Cognitive

You’ve got this.
Imagine that.

Woman wearing AirPods for cognitive support and working on iPad

Background Sounds

Keep calm and listen on.

Everyday sounds can be uncomfortable or annoying. Background sounds help minimise distractions and increase your sense of focus, calmness and rest to the tune of distant rain or ocean waves. Choose from balanced, bright or dark noise, or ocean, rain and stream sounds to continuously play in the background and mask excess environmental or external noise. These sounds can also mix into or duck under other audio and system sounds that are playing through your device.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Everyday sounds can be uncomfortable or annoying. Background sounds help minimise distractions and increase your sense of focus, calmness and rest to the tune of distant rain or ocean waves. Choose from balanced, bright or dark noise, or ocean, rain and stream sounds to continuously play in the background and mask excess environmental or external noise. These sounds can also mix into or duck under other audio and system sounds that are playing through your device.

Set up Background Sounds on:

Update:

Background Sounds on Mac. Background Sounds are now available on Mac, so you can play calming sounds to mask unwanted ambient noise and help minimise distractions.

Spoken Content

Listen along as
you read or write.

Enhance your reading or writing with audio. Hear your entire screen read aloud with Speak Screen. Control speech playback with Speech Controller. Or use Speak Selection to have a specific range of text read to you. Then follow along as Highlight Content accentuates words or sentences as they’re spoken. Or activate Typing Feedback so each letter you type is also spoken out loud. And all this Spoken Content can come from one of more than 80 distinct voices, available in more than 60 languages and locales.1

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Spoken Content

Enhance your reading or writing with audio. Hear your entire screen read aloud with Speak Screen. Control speech playback with Speech Controller. Or use Speak Selection to have a specific range of text read to you. Then follow along as Highlight Content accentuates words or sentences as they’re spoken. Or activate Typing Feedback so each letter you type is also spoken out loud. And all this Spoken Content can come from one of more than 80 distinct voices, available in more than 60 languages and locales.1

Set up Spoken Content on:

Update:

New languages and voices. Spoken Content is now available in more than 20 additional languages and locales, including Bangla (India), Bulgarian, Catalan, Malay, Spanish (Chile), Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Spoken Content users can also select from dozens of new voices that are optimised for assistive features.

Safari Reader

More attractions. Fewer distractions.

Sometimes navigating the web can be sensory overload. Safari Reader is an assistive technology feature that strips away ads, buttons and navigation bars, allowing you to focus on all the content you want — and none of the clutter. Adjust the font, font size and background colour to fully customise your viewing experience.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Sometimes navigating the web can be a sensory overload. Safari Reader is an assistive technology feature that strips away ads, buttons and navigation bars, allowing you to focus on all the content you want — and none of the clutter. Adjust the font, font size and background colour to fully customise your viewing experience.

Set up Safari Reader on:

Guided Access

Do everything.
One thing at a time.

Guided Access helps you stay focused on the task (or app) at hand. You can limit a device to stay on one app at a time by deactivating the Home button or gesture. You can even restrict access to the keyboard or touch input on certain areas of the screen so wandering taps and gestures won’t distract from learning. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher or just trying to help yourself focus, you have all the options you need to customise your experience on Apple products.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad

Guided Access helps you stay focused on the task (or app) at hand. You can limit a device to stay on one app at a time by deactivating the Home button or gesture. You can even restrict access to the keyboard or touch input on certain areas of the screen so wandering taps and gestures won’t distract from learning. Whether you’re a parent, a teacher or just trying to help yourself focus, you have all the options you need to customise your experience on Apple products.

Set up Guided Access on:

Facial Recognition

Spot new faces and
old friends in
any photo.

Facial Recognition helps you to identify people across all your photo albums. The Photos app scans your library to find new faces and lets you assign names to those you select. And when you import new pictures, Facial Recognition will match individuals’ faces to ones you’ve already identified.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Facial Recognition helps you to identify people across all your photo albums. The Photos app scans your library to find new faces and lets you assign names to those you select. And when you import new pictures, Facial Recognition will match individuals’ faces to ones you’ve already identified.

Set up Facial Recognition on:

Go deeper:

Use the People album in Photos

iCloud Keychain

Remembers what you might forget.

iCloud Keychain remembers things so you don’t always have to keep track of every password, card number and username. It autofills certain information on any approved device, so sign-ins and check-outs stay simple and secure.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

iCloud Keychain remembers things so you don’t always have to keep track of every password, card number and username. It autofills certain information on any approved device, so sign-ins and check-outs stay simple and secure.

