Questions About Google Pixel Accessibility and Switching from iPhone

hi

i can answer a couple of questions, the gemini descriptions are awesome, i love them, i have stopped sharing photos to be my eyes and just use the gesture i set for describe image as talkback calls it, talkback also has reading controls simular to the vo roter, talkback also has acctions like IOS but sadly most apps just don't use them, even most google apps other then gmail don't use them witch really sucks

I'm not going to comment on artificial intelligence etc. by the time you switch the game will have completely changed! What is not likely to change and has not changed since I've stepped in and out of android over the past 15 years is down to one word: Lag!
If you like a laggy, sluggish experience and by all means switched to android! It's just how talkback behaves I'm sure cited people don't get all that latency! For all its faults, iOS, and voiceover is clean and fast!

Aren't they paid on Android? You sure can obtain them illegitimately but I don't mean to encourage that.

To the poster who commented above on lag, I would first ask, what phone you were actually using. If you were using a bottom of the barrel entry level phone, yes, lag is definitely a thing. If you are using higher quality hardware, the experience gets much much better. Also, with the latest version of Talkback, some featureswere introduced that can reduce lag even further. Finally, it also has a lot to do with the text to speech engine you choose to go with.
There are times where Voiceover still does feel a bit more pollished, but the gap is incredibly small. I switched back to Android a few months ago now, and am incredibly happy with the experience, and this is on a Galaxy S22 Ultra, so with more recent hardware, I am sure the experience would be even better.

To the original poster, yes, you can indeed get Vocalizer voices. They don't come out of the box like on iPhone, and yes you will need to pay for them, but yes, you can absolutely get them.
Regarding data transfer, I have never used a Pixel, and of course Samsung has their own data transfer app, which I did find very easy to use, but even with the normal one found on other Androids like the Pixel, it should be pretty straight forward. There may be some apps you have to go in and download as they don't get picked up as part of the transfer, some apps you have to find a good replacement for on Android, but honestly, the process isn't bad at all, especially now with both iPhones and Androids both using usb C. You can also transfer some stuff wirelessly but you'll be able to transfer more and faster with a wired connection.

You do have to pay for them, but you can start by downloading the app from the Google play store.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=es.codefactory.vocalizertts&hl=en_US

Alternatively, you can download it from Code Factory:
https://codefactoryglobal.com/usecases/apps/vocalizer-expressive-for-android/

Here's an Audio Demo from John Dyer from the Blind Android Users podcast, showing off Talkback's new features on said topic. At this time (unless you sideload Google's Talkback), said features are currently not available on Samsung phones.

This has to be huge for android. I know something a lot of folks complain about, especially when comparing iOS to android, is the typing differences between the two devices. Ironically, Apple got these functions as well and a recent update.

There are so many type of phones that I am sure it affects the talkback. Some of them look cool and specially with dual screen, front and back. I am curious how it will work with talkback. Long live cats.

, is one of those phones which has a secondary display on the back.
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Is the Google Photos editing tool accessible to screen readers. For example, are the handles or equivalent doohickeys for moving the edges of photos, labeled and findable with a screen reader? Can I drag the image around inside of a locked aspect with the screenreader on?

I just read this article/announcement about Google Photos the app and it is adding the ability to dictate the edits you want. I have no idea how you will verify the changes but sounds the most accessible way so far.
https://www.theverge.com/news/818346/google-photos-ios-help-me-edit-update

I suppose that is ultimately saying that you have to use an AI generated image to make basic changes, like cropping, to a photo taken on a Pixel phone, rather than being able to drag the edges with your finger on the screen. Just wondering if it would be worth considering a Pixel as a camera. If the native cropping tool is only accessible by way of an AI generated image, I don't think that would be useful to my work. I need to be able to credibly say that it is not an AI generated image, and it's difficult enough making sure it is understood that I am only using AI to describe, not in any way alter, the image.
As far as checking the changes, I just question an AI describer, like Seeing AI, about the image after I make them. Then I double check the end result with a different AI describer, which happens to be a Google product and often on a different computer from my phone. I can't think of any reason that couldn't also be done on a Pixel phone.

