After a forced reboot (and another reboot for good measure), the applications I allow to "Accessibility" control under System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy no longer includes Rectangle.app nor allows me to add it manually. Nothing appears there anymore and nothing can be added.

MacOS Ventura 13.3 but I have had some form of this problem on and off for a couple years. I have a simple workflow that types the current date in ISO 8601 format, it is a single AppleScript action like tell application "System Events"...keystroke $DATE essentially. It breaks, often, with an error saying the workflow is "unable to send keystrokes". Perhaps something resets on OS upgrades, I'm not sure, but I wish I better understood the steps necessary to fix it. I gave Automator, AppleScript Utility, and the workflow itself the Accessibility permission "allow the applications below to control your computer"—as [this answer says](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/401262/67860)—but that alone does not seem sufficient (but might be necessary?). I don't see any relevant keyboard settings. I suspect some or all of these apps also need to be on the Settings > Privacy & Security > Automation list...except there is no way to add (or remove, for that matter) apps to that list. There is no "plus" button and dragging an app onto the list does nothing. I've read here and in Apple's forums some suggestions that an app is supposed to request this permission the first time it needs it and to add an app to the list you should reinstall it. A fine solution...but you cannot reinstall Automator _or_ AppleScript Utility, they cannot be deleted. The workflow itself also does not trigger a prompt for this permission, as far as I can tell, and I doubt giving it access would be enough. **How is one supposed to add applications to the Automation list?** Is there a CLI to this list?

I have been a long time Linux user. My work laptop is a Windows 11 WSL but it gives me a few problems. I am thinking about asking my work for a MacIntosh laptop instead. But one feature that I like in windows is the 'focus on hover'. I have it set to where I can place my cursor on a window and it will automatically come into focus. This lessons the clicks on my fingers which can get painful from carpal tunnel. I've searched to see if this feature is available on MacIntosh natively but so far it seems the answer is no. There are third party programs for it. But I don't think my work will be happy if I installed on of those. Can anyone tell me please, if this feature is natively available on a MacBook? Maybe I am just missing it in my searches?

**Disclaimer**: *I have actual clinically diagnosed OCD, so please, excuse my request if you find it silly, thank you.* Sometimes I misclick while using Finder, and as a result, files are dragged and moved between folders, or I double click to open a file and instead it gets me to rename it. Can I use Terminal, or some kind of script, to prevent Finder from click-drag-moving or renaming files (unless a user defined modifier key is pressed at the same time, like ⌥ Option or ⌘ Command) There's the Esc button in order to cancel an action, indeed, (as well as the Undo function), but unfortunately due to my OCD, it doesn't reassure me.

I have an iPhone with the latest iOS. If I give Siri the command "Read Text Messages", Siri will start reading the unread texet messages, from most recent to oldest. Is there a similar voice command to have unread Gmail Primary Inbox emails read? I have the Gmail app installed but so far the only way I have figured out how to read emails is to navigate to each individual one and execute the two-finger down gesture.

Background: Voice Control lets you click links by just saying “Click ”. Question: How would I do this by typing instead of speaking? (Siri has a “Type to Siri” option, but Voice Control does not). Is there really no accessibility option for letting the user type the text of the button they want to click? What I’ve tried: I tried Switch Control, but it scans for links instead of letting you jump to ones matching a given text. I’ve also tried Cmd+F in Safari to highlight links, but nothing I’ve found lets me click the highlighted link without using the mouse. I’ve been using Mouse Keys to navigate instead, albeit slowly.

Is it possible to add (or enable a built-in) Voice Control command to perform a **Right Click** in Mac OS X? That is, similar to the built-in *"Single Click"* and *"Double Click"* voice commands.

I would like to know if it's possible to simulate a screen tap with key presses from a Bluetooth keyboard on an iPad. Kind of like Bluestacks does it. I wouldn't mind it being an app from the App Store. Any ideas?

