Steven and Timothy talk about Apple’s September 10 media event. Topics include Steven’s thoughts on the show from inside the room, Apple Arcade, the importance of See for representation, and the new Apple Watch and iPhones.
Show Notes:
See trailer
Steven’s piece for iMore with his thoughts on the event
Timothy’s blog post on Apple’s services strategy
Steven Aquino:
Twitter: @steven_aquino
Website: stevensblog.co
Timothy Buck:
Twitter: @TimothyBuckSF
Website: timothybuck.me
Podcast: unco.fm
Episode Transcript
Steven Aquino: Hi everyone. Welcome to Accessible. I'm your host Steven Aquino, and with me as always is my friend and co-host Timothy Buck.
How are you doing?
Timothy Buck: I'm doing really well, Steven. Really excited to be here for this post-Apple-event episode. These are always my favorite. So I'm a I'm really excited about this conversation.
Steven Aquino: Yeah, so as we record this it is Saturday, September 14th, and the Apple event happened this past Tuesday, and I was there I was in it and it's.
Excuse me. That's why I need a cough button, and I have a lot to say about the new iPhones. The iPad and an Apple Watch. It's going to be an exciting show. So why don't we just dive right in since I don't think we have any follow up from the previous show. First, I kind of just wanted to give my general thoughts.
On the whole thing in the last several days after the event you've heard people on. Podcast kind of talk about the event being fine and the event being, you know too much, you know. Apple. Congratulating itself and you know too much clapping and there's this there was this whole brouhaha on Twitter about whether certain people like, you know, clapped or cried and I know Jim Dalrymple wrote something taken down somebody who was critical of someone else.
So I thought the event was fine.
You know it. I've been to an I've been to these enough now like that. I know how they go and I know what to do expect. and I think. You know. This event was pretty much normal of Affair. You know, Tim Cook came on stage and he talked about how Apple makes wonderful tools and I thought that was cool and then know he he handed it off to people for the different things and I thought it was fine.
The only thing I'll say is number one. I tend to read a lot. You know my thoughts and stuff, you know as I'm in the room I tend to do that during game demos and you know any kind of demo because I think the demos are sort of dull and then also. You know, I thought the event was shorter than it was then they typically are. When Tim Cook's came on stage to end things and you know, he said. To you know, head over to the Hands-On area and stuff. I I stood up and I checked the time and we're about half hour 45 minutes shorter than we usually run. Apple events typically are about two hours and this event from my rough calculation just staring at the time was about an hour and 40 minutes.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, it was definitely shorter it felt as if there was something missing at the end or maybe it was like I feel like they're they have gone over two hours in the past. So it when we were coming into this event, it seemed like there was a whole lot that they had to announce and it was moving really quickly and I was like Wow there must be some more stuff coming and then it just sort of ended and.
They didn't use that last 20 to 30 minutes. They have in the past which kind of stood out is a little different and not good or bad but it was surprising for me.
Steven Aquino: Yeah, I was half expecting them to you know, I think what was the last thing they did. I think they did the retail update and I thought you know after that was over that Tim will was going to cook come out and say we've got one other thing and you know, that would have been that tile thingy but that didn't happen.
So I was a little you know, I was so much shocked at you know that the event was so short from the tip of two other ones. That's pretty much all I have to say about the event itself, you know, you know again there was an op-ed in the times about how Apple should stop doing. These events and that's how the whole Twitter thing got started with people and Jim Dalrymple had that article that he wrote.
I don't really, you know have anything to say to add to that whole thing except that you know, That the event on Tuesday was pretty much. You know. Your average event like it was fine. I didn't see anything wrong with it. You know again, I've been to. To these now, you know enough time that I know how it works and what to expect when I'm there and you know talking to Apple so on and so forth.
I thought it was fine. So Tim, did you have any thoughts on that?
Timothy Buck: Basically my thoughts on it are that it's a piece that we should just forget about. It was one person's idea. I'm sure they knew that a lot of people would be upset by it and it really didn't. And won't change anything Apple is going to continue to have events because millions and millions of people including investors and customers and yes also journalists are interested and so will all of the companies who have smaller events.
So yeah, I I feel like it was just kind of a blip on the radar that got people upset, but we'll forget about it because it has no real impact on the world and isn't really that important of a piece. What is interesting and something that will impact a huge number of people this year? 200 million at least we'll be buying phones from Apple this year and a bunch of the other things that they announced this week.
