How to get descriptions of your surroundings using the Magnifier app in iOS 16 on your iPhone or iPad

iPhone Pro and iPad Pro models can give you more information about people and doors that are detected in your surroundings, including how far they are away from you and whether a door is open or closed. See our articles about People Detection and Door Detection for more information.

For more information about using the Magnifier app, see our article How to use your device to magnify objects in iOS 16 for iPhone or iPad

Short guide:

Open the Magnifier app .
In the Magnifier app, tap the settings button and choose Settings.
In the Other Controls section, tap the + (add) button for Image Descriptions (or Detection Mode on iPhones Pro and iPads Pro) to move it to the Secondary Controls section.
Tap Done in the top-right corner.
Tap the Image Descriptions icon . On iPhones Pro and iPads Pro, first tap the Detection Mode button , then tap the Image Descriptions icon .
Your device will give you an on-screen description and a spoken descriptions of the objects and people it recognises in your surrounding.
To customise the settings for Image Descriptions, tap the settings icon .
On the settings screen, scroll to the bottom and tap Image Descriptions in the Detectors section.

Before and after

This section gives you step-by-step instructions on how to use Image Descriptions in the Magnifier app in iOS 16, with pictures of the screens to help.

Open the Magnifier app

1. Tap the Magnifier icon on your Home screen.

Note: The Magnifier icon may appear in a different place on your home screen. If the icon doesn’t appear on your home screen at all, you can find the Magnifier app in your App Library – swipe right through your Home pages until you find it, then tap the Magnifier icon in the Utilities folder.

Open Magnifier settings

2. Tap the settings icon on the Magnifier screen and choose Settings.

Add Image Descriptions to the Secondary Controls

3. Before you can start using Image Descriptions, it first needs to be added to the secondary controls. Scroll down to the Other Controls section and tap the green + (add) button for Image Descriptions (or Detection Mode if you are using an iPhone Pro or iPad Pro) to move it to the Secondary Controls section.

4. You can drag Image Descriptions (or Detection Mode on iPhones Pro and iPads Pro) to a new position in the Secondary Controls list.

Close Magnifier settings

5. Tap Done in the top-right corner to return to the main Magnifier screen.

Start Image Descriptions

7. Tap the Image Description icon . On iPhones Pro and iPads Pro, frst tap the Detection Mode icon , then tap the Image Descriptions icon .

Image Detection mode

8. Your device is now in Image Descriptions mode. Depending on your settings, you will receive an on-screen description and/or a spoken description of the objects and people around you. The two images below show Image Descriptions in use on a regular iPhone and an iPhone Pro.

To exit Image Descriptions, tap the Image Description icon again. On iPhones Pro and iPads Pro, tap End in the top-left of the screen.

Customise Image Descriptions

9. To customise Image Descriptions, tap the settings button and choose Settings.

Open Image Descriptions settings

10. Scroll to the bottom of the settings screen and tap Image Descriptions in the Detectors sections.

Choose which descriptions you receive

13. Your device can give on-screen descriptions and spoken descriptions of the objects and people around you. Turn on the toggle switches for the feedback you would like to receive.

Note: iPhones need to be in ring mode to hear spoken descriptions.

Close Magnifier settings

18. When you are happy with your Image Descriptions settings, tap Back in the top-left corner. Next, tap Done to close settings and return to the Magnifier interface.

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How to get descriptions of your surroundings using the Magnifier app in iOS 16 on your iPhone or iPad

Short guide: