Thinking of moving to Android- seeking thoughts on TalkBack accessibility

Yeah, I remember that gesture. If I’m not mistaken, we had it about 10 or 11 years ago. Thank God we now have a better way to select text. However, I think this is kind of off-topic because the poster is asking about features that Android and TalkBack currently have, especially since they’re an iOS user. Bringing up those old, messy gestures that a screen reader doesn’t use anymore probably wouldn’t be helpful and could even be more confusing. We should focus on what both operating systems and screen readers offer now.

Just my opinion, of course.

This isn’t perfect but you can do it, use CSR’s sellection mode, you can select text from anywhere but only selects text with in the kerent focus, you can oppend text to what you copied so this isn’t that big of deel

and have Edge Pannels enabled, ya can access Samsung's own Keyboard's Clipboard, from 'Anywhere!!'

Not a bad clipboard if I do say so myself!

I highlyy recommend sticking to iOS. I think you have something going on with the phone. Either a update didn't install right or something is wrong with the unit.

I'm getting closer and closer to doing the same thing. The longer the Voiceover focus issue exists, the more tempting it is to check elsewhere. I have an Android tablet and am enjoying using it to navigate apps where the focus issue on iOS makes it close to impossible.

Do give it a try, but if you think TalkBack and Jieshuo don't have focus issues, well, you should see them for yourself. They don't remember their previous positions at all. So if, for instance, you close a folder on the Home screen, you're placed at the top of the screen not on the closed folder. People might be sick and tired of some VoiceOver bugs - fully understandable, but experiencing some Android accessibility bugs will ultimately make them appreciate VoiceOver's more polished experience.

Amir you hit it out of the park! Voiceover is way more polished than Talk Back or Jieshuo. There is no bug free OS. Moreover Apple does listen to our concerns. Do things get fixed as quick as we would like? No but remember we aren't the only accessibility group they support. You also have to make sure the new features are accessible with Voiceover.

Both Jieshuo and Prudence screen readers have remember focus functions found within their respective Advanced sections under their Settings screens. (For Jieshuo in particular, see Settings > Advanced > Operation Settings.)

Yes, but oftentimes it doesn't work with Jieshuo, just as the Enhanced accessibility volume Jieshuo setting does nothing special on many phones like the S24 Ultra. The fact that a setting exists doesn't mean it necessarily does what it's supposed to do. I like Jieshuo and prefer it to TalkBack in many ways, but it has some long-standing issues which the developer doesn't want to, or simply can't, address.

My advice—though I know you didn’t ask for it—is that if I were in your position with a buggy phone, I’d probably want to throw it away and switch to a new system. However, I should tell you that your iPhone restarting isn’t normal and shouldn’t happen. It’s likely that your iPhone has some kind of problem or bug—whatever you want to call it—and you should consider getting it repaired if you haven’t already.

That said, if you want to try Android, go for it—you’ll probably love it! It’s a great system with plenty of nice apps and features, and it’s always fun to explore something new. But my advice is this: don’t switch to Android just because you’re dealing with bugs in iOS. Based on my experience, Android has its own bugs, and some of them can be worse than iOS, depending on your use case.

If you’re interested in switching because you’re genuinely curious and want to explore Android, then go for it! Good luck, and feel free to reach out if you need help with anything. But if your motivation is solely because iOS feels buggy or because of the VoiceOver focus issues, I’m not sure I’d recommend switching just for that reason.

I hope this makes sense!

When I started the switch to the mac, the first year was truly painful. For blind users more than others, switching OS is never, never smooth, and my opinion is that it's generally easier to deal with desktop os bugs rather than the phone's, as the latter is intended to be used quickly and get one action done, and it's our main communication device in the modern digital world. From transportation to payment and life enhancement accessibility apps, we are completely dependent on the phone for the better or the worst. My change for the mac mainly encouraged by poor battery of windows was done in a college environment where I am still learning new / alternatives (when possible) ways to do the simplest things. The phone will be with you likely for the next 3 years at least to be generous. Just because of a reboot bug you could just get your iphone repaired or get a new iphone where you already know everything.
Let's not forget the apple ecosystem where it's easier to enter than leave, if you have any of those: airpods, mac, ipod, apple tv, and especially apple watch, neither will work as smooth as it could in the apple ecosystem, and you will constently have this memory and phisical weight always remembering you the trade you've accepted. This combined with the bugs each software always have and more so whenever accessibility is concerned could be a dangerous combination. We know everything or almost on the iphone for example and know how to avoid these areas where we as a blind user are stuck. If you are in an emergency situation and you don't know how to do x y on android...
It's a communication device. A phone change will have more impact than the desktop, in my opinion. If you are a geek, then do like me and go for it. I just don't think you have the good insentives for a change. At least keep an old iphone as a backup where you can just swap the sim into. But for my windows laptop there are so many college assignments I just couldn't have done...

Hi TechAgnostic,

I agree with Sara's advice (two comments above this one).

In an earlier comment, you wrote:

@michael How do I go about resetting network and bluetooth settings? I've given Apple accessibility a call and told them about the issue I was having. I asked for them to run a diagnostic scan and like magic my phone decided to reboot itself. I called back and asked to speak to the same agent. The agent told me that since he didn't see it happen and it couldn't be reproduced on his end. It isn't an issue that would get any attention from Apple.

Put bluntly, this is an inexcusable response from Apple. An iPhone rebooting constantly is not normal. I would call back (perhaps try the regular Apple Support number) and insist on a remote hardware diagnostic. Better yet, if you have access to transportation and an Apple Store nearby, I would take it into the Apple Store and explain the issue and ask for the same.