What You Need to Know About iOS 13

What you need to know about iOS 13

Contributed by Jerry Price, Assistive Technology Specialist

iOS is the operating system for Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. Each year in September, Apple launches an updated version of its software, which can have many surprising results. 

As the iOS software becomes more sophisticated, many older devices are not eligible for or able to be upgraded. In the case of this year's update, iPhones 6 and older will not be able to be updated with iOS 13.

Additionally, the 2013 edition of the iPad Air, the second and third generation of the iPad Mini, and all versions of the iPod Touch (barring the most recent production) are unable to be upgraded with iOS 13.

The 2013 iPad Air, 2 nd and third generation of the IPad Mini, and all versions of the iPod Touch except the newest one will have a similar fate.

The software update is currently under Beta review (testing). Some of the proposed changes in the software include the use of punctuation in Voiceover. The proposed amendment will allow Voiceover users to set their punctuation levels to reflect read all punctuation, most punction, some punction, or no punctuation. An additional update in iOS 13 would allow Voiceover to provide better and more accurate feedback when taking photographs. Not only will the device tell a user if there are faces in the shot, but how many faces and where they are in the frame. It will also indicate if the user is tilting the phone when taking a photograph. 

Another significant update currently under review is the ability for Voiceover to skip reading Emojis. Currently, there is no way to turn off the reading of Emojis, and the update will allow users to skip having this item read to them. 

The iOS 13 upgrade is still over a month away, and many of the proposed feature enhancements are subject to change. There is also time for Apple to include additional features not yet mentioned here.