So do you want to jump into the event? I think you had like an order of operations. You wanted to follow to discuss the event. Yeah,
Steven Aquino: So I kind of wanted to talk about everything roughly in the order that they were announced so... You have Apple Arcade. You have See. You have iPad. You have Apple watch, and then iPhone. So why don't we start with Apple Arcade.
Okay, so here's the thing about Apple Arcade. For me. I am not. Of all the services that Apple hasn't been announced. I'm not so excited by Arcade and it's not because of. You know anything that Apple did or didn't do it's it's just that I've not a big gamer. You know, I I don't I have a folder of games on my phone all the popular ones that you know that people know from over time. Like judo jump and I don't know. Paper toss and I don't know, you know other things but I rarely open that folder and open those apps so I gotta say like Apple Arcade like. doesn't really thrill me. I'm not judging it. Just you know. As a thing, I mean, I think it's you know better serve as I think it's it's good and you know people are going to. You know, hopefully people will enjoy enjoy it and stuff, but for me I'm not big on playing games
Timothy Buck: I wrote a piece on my blog about this and I will TV plus that I'll link to a few things that out to me about it that are interesting and and I have one big question particularly for this show in this audience, which is. Are all of these games going to be accessible because if they are if like one of the requirements right that Apple puts on the developers that they are paying to build these games is to make them accessible that could be actually really really cool.
Right? So one of the benefits just for the general public at large is that. If I am a family I can have a family it's you know, say a few children and I like to play games and my partner likes to play games. I could pay, you know, five dollars a month and get all of these games to play right and you know, I could.
Block down my kids devices to say, okay. Yeah, you can't buy anything on the app store without me giving you the okay, but you can you know download any of the free ones from Apple Arcade without me needing to give you the okay because it does are free. And those are great right and and unlike a lot of other free apps.
There's no like. I would be able to know that my kids not going to get into a game and then hit a wall that is like impossible for them to move forward because there's some mechanic in it where it's basically, you know, you know a money it just a money-making thing that not just like a pay wall because payrolls are good for developers and for ecosystems, but.
It seems as if this is in direct response to some of the most popular games on iOS being very how did I put it? Like Casino informed I think is the phrase I use Casino informed like there are a bunch of games that are like that that the mechanic of the game is is based on how do we put people in situations where they really excited about the game and they feel like the next thing they have to do is spend, you know, $30 on Gems or coins or.
Whatever and as a parent, I wouldn't want that to be like the type of game that my kid plays because in there asking me for it all the time or even as an adult and I'm put in a situation where I'm about to spend $30 on gems. This idea is is cool because it seems like it's a direct response to the those games and those games are there because it like the financials were right and the financials of the app store has meant that a lot of other really really good types of games have just not been financially viable, which is bad and I'm excited to see that a lot of these other types of games that maybe wouldn't make very much money or wouldn't do very well are.
Be created and along the same lines like having this little garden of games that I know are going to be good. And I know my kids aren't going to get suckered out of a bunch of money for and I'm not going to get sucked out a bunch of money for or aren't going to have tons and tons and tons of ads like if they are also all accessible.
I really hope they are then this could be like a wonderful way to you know, get kids who need or or adults or anybody who likes to play games who need the certain accessibility features to not have to necessarily. Look around and try a game and figure out it's not going to be something they can play and you know instead they can just go here and have you know, a hundred plus games that they know are all going to work with accessibility features, they need and all of that for a set price with without the ads and without the scamming practices and without the all of that kind of stuff again, I'm making an assumption there and I think like if.
Have a chance to even in talking with Apple to ask them that particular question. I would love to know like that would be huge and that would make Apple Arcade even more interesting to me. I have no idea if I'll actually get it because like you I don't play games, but I think the idea of it is it's cool for for families in particular.
Steven Aquino: So so I asked them and they were pretty tight lipped you know, they didn't say either way. They just you know kind of in their Apple way. They're like, you know, that's a great idea. And so I don't know if they are holding something for an event or I have I don't know. But what I do know is and I want to say like I'm not making excuses for Apple here or game to developers, but you know when you look at games at you know, what that's an app.