On my Mac, I've created an AppleScript within Script Editor:

-- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/keyboard-shortcuts-for-microsoft-teams-2e8e2a70-e8d8-4a19-949b-4c36dd5292d2#PickTab=MacOS 
-- https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/477933/trouble-defining-a-mac-global-keyboard-shortcut-to-run-an-applescript-or-automat 
-- Remember NOT to move your mouse while the script is running (i.e. when you use the hotkey).
tell application "Microsoft Teams" to activate
delay 0.1
tell application "System Events"
  -- Start a search:
  keystroke "g" using {command down}
  delay 0.5
  -- Provide the search query:
  keystroke "example"
  -- a delay of at least 0.2 is required here:
  delay 0.2
  keystroke return
  delay 0.2
  -- Toggle "Unmuted" on and off:
  keystroke "q" using {option down, command down}
  keystroke "q" using {option down, command down}
end tell

If I press the button to run it manually, it works! 🎉 Now I want to set a global keyboard shortcut. Regardless of which app has focus (whether I'm in Edge browser, Teams, VSC, or whatever), I want the keyboard shortcut to be honored, and it should run this script. I've done this sort of thing before, but this time I'm having trouble. I've tried using the Automator and Shortcuts apps too. I'm very close, because if I press my Cmd Ctrl R shortcut _while System Settings has focus_, the script runs correctly and achieves the goal. How can I make the shortcut work when any other app has focus?

I am looking for an old style onscreen keyboard. Is this still an option on MacOS, or is there a third party application? Or has it been there all along but I missed it? It used to look something like this: The current Keyboard Viewer (a) doesn’t show the extended keyboard, which I do have, and (b) is pretty ugly; no, it’s _very_ ugly. Among other things, I want to record keyboard activity for teaching purposes. I am using MacOS Big Sur. I have an Apple bluetooth extended keyboard. I don’t know whether the fact that I’m using the Australian keyboard is relevant. For clarification - Big Sur Keyboard Viewer vs Mojave Keyboard Viewer [both on Extended UK Keyboards] - the one accessed from the Keyboard/Language menu icon in each case. the Big Sur one now looks like the old Accessibility Viewer. Image taken by floating the Mojave one over a Remote Desktop Big Sur session.

My mother-in-law has a hearing aid connected to her iPhone 16. Under Settings > Hearing Devices, there is a toggle for "Play Ringtones," which is currently turned on. When it's on, this is how it works: - If a phone call is incoming when Do Not Disturb and Silent Mode are both *off*, a ringtone plays both through the phone speaker and through her hearing aid - If she turns DND or Silent Mode **on**, then the ringtone does not play through her phone speaker, but *still plays through the hearing aid*. Apparently this is because the "Play Ringtones" setting overrides Do Not Disturb. On the other hand if the "Play Ringtones" setting is turned off, the ringtone never plays through her hearing aid, whether DND / Silent Mode are turned on or off. There doesn't seem to be a way to have ringtones play through the hearing aid, but *not* when the phone is set to Silent Mode or Do Not Disturb. That seems... weird? Naively I would expect that Silent Mode and Do Not Disturb would stop *all notifications*, regardless of which speaker they play through. Is there some way to configure things so that they work that way?

Older friend of mine uses a ReSound behind the ear hearing aid. These are equipped with a small volume up/down lever on the device itself, so he can tune the volume to match his environment. Usually, this works perfectly, but if he is in call on the iPhone, pressing either volume up or down is intepreted as a press on the side button, meaning the call is dropped. He's been using hearing aids for 30+ years and thus tuning the volume is second nature to him. Is there a way to stop this or change how the iPhone reacts to the button presses beyond contacting the developer of the hearing aid and asking them to push a new update?

I noticed the magnified insertion point in the image below after I upgraded my iPhone 13 mini to iOS 18.1.1. It occurs if I do a long press in Reminders, Notes, Pages and perhaps others. It presents a problem for me because I frequently reorder my lists manually with a long press but now 9 times out of 10 I get this unwanted magnification. Is there a way to turn it off or if not, how to get it under control?

