Apple Releases ‘No Frame Missed’ Short Film
Apple on Wednesday posted a new short film to YouTube called No Frame Missed. The 5-minute video (embedded below) tells the stories of three people who cope with Parkinson’s disease and how they’ve been empowered to capture precious moments using iPhone accessibility features like Action Mode. Action Mode, along with Voice Control, provide essential functionality to disabled people like filmmaker Brett Harvey, featured in the film after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s at just 37 years old, who deal with tremors that destabilize video and makes using the iPhone’s touchscreen tough.
Action Mode debuted with the advent of 2022’s iPhone 14 lineup.
No Frame Missed isn’t the first time Apple has created material around Parkinson’s. To wit, my pal Zac Hall at 9to5 Mac writes today about the film the Apple TV+ series Shrinking, which stars Harrison Ford, sees Ford’s character coping with the condition. Moreover, Hall notes Season 3 of the show is set to feature Michael J. Fox, who’s lived with the disease since the ‘90s. For his part, Fox chronicles his own journey with Parkinson’s in another TV+ title called Still. The documentary, released in 2023, received seven Emmy nominations, winning four—including one for Outstanding Documentary.
Harvey’s made a documentary of his own, an almost 9-minute affair called Hand.
Elsewhere, I reported in 2023 about Apple Watch making “unmistakable progress” in helping identify Parkinson’s and offering patients a “glimmer of hope.” I also reported in 2022 about the Parkinson Foundation’s website getting a substantial new redesign.
As John Gruber writes in linking to No Frame Missed, stuff like this show Apple at its very best. While it’s obvious the company’s motivations aren’t entirely altruistic in nature—they’re a for-profit corporation after all, so it’s part marketing exercise—the salient message is that accessibility features enable disabled people to enjoy technology like anyone else. Accessibility truly is a core value to the company, and No Frame Missed is a refreshing palate-cleanser to less savory dishes appearing on Apple’s plate of late.