You know for people with disabilities. You know Finding accessible game has been really hard not only on iOS, but you know everywhere. And I'm not a game developer at all. Not even a software developer but I can say with certainty that like when you know at a higher level making a game is not like making a normal app in that. When you're talking about a game when you're talking about the type of like high-end games that that Apple seems to want for arcade. You're talking about like highly custom you eyes with like really. Heavy. graphics and stuff that are necessarily conducive to the typical accessibility features like voice over and you know zoom and and that ilk.
And that's because like. you know again like did these these type of games that Apple is is having is like, you know heavy on the custom stuff and you know in the visuals and it's hard because you know again like it kind of Harkens to like this whole idea of well game developers don't really think of accessibility with as I thing when they're doing this, right and it and it kind of goes into the whole larger thing of like, you know. Raising of awareness for accessibility and teaching people and so it's what I'm saying is it is when you talk about accessibility in games, it's really a complicated issue.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, I agree. And I think that is why this stood out as interesting to me like specially with from the accessibility perspective is either they have already done this and it should be something that they really push as it rolls out as something that's unique about it. Or they haven't and this is something that Apple should really focus on and try to to turn Apple Arcade into that.
This is very different than every other type of app on the app store. All the other ones. They can say hey use these accessibility features that are great, but they can. At this point, right? They don't require them to do that to add all of that additional stuff. That's something that theoretically they could do, but.
In this case, they definitely could do that. Right they are paying for the apps to be built. They own the rights to the games and. They are paying the engineers and designers and product people and all of that to create them from these different Studios and they could say yes, it costs more to make these accessible, but we are going to prioritize that and if they haven't done that I.
What you're saying is, correct. There. There are a lot of reasons why maybe they haven't and I don't know all of them, but I would say moving forward. I I really hope and wish that Apple and you know even just game studios in general would prioritize this as something that important we saw just you know, Nine months ago or so Microsoft released a new controller to make a bunch of the games on the Xbox more accessible.
Didn't you know, it was a hardware thing. It was it's not there's not the same thing that we're talking about here, but it was a big step and I think like it would be cool to see Apple. Take a big step in making games more accessible to different people and Apple Arcade. Could be one of those steps.
And again, we don't have an answer. They kind of didn't answer it which makes me think that probably isn't something that they've done in full. Or maybe I'm wrong and maybe they did do it and they just not ready to talk about it yet. And that's part of their like rollout plan. I've had I'm
Steven Aquino: sorry. I'm gonna guess I'm going to hazard a guess and I'm going to say the reason why they smiled at me and didn't say anything is because they're not they're just not ready to talk yet.
Yeah.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, I think like isn't released yet until what like few weeks. Right and they do in their whole tour of people going on chose and talking about it and.
Getting the at least for Apple TV plus and for this I know they release their video about it just like yesterday that will link in the show notes. So it's still on there like tour of announcing when it'll first be available.
Steven Aquino: So I did want to add just a couple things before we go on to see you had just said about the Xbox Adaptive Controller and when I talk to Apple after the event in the hands on that area and I said, you know ask them, you know, does you guys have you know, Xbox and PS4 controller support in iOS 13, so does that include? The the Xbox controller because that would be really cool with you know arcade and they said "no".
So so as of now as of when iOS 13 is out, you know, you can use your Xbox controller and stuff. You can only use like the controllers that like came with your Xbox, you know, the. The standard Xbox PS4 DualShock. I mean, I don't know what they're called. I have one but I don't even know what they're called.
The other thing was I got to in the Hands-On area. I got to try. I think it was Frogger. I think I can't remember. What
Timothy Buck: yeah, there was a game like Frogger called Frogger.
Steven Aquino: Yeah, so I it was on an iPad in the Hands-On area the tend to iPad actually and the the Apple Store gal. She gave me an Xbox controller and she said here, you know, have fun with it.
I'm like, okay, and I gotta tell you like it was really hard to see like where I where I was going and I think I died a couple times like, you know. I couldn't see where I was going and the dinner face on screen was not helpful because again, it's all custom and like you can adjust the font size and such and and the to do it the other issue is that.
The Xbox controller doesn't have any like haptic feedback. So like if I hit a wall or I died or something, you know II couldn't tell when something happened, right? So that that was not fun and then, you know being on an iPad on the table and everything. My nose was almost touching the glass green.