I'm working with iOS voices for accessibility reasons. In iOS simulator I've tried to install Alex voice which is one of the most popular English voices. To choose it I downloaded it first. However, after that, the voice looks like something between enabled and disabled. E.g. for Allison I see that it's not downloaded hence it's not available for me. On the other hand, Samantha is downloaded, so I can navigate further and edit the voice, for example I can delete it. But for Alex I can't neither delete it nor select it to use later. When I try to press Erase All Content and Settings... for the simulator, sometimes it doesn't change anything, but sometimes it erases Alex voice, but situation returns after downloading this voice. Is there any other way how it Alex can be installed on the simulator?

I am a big-time user of the [Look Up](https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-use-iphone-dictionary/) functionality of the iPhone, added in iOS 11. However, I don't like that I have to jump through hoops to get to the "Look Up" button when I hold to select the text, and then click on it. As you can see in this [screen recording](https://i.sstatic.net/qIUqN.jpg) , in iOS 16 at least, the picker displays the "Copy", "Select All", and "Find Selection" buttons in the first view. To see the "Look Up" button, you have to click on the right arrow icon to get to the second view. Is there any setting for re-ordering the buttons, such that the "Look Up" button appears in the first view?

In MacOS's on-screen virtual keyboard for accessibility, I'd love to learn about the readiness of multi-language support. More specifically: 1. Languages other than English - is there some easy or built-in way to address the need for multi-lingual users? I can think about various possible solutions (and I'd love to both hear about other solutions and if mine are feasible/available), whether by - showing a "language switcher" button (to function the same as the regular globe key/button in physical keyboards of Mac/Apple) - automatic switching to the currently chosen language of the global input-source in the system (eg by using the language button/icon in the menu bar, and it's selection menu) - to show multiple virtual keyboards simultaneously (whether with separate windows, or showing 2 language panels in the same window). 2. Emojis - - Is it possible to show Emojis in the on-screen keyboard? I'd love to know if macOS supports some standard/builtin keyboard keys-layout for emojis (eg similar to the emoji keyboard in iPhone/iOS) - Also, is it possible to show some popular emojis, right within the main keyboard (just like showing numbers, alongside letters), instead of changing the input-source or keyboard layout to "Emojis" specifically? If nothing of the above is available, then - is the only way is to create custom panels by myself, or to use the dedicated Emoji/character-map popup tool (which is not part of the Accessibility Keyboard and works independently)?

This icon with a microphone and "Wake Up" is annoying and I want to remove it.

In accessibility, you can enable keyboard shortcuts to zoom, and then use Command + Option + =/- to zoom in and out. But the zoom amount is too minimal, and each time I want to zoom in, I have to press Command + Option + = + = + = or even more to get where I want to be. I'd estimate that the zoom amount for each increment is perhaps 5%, at most 10%, and I want it to be something like 20% or maybe even 30% So, is there a terminal command (I'm assuming that's the answer) to edit some internal setting to update the increment value?

In macOS Big Sur and onward there is a built-in accessibility tool for text-to-speech, a floating window with play/pause/speed buttons that can read aloud almost any selectable text on screen. [Have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/have-your-mac-speak-text-thats-on-the-screen-mh27448/11.0/mac/11.0) refers to this box as the 'TTS controller'. However, in earlier OSes, TTS exists but there's no equivalent GUI popup. Does anyone know of a way to make it (or something like it) appear on earlier OSes?

Help! I broke my arm and need to enable sticky keys to work, but in the accessibility settings it is grayed-out (see screenshots below). I can enable every other accessibility functionality other than this. I've tried restarting and hitting shift 5 times. I've been able to create custom buttons in the onscreen keyboard that have the option to be "sticky", but instead of being like the key is held down, it's more like it's being hit repeatedly at my keyboard's repeat rate, which is not helpful. My laptop is a 16-inch, 2019 macbook pro, running MacOS 15.3.2. **Update:** I followed @LincDavis's terminal instructions in the answer below. Here is the output: ~ % defaults write com.apple.universalaccess stickyKey -bool TRUE 2025-04-07 11:53:59.331 defaults[4064:432848] Could not write domain com.apple.universalaccess; exiting ~ % defaults read com.apple.universalaccess stickyKey 0 ~ % plutil -lint ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.universalaccess.plist /Users/myUserName/Library/Preferences/com.apple.universalaccess.plist: OK