The Google Photos AI description editing is coming to iOS, according to the article, so may no need to invest in a Pixel. I got the impression since it was in the Google Photos app it'd work with any photo you have or take. But I could be wrong. Photos are certainly not my area of expertise. It'd have a wider appeal though, surely not everyone really has an every day use for AI generated pictures?

I'll hold out judgment about the Pixel as a camera until I know more about how the native editing tools work.

I've been saying for a while now, that as soon as I am upgradable, that I wanted to get my hands on a Pixel 10 Pro. I have seen posts in the past describe in various reasons why one should not switch to Android, including lack of MagSafe devices. Well, I just learned yesterday, that the Pixel 10 devices have a new feature called, "PixelSnap". This is essentially MagSafe, Exclusive to Pixel's as I understand it.

So if MagSafe was that one reason holding you back, fear not, it has finally made its way to Android.

, care for a list of PixelSnap accessories??

https://techpp.com/2025/08/28/best-pixel-snap-accessories-for-google-pixel-10-series/

And for more information,

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/16479972?hl=en

That is a pretty sweet list of PixelSnap accessories. I'm digging that nano battery pack, and the wallet case that can hold up to five cards.

your making me really wish i had magsafe on my S23+

stop it!, lol, just kidding

You're welcome. 🫡

The following link may help you out. It might be a little outdated, but it is a list of talkback gestures on android. Most of which can be edited/modified. Just like on an iPhone using VoiceOver.
https://accessibleandroid.com/a-list-of-talkback-gestures/#Gestures_with_One_Finger

, here's the updated Talkback gestures list!
Expanding sections among thy page, is require:

https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151827?hl=en&ref_topic=10601570&dark=1&sjid=9642612728509414802-NC

I had forgotten about the Google page

Christmas is coming. Anyone wants to send me one, be glad to have it. Long live cats.

Bro, magsafe on a samsung is also possible if you get the right case. I have it on my S22 Ultra.

awesome, i have an odder box case on my S23+

may see if i can find a magsafe case some time

They can be had for relatively cheap. So the wallet I bought when I was still using iPhone, as well as the tripod/selfie stick still work with the Galaxy. Also that means any magsafe battery pack should work.

And then I will finally be eligible for an upgrade. By the time I get the Pixel 10 Pro, the iPhone 17 E will likely be released. That, or the iPhone flip. 😅

Intro

Hello all, This is partially to answer the original poster's questions, but I will also include some of my own observations. A week ago, I sold my iPhone 16E to buy myself a brand new pixel 9a. Amazon was selling them for $399, which I thought was the perfect opportunity to switch to the dark side and hopefully never come back, at least as primary. Here are my thoughts on android.

Setup Process

The setup process was tedious at best. For some reason, my phone was having issues connecting to WiFi, which was strange, considering none of my other devices had issues. I went through the setup without internet, which it let me do. Eventually, after plenty of finnagling of the phone, restarting it, turning on and off wifi, and disabling private DNS, I got it to work. Ever since then, I have had zero issues with WiFi, even when I needed to connect to a different network.

Data Transfer

I transferred all of my data from my iPhone to the pixel. I plugged in the USB C to C cable, and it transferred all of my contacts, message history, and some apps even let me use them without the need to log back in, which was a nice touch.

Talkback Lag and Vocalizer Support

Talkback lag is definitely there, and iPhone is a bit faster, but the lag only happens when the screen is scrolling. Even then, it is not bad at all. Vocalizer is available, even if you need to pay it, it is definitely a step up for google tts, which isn't super laggy, but third-party text-to-speech engines are definitely more responsive.

