Thinking of getting an Android phone/tablet for tinkering... What can I do on it I can't on IOS?

The A models are usually the more affordable version, but still very very good, so in that sense kinda like the SE, but not in the sense of them using an older design.

..is very good to know. Looks like I have some saving up to do, because as I understand it, the 8A comes out next week. 😇😈

I was thinking the same thing; time to start saving. The more I read, the more I want to get my hands on a Pixel!

My next device will be a Pixel I hope. Granted, that'll be a while, as I just got my Galaxy S22 Ultra. But one of these days, I want one of those. The fast updates would be great, instead of waiting around on Samsung to add whatever else they need to add before releasing.

honestly, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a Samsung S24, though not the Ultra model, back in january, but after the 15 Pro fiasco I was wary of 'trying something new' and so went for the tried and true iPhone SE 3 that I currently own. And while it is only a moderate upgrade over the SE2, I am comfortable in the fact that it 'works'.

Which is why I will likely not delve into Android before 2025.

Having said all of that, the one other thing that held me back on the Samsung (in particular) was all of the literature I have read on Samsung. On how they are attempting their own 'Walled Garden', and how if you want TalkBack to be updated as it is on, say a Pixel, you have a little tinkering to do. I will admit I am not comfortable enough with an Android device to dive into this just yet. Hell rooting my old ICS versions of Android way back when was a daunting experience for me.

So, yeah, Pixel sounds a lot like a good 'starting point' into the world of Android.

/end 2 cents.

I had the chance to play with a Samsung device 3 or 4 years ago. It was a lower-range device, and so speed was an issue; I didn't experiment long because it was sluggish... and because it was a family member's phone, Lol. I didn't like the Samsung bloatware, that seemed obnoxious at the time.
So after I posted my last message, I checked my email and saw an offer for a Pixel tablet, where I could trade in another tablet and get money back for it. My parents have an iPad 9 laying around; I bought it for them thinking they'd use it, and they never did. The only person who used it was me, when I updated it. So a quick call to them, and they said they didn't want it, it's being traded in, and a Pixel tablet will be on its way. That may not be the ideal device to test Android on, but it's basically going to be free, and I think I'll be able to have some fun with it. Especially knowing it's not a primary device and there's no pressure.

I understand the concern about the tinkering needed to get Google talkback on the phone. I myself am not comfortable with command line or any of that, so the thought of using ADB scared me big time. But, I have good news on that one. In the Blind Android users telegram group, there is a zip file with everything you need. Litterally just unzip, enable developer options on your phone, plug it in, run the file that says install google talkback, and the script does it for you. Don't forget to run as admin. It worked like a charm, and I'm now using Google talkback instead of Samsung Talkback, as the samsung version tends to run way behind. But it was not hard in the least.
If you don't want to join that telegram group, I could easily hunt down the file for you and send it your way.

First, kudos to Brooke for finding a clever way to get their hands on an Android device. All I have is an old iPhone SE2 and an even older MacBook Pro. Doubt either are worth much these days. 😳

Second, Justin, that is insane! Sounds like you hit the mother load between your new laptop and Android. 😀

It's a shame there aren't many other good android options that work in the US, I'd love to try Oppo or Xiaomi or Honor or Realme or ... you get the point. I will say I've only regretted the Samsung walled garden a lot twice, once when they bricked the talkback braille keyboard a few years back and I had to learn ADB (which ended up being a good thing after hours of frustration!) and later when I had to wait for the improved Braille display support on android 14. Now the talkback switch is pretty easy and, as Justin said, you don't even need ADB anymore. The Samsungs have better modems and charging which matters a lot to me so I don't really know what to do for my next phone, I don't want to support a company with such a bad accessibility record for non-advanced users, that's gross, but I want good hardware in my phone and we aren't exactly given many choices here in the states. At least the Samsung garden walls can generally be torn down or circumvented unlike Apple but it's still rather annoying.

Pixel vs Samsung sounds a lot like PC vs Mac. one has really decent, useful and scalable software, one has fabulous hardware, hands down. Now if only everything could merge into one entity, the world would be perfect. . . or it would be the Apocalypse.

We could even call it something like the Pix-Sung Mac PC. 😄😄

Except plenty of other choices exist and just don't support United States cell bands reliably. I've heard great things about xiaomi and Honor hardware and software for example, for all I know one of the Chinese or Indian OEMs have the best of both worlds. We've locked ourselves into these stupid binaries here in the states... you're either team apple or team android right? Ok you're team android, that means you're team Samsung or team Pixxel, only those options. Americans have collectively decided we'd rather just get the newest carrier locked thing that's basically just the repackaged thing we already have with a new battery and better chip most of us won't even notice at this point, all in the name of convenience.

You have a good point there. I would add to it by saying that Apple really thrives here in the US, and as such, Android manufacturers try to compete with their business model.

The result is what we have; Pixel v Samsung. 😑

I absolutely love BSI on Android. It is fantastic. My one wish for it though would be gestures to quickly cycle between languages and grades, rather than using the menu. It's not hard at all, just a few extra swipes and taps. Android BSI is a lot more accurate, but Voiceover BSI does have that one edge. I switch a lot back and forth between English and Spanish, so having those gestures would be great.

