Apple unveils accessibility features, like Eye Tracking, to let users with physical disabilities control iPads or iPhones with their eyes, and Music Haptics

Engadget 2024-05-16 Cherlynn Low

Context & Ripple Effects

Apple had already been extending accessibility across its devices, including iPad eye-tracking and AssistiveTouch for Apple Watch in 2021. This release brings eye-based control explicitly to iPhone and iPad alongside Music Haptics.

The announcement follows Apple's broader 2023 expansion into cognitive, vision and speech tools, including a personalized AI voice feature. It reinforces accessibility as a continuing operating-system product track rather than a one-off hardware add-on.

First-order effects

People with physical disabilities gain a new built-in way to control iPhones and iPads using eye movement.
Apple adds Eye Tracking and Music Haptics to its accessibility feature set, widening the set of device interactions addressed at the platform level.

Second-order effects

Competing mobile platforms face a clearer benchmark for native, device-level eye-control accessibility rather than relying solely on third-party assistive tools.
Apps that work cleanly with standard iPhone and iPad interaction patterns stand to be more usable through Apple's new system-level controls, increasing the importance of accessible interface design.

Third-order effects

If Apple continues this release cadence, accessibility features may become a more persistent dimension of mobile-platform competition, spanning input, communication and media experiences.
The pattern points toward assistive capabilities being integrated into core OS releases, which can reduce dependence on separate specialist software while making implementation quality more consequential for developers.

The trend: Mobile accessibility is moving from discrete assistive settings toward recurring, built-in operating-system capabilities across more forms of input and media.

Discussion

@waldoj@mastodon.social Waldo Jaquith on mastodon
OK Apple's new Vehicle Motion Cues is super cool. They reduce motion sickness while using an iPhone or iPad in the car by having little dots move around on the screen in tandem with the vehicle's movement, to align visual cues with your inner ear's sense of movement (the lack of…
@avatchinsky Adrian Vatchinsky on x
OBSESSED with this. how can I test it out?
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
Well, this is wild: Apple showing off controlling an iPad with just your eyes. Super inspiring work on accessibility. [video]
@benz145 Ben Lang on x
Apple is adding a new feature to iOS that is designed to counteract motion sickness while looking at a screen in a moving vehicle. I'm very curious if they're thinking of the implications of this for VR experiences on Vision Pro. [video]
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
@manuherfurth Yes, taken that way, @JustMeDevin has beat them to the punch with @_CroutonApp but this is a bit different in scope and implementation :)
@manuherfurth Manu on x
@sdw Not to discredit them, as it looks like actually placing a cursor where you are looking, but I remember Google had a demo set up at MWC'22 where you could control a phone using only your eyes. Although it moved focus to the next item by looking up/down and to the right to co…
@sdw Sebastiaan de With on x
@AVatchinsky Install the iOS 18 beta after WWDC I'd guess
@can @can on x
kinda assume Apple keeps good-vibes (accessibility, cool) announcements in their back pockets so that they can move past the negative press cycles like the crush ads
@leakerapple @leakerapple on x
There's this one guy on this app which made this exact app for Vision Pro. Apple Sherlocks again 😞
@minofifa Darren Minifie on x
Huge amount of awesome new #accessibility features coming to Apple platforms this year. My favorites are a new reader mode added to Magnifier and Hover Typing (a large-text typing experience on iOS). Another great Global Accessibility Awareness Day! https://www.apple.com/...
@joshuaogundu Josh on x
Accessibility product has universal value. Apple has always led here
@brandonbutch Brandon Butch on x
Music Haptics is a new way for users who are deaf or hard of hearing to experience music on iPhone. With this accessibility feature turned on, the Taptic Engine in iPhone plays taps, textures, and refined vibrations to the audio of the music. Music Haptics works across millions…
@brandonbutch Brandon Butch on x
Apple just announced several new iOS 18 accessibility features! 1. Eye Tracking Powered by [AI], Eye Tracking gives users a built-in option for navigating iPad and iPhone with just their eyes...all data used to set up and control this feature is kept securely on device, and isn'…
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
Coming in iOS 18: Vehicle Motion Cues is a new experience for iPhone and iPad that can help reduce motion sickness for passengers in moving vehicles [video]
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
Here is iOS 18's eye tracking in action [video]
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
Coming to CarPlay in iOS 18: With Sound Recognition, drivers or passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing can turn on alerts to be notified of car horns and sirens. [image]
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
Coming to visionOS 2.0 visionOS will include systemwide Live Captions to help everyone — including users who are deaf or hard of hearing — follow along with spoken dialogue in live conversations and in audio from apps. [image]
@aaronp613 Aaron on x
iOS 18 will include eye tracking! [image]
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on x
holy crap I guess we weren't dreaming, eye tracking coming to iPad https://www.apple.com/...

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