Pro-log.
A few weeks ago I stumbled across a used Android phone, the Galaxy A11 from Samsung. It was $45, so, why not. I'd never truly used the Android OS before. It came, I charged it, and dove in. The Talkback jestures similar enough to iOS, the ability to pop in an SD card up to 512 GB, Mass storage opportunities, no pun intended. I could use face or finger to unlock the same device!
Finding Apple Music had crossfading, the ability to have system wide audio processing, dynamic compression, limiting, not just in one app but across Android, it all caught me a bit off guard. What had happened? I thought, Android wasn't supposed to be this, good.
And then I found Getro, better known as the Commentary Screen reader, and a phone that wasn't so responsive, suddenly came to life. the experience even closer to what I'd found on iOS. Now, I could slide my finger up the screen and icons would be called out, as wasn't really the case with Talkback.
Choices Choices, Finally, maybe, that's what I had. IPhones are so darn expensive.
I researched, could I save a few dollars if I gave up my IPhone?
The flagship device, the Galaxy S23 was around $1000, ok. No, that's not saving money,
But, what about this A series that had captured my heart and got me thinking of this not so secret technology afair?
and, there, she was. The Galaxy A54,5G. She had me from before, she even said hello. She had just released a couple of weeks ago.
6 GB of ram!
A finger print reader below a sleek sheet of glass!
USB C, charging!
and that tempting ability, to pop in an SD card.
I strutted in a Lyft over to T-Mobile and asked the question? do you guys have the 54,5G? We sure do, he said as I heard the glass door in front of the display slide open, and, here it is, as Talkback on, sang out from the stereo speakers. She was thin, she was responsive.
I'm in, can I jump? as I handed my IPhone 13 over the counter. A part of me screamed out from inside, but I shoved it down. Oh, the possibilities, I'd have the device for at least two years I told myself. I'll learn the ins and outs, it's the same series of device as the A11, it's just got to be, perfect.
The road to redemption.
All the device data was transfered from the IPhone through what is called a Switch. The screen protector was instaled, the otterbox snapped on. I held her for the first time. All of my apps that were Android crossover of course, were in the same named folders, on the same pages of the home screen. It was almost like I had a new and improved iOS device. I charged her, put her to bed and fell asleep.
At 5:30 the alarm sang out, I reached over and hit a button, silence is golden, as I lay there for another 10 minutes.
After I got ready, I pulled up the Lyft app, now I had a primary Android device. The radio button that was selected, didn't read, but, if it was like iOS, I already knew what it was. I ordered a car, the chime was different. I went to work. I texted my fianci, as I slid my finger around the keyboard something was off. This was the first sign to me that there was a trafic jam up ahead. I couldn't type. Talkback would read some keys, and then, I'd slide my finger and the phone stopped speaking. I lifted my finger, an a keystroke was entered, unbeknownst to me. I put my finger down again, speach was there, I found the key, and then started typing. I had to move slower with jestures, with typing, than I did on iOS. I shoved it to the back of my mind, possibilities I told myself. Talkback stopped speaking again, another keystroke was entered. I grabbed my Bluetooth keyboard.
Data entry from the Bluetooth on the other hand, was lightning fast, truly, this? was bluetooth? I had never seen this speed before. Absolutely no, lag.
I turned the volume down and went to work. 10 minutes later, the stock notification sound screamed out! um... Oh my god? I was in the office. That's not good.
The day passed, I got home, the battery was at 80%, woo, that's cool.
I instaled Getro, better known as the Commentary Screen reader, the phone was blazing fast! As fast as my computer. launching applications the fastest I've ever seen. You hit the app, it's up.
Loading web pages, the same, no time!
I tried typing another text message, no dice, the same thing as above.
I recorded a voice memo. I played it back, no noise floor! W?T?F! So clear.
I went to share the recording. Getro crashed. No speach. I turned on Talkback, the Talkback sounds were there? No speach.
Great, now I have to shut down the phone, and hope I don't hit the emergency button.
I shut down the phone. I restarted it, speech rate was at 150% Uh, what? as I strained to understand what it was saying. I finally got to the settings and slowed it down. Wo.
That little voice which I had shoved down at the store, was now nagging me. HOW COULD YOU CHEET! HOW? COULD? YOU? After all I've done for you. What did I ever do to you? She's better than, I am?
