iOS 18 could have these great new accessibility features — more font size support, better voice Shortcuts, and more

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To coincide with the launch of iPhone 16 this year, iOS 18 is said to have a huge focus on accessibility — something Apple has been notoriously good for.

According to MacRumors, which cites “industry sources,” there are tons of new accessibility features that may be with iOS 18, which is anticipated to release in September this year. The first of these is “Adaptive Voice Shortcuts,” which could allow users to set up shortcuts for accessibility functions like VoiceOver and Zoom. 

Instead of having to manually change the options in your iPhone or set up a shortcut, you would be able to say a specific phrase to activate it. In a recent conversation with James Rath, an accessibility consultant and content creator, he told me he laments the ability to easily zoom on Apple Vision Pro. You can do something similar by taking a screenshot and zooming into it, but Apple adding these custom accessibility features could help him out greatly. Though this has not been confirmed for visionOS, it is reported to come to macOS 15, which headset owners can mirror into their space.

What other accessibility features could be coming?

Live Speech, a function that allows users to have typed phrases said out loud in calls, could be getting “categories,” where users can set up sections for certain phrases. This means users can set up certain icons or words for categories to find preprogrammed phrases to use quickly. In practice, this will give users the ability to easily search for prewritten phrases to respond with. 

Finally, Apple is looking into greater support for different text sizes for macOS. According to MacRumors, this would mean greater access to custom font sizes in:

  • Books
  • News
  • Stocks
  • Tips
  • Weather

As these accessibility functions are only in development, they might not arrive with iOS18 later this year. However, the increased effort and development is a good sign that Apple is listening to customers who need different kinds of accommodation in its devices. 

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James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 


With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 


As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.