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Edit: This post is based on outdated information which is no longer relevant. I apologize for the confusion.
NVDA Remote was merged into NVDA for the upcoming 2025.1 release.
This sounds like something to be happy about, but read on.
Now every new feature and change has to go through NV Access to get approved, which is a lot more work than adding your feature to an addon.
Why not create a separate addon? As said in #17703, they plan to remove the ability for addons to run on secure screens in the future. If this happens, nothing like Remote can ever be created again without the blessing and cooperation of NV Access.
Instead of empowering developers and users by allowing them to choose which addons are usable on secure screens, NV Access plans on disabling them.
Merging this just gives NV Access more leverage to meeting this goal. Their reason might be something like now that Remote is merged, we don't need addons there anymore because the interaction time is so short.
You might say that NVDA is open source, so someone can just modify the features they don't like. That's true, but it has to be signed for UI Access to work correctly, so someone would have to pay quite a bit to fork it and do their own thing. You then also have the problem of a fragmented community between NVDA and the new one.
The advantage with Remote merged in is that the users will be able to use Remote without an extra download, but we're going to be stuck with whatever NV Access gives us. I guess we'll see what they turn it into.
@tspivey maybe it’s a good thing. I’ve switched to Jaws.
@evilcookies98 @tspivey I'm confused, how is switching to JAWS relevant here?
@evilcookies98 @tspivey So JAWS lets you run unrestricted Python code on the sign-in screen?
@evilcookies98 @tspivey The ability to have your preferences intact on the sign-in screen isn't going away, let's not confuse the issue any further.
@evilcookies98 @tspivey My preference is my speech rate. About custom voices, we'll see what happens when it happens. I have no need to switch my screen reader over something that may happen in a year, but maybe it won't even impact me in any way, for instance maybe synth drivers will be an exception. I don't see the need to instantly jump to the worst conclusion possible.
@evilcookies98 @tspivey Nobody is getting screwed because the change isn't even implemented yet. When it goes to alpha, that's the time to provide feedback if your points aren't already in consideration. So, I can't actually think bigger, because there's nothing to think about. It's only an item on the roadmap.
@NikJov @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey Can’t believe an open source project is considering something like this
@NikJov @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey Because the default is user hostile. At least have it be users choice. The default, allowing these add-ons on secure screens, of course. Businesses that want things to be secure. Can check the box, or enable it on install somehow. This does not need to be the default.
@serrebi @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey To be honest, I really don't know of many open, or close source apps that provide the ability to run whatever custom Python code on the Windows sign-in screen. To be clear, I fully agree that there needs to be a way for speech synthesizers and Braille display drivers to run, but other than that, almost no add-ons are needed during the minimal amount of time on secure screens.
@NikJov @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey I agree with that, of course. I think it is interesting timing that remote got put in with an inconvenient shortcut command that I have come around too, and now we are talking about blocking out speech synthesizers some people don’t like us using from the logon screen. Not a good look for MVDA.
@serrebi @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey It doesn't have anything to do with someone liking or not liking a certain synthesizer. As for the remote shortcut, that's a highly individual item, for me, taking over the F11 key on its own was way more inconvenient, and with no way to change it without editing the source code. I switched over to TeleNVDA just for that. At least now, you can choose your own preferred shortcut.
@NikJov @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey Yes, I know the reason the feature is coming about is really about security, and not about eloquence, but just the timing of it all. I don’t see why it isn’t a checkbox, and something that could be enabled on install, or silently on install if it means so much to some people.
@serrebi @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey That's the thing. We don't know yet how it will work, just that it is a plan. The feature isn't here yet, so its details aren't known. I don't know if there will be a way to override it for advanced users, or not. No special timing involved too, this has been on the roadmap for a while, check the first issue about it I saw in 2022 at https://github.com/nvaccess/nvda/issues/13686
@NikJov @serrebi @johann @evilcookies98 @tspivey Ways of ensuring security, yes, but this particular issue was closed two years ago. If there IS a current issue proposing NVDA unilaterally disable all add-ons on secure screens which is triaged and assigned a milestone release, please do link to it....