It was really hard to see because it was relatively small. It was far away, you know, so I couldn't hold it and I couldn't really see it. So well, so what what I'm saying is like, you know. Apple Arcade, you know, the whole experience has a long way to go even in my two minutes in the Hands-On area that you know needs to be worked on.
Timothy Buck: Moving on from Apple are arcade to Apple TV. Plus I don't know if we really had a ton to talk about it in general again that article I wrote the other day on my blog will be linked. I talked about it at some but as far as accessibility focused things, I think you wanted to talk about.
The show they debuted the trailer for called see which obviously has accessibility implications. What were your thoughts on that?
Steven Aquino: Yeah, so. I should start this by saying that at the services event in March. Apple actually introduced me to some of the producers and consultants on See who were there, you know as VIPs, right?
And you know, they told me just you know after, you know off the record, like, I wasn't going to read a bit to thing about it, but they they were there they... Apple consulted with them throughout the show to to ensure the authenticity of blindness. I don't know how they did it. I don't know who they talk to.
I don't know the ins and outs of it. I just know that just as what Tim said on stage was that you know. Apple consulted with people right? So going to Tuesday's event if you haven't heard about it or whatever See is a show where it's set in a post-apocalyptic world where people have been blind for a centuries after some sort of event and throughout that time like the thought of people ever having to you know, ever having eyesight is is a hotly debated topic because again, like people have been living without it for so long that you know, it's just not something that they it's not something that they considered to be real.
I think the shows the the whole concept of the show as far as I can tell is the one of the families in the the show has a child who has sight and I think there's some conflict that revolves around like you know is this child going to like lead us to death or ruin or something because he can See.
I mean I could be totally wrong about that. But that that's kind of what I got from the trailer. So before I get into the whole accessibility angle of it like Tim. Did you have any thoughts here so far?
Timothy Buck: Hmm, so. I feel like this could go. I've heard I've heard people like describing the plot in ways that make it sound really bad and like really not kind to blind people and like I think I don't know enough about it to know if that's actually true. But like the main differentiation I want to point out is like people are talking about it as if. Like I heard somebody say that the story was basically everybody on earth goes blind and then we go back to because we can't see any more Humanity goes back to like.
Acting like neanderthals and like that is like was that their whole thing like that wouldn't actually happen but and I have no idea. I'm not I'm not like the person who should be talking about this for sure. So I'm going to shut up but like that was one of the- like perspectives on it and I again, I just watched the trailer during the during the announcement and I haven't seen anything since then. So I don't even remember precisely what the plot is. But if the plot is like that I think that that's probably bad and if the plot is like some other thing occurred that caused civilization to be like setback right like some other thing happened and then.
As a repercussion of that other thing we were also all blind that sort of changes the the point of the show, right? It changes the meaning of all of those things and at that point, I'm just going to shut up because I don't know anything else
Steven Aquino: So so there so you know everyone I've talk to like or I know on Twitter like I mean, I won't name anybody, but like the normal Apple people that you would know and and like a lot of the other common traitors, you know that don't that that are not media, but you know, like they talk about Apple. You know, everyone has sort of said yeah, I saw the trailer and the show's is going to suck.
It doesn't like it doesn't look good or you know, I wasn't interested in it. Doesn't seem like it's going to be a top show and you know. That's fine. Like that's that's that's totally cool. Like if you if you see the trailer for See and you think it sucks or you're not interested in. It because you know as art because like whatever like that's totally fine, but for me and I'm guessing for others...
So so I actually wrote a book about this for iMore or I wrote my thoughts on the whole event and everything and I talk to about See. I think there are two truths to this. You know, as I said, like you can see See. You can look at See as a show as art as you know, a as entertainment, right and you can judge it on the trailer and on the acting and on the you know and everything else and you can say. this show sucks, right they show I don't care about it. I want to know people do that all the time. I mean, I do it right, you know, but on the flip side of that like i think there is a bigger. Story here, and I think it's why Apple got involved with like consulting right is that if you take it from from an accessibility angle from a disability angle, it is a huge deal that these disabled people in the show are the people who the people who raised the show are putting disability first. so. So if you if you look at how the word in general and the history when people like look a disabled people when they when they use them, you know in a show like it's always. It's always about like, oh he got into an accident. He doesn't have his hand anymore or oh like he was born with Down Syndrome, like how is he going to overcome that or you know? How inspiring is it that? Like he can do anything like like disability has always been looked upon by Hollywood. And and by Society at large as something that is sad. That is terrible. That is is something to be overcome.
