Level 1

19 points

I updated to iOS 13 and speak screen accessibility feature stopped working correctly

I updated to iOS 13 and speak screen accessibility feature stopped working correctly. The issue began right after I updated to iOS 13. I updated to iOS 13.1, but the issues persists. I use the two finger swipe down to read what's on my screen. I use this feature daily to read stories to me in place of audio books. It takes multiple swipes to make it start reading - it says "No readable content can be found on the screen" despite that fact that there is content. After a few tries it will start reading the text but then it randomly stops after a few paragraphs of text. I've used this feature nearly every single day for the last couple of years and it should read to the end of the document without stopping after reading just a few paragraphs. I have searched for resolutions online, but cannot find anything. The feature worked before I updated the software - though it randomly started reading "..." as "to the power of." I've tried restarting the phone multiple times and turning the feature off and then back on and it still is not working correctly.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Sep 24, 2019 1:13 PM

Top-ranking reply

Junebug-1

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Feb 8, 2020 10:59 AM

Try disabling Reachability (found under Settings/Accessibility/Touch/Reachability). That was interfering with my Speak Screen functionality, and when I disabled (turned off) Reachability, then Speak Screen worked. Does that fix work for you?

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57 replies

Jun 30, 2020 12:46 PM in response to Dr_Colossus

Unfortunately, this does not solve the issue for me. As before, the hard reboot mitigates the issue only temporarily.

Waitat25

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2020 1:00 PM in response to karajdaar

I have the same problem and am visually impaired. It seems to stop at footnote indicators and spaces.

Jul 28, 2020 11:23 PM in response to Rae4242

My double finger down is also doing the same and I am now at iOS 13.5! Please fix this bug. Starts reading and stops abruptly in the same spot, or it does not recognize anything on screen!?

Sep 17, 2020 12:57 PM in response to Aground

Unfortunately the problem persists also in iOS 14. Very disappointing.

Oct 30, 2020 10:28 AM in response to lonjulie

Thank you! This fixed my problem (same as above) - at least for now. I may be able to finish my book on time for book club now!

Thorkner

Level 1

4 points

Jul 31, 2020 1:15 PM in response to Rae4242

First time user of Speak Screen and was having the same problem. Figured out something that worked for me:

If you're using the Books app, tap on the "aA" icon and make sure you have Scrolling View set to OFF. Since I did that, Speak Screen automatically proceeds to the next page once it reaches the end of the current page.

Hope this works for you!

ynfyd

Level 1

14 points

Feb 8, 2020 11:27 AM in response to Junebug-1

Never liked, Reachability, never had it turned on. I have however, turned it on, then turned it back off, doesn’t seem to make any difference. Still doing ridiculous things, changing language, inflection when it comes a Spanish, German, French, or Italian word. Then continues reading the rest of the (English) paragraph in foreign inflection/accent. It still jumps from one web link to another, sometimes jumping paragraphs, doing so, Then, as if laughing at you, proceeds to re-read the last few paragraphs!

stoeppke

Level 1

4 points

Jun 29, 2020 12:27 AM in response to Rae4242

So I got the same problems, very frustrating, I'm using the app voice dream reader as an alternative for nearly every text, even text you can not directly share using "select all" -> "share" (to voice dream)

Oct 16, 2019 7:49 PM in response to applefandan

I did contact them as you said, however they say i am the only one experiencing this problem and that they are unable to reproduce the problem.

May 21, 2020 4:33 AM in response to LuckyGuy8

Still not working with iOS 13.5. Does anybody @apple care to fix this?

cvinet

Level 1

4 points

Sep 19, 2020 9:12 AM in response to applefandan

I switched form the Siri voice to Ava and this seems to have fixed it. Thanks!

Sep 23, 2020 6:24 PM in response to Rae4242

iOS 14 here and the problem persists. In my case, every time I use CarPlay. After that, speak screen stops working. I have to restart iPhone to make it work again.

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I updated to iOS 13 and speak screen accessibility feature stopped working correctly