FB21932773: Accessibility APIs do not work on the last character of a text on Keynote (impossible to select it)

[godbout]

Submission Date

2025-02-11

Status

Open

Area

Accessibility Framework

Operating System Version

macOS 26.2

Type

Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior

Description

a clear description of the problem

the AX APIs do not work on the last character of a text in Keynote. you can move to the last character, set the last character, etc.

a step-by-step set of instructions to reproduce the problem

i have created a project here: https://github.com/godbout/KeynoteLastLetterAXBug

you can check the README for more information, but i will repeat them here:

1. download the source
2. build the app
3. give it Accessibility Permissions
4. you have three buttons that you can try, one that selects the first character of a the focused element, one that selects the one to last, one that selects the last
5. press a button, you have then 3 seconds to click and make the app/window/text that you wanna check frontmost
6. see that for Keynote, it is not possible to select the last character, for example. the APIs with selectedTextRange return success, but nothing happens, the last character is not selected

i attached a screencast showing the issue.

what results you expected

i expected the last character of a text in Keynote to be selected when i use the correct AX APIs. in any other app, the APIs work. including in Pages and Numbers.

what results you actually saw

the APIs return success but the last character is not selected

the version of Xcode you are using

Version 26.2 (17C52)

ScreenFlow.mp4

Keywords

accessibility, keynote

Prerequisites

• The title follows the format FB<number>: <title>
• I will keep this issue updated with Apple's responses