As opposed to just being a part of who the people... Just as sorry... As opposed to their handicaps being part of who they are, right so. You know if you take if you if I can use myself, you know as an example like. People have told me like I've overcome a whole lot in my life. And I have I've overcome a lot of stuff a lot of terrible terrible stuff. But people always throw the fact that I have a disabilities as something that I have to overcome instead of just accepting the fact that i am disabled and and you know that I've learn to adapt and it's just who I am, right?
So when you take that context to See like. The fact that they're starting the show with the whole world not having eyesight. It's just that they don't have it. They can't see they they don't even think that having sight, you know ever ever was a thing like that is a huge deal for represent station and I think when you when you judge the show, I think you know again, it's fair to judge it as art but I I don't want people to lose sight of the fact. No pun intended that you know this representation angle to it, you know is a huge step for us.
Yeah,
Timothy Buck: I think I think it's smart of you to differentiate those two things because it could be a there are a lot of wonderful films that do not have. That representation and there are and this could be a terrible series, but the representation still matters, right? And so ideally it will be both a really good series and have accurate and like good representation.
But that again, I'm not the person to really tell you on either of those things whether it's a good series or whether that representation is accurate and and and good so I I'm excited to watch it. I mean one of the things that stood out about Apple TV plus is it's free for everyone who gets a phone or an iPad or a.
Apple TV or a I think it was iPod Touch actually, too. For a year and so that means I'm gonna try it out and maybe all the shows are terrible and I don't watch anything on there again, but at least check out this series in particular because I want it to be good and I really hope that it is and if it is both good and has solid representation. Then that's a big a big big win.
Steven Aquino: Yeah. So, you know again like just to finish it off before we get on you know? I think that. I think that. I mean if you know Apple if you if you talk to well, it shouldn't say if you talk to Apple because not everybody talks to Apple. But if you know Apple like that Tim Cook said when he introduced. You know See right when he talked about see like the fact that he said that the company consulted with people right on this. I think it speaks to their I think it speaks to a their institutional like fondness for us and then B like they see that this is a big deal for representation. And I think they can see that in part because they have people at the company who you know don't have... You know.. Who are blind and you know, so so what I'm saying is just I think that Tim Cook saying that was not in an aside. I think it was very intentional that he said that. So. I think we're done.
Timothy Buck: You want to move on?
Steven Aquino: Yeah, next on the list is the iPad and you know, sorry, go ahead.
Timothy Buck: I was going to say I don't really have anything to say about the iPad. It's good that they've updated the low end line to have a faster processor and it's a good price that you know, I think it was 329. That's close. If not, right and it works with the pencil and with the keyboard now, so all of those things are good and it's not something that I think is going to really.
Be something that I would buy but it's good for the market that and for Apples lined up at there's a cheaper device out there. Now that that is a little bit more full-featured but that it does kind of all I had to say what it what are your thoughts? Yeah,
Steven Aquino: You know, I don't really have a whole lot there either. The only thing I can say is when when I heard about this new iPad, you know ahead of time. You know, I thought when I heard people say that it was going to be new and 10.2 inches and I had an idea in my head that like they would take the design from the iPad Pro and then kind of use that for the new iPad, but then I you know, I they showed it off and I'm like but you know, how would touch ID fit in the new in the new iPad Pro style. Like how would that fit in this new iPad? So I guess it. You know, it's fine. Like I mean, the iPad is fine. Like I don't have anything to say about it, but I guess all I'm saying is that I. I thought that we would be getting the all screen design of the iPad Pro but I suppose that design would be more expensive and also I'm not sure how. It would work with Touch ID. So there you go.
Timothy Buck: Next in the line up was the watch
Steven Aquino: Apple Watch Series 5.
Timothy Buck: A high level overview of the changes right were always on display. That was something that wasn't really leaked. So that's cool. It's something that a lot of people have complained about about the Apple watch.
It's version one and they have made that change. So that's great. It's something that I would have liked to have earlier on obviously, they they didn't make that choice until now think it's a really good change and makes it a better watch. It's faster. It has more space. I believe it has 32 gig hard drive on it.