Set up iCloud Keychain on:

Go deeper:

Find My

Locate friends, phones or both.

Find My can do more than help you find a lost device. You can easily share your location with friends and family in the Find My or Messages app, allowing you to check in on family members, find friends in a crowded place or help them locate their missing Apple devices. Lost Mode can help you locate a wide range of products, including AirPods, Apple Watch and AirTag.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Find My can do more than help you find a lost device. You can easily share your location with friends and family in the Find My or Messages app, allowing you to check in on family members, find friends in a crowded place or help them locate their missing Apple devices. Lost Mode can help you locate a wide range of products, including AirPods, Apple Watch and AirTag.

Set up Find My on:

Go deeper:

iWork

Work modes that
suit everyone.

Create accessible documents, spreadsheets and presentations at work, school or in your living room. Pages, Numbers and Keynote include several features that can help you better communicate and understand documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Built-in layout options in Pages help you organise and customise the look of your documents. Line- and word-spacing tools enhance how you read, perceive and edit documents. And for VoiceOver users, the layout rotor and automatic alignment for selected elements help ensure that everything looks exactly the way you want.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Create accessible documents, spreadsheets and presentations at work, school or in your living room. Pages, Numbers and Keynote include several features that can help you better communicate and understand documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Built-in layout options in Pages help you organise and customise the look of your documents. Line- and word-spacing tools enhance how you read, perceive and edit documents. And for VoiceOver users, the layout rotor and automatic alignment for selected elements help ensure that everything looks exactly the way you want.

Set up iWork on:

Dictation

Everything you say goes.

Dictation lets you talk where you would type — and it’s available in more than 60 languages and locales. If you have strong verbal skills, but your spelling or typing could use some help, just go to any text field and tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard to start dictating. Or activate Dictation through your Keyboard preferences on your Mac to turn your speech to text. Dictation lets you fluidly switch between voice and touch, so you can continue to interact with your onscreen keyboard to move the cursor or insert QuickType suggestions.2 Punctuation like commas, full stops and question marks will automatically be added to your text as you speak.3 And you can even insert emoji into messages using just your voice.4

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Dictation lets you talk where you would type — and it’s available in more than 60 languages and locales. If you have strong verbal skills, but your spelling or typing could use some help, just go to any text field and tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard to start dictating. Or activate Dictation through your Keyboard preferences on your Mac to turn your speech to text. Dictation lets you fluidly switch between voice and touch, so you can continue to interact with your onscreen keyboard to move the cursor or insert QuickType suggestions.2 Punctuation like commas, full stops and question marks will automatically be added to your text as you speak.3 And you can even insert emoji into messages using just your voice.4

Set up Dictation on:

Siri

A smart assistant
that keeps
getting smarter.

Siri can help you complete the tasks you do every day. Or just answer questions you’re curious about. You can ask it to find definitions, set reminders, turn features on or off, and so much more. And if you need to streamline a series of actions or tasks, you can use Siri to run custom shortcuts through the Shortcuts app. Run your shortcut by saying “Hey Siri”, then the name of the shortcut you created. With Siri pause time, you can adjust how long Siri waits for you to finish speaking before responding to your request. No matter the Apple product, your favourite assistant is always ready to assist.5

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, AirPods

Siri can help you complete the tasks you do every day. Or just answer questions you’re curious about. You can ask it to find definitions, set reminders, turn features on or off, and so much more. And if you need to streamline a series of actions or tasks, you can use Siri to run custom shortcuts through the Shortcuts app. Run your shortcut by saying “Hey Siri”, then the name of the shortcut you created. With Siri pause time, you can adjust how long Siri waits for you to finish speaking before responding to your request. No matter the Apple product, your favourite assistant is always ready to assist.5

Set up Siri on:

Go deeper:

Updates:

Siri pause time. Adjust how long Siri waits for you to finish speaking before responding to your questions or commands.

End Phone and FaceTime calls with Siri. When you’re ready to end a call, you can say “Hey Siri, hang up”.6

Switch auto-answer for calls: Ask Siri to switch auto-answer for Phone and FaceTime calls on or off.

AssistiveTouch on Apple Watch: Turn AssistiveTouch on Apple Watch on or off by asking Siri.

Hover Text

Get a quick size
boost of what you’re reading.

