[Electronics-talk] Best Cell Phone

[Christopher Chaltain]

I agree the iPhone is your best bet for a smart phone as a blind person, 
and I agree there will be bugs with major releases of an operating 
system. That being said, there are a few things to keep in mind. Many of 
the most significant accessibility bugs were found during the beta of 
IOS 8 months before it was released. Apple did not have to release it 
and get it into people's hands before they could address these bugs.

It wasn't until February or March of 2014 that I could take my iPhone 
running IOS 7 into a meeting and not be embarrassed when it would start 
chattering at me, either because a message came in or just because, for 
no apparent reason. I'm seeing this behavior again since I moved up to 
IOS 8. There's also the intermittent inability to answer a call with the 
two finger double tap or the messages and calls where my iPhone just 
never notifies me. There are a number of other annoying bugs I'm still 
dealing with with IOS 8.

As I said, I agree a major release of an OS will have bugs, but Apple 
devices are not cheap, and a certain level of quality should be expected 
from such an expensive and high end device.

On 12/05/2014 04:30 PM, Sarah Clark via Electronics-talk wrote:
> To the person who was asking about the best cell phone for a blind person.
> I do believe it is the iPhone. Apple has gone far beyond any other mainstream company in ensuring accessibility of their products, and based on comments I have heard from Tim Cook etc, it doesn't sound like that is going to change anytime soon. They seem to see that as their purpose. iOS 8 did have some bugs, both voiceover related and overall, but that is going to happen any time you put out such a major upgrade. It would happen with any company. They just had to release it and then see what the issues were from user feedback, and address them as they come in. I just upgraded to the new iPhone 6 less than a week ago, and I am not really seeing much of anything as far as bugs are concerned, so I think 8.1.1 has been a good upgrade.
>
> I understand the iPhone can be frustrating to learn, but just stick with it. You will be glad you did. I know someone who got one a couple of years ago after recommendation from my husband and me, and when she first got it she hated it. She was so frustrated I think she wanted to throw it. lol. And I know she was wondering about us "what did you get me into?" But she purchased Apple's 1 to 1 training and started working with someone at her local Apple store (someone who knew voiceover -- that helps), and she got quite good at it. And now you couldn't pry her iPhone away from her.
>
> The 1 to 1 training from Apple costs $99 for a year, and normally you have to buy it from Apple at the same time that you buy your phone, so of course you would have to buy the phone from an Apple store. If you purchased the iPhone just recently, you might still be able to return it from where you got it, and go repurchase it from an Apple store and buy the 1 to 1 training at the same time. (They may try to tell you that the 1 to 1 is only available with the purchase of a mac, that is what I've been told once before, but that is not the case, or at least it doesn't have to be, because our friend I mentioned above got it for her iPhone and she does not have a mac.) Just tell them you are a new user and use Voiceover so you need the training to help you learn how to use it.
>
> Or if you are beyond the point of being able to return the phone, maybe you know someone who uses it with voiceover and can help you in person? Short of that, there are iPhone/Voiceover tutorials that I hear are really helpful. Check out the Apple Vis website for lots of info about learning the iPhone.
>
> I hope this helps.
> Sarah
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Electronics-talk mailing list
> Electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Electronics-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/electronics-talk_nfbnet.org/chaltain%40gmail.com
>

-- 
Christopher (CJ)
chaltain at Gmail