Now. They didn't really mention that but it it does there's a. Yeah, and I'm trying to think other things that they specifically mentioned that were cool just off the top of my head. There's a bunch of different material materials. They're clearly spreading the lineup out again for different types of people who want different types of materials.
I like that across all the different price points the series 5 has the same functionality and all of them. It's. You know different metals and different bands. I think that's a good decision here because then it makes like decision-making purely down to style right? I think like a lot of people just love is a cheaper style and the the lowest end style because it you know has a band that they want and some people who you know, maybe fancier.
Spend a lot of time in suits and stuff. They might end up buying the more expensive one. And that's fine with me. That's not going to be me buying, you know one of those so, I don't know. I think it seemed like a cool update when I first like just after the event. I was like, maybe I should update from the series for but after I let it.
Go buy a day or two. I realized you know, I don't really need it. It's a really solid update and I think if you have a series 3 or series especially a series one or two these two it would make sense to do the upgrade but with the series for probably not I think you should just stick with what you got.
So those are my thoughts on it. Did you have any accessibility Focus thoughts on the new watch like what what stood out to you as actually like I don't know any thoughts on that.
Yeah, so. I well first of all, I really am tempted by food five. And I have a four and it's totally fine. Like I before it's great.
It's it's fine and everything, but I am really tempted by serves 5 and it's because of the all freeze on school green. I you know. I wrote about this fry more and actually speaking you can buy more my event article my event thoughts article is up now. So if you will put that in the notes, but.
When I said in this in that article was you know. Because of my cerebral palsy and the partial profile analysis on the right side, sometimes it's hard for me. So, you know, it hurts even to turn my wrist to tell time and to you know, check the. Check, you know stuff and I think the always-on screen is going to help that a lot because it's going to take away that tiny bit of friction for me too, you know, so having to like flip my wrist hard or you know, Tap the screen with my thumb was my finger. I mean. I've had an Apple Watch for over four years and it's not been a huge deal to raise my wrist and tap the screen but you know, I can do it and all that but like what I'm saying is.
I can feel that tiny bit of friction, and I'm sure for other people who have. More severe needs than I do, you know, they might find it even harder. So having this all always-on screen is. You know going to be helpful, I think in that regard. The other thing and I didn't write about this in the story because I didn't want to say anything about it until I actually have the Apple watch is.
I had a concern when it was showed off if the screen was going to be. High contrast enough. for people who are.
Julie impaired to see the time and the date and stuff right because in the Hands-On area from what I got is when you. When you turn your wrist to tell time the the screen is like it's on but it's it's on but it's it's it's I mean, obviously it's on but it's it's very like to dim. I don't know how to really describe it other than to say it's sort of dim and then if you tap the
Yeah, I can I can speak to it. Yeah, so so I kind of read a decent amount about how they're doing this because they're not just dimming the screen right? So obviously they didn't think that they could just literally leave full brightness.
Watch screen on all the time because that for battery life reasons would be bad. And also I think just for usability reasons could be bad because if you're in a dark room, then your wrist is just. Glaring light everywhere and that could be bad. Right but the way that they're doing this is when it would typically screen with typically turn off.
They are doing two separate things. So one thing they're doing is they're removing things from the screen that would need refresh more than once a. So like the second hand on the watch for analog watch faces that they take the second hand off so that they can only refresh the screen once a minute to move the minute hand and that allows them to save a bunch of battery.
And then the other thing that they're doing is they're moving it to monochrome. So they're removing all color. And so there's there's a bunch of watch faces that have like default backgrounds. Like tan or or or white or or blue or you know, you can set them to all these different things right or a photo and what they're doing is there.
You know turning that to Black so like if you have a blue background or a tan background, they're actually flipping it and they're making the background black. So the vast majority of pixels on an OLED screen or off and then they're just having like a white basically a light not even fully white a dim White.
For all of the rest of the display to show you whatever is on there. So that could be complications like know the weather numbers for weather or you know, the obviously the time and that kind of thing and it's actually several different things that they're doing and that is a good question. I think hopefully there are some sort of accessibility setting to say.
Like how much contrast there needs to be so you can actually see what's on the display when it's in that mode. I haven't been able to obviously play with it and see but it seems to me that at least the first two of those things would be. Fine, right those those battery saving things are not going to impede accessibility at all, right removing certain things from the screen and flipping it around so that there's more black on the screen.