Braille Keyboard and braille display support

My two next big hurtles I needed to make sure worked on android was the braille keyboard, which I experienced on previous phones to decent success, and braille display support, which is definitely a bit tricky, considering I was using the NLS HumanWare eReader. Luckily, the eReader worked with my pixel over bluetooth. It works incredibly well, unless you plan on having a bunch of characters in something like a novel or a long essay. It didn't matter the app. Braille was one of the big contributing factors why I switched to android. For a brief time, my eReader was working with my iPhone in edit fields as expected. However, in long text fields, the cursor on the iPhone would jump around. When I would delete characters, it would tend to add additional, gibberish text. Given I love to write, this was obviously not going to do. Thankfully, the pixel with braille works well. To get around talkback's hatred for super long chunks of characters, for each chapter I write, I have a separate file for each one. That way, when I'm done, I can combine all the files into one large file using my computer, and I can send it off to whoever it needs to be sent to.

Guided Frame

I only used the feature once. I was trying to scan a QR code. To be blunt, that was the best QR code scanning experience I have ever had. I'm sorry, Apple, but I found that QR code in no time. Talkback announced to me that a qr code was in the frame, and it gave me the link I needed to click on. I double tapped it, and it worked like a charm. I was using the camera app for this. If this is implemented in the camera app like it is in android, I'm glad to see it, but I never experienced it. The only things I experienced was the feature where it tells you, one face near right edge, or centered.

Talkback Image Descriptions

I have three words to describe talkback's image descriptions. Absolutely, love, it! That was one of the features that convinced me to switch to android in the first place, as I had a motorola phone before this. I use it everywhere, from looking at peoples' photos on facebook, to getting a more detailed description of what mail was coming in through USPS informed delivery, etc.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows

Of course, for any operating system, there's the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is the dedicated bad and ugly section. I do not have a lot of complaints, but I do have a few. These are not dealbreakers for me, but they may be dealbreakers for others.

Screen Curtain?

Talkback has a screen shade feature. However, it's not always super consistent. For example, in the talkback menu, that menu will show up on-screen. I really don't like this at all. I understand that for sighted people, in case they accidentally turned on talkback, it makes it easier for them. Instead, what google should have done, the message from talkback, "screen hidden. To change this, perform a three-finger tap and select show screen", should be shown as a banner for a couple seconds. Better yet, when talkback is turned on, it should show a banner of how to turn it off. Perhaps, that may already be implemented. If it is, please let me know.

Lack of accessibility actions in most apps

Gmail is the app, in terms of accessibility actions, that should be the gold standard for all android apps to strive to be. While the app itself may not be perfect, the actions alone is a standout feature. Besides that app, and an appearance in the messages app to give a thumbs up reaction to a message, they really don't exist.

Features I miss from iOS

Again, these are not dealbreakers for me, but it may be for some.

Screen recognition

Talkback has a screen and image description feature, but it does not have screen recognition like voiceOver does. To get around this, you can use something like prudence or jeshuo, I think either of those have a screen recognition mode, but if it doesn't, please let me know.

Using braille screen input to open apps

This is a big feature I do miss, but talkback's better scrolling makes it doable without it.

What talkback could improve on

Here are a few things I think talkback should improve on.

Better text handling

Like I mentioned before, talkback does not like super long documents. It will straight up crash if you give anything too long. Or, it will turn extremely sluggish, where you might as well turn off talkback and turn it back on.

Better responsiveness

Talkback is about 80% there in the responsiveness department, at least on the google pixel 9a. Yes, I have updated my talkback, and I adjusted the latency settings. It's better, but it's not as perfect as something like prudence, jeshuo, or voiceOver.

Fix screen curtain

Please! We want screen curtain to work like iOS!

Things voiceOver needs to fix

I know, this comment is getting quite long by now, but I promise, this is my second to last section.

Better image descriptions

As the title says, find a way to either integrate chat GPT or google gemini into your image description model.

Cursor jumping with braille displays

Yes, please fix this.

Better cues for Face ID

I haven't tested android with face ID, as it is a bit complicated to get it set up, but with the fingerprint sensor, the pixel will tell me to move up, down, left, or right. Perhaps voiceOver could implement this in the future.