1. Samsung Alpha Line (Samsung A55 excluded from the US market to not mess with S23 Fan Edition profits). NB. Samsung devices "Do Not" support adoptable storage.
2. Sony I most likely Wil never buy a Sony phone myself, though I do commend them for mentioning Talkback & accessibility in general among their specs sheet.
3. Motorola 5g Series
4. Nokia (Powered by HMD Global)
5. OnePlus N30 5G
6. ASus Phones
7. TCL 40 Series

Anyone tried side-loading a port of the Google Camera on to one of the above brands recently? FYI: Feel free to correct any missteps above down below, and I shall fix.

Hey Trenton,

I am guessing that those brands mentioned above do not have a natively accessible camera? I know you have mentioned about Motorola before, but what about the others? Also, what are your thoughts on the other brands? What are your thoughts on the Alpha series Samsungs?

GCam (Google Camera), are ports of the Pixel Camera, though made specifically for a particular phone.

The only phone listed that "technically" does not need it, are phones from Samsung these days, since they have accessible cameras.

The Moto phone camera app is accessible with its interface, however does not speak distance or degrees.

Reviews from
https://accessibleandroid.com
, should give everyone a decent picture.

Same with the
https://blindandroidusers.com/
Podcast.
You can find Google Camera ports for phones via the following Uniform Resource Locator:

https://www.celsoazevedo.com/files/android/google-camera/

Never used and will not but have a question. When I get a iPhone, I press side button and ask Siri to turn VO so I can start transfering my data from one to another phone. Can you just press side button and ask google or whatever similar to siri to turn on talkback? Just asking. Thanks.

Thanks for that info regarding Google Camera. Also accessibleandroid.com is definitely a cool site. 🙂

With TalkBack you can customize a gesture to change languages ​​in a simple motion.
For example I have English and spanish Acapella voices and I can change voices using talkBack in a single motion gesture

with Google assistant you can request to turn on and off talkBack same as Siri does for voiceOver

Thanks. Does all android phone have google asistance?

So what google camera does is basically offer more features with TalkBack
Look for the super bowl comercial that google made
One of those features is when the camera is in frame talkBack will announce that is ready for picture and if the camera is in frame for 3 seconds
talkBack will count for you 1 2 3 and will take the picture automatically for you
Look for some youtube videos

https://youtu.be/wYPTZIFQoDQ?si=mdKGWY-Upy1oTvB9

All android phone has google assistant?
The answer. will be Yes and no lol
It means some of the manufacture have by default but some others manufacture will include own voice assistant
Here are some options to consider.
The first is that you can use the Google Assistant and in fact you can install it in almost all manufacturers.
And the second have you heard about fragmentation?
Well Google has its own Accessibility team and they work hard to implement functions that will work 100% in their products, that is, Pixel, on the other hand the other companies or manufacturers may not work many of the services, therefore, Google accessibility team has no responsibility in others manufactures, and the companies are not responsible for providing users that all Google services will work because they make the famous customization of the operating system, therefore it may not work for you Google Assistant to activate TalkBack on some 3rd party devices
If you are thinking of buying a device from a different manufacturer, at a low price will surely have Accessibility problems.

Hello, yeah, I know you can change talkback language. I am particularly referring to a gesture in the Braille keyboard, to switch that between the two languages. I know, I can just do a three finger swipe up, then cycle between languages and grades, but Voiceover has a gesture you can do from right within the keyboard, so no need to go in to a menu.
Like I said, over all I like the talkback Braille keyboard better, but it would be nice to have those additional gestures instead of having to three finger swipe up, then choose from a list. Hope that makes more sense. It is by no means hard, but could be made faster with those gestures as opposed to the current way.

So far I know Guided frame is only available for Pixel devices
Therefore, if you plan to install Google camera APK in some other manufacture
It probably won't work for you,. Read the previous message so you understand The reason why your device do not support some features.

Or rather, the more 'I' know, the more I want to just brave it and make the switch. Sigh...

@MarkSarch,

Thanks for all of your posts above. Interesting stuff. 👍👍

If you're wanting to type Braille on your Android phone in more languages that Talkback natively provides with their own Braille Keyboard, there's APK from:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=abk.keyboard

It's 10 USD (one time payment), and it's last update was in April 2024.

Besides typing via Touch screen, you are also able to type via physical keyboard said Braille dots.

It's got over 1000 downloads.

Have I used it myself? Not as of late. I shall however give it another go.

Unlike Talkback's Braille Keyboard, APK works with all screen readers (including both Commentary and Prudence).

Hello,
I tried ABK but had a few issues with it. First, the Spanish keyboard was not good. The liblouis Spanish tables are notoriously bad. Not so much for reading, but for writing they are bad. The built in tables were also kinda messed up, but it has been a few weeks since I tried it, so don't remember what exactly it was, just that I couldn't write a lot of characters like the inverted question and exclamation marks. Next, they have an included numeric keyboard, but why, when we can just add a number sign? But it seemed to force you to use the numeric keyboard, so wasn't a fan of that. Lastly, coming from Apple at least, the talkback Braille keyboard seems much more intuitive. Plus, Braille tables with the Talkback Braille keyboard seem to be spot on.