Those things are going to be fine for visibility and and the one. Is need some sort of variability would be how dim does it actually make the what it ends up putting on the screen and I don't have an answer for that. I've only seen the videos.
Steven Aquino: So I heard. I was told that there is no setting for contrast ratio for for this. To your point about the technical stuff. I was told that Apple's just doing everything in software. I mean in watch OS software to to control all that so the but you know, as of now, there's there's no there's no accessibility setting for that.
Timothy Buck: Well, I know what whenever that's the thing that I'll be interested in. Seeing and hearing about is for you in particular. How does it is it is it helpful and then for those of you listening I think. If you end up getting a one of these or going to an Apple store and playing with it, we'd love to hear if the always-on feature is actually beneficial to you and is accessible to you because I would hope that it is and it may be sort of by definition the way they're making this work.
It will not be accessible to certain people because they're dimming it and some people need that full contrast in. To see it and that that would be kind of a bummer but is will see that I guess with time as more and more people get these and get to play with him in Apple Stores and send us feedback over email so or in
Steven Aquino: Twitter, you know, that's cool like if your out there and you're hearing this if you you if you ordered one. I didn't. And if you go to a store, even if you have any thoughts about it, you know, we're on Twitter and email. We'll talk about that at the end of the show is always but but. We would love to hear
Timothy Buck: Completely agreed. I feel like we're running really long. Maybe not really we had a little bit of a break in between but but we still have we still have the phones to talk about two different phones.
Steven Aquino: Yeah, so. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro and you know what?
I don't know. I mean, I've been really racking my brain. Trying to figure this out like. It hasn't really hit me yet. What the what the accessibility use cases for these phones? Like I think they're cool and everything. I'm impressed by the camera updates. but I don't know like if anything is really like stands out like we just got done talking about Apple watch and and the new screen. And that's like it jumped out is me as being you know accessible but for Apple watch I mean for iPhone. I don't know you know, I mean, I guess you could make a case for like losing 3D touch and you know haptic touch now like. But I don't know it's just I mean I have the same thoughts about the iPhones as every one else does. I mean, I think they're cool. I'm on the iPhone upgrade thing. So I'll probably get a new one just speak because I can but you know for accessibility, I don't know yet. I really don't know
Timothy Buck: Obviously like things then being faster. That's wonderful. I think the new cameras obviously wonderful.. Apparently in this is this is something that is just anecdotal based on people who are at the event. Apparently. The pro line is a little bit less slippery slippery than the xS or 10s has been did you find that true?
Steven Aquino: Yes. Oh, I got to see an iPhone 10s. Excuse me. I got to do an iPhone 11 plus in the Hands-On area
Timothy Buck: Pro
Steven Aquino: Pro pro pro and. I don't know how to describe it. But like if you have your 10S or even a 10 are like and you hold it and it's like very soon so slippery on the back side the the eleven pros have sort of a very different like it's still smooth, but it's more. What's the word? I'm looking for more like textured. There's there's.
Timothy Buck: Grippy maybe?
Steven Aquino: Yeah. Like if you know if I put my 10R and my the iPhone 11 side-by-side like holding him, you know in each hand like, you know, I could tell because because the new phones have the the new. that they have this like grippy kind of stuff.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, so that it gets is sort of an accessibility thing. That's cool.
Steven Aquino: What does Apple call that? Do they call it something?
Timothy Buck: I don't know
Steven Aquino: I'm gonna check...
Timothy Buck: Some new kind of glass or something. I don't know
Steven Aquino: I’m trying to think. Let me check
Timothy Buck: While you check. I think there was one other thing that seemed accessibility related that I wanted to bring up.
Shoot. I'm going blank. Oh the the you one chip, so they didn't talk about this. They put it on the screen and they put it on the website. They have included a U1 chip in both of these new phones. And basically what it allows for is for really really precise location of. A device and so a lot of the rumors before the event or that Apple was going to create these little tags that you could put on your keychain or whatever and it.
The Assumption now is that those tags if they ever become a thing will have this you one chip in them and that basically what it allows you to do is when you're looking for a device or or whatever you it should be able to point you to it exactly even inside. So not just like oh it's in this building but be like, oh it's that direction and you can head in that direction and then.
