from VoiceOver to TalkBack

Hello,
I used iOS for years, and am now happily on team Android. The gesture set is going to be different. Basic swipes left right up and down perform pretty much the same functions. Two finger swipes are for scrolling. Three finger swipes up and down change the reading control, basically the Talkback equivalent of the rotor. Magic tap is the same. It's really not hard to learn, but in that first few days muscle memory will get ya. If you go back and forth between the two, it's easy to forget which one your using, and you can be left wondering why in the world your gesture didn't do what you expected at all.
Having said all this, while Talkback is very good, there's another screen reader called Talk Forward, which you would have to install after you get the device set up, but once it is on and running, it has the same gesture set from Voiceover, all the goodies from Talkback, and the developer continues to make improvements and fix bugs at a much faster rate than either Apple or Google, and he is just one developer. If you want the customization and other fun geekery of Android, but don't want to mess with Talkback, Talk Forward is your best bet. I loved Talkback, never saw a need for anything else, but after using Talk Forward for over two months, if something ever happened and it was no longer available, I would be pretty sad.
One big thing that a lot of people who switch complain about is talkback lag compared to Voiceover. That has gotten a lot better over the years, can be improved even further with the right tts engine and settings, but Talk Forward reduces latency even further, so it is in my opinion just as fast as Voiceover.

Hi Alicia!
I'll try to answer your questions.
Personally, I'm currently an Android user. I fully switched to Android a little over 3 years ago, after using Apple products for quite a long time—I spent 13 years in the Apple ecosystem.
First of all, let me tell you that not all Androids devices are created equal. Obviously, if you want a better experience, you need to go for a flagship device. You also have to consider that there are many Android manufacturers, and each adds customization layers that often damage or completely ruin accessibility—Chinese brands, for example. I've used many brands, ranging from Motorola, LG, and HTC, until I finally found where I feel happiest and most comfortable: using a Google Pixel.
Any operating system requires a learning curve. There isn't a better or worse OS—both Android and iOS have their pros and cons. In reality, there is no perfect operating system. VoiceOver has a lot of issues, yes, but on the flip side, TalkBack isn't perfect either.
The main reason I switched to Android was that VoiceOver had—and still has—quite a few issues. The second reason is that Android's accessibility has improved significantly over the last few years. Today, accessibility isn't a deciding factor when choosing a phone, which is great for our visually impaired community.
And lastly, regarding gestures: you have to keep in mind that switching to a new operating system means starting a new learning process. The same applies when moving to a different screen reader; things won't be identical.
Ultimately, differences in gestures don't matter because you simply need to learn them—it's just a learning curve. Not everything should be the same, either. If it were, the exact same issues VoiceOver has would just carry over to TalkBack.

If you want a relatively smooth transition, here are my recommendations:
1. Buy a Pixel device, preferably 9 or later.
2. By the Vocalizer TTS for Android from the Google Play store.
3. Install the TalkForward screen reader, either from the Google Play store, or from the developers website.

Reasons:
From everything I have read online, the Google Pixel is considered the iPhone of the Android product lineup. This even comes from fully sighted users.
Having heard several demos online of vocalizer TTS for Android, I feel it is safe to say that iPhone users would feel right at home using this TTS on their new Android device. Samantha, for example, sounds just as good, if not better than Samantha sounds on the latest iPhones.
Finally, TF is shaping up to be an amazing screen reader. Essentially, it is a beefed up clone of VoiceOver for Android. With a few extra caveats not found in iOS.

While TalkBack has come a very long way in the past decade, using a screen reader that has VoiceOver-like gestures, along with a very familiar sounding TTS, might just be what you need to ease the transition of switching from iOS to Android.

HTH. 🙂

You are spot on with all of this. Though, if you are not willing to pay for Vocalizer, Google tts is honestly not half bad. I'm partial to Eloquence myself.

Can you get eloquence on Android these days? And the lag is what killed me. It just was so bad that I couldn't deal. You feel like it is gone? Lastly, how do you feel about the amount of accessible apps that are or are not available? Drives me crazy that there is no Android equivalent of Applevis that has a repo of apps that are available.

https://accessibleandroid.com/app/
Use the filter control to navigate by category.

While not as robust as what AppleVis has to offer, it's not bad.

HTH. 😎

Yes, you can get Eloquence, though it's on a subscription model now, so like $29 a year, or under $3 but I forget the exact amount per month.

You mean not only we need to get a phone but also pay for the voices? VO is sometimes a pain but do not need to pay for voices. How much are they anyway? $50? Long oops I almost said it.

You only have to pay for voices that are not Google branded. You would have to do the same with iOS for commercially licensed speech engines. the new Runa TTS, for example, will have a price point once it is officially launched.

I do believe Android has some speech engines that are free, outside of what comes with TalkBack. However, 3 of the more popular commercially licensed products are:
1. Acappella.
2. Vocalizer.
3. Eloquence.

HTH.

Google Accessibility Team is working on better quality voices, laters TalkBack 17 versions will implement high-quality voices and also faster voices. I can imagine that the high-quality voices will be the ones used in Gemini. They have very good expression.
Personally I use Acappella voices each voice cost about $5 for a single payment. not subscription.

"Hi Alicia, I'm getting back to you. These are the same VoiceOver issues you've had up to now; some of them have been unresolved for years.
per example one of them is:
VoiceOver focus
—a long-standing issue apple still hasn't fixed.
Another one is voiceover lost speech
"I am bilingual, but I heard it happened even when using a single voice—VoiceOver lose speech. You'd have voices downloaded and assigned, but after a while, they disappeared and were completely erased. Because of this, you were often left without Text to speak voice, or VoiceOver would sporadically revert to its default VoiceOver voice.
"Another issue was VoiceOver freezing or stop responding inside certain apps, often forcing you to restart the device. This happened to me frequently while using online banking or ride services apps.
"Another one is voice dictation.
Many times, the magic gesture—a two-finger double-tap—worked, but other times it didn't. And when it did work, VoiceOver captured the text incorrectly
"Apparently, I’m not the only one dealing with this dictation issue—it happens to quite a few people. In fact, I just heard about it in a video by Sam from The Blind Life, where he recommends specialized software to fix these problems
and many more on the list.

all these VoiceOver issues can be reported to apple with the feedback assistant app. I WENT THE OTHER WAY> THE ONLY REASON I am an iPhone user is Apple Pay. someone where i lived, used my tap on my debbet card, when I was at a rehersal for a local production of the musical Hairspray, and bought a McDonalds meal. if I knew about Google Pay, i wou8ld've more than likely never switched. I have a nexus 6, I intend to referbish, so i can root it, and flash a custom ROM, that will get me as close to android 17 as possible.

Most of these bugs have been reported to Apple feedback for the past decade. That's kind of the point. That's why people are saying some of these bugs have been around for years.
Years.
Not since the last version of iOS, or even the last two or three versions. But years and years of bugs continuously plaguing the system.

Trust me, they get reported. Apple just hasn't gotten around to them.
Yet... 🙄

Hello. You don't get anything by reporting this issues to Apple.
If VoiceOver’s issues were fixed, once you report it, I can assure you completely that VoiceOver wouldn't have any inconvenience. However, consequently, there are VoiceOver issues that have been present for more than 9 years and Apple hasn't solved them.
I personally use Google Wallet/ Google Pay and I don't have any problem.
I have to mention that I use a Google Pixel as my main phone and it's much more accessible compared to an Apple with Apple Pay. I don't have any inconvenience in paying in restaurants, convenience stores, or supermarkets. I've even ordered two white canes over the last few years from Ambutech site Paying with Google Pay