I made another recording, the phone didn't crash, I tried to text it, it was to large for a media message. Media message? um... Cowabunga dude, flash back from the 1990's.
I put the phone to bed after setting my 6AM alarm.
I woke up. I reached over and hit a button. The alarm did not stop. My eyes were still closed and I was still on autopiollet. I hit another button. Getro was speaking, but I couldn't hear it, the alarm was so loud, and what the hell is this music? I turned up Getro's volume, the alarm now looping 3, 4 times at this point. I picked up the phone. I swiped the screen. I double tapped. That damn cartoon music was going to be in my head all day. It wouldn't shut up. I can't, turn off the alarm I yelled over it in a groggy voice at my fianci. The phone finally screamed out a message over the already loud alarm, something about the clock being full screen and not being able to dismiss it from the home or back buttons as they couldn't fit on the screen. What the hell am I gonna do?
I swiped down, from the top of the screen, and hit another side button it stopped. I took a long breath. This time I didn't lay there for another 10 minutes. I was awake.
I booked the Lyft Getro read the radio button which talk back did not.
Ok, so, I use talkback in the night, and Getro in the day? Lord, now I'm cheeting on both a phone and on screen readers.
I went to work. The new Mettalica album 72 Seasons had dropped I enabled the Bluetooth on my small boombox. I pared the phone. The phone crashed, again. Now I was getting frusterated. and That voice in my head was laughing, she's so, much, better than me, isn't she. Isn't she.
I found out how to soft reset the phone, great no fear of calling emergency services from the office.
I had setup a pass code and finger print.
On break I used the phone. Now I have to use the, on screen keyboard, that stops speaking, and un, lock, the phone? Oh God.
It took a few times but I finally got it. My break was almost over. I double tapped on something, it didn't open. I double tapped again, the curser had moved. Now something else opened.
The frusteration was mounting.
The work day passed. I went home.
I shut off the phone. I found an old IPhone in the drawer. I pulled the sim and put it in the old phone. I booted it up.
Oh, My God. It just works. It just works. It's what I kept saying over and over. All the frusteration, all the little things from this OS I thought would bring me so much joy. It wasn't worth it. This IPhones battery was shot.
The next morning, today, I went back to T-Mobile, I traded in the Android, I got an IPhone SE 2022. The sighted manager couldn't even get the keyboard to work appropriately, he had to retype the passcode 4 or 5 times. After accessibility was turned off on the Android, it worked fine. Android fanboys can say what they want, Apple Fanboys can say what they want. Maybe it was the phone. Maybe it was, whatever it was.
I tried android. I tasted. The innisial beauty was enticing I learned my lesson. But this proticle son, has returned back to iOS.
Thank God for the IPhone!
Comments
iPhones are awesome
wow. that story you shared is amazing. iPhones are awesome. I only used an android phone once, but however, that was a long time ago, back around 2010. this was before I upgraded to the iPhone 3GS, which was the first phone that included VoiceOVer technology. now, I'm still rocking my iPhone 11. I'll probably be upgrading to an iPhone 14 pro soon.
Both Platforms
I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. I use a Pixel 7 and the only annoyance I have is that the TalkBack Braille keyboard is upside down. I want to type dots 1 and 4 at the top of the screen, not the bottom, but there doesn't seem to be a way to change it. I don't use the Chinese screen reader. I'm not sure what the issue was. Maybe it was Samsung, which is why I always go with Pixel. Just like iPhones, you know what you're getting. Speaking of which, I recommend having both devices if feasible. This will give you the best of both worlds. I still have my iPhone 11 that works just fine on Wi-Fi.
What a journey!
Wow! What a journey! Thank you for sharing this. I've only used an android phone for about five minutes. It was a friends. Yes, it talked, but it just didn't perform now that's been four or five years ago, though. Have no idea about accessibility, but I've never heard lots of good things for us there. Thank you for sharing what you did. I could just hear that little cheating iPhone voice in my head, as I read your story. I'm so glad for my own iPhone. Very thankful for it.
Loved the story
Your story resonates so much with mine...I guess you were singing "Misery, she's killing me, but it's not what I'm living for", when your phone was driving you absolutely nuts with its speech loss. Can you get the quote? lol
That story was entertaining!