Again, this is all an assumption because they haven't really released all of this stuff. They've just included the chip that has this functionality, but people are assuming that. There will be some sort of like balloon saying or Arrow or whatever that they show and say like your are pods. If the new are pods end up having this chip in them are here and like could point to the couch cushion that they're sitting under that.
Again is not a thing that is actually released not a thing that they've actually announced but these phones will have that in it and it stood out to me as if our assumptions here are true and they do end up putting this in, you know, the are pods and these little tags if they release them and iPads and Max and all their different devices that there could be an accessibility benefit thereof.
You know helping you find your stuff when you can't figure out where it is. I know that would be a huge help for me. And it also could be a huge help for for for people who have accessibility needs as well. Yeah, that's
Steven Aquino: That's actually a really good point something that I think about. Because they didn't talk about it on stage so it was kind of an out of sight out of mind.
Timothy Buck: I'm being pretty generous, right so like it has the potential right? There's a potential there. They actually haven't released that accessibility enhancing feature. It's just a thing that they theoretically could do now that they've created this really impressive chip.
So Apple if you're listening this would be awesome. We would like it if you did it, but as of now, we can't really give them the credit for doing it yet because they haven't
Steven Aquino: So real-time follow up on this the iPhone 11 pro has a matte finished on the back instead of the shiny finish on the 10S and the 10R
Also to your point on the you one Apples copy on the website says that the new Apple designed you one chip uses ultra-wide-band technology for spatial awareness allowing iPhone 11pro to understand its precise location relative to other nearby you one equipped Apple devices. With you one and I was 13 you can point your iPhone towards someone else's and airdrop will throw tires that device so you can share files faster.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, so that's cool. It's like the I think it even says something after that of like this is just the beginning like this is obviously one use case, but they didn't put this chip in there just for this one airdrop use case. They're definitely going to use it for more things.
Steven Aquino: I'm really interested like how this works this chip works because it. It seems really cool. Like just as a chip, you know.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, it's cool.
Steven Aquino: Yeah. So any-who. That was a real time fall upon that I thought that was interesting and I have still have the first AirPods.
I don't have the AirPods 2 and I think at this point my AirPods 1s are fine and I'll just wait for the for the 3s I guess but I'm interested to see like what this you one stuff does and hopefully we'll hear more about it in the October event. So to finish up on iPhone though I don't really have anything to say about it accessibility wise now.
Ask me that in another week or two that'll probably change. But as of now like I'm really hard up to find like a standout accessibility case for the new iPhones. Unless you want to stretch it and talk about 3D touch verses haptic touch. But you know, that's kind of out there. So that's my thinking unless you have anything else I think that's about it.
Timothy Buck: Yeah, I think that's it. This is a fun one. There was a lot to talk about. I always always like doing this with accessible in particular because unlike a lot of other shows. We're kind of get to focus what we're talking about. We don't just have to say the same things that every other show says. Recapping. Basically just restating what Apple announced and what we think about it, but we get a kind of focus it in on accessibility and that is that's fun for me. So thanks for doing this with me.
Steven Aquino: Yeah anytime and Again, I'm sure the next time we record I will have more to share on I will watch and series iPhone so. Just because I didn't say a whole lot about iPhone now doesn't mean I won't later on so just stay tuned. So with that said you can find me on Twitter @steven_aquino, and you can find timothy @TimothyBuckSF. He is also the host of ours sister show UNCO and speaking of UNCO, offhandedly your episode with Gui Rambo is up next in Castro. So. I'll listen to them talk about things that are going to be announced that have already happened.
Timothy Buck: Well I am I'm recording later today with Benjamin Mayo from 9to5Mac about what actually happened.
Steven Aquino: So you get a double-dose of the event today, don't you?
Timothy Buck: Yeah. Yeah, I do.
Steven Aquino: You can find the show online. The website is accessible dot fm. You can find us on Twitter at _accessibleFM.
If you would want to help us out we would have appreciate you rating us on iTunes. Do they call that iTunes anymore? I don't know Apple Podcast I guess. So yeah, just go there and tell us that we're awesome. It really helps us a lot. So. Until we talk again. I will see you, Tim.
Timothy Buck: See ya.
Steven Aquino: bye-bye.
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