Cognitive

Woman wearing AirPods for cognitive support and working on iPad

If you need support to stay focused or to streamline tasks, these tools can help make your day-to-day easier.

NewAssistive Access

Customize your apps and experiences.

Assistive Access makes it easy for people with cognitive disabilities to tailor iPhone and iPad to lighten cognitive load and suit their specific needs and preferences. Designed with feedback from individuals with cognitive disabilities and their trusted supporters, Assistive Access offers a distinctive interface with high-contrast buttons, large text labels, and visual alternatives to text. It also has tools to help individuals and their trusted supporters adjust the experience in specific apps.

This feature includes customized experiences for Phone and FaceTime (which have been combined into a single Calls app), Messages, Camera, Photos, and Music. For example, for those who prefer communicating visually, Messages includes an emoji-only keyboard and the option to record a video message to share with loved ones. You can also choose a more visual, grid-based layout for your Home Screen and apps, or a row-based layout if you prefer text.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad

New

Assistive Access makes it easy for people with cognitive disabilities to tailor iPhone and iPad to lighten cognitive load and suit their specific needs and preferences. Designed with feedback from individuals with cognitive disabilities and their trusted supporters, Assistive Access offers a distinctive interface with high-contrast buttons, large text labels, and visual alternatives to text. It also has tools to help individuals and their trusted supporters adjust the experience in specific apps.

This feature includes customized experiences for Phone and FaceTime (which have been combined into a single Calls app), Messages, Camera, Photos, and Music. For example, for those who prefer communicating visually, Messages includes an emoji-only keyboard and the option to record a video message to share with loved ones. You can also choose a more visual, grid-based layout for your Home Screen and apps, or a row-based layout if you prefer text.

Set up Assistive Access on:

NewPause Animated Images

Stop the motion in video content.

If you are sensitive to animations, you can automatically pause images with moving elements in Messages and Safari. Turn on this feature to stop motion in content like animated images on web pages in Safari, or GIFs shared in a Messages group chat.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

New

If you are sensitive to animations, you can automatically pause images with moving elements in Messages and Safari. Turn on this feature to stop motion in content like animated images on web pages in Safari, or GIFs shared in a Messages group chat.

Set up Pause Animated Images on:

NewLive Speech

Type what you want to say out loud.

If you have a speech disability or prefer to communicate nonverbally, you can type what you want to say and have your device speak it out loud. Live Speech can be used to type responses in real time during Phone and FaceTime calls, as well as in-person conversations. You can also save commonly used phrases for quick responses during lively conversations or everyday interactions.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch

New

If you have a speech disability or prefer to communicate nonverbally, you can type what you want to say and have your device speak it out loud. Live Speech can be used to type responses in real time during Phone and FaceTime calls, as well as in-person conversations. You can also save commonly used phrases for quick responses during lively conversations or everyday interactions.

Set up Live Speech on:

Background Sounds

Keep calm and listen on.

Background Sounds help minimize distractions and increase your sense of focus, calm, and restfulness to the tune of distant rain or ocean waves. Choose from balanced, bright, and dark noise and 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

Background Sounds help minimize distractions and increase your sense of focus, calm, and restfulness to the tune of distant rain or ocean waves. Choose from balanced, bright, and dark noise and 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:

Spoken Content

Listen along as
you read or write.

Spoken Content includes a collection of features designed to enhance your reading or writing with audio. Hear your entire screen read aloud with Speak Screen. Control speech playback with Speech Controller. To have a specific range of text read to you, use Speak Selection. You can follow along visually with Highlight Content, which accentuates words or sentences as they’re spoken. And when you’re writing, you can activate Typing Feedback so each letter you type is also spoken aloud. 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

Spoken Content includes a collection of features designed to enhance your reading or writing with audio. Hear your entire screen read aloud with Speak Screen. Control speech playback with Speech Controller. To have a specific range of text read to you, use Speak Selection. You can follow along visually with Highlight Content, which accentuates words or sentences as they’re spoken. And when you’re writing, you can activate Typing Feedback so each letter you type is also spoken aloud. 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:

UpdatedSafari Reader

More attractions. Less 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 color to fully customize your viewing experience. You can also have text read aloud while you are using Safari Reader. For compatible sites in Safari that offer Reader view, simply tap Listen to Page in the Page Settings menu. It’s a great way to get through your reading list when you’re on the go.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Updated

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 color to fully customize your viewing experience. You can also have text read aloud while you are using Safari Reader. For compatible sites in Safari that offer Reader view, simply tap Listen to Page in the Page Settings menu. It’s a great way to get through your reading list when you’re on the go.