Hover Text makes it easier to view select text on your iPad or Mac or while you’re watching Apple TV content. If a paragraph, text box, caption or headline is too small to focus on and too important to miss, just hover over it with your pointer and press the activation key for a bigger, high‑resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colours that work best for you.

Available on:

iPad, Mac, Apple TV

Hover Text

Hover Text makes it easier to view select text on your iPad or Mac or while you’re watching Apple TV content. If a paragraph, text box, caption or headline is too small to focus on and too important to miss, just hover over it with your pointer and press the activation key for a bigger, high‑resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colours that work best for you.

Set up Hover Text on:

Updates:

Hover Text for iPad. Get a closer look at input fields, menu items, button labels and other text on your iPad display.

Hover Text for Apple TV. Easily zoom in on small text while watching content on your Apple TV.

Focus

Customise where you concentrate.

With Focus, it’s even easier to home in on what’s most important to you. Activate different Focus areas like Do Not Disturb, Work or Sleep to silence device notifications that may disturb or distract you in the moment. A streamlined setup for Focus lets you select the apps or people you want to receive notifications from by either allowing or silencing them. You can connect your Lock Screen to your Focus of choice so the look and feel of your iPhone matches how you want to use it at that time — simply swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen to activate a Focus. And Focus filters help you set boundaries in Apple apps like Calendar and Messages, as well as third-party apps, by hiding distracting content. Choose a set of Tab Groups to show up in Safari while in the Work Focus, or hide your work calendar altogether when you’re using the Personal Focus. You can even set a Focus area to turn on at a certain time or location or when you’re using a specific app.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch

With Focus, it’s even easier to home in on what’s most important to you. Activate different Focus areas like Do Not Disturb, Work, or Sleep to silence device notifications that may disturb or distract you in the moment. A streamlined setup for Focus lets you select the apps or people you want to receive notifications from by either allowing or silencing them. You can connect your Lock Screen to your Focus of choice so the look and feel of your iPhone matches how you want to use it at that time — simply swipe to the corresponding Lock Screen to activate a Focus. And Focus filters help you set boundaries in Apple apps like Calendar and Messages, as well as third-party apps, by hiding distracting content. Choose a set of Tab Groups to show up in Safari while in the Work Focus, or hide your work calendar altogether when you’re using the Personal Focus. You can even set a Focus area to turn on at a certain time or location or when you’re using a specific app.

Set up Focus on:

Go deeper:

Use the Driving Focus on your iPhone

Predictive Text

Find your next
word without a
second thought.

Let your device finish the sentence for you. Predictive Text adjusts its suggestions based on who you’re talking to and what you’ve said before. Just tap to choose the perfect suggestion.7

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Predictive Text

Let your device finish the sentence for you. Predictive Text adjusts its suggestions based on who you’re talking to and what you’ve said before. Just tap to choose the perfect suggestion.7

Set up Predictive Text on:

Scribble

Quickly jot letters
that turn into text.

Reply to a message by scribbling letters on your display and your words automatically convert to typed text. Use your finger to quickly jot down responses on your Apple Watch display or write a message with Apple Pencil on iPad. If you’re nonverbal or communicate better through handwriting, Scribble will help you get your point across.

Available on:

iPad, Apple Watch

Reply to a message by scribbling letters on your display and your words automatically convert to typed text. Use your finger to quickly jot down responses on your Apple Watch display or write a message with Apple Pencil on iPad. If you’re nonverbal or communicate better through handwriting, Scribble will help you get your point across.

Set up Scribble on:

Screen Time

Keep an eye on
your screen use.

With Screen Time, it’s even easier for people to manage device usage for themselves and their families. Activity reports give a detailed breakdown of where time is spent and App Limits let you set a specific time to spend in any app. This helps you identify patterns of usage and track improvement over time. You can also use Screen Time to schedule a block of downtime in which the device can’t be used. Or choose specific apps, like Apple Books, that will always be available.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

With Screen Time, it’s even easier for people to manage device usage for themselves and their families. Activity reports give a detailed breakdown of where time is spent and App Limits let you set a specific time to spend in any app. This helps you identify patterns of usage and track improvement over time. You can also use Screen Time to schedule a block of downtime in which the device can’t be used. Or choose specific apps, like Apple Books, that will always be available.

Set up Screen Time on:

Get more out of your features.

Learn tips, tricks and how-tos for cognitive features straight from Apple Support on YouTube.

Watch now

Make yours. showing Speak Selection feature.

Discover more about Apple accessibility features.

Learn more