable by everyone. There should be a similar “building code” for the digital world. Apple provides a brilliant, comprehensive, and powerful set of accessibility guidelines and tools for developers. Making these guidelines a mandatory part of the App Store review process would be a profound and powerful step towards creating a more inclusive, more equitable, and more accessible digital world for all.
The reason you can’t hear your alarm is because you haven’t tried pairing it with a vibrating alarm clock accessory.
The ‘Earthquake’ Under Your Pillow
For people who are deaf or are extremely heavy sleepers, a sound-based alarm is simply not effective. There is an entire category of “bed-shaker” alarms that can connect to your iPhone via Bluetooth. It’s like having a small, powerful, and silent “earthquake” generator that you can place under your pillow. When your iPhone’s alarm goes off, instead of making a sound, it will trigger a powerful, un-ignorable vibration that can physically shake you awake. It’s a fantastic, non-auditory solution to a common problem.
If you’re still not using “Find My” with audio alerts, you’re losing the most powerful tool for finding your misplaced iPhone.
The ‘Game of Marco Polo’ with Your Phone
The map in the “Find My” app is great for finding a phone you left in another city. But when you’ve just misplaced your phone somewhere in your own, messy house, the “Play Sound” feature is the real superhero. It is like being able to start a game of “Marco Polo” with your lost device. Your phone will begin to emit a loud, persistent, and unique pinging sound, even if it is on silent. Your ears can then follow the sound, leading you to its hiding place under a couch cushion or in a jacket pocket.
The biggest lie you’ve been told is that you don’t need these features.
The ‘Spare Tire’ in the Trunk of Your Car
The biggest lie is the one your own brain tells you: “I don’t need these features. I am not ‘disabled’.” This is like looking at the spare tire in the trunk of your brand new car and saying, “I don’t need that. I am a ‘good driver’.” Accessibility features are that spare tire. They are powerful, universal tools that are there for the moments when you are not at your 100% best. You might be in a loud room (a situational disability), you might have your hands full (a temporary disability), or you might just be getting older. Good design is for everyone.
I wish I knew that I could use my iPhone as a magnifying glass sooner.
The ‘Real-World Zoom’ Button
The Magnifier is a true, real-world superpower that is hiding in your phone. It is not just the camera. It is a dedicated tool that can be added to your Control Center for instant access. It gives you a powerful, fine-tuned zoom lens for the real world. It can help you to read the tiny, faded print on a restaurant menu, to see the intricate details of a small insect, or to find a tiny splinter in your finger. It is a practical, powerful, and endlessly useful tool for seeing the world more clearly.
99% of users have never intentionally opened the Accessibility settings.
The ‘Forbidden,’ Mysterious Wing of the Castle
For most users, the Accessibility menu is like the one, mysterious, and forbidden wing of the castle. They know it’s there, but they have never, ever dared to open the door, because they believe that what is inside is not for them. But this is where the lie lives. Inside that “forbidden” wing is not a dark and scary place. It is a bright, beautiful, and treasure-filled room that contains some of the most powerful, most innovative, and most universally useful features in the entire castle. The door is not locked.
This one small action of enabling “Live Captions” will transcribe any audio playing on your device in real time.
The ‘Universal Subtitle Machine’ for Your Entire Phone
Live Captions is a stunning, futuristic, and system-wide feature. It is a universal subtitle machine. When you turn it on, a small, floating window will appear. Now, any audio that is playing on your phone—a video in a social media app, a podcast, a FaceTime call—will be instantly and automatically transcribed, in real-time, right on your screen. It’s a game-changing feature for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, but it’s also a fantastic tool for anyone who wants to “read” a video in a quiet room without headphones.
Use the iPhone’s accessibility features to make the device work for you, not the other way around.
The ‘Custom-Fitted’ vs. The ‘Off-the-Rack’ Experience
Using an iPhone without exploring the accessibility features is like wearing an “off-the-rack” suit. It’s a great suit, but it wasn’t made for you. The Accessibility menu is the master tailor’s workshop. It is the place where you can have that beautiful, off-the-rack suit perfectly and precisely altered to fit your unique body, your unique senses, and your unique needs. It is the fundamental shift from you having to adapt to the technology, to the technology having to adapt to you.