Set up Safari Reader on:

Update:

Listen to Page. You can have text read aloud to you in Reader view-compatible sites in Safari. Just tap Listen to Page in the Page Settings menu.

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 or a teacher or are trying to help yourself focus, you have all the options you need to customize your experience with 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 or a teacher or are trying to help yourself focus, you have all the options you need to customize your experience with Apple products.

Set up Guided Access on:

UpdatedPeople album

Spot new faces and old friends in any photo.

The Photos app recognizes faces of people and pets in your photos and sorts them in the People album. Once you identify a person or animal in a photo, they’re automatically added to your People album and identified in other photos in your library.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Updated

The Photos app recognizes faces of people and pets in your photos and sorts them in the People album. Once you identify a person or animal in a photo, they’re automatically added to your People album and identified in other photos in your library.

Set up People album on:

Update:

Pet Recognition. The People album is better than ever at recognizing your favorite people, and it includes the cats and dogs that are part of your family, too.

UpdatediCloud 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 user name. It autofills certain information on any approved device, so sign-ins and checkouts stay simple and secure. You can also share a set of passwords with your trusted contacts. iCloud Keychain keeps passwords up to date for everyone in the group, and keeps you in control of who has access to them.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Updated

iCloud Keychain remembers things so you don’t always have to keep track of every password, card number, and user name. It autofills certain information on any approved device, so sign-ins and checkouts stay simple and secure. You can also share a set of passwords with your trusted contacts. iCloud Keychain keeps passwords up to date for everyone in the group, and keeps you in control of who has access to them.

Set up iCloud Keychain on:

Updates:

Password and passkey sharing. Share a set of passwords with your trusted contacts. You can create a group and choose a set of accounts to share. Passwords stay up to date for everyone in the group, and you can remove someone at any time.

Sign in with Apple ID. Securely sign in to your Apple ID using a nearby device or any email address or phone number listed in your account.

UpdatedFind 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

Updated

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:

Update:

Share AirTag or Find My network accessories. You can share an AirTag or other item on the Find My network with up to five other people. Everyone in the group can use Precision Finding and play a sound to pinpoint the location of a shared AirTag when they’re nearby.

iWork

Work modes that suit everyone.

Create accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations at work, school, or 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 organize and customize the look of your documents. Line- and word-spacing tools enhance how you read, perceive, and edit documents. For VoiceOver users, the layout rotor and automatic alignment for selected elements help ensure that everything looks exactly the way you want. And the text checker tool can help you discover common formatting issues such as extra spaces or mistakenly capitalized letters, which makes proofreading documents, spreadsheets, and presentations even easier.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Create accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations at work, school, or 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 organize and customize the look of your documents. Line- and word-spacing tools enhance how you read, perceive, and edit documents. For VoiceOver users, the layout rotor and automatic alignment for selected elements help ensure that everything looks exactly the way you want. And the text checker tool can help you discover common formatting issues such as extra spaces or mistakenly capitalized letters, which makes proofreading documents, spreadsheets, and presentations even easier.

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 an assist, just go to any text field and tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard to start dictating. Or activate Dictation through Keyboard preferences on your Mac to turn your speech into 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, periods, 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

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 an assist, just go to any text field and tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard to start dictating. Or activate Dictation through Keyboard preferences on your Mac to turn your speech into 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, periods, 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:

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. If a paragraph, text box, caption, or footnote is too small to focus on and too important to miss, just hover over it with your pointer or Apple Pencil and press the activation key for a bigger, high‑resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colors that work best for you.

Available on:

iPad, Mac

Hover Text

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

Set up Hover Text on:

Focus

Customize 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:

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 responses on your Apple Watch display, or write a message with Apple Pencil on iPad. If you’re nonverbal or prefer to communicate 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 responses on your Apple Watch display, or write a message with Apple Pencil on iPad. If you’re nonverbal or prefer to communicate through handwriting, Scribble will help you get your point across.

Set up Scribble on:

Go deeper with videos from Apple.

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

Watch now

Make yours. showing Speak Selection feature.

Discover more about Apple accessibility features.

Learn more