Thanks for posting. I have a mid-range Samsung device from about 3 years ago, and I've noticed the same issues when trying to type. I tried the Samsung keyboard and also installed G-Board, which is Google's keyboard. They were both sluggish, and sometimes speech just wasn't there. I know some blind people who use Android, but they tend to only use voice dictation. I'd love to find out if there's anyone out there who successfully uses the built-in keyboard on an Android device. I feel like it may work on the Pixel, but I'd have no way of testing that theory.
I tried android twice.
Yes it's better if you like to tinker with things, I do, but as you said; IOS just works.
No messing around with google keyboard, GBoard just to have it type, unless that doesn't work in wich case it could be a software or hardware thing, who knows?
The typing was a big thing for me too, I think the samsung phones have their own accessibility and it doesn't work as well as googles talkback.
With other brands android can work fine, but don't expect a website like applevis, you're going in blind, truly.
So as much as I like android, it's cheeper, has better specs in most cases, there's more voices and I think you can even play youtube videos without a subscription outside of the app, IOS just works and that's better for me.
The Apple force
The dark force welcome you back. Although the VO is getting to be crap still better than the other. May the Apple be with you.
thoughts from a pixel and an iPhone owner
First and foremost, I do know this is an apple based site, and I am not here to tout android and/or slander apple. I am over here to answer the question of the individual who asked about the keyboard on a pixel.
It does work decently. It is a little more sluggish than iOS, (honestly many gestures don't seem to be quite as snappy), but I did not have the issues with speech crashing when trying to type. I hate to say it, but right now voice over crashes more than TalkBack, but I'm going to be optimistic and hope this is fixed in the next iOS update, as it just started with this latest update. Anyway, I also agree with the person who said if you're going to try android the best way to go is pixel, because you're getting google's OS, nothing more, nothing less. When you get other phones, (LG, Samsung, motorola...), get the picture? All of them are like android with a little special brand of choice sauce on top.
It's true that android pphones have more customization options, and some tasks like making files into ringtones and/or moving files from computer to the phone can be easier, (although this has been remedied a bit with iCloud for windows), I still stand by the fact I do like that iOS works on all iPhones the same way, and you're not in the store guessing which model of phone is safe to buy and will have the best accessibility and/or user experience.
As for the story that started this, I''m sorry to hear that your journey into android was so rough, but I'm glad you at least know what's on the other side and are happily using your iPhone again.
Never Used Android But...
Drew, I really like your post. I've never used Android before, but my brother demonstrated it a few years ago to a group of people. He and I are both iPhone users. He was comparing Talkback and VoiceOver, and had to have sighted assistance turning on Talkback. Granted, that was a few years ago and things might have changed. Additionally, a sighted tutor I had at the time demonstrated Talkback on his Samsung Galaxy and it just didn't sound as complete as VoiceOver. I've been a happy iPhone user since 2018, and at some point in the near future am going to get my second one.
Ios All the way. :)
Hi. I also enjoyed your story and thanks for sharing. I am sorry you had a terrible experience with android and glad to see you're back to iPhone. I tried using my grandma's android last Christmas to no avail. She needed assistance with downloading an app and even with sighted assistance using talkback; I gave up in 5 minutes. I assumed the gestures were the same as iPhone but apparently not. So back to my familiar iPhone 12 I went. I told my aunt she will need to install said app for grandma because she and grandma have the same phone. I am also glad all iPhones operate the same way. :)
gestures on android
For the record, some of the gestures are more similar to VO now with the newer multitouch phones. Older models still require angle gestures, but I can tell you that I've never once had to use one of those awkward things on my pixel. The one thing I do like better is the three finger swipe for changing items on what VO calls the rotor. I can do the roter gesture reliably myself, but as a trainer, it is one of the most difficult things to teach and/or one of the harder things for new iPhone users to grasp. I think there is a place for both platforms. That said, I still prefer iOS and use it as my main phone.
iOS is far better
It is a shame in 2023 we don't have choices. I am someone who has issues with the touch screen gestures. I use a Hable One keyboard on iOS. It just works. I can do everything you can do using the touch screen. Sadly that is not the same experience on Android. It would be nice if Android would ever catch up.
Whirlwind
Thanks for sharing your story, you certainly had a whirlwind adventure.
I would say though that a couple of days on any platform is rarely enough to truly assess it. I've had a Samsung S23 for a couple of months now, and must say I really quite like it.
