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A question for anyone with the misfortune to have #xfinity as their internet provider: is there something I’m missing that I need to turn off since their devs clearly cannot properly design an app where voiceover comes out of the speaker instead of the earpiece? Granted they’re not the only ones with flawed designs like this that devs never fix as the Alexa app has done this too. But I shouldn’t need to sport headphones to pay my bill. Or is this an Apple flaw?
in reply to Amy

That is usually something people do when their app needs to use the microphone, but I have never found anything in the Xfinity app to need the microphone.
in reply to Doug

@Doug73 Me either. I got around it by just using the my account app but since they’re pushing everyone over to this mess I’m using it. What was this about their supposed commitment to accessibility again? Haha. Must have been more for favorable publicity? I know I’m unnecessarily salty. lol but there’s no reason for this to come out of the earpiece. They don’t need my mic.
@Doug
in reply to Amy

@Doug73 Amy, this has been an ongoing issue for years. In my case, when I open the Xfinity app, I hear VoiceOver speaking from both speakers but the voice is often distorted, similar to how it might sound when you're on a phone call. You might be able to force it to go back to normal by going to the home screen and reloading the app but not force-quitting it.
In the past, the voice used to be much softer and it only came out of the earpiece speaker but at least now, for me, it's a bit better.
@Doug
in reply to Amy

nope there is not. best thing I can say is either open the app again and hope it comes out of the ear peace, or use ear buds or headphones while using the app. I use auto pay for my xfinity bill, but I know not everyone can do that. You could also just pay your bill through your browser. Just some thoughts.
in reply to Darren Duff

@darren_duff Explain this to an ignorant Brit, but... Why does a bill-paying app need to do *anything* with audio in the first place? Can you call from it, or does it have some kind of in-built chat perhaps?
in reply to Andre Louis

@FreakyFwoof it's not just for bill pay. it's an all in 1 app that lets you control your gateway, pay your bill, pay the mobile bill if you have one, and manage your xfinity devices and network. as for the ear pease thing, I have no idea why it does that! so stupid and anoying. How do you even break such a thing?
in reply to Darren Duff

@darren_duff @FreakyFwoof it's an Apple thing inasmuch as an app accessing the microphone defaults to send Voiceover to the ear. It's not a choice the developers have made about accessibility, just to use the microphone.
if you revoke mic permissions in settings and the app works without them, Voiceover will work through the phone's speakers.
in reply to Darren Duff

@darren_duff @FreakyFwoof some apps do fail if you disable this, of course, and any features that use your microphone won't work anymore.
i had a smart thing of some sort that communicated with the microphone using some inaudible frequency to my ear once, so it's not just for capturing your voice
in reply to Sean Randall

@cachondo @FreakyFwoof ok so that's just it. as far as I know the app doesn't use the microphone at all. and when I went looking, I didn't see it under privacy settings microphone. and of course, it didn't use the ear peace at all when I openned the app this time.