Conclusion

If you are considering switching to android, get yourself an android phone for testing purposes, as it will be worthwhile. Get acquainted with the new gestures and how android handles things compared to iOS, as they are significantly different. The main reason I've had decent success switching to android is because I've used android previously to test things. If I wasn't already familiar with android, I don't think I would have made the move to switch to android as quickly as I have. If you want a more customizable system overall, android will be perfect for you. One thing I forgot to mention in the main comment, talkback updates independently of android. The new talkback will be released at around the same time the new android version, but if you're still on android 15 or 16 and talkback 17 comes out, you will be just fine. You'll still get all the new features. For example, my motorola phone I had was running android 15, and I got talkback 16. I'm not sure how long each android version is supported with talkback, but I'm sure even with android 15, you would probably get at least talkback 17 and 18, whatever features they may add. These are just my personal observations with my phone, so your mileage may vary. Google certainly has quite a bit of room for improvement, but I truly think talkback has a lot of potential. I also feel voiceOver has a lot of work to do, but I feel apple's prioritizing adding new voiceOver features, like braille access, over fixing already existing bugs, both within the operating system and voiceOver itself. To whoever reads this comment, I hope this comment serves to help you make an informed decision, whether you're considering the switch to android, or if you just want to learn more about what android has to offer, I hope this helps either way. Bye-bye for now.

Thanks, Zach M, that was quite the review! I have been wanting to switch to Android since 2023, when a friend of mine upgraded her (then) Pixel 6 to a Pixel 8 Pro. She setup a secondary user profile for me and let me play around with it while she hung out at my place, binging on Netflix.

I fell in love with that device. It was so snappy, and I did not notice the typing lag that a lot of folks talk about when comparing Android to iOS. I also was quite impressed with the Voice Command (swipe right, then up iirc). Why can't iOS incorporate something like that for VO? I know of a few people who would really benefit from this.
If and when I do switch, I know there are some things I will miss, like:
• The Action Rotor.
• Being able to 4-finger tap the upper and lower areas of the screen to get to the top and bottom respectively.
• BSI Command Mode.
• Putting a phone call into automatic speaker mode whenever I move my device away from my ear.

There are multitude of tiny little functions and/or features that do make iOS enjoyable. However, over the past few years there have been so many bugs and glitches introduced into iOS that it makes using it a real headache, like having to do finger acrobatics to properly scroll through an email. Thank you iOS 26...

how about the way iOS loses focus every couple of minutes and throws VO all over the place, including, nut not limited to, the status bar.

Or if you enable Full Keyboard Access, you may get stuck in App Library purgatory...

So while there may be a few conveniences with iOS, I personally feel like Android has become the more stable, and possibly blind user friendly, mobile operating system. 🙂

I wholeheartedly agree with you. On iOS, you could never consistently switch to the notification center, and it was especially bad when you were on a phone or facetime audio call. I never cared for the automatic speaker mode thing, because that prevented you from usably using braille screen input for typing a text, using the phone, etc. I do miss the four finger tap at the top and bottom of the screen. However, one thing I do gain from the four finger gestures is four finger swipe up and down, which is previous and next window respectively. At least it lets you consistently look at the status bar...
I forgot to add in the comment the unboxing and the hardware experience. the unboxing feels quite comparible to the iPhone unboxing. You just get the device and a cable. the device, while having a plastic back, certainly does not feel like it. Unlike apple's offering, even the budget pixel model gets high-speed USB C 3.2 speeds. The only caviat is the charging, on this phone, is on ly 23 watts. Considering this battery is quite massive, 5100 MAH, it takes a while. Also, as of now, the battery life is legendary for me. Now, that story changes slightly when you're on cellular. It's still good, but not as good as wifi, because it uses an older modem than the regular pixel 9. It uses the modem from the pixel 7 and 8, which is notoriously inefficient. Also, as a consequence of only having 8 gb of ram, I don't get access to the better gemini nano model that can be used on the pixel 9 and newer, as they have at least 12 gb of ram. One thing I forgot to mention, web browsing on android is straight up better. On the iPhone, if a website had embedded media, it would be incredibly slow. There was a setting to help fix this issue, but on android, you don't have to customize anything to get a good experience on the web. It also doesn't jump around on you, if you're in an ad or anything like that.