On the S23, I haven't seen the general responsiveness issues you mentioned. In fact, I find it very responsive and snappy. Although it occasionally gets what I might call sticky for a few seconds, but I don't think that's unique to any platform.
Gestures are a subjective thing. As pointed out above, there are now multi-finger gestures so you don't need to use the right angle gestures, but I personally love those. There are also back and forth gestures which I use a lot. It means I can do more one handed with my Samsung than I can with my iPhone.
I also quite like the general Android user interface.
Actions is an area where iOS, with the actions menu in the rotor, has had a big advantage for some time. However TalkBack has essentially caught up on that capability. The problem is that app developers, including even Google themselves remarkably, have not yet widely implemented them in apps. This means more cluttered interfaces, with additional buttons to open context menus etc.
I do agree with the typing. I don't know why, but TalkBack simply isn't as responsive on the on-screen keyboard as VoiceOver is on iOS. In addition, there is no equivalent to the Direct Touch Typing method which we have on iOS. Typing is probably my single biggest complaint about Android and TalkBack.
They also have some catching up to do on image descriptions, which is surprising given that we're talking about Google. The other frustration, which to be fair isn't really Google's fault, is that there just seems to be more apps to choose from on iOS than on Android. For example, we have several great and accessible options for Mastodon apps on iOS, but I have thus far found only one on Android.
So I think TalkBack and Android has come a long long way, and certainly is a genuine option, but iOS is so solid that it is also very reasonable to stick with it.
So, I've had Android for…
So, I've had Android for about a year now. My thing is this. If you're a speech user only, and don't use Braille, go for it. Pixel first, but Samsung is still good. Try not to switch too often, or you'll get stuck in what's happening for me now, that I can't access my Voicemail on my Android phone. But TTS has improved, especially with new Google phones and Google TTS, and Samsung TTS has gotten very good. Dolby Atmos on Samsung phones is really nice, and works with any headphones. TalkBack is amazingly snappy. Podcast Addict is one of the best podcast apps I've found. You can use all those USB C cables you have laying around, to charge your phone. You can even connect your Android phone to a USB C docking station and use it with a keyboard and monitor, if you need to in a pinch. Tusky works great for Mastodon, and RedReader works awesomely for Reddit, and is actually on the Play Store and not stuck in eternal beta.
Of course, Voiceover, while it has its frustrating bugs, is much more well-known among developers. So, the Actions rotor is available everywhere, even in apps like GoodReads. Braille works, when it wants to. I can use my NLS EReader with the iPhone, and for a while, forget that it's a Braille HID device. With Android, one cannot connect that device to TalkBack, cause there's no Bluetooth driver available for Braille HID, and that requires an Android update. VoiceOver is much better in that regard, as Apple's teams will sometimes tell each other the basics of what's needed among them, after having meetings about having meetings to have a meeting to figure out who should be in these meetings and so on. So VoiceOver supports a ton more Braille displays than TalkBack.
what android phone are you using?
Devin, what Android phone are you using? just curious to ask.
I totally get this!
I love the way you wrote this post Drew :) I too had a similar switching experience last August, the only difference is that I'm happily using my Android as my daily driver to this day. I think the biggest advantage Android has over Apple at this point is customization. I'm using a DeGoogled Pixel 5 and the Chinese (commentary) screen reader. I had similar experiences with respect to the alarm clock and not being able to turn off ringing alarms etc, as well as typing issues. It took some trial and error, but I found that there are always alternate apps or methods to get things done on Android vs. Apple where you often have to wait on a centralized team to solve bugs. I use "soft braille keyboard" free from GitHub and find it to be the most responsive touch braille typing experience, and my alarms were solved by turning on a shake to snooze setting hidden in the clock app. This way, my wife doesn't have to hear phone speech in her sleep and I can always manually open the clock app and double tap a button that would cancel the snooze after I get out of bed.
Sure, iOS generally "just works" as people have said, but what keeps me on Android despite relatively minor hickups is the ability to keep control of my own data and digital life... That and when your phone isn't pinging Apple or Google servers every 4 minutes, you can get 4 - 5 days out of a battery instead of 1.5 - 2.
How cool!
Hello, I just want to say how much I enjoyed the reading of your redemption, keep doing this for us
Greetings from Mexico
My iOS and android experience
Hello everyone
This is a nice topic you guys are talking about and I’m here to try men
First, I cannot describe to you how many iPhones I have for the past since around 2015 or 2016. I’m young, and only in my second year of high school, but I can say this and I’m not alone even the people at the Apple Store so I’m a technical genius!
I have had an iPhone 5c, an iPhone SE 2016, an iPhone 12, an iPhone 8, I had the iPhone 8 for a little bit, and iPod touch fifth-generation, I played with an iPod touch fourth generation, an iPad Air, and iPad six generation
I also have three MacBooks, MacBook Pro from 2012 MacBook Air from 20 something on and one MacBook Air
I also had an Apple Watch Series 3,
Let’s not forget the stuff I have played around for an Apple store. I played with an iPhone 14, I’ve played with an iPad Pro, heck even I managed to successfully your something with the Apple Pencil on an iPad pro at my technology store
I’m so good, that people think at the Apple store in Chermside now I should be a member of the technical support support staff when I am 18
Now, no more bragging
Onto the serious side
For For android, I have played a run for a galaxy six age I’ve never had a look and talk back on that thing that was my sister‘s old phone, I had a Galaxy S 21 ultra that my mum bought for my mum‘s ex for his birthday back in 2021, and I have a Google pixel seven. And a Galaxy tablet.
No let me say that I completely agree with you on your jumps and story. Personally, in my opinion, iOS is way better when it comes to accessibility.
Here are the pluses of android
Different manufacturers have different software
It is a straightforward setup process once you get the hang of it
It’s been a thing that you use USB see Lawyers since a couple. I love my devices
Now onto the typing thing
I have never experienced anything wrong with typing on android
Although it is a bit hard to connect the keyboard to it
And here are the minuses of android. Sorry I got a bit carried away due to my phone so I couldn’t activate mobile data properly
Phones are extremely huge now
The biometric authentication is crap
And to hell with the choice of screen readers
Even though you don’t need a computer to access recovery mode on android, you can’t use the screen reader on android recovery
And I know my Google pixel won’t let me install eloquence but I’m my Samsung Galaxy S 21 will
That’s actually sad
I’m here to pluses of iOS
Extremely accessible
Still uses the white import
Ease of navigation and usage
Set up process straightforward
I’m here in the minuses of iOS
Accessibility has gone downwards especially with the VoiceOver crashing if you
Not enough text to speech voices
Not enough VoiceOver customisation
Nobody even got a chance to say goodbye to the headphone jack properly
Why is this idea so bad
They aren’t listening to people who want smaller phones any more, And customer manipulation of the latest iPhones
And can I list about the rights and wrongs about macOS
No because that’s not related
So personally, Andrew is good
But iOS, is way way better
I love that we have options, the devil really is in the details.
Drew, As someone that has jumped back and forth between iOS and Android quite a number of times now, I read your story with both laughter and sadness. While I have nothing against iOS and even prefer it at the moment, there are so many aspects to Android that I just really love. In my drawer, I do have a Pixel 6 and while I don't like that it's physically so much larger than my iPhone, I have not experienced the inconsistencies you describe. That said, I did experience lots of lag generally with TalkBack and with typing. Admittedly I did not try the Chinese screen reader as at the time, it seemed like a really confusing process to get a license, my understanding is that it's much easier now. From an accessibility perspective, the sluggishness with TalkBack was the largest problem for me. Separately, I really dislike how Android handles notifications, but I realize that's more of a personal preference, not an accessibility problem.
Ultimately, I'm just really glad we have options, especially given the price point of Android devices. Every time I switch back to iOS, I do so realizing that quite a bit of progress has been made since the last time I switched and my mind wonders how things will evolve before the next time I'm sure to switch again.
Updates matter
Some Android vendors decided a few years ago to continue to update their operating systems for five years after release. However, Apple is better in this regard - and I want my hardware to last. This (and the accessibility advantages) are probably enough to keep me on iOS for a while at least. The lack of HID interface braille display support in Android is also a good reason not to buy, as my next braille display may well need it - or, put differently, I don't want to buy a phone that then constrains what I might do in the future concerning braille displays.
The differences between successive phone models are relatively small, contrary to the marketing messages. By the time I'm ready to upgrade, there will be enough new technologies in the phones to justify it. I currently have an iPhone XS.