Comparison of iOS accessibility and help features with Android features (2023)

fuente:Appel

Smartphones are an everyday part of our lives, but with our growing reliance on technology comes the need for accessibility and assistive features that enable people of all abilities to learn, work, share and communicate with others. So you haveTop level android phoneor part of Apple products, you may want to know how the accessibility features compare on each platform, which is what today's summary is about.

We've rounded up many of Android's best accessibility features to see how they compare to Apple's offerings. As Apple's new accessibility features roll out to improve cognitive, visual, and speech accessibility, we've got some new features to explore below to see how Android competes.

So if you want to delve into the accessibility features of Android and Apple to compare and contrast which stand out, use the curated list we've put together to make this task as easy as possible.

1 Assisted Access: The latest update to Apple's accessibility user interface is a revolution

A new feature announced on May 16 as a software preview is the new Apple Assisted Login UI. Apple has revised its basic user interface and simplified the design so that people with cognitive disabilities can easily navigate Apple devices without having to deal with confusing clutter. This way, users can get started with a streamlined user interface designed for ease of use, and all you have to do is switch.

Android does not offer a streamlined user interface in accessibility settings. However, there are controls that increase the size of the buttons, bringing users closer to the large Apple icons in Assisted Access. Apart from that, you can change your launcher on Android and some launchers are built with ease of use in mindcontain large iconsand easy-to-navigate menus. So with the openness of Android, there are options to simulate an experience similar to what Apple has built into its operating system with Assisted Access.

2 With Personal Voice you can keep your voice even if you can't speak anymore

Simply put, Apple Personal Voice is one of the best assistive features we've seen. Personal Voice allows people at risk of losing their ability to speak to save their voice to their iPhone or iPad. People diagnosed with ALS or conditions that gradually affect speech can use this feature to recreate their voice when they can no longer speak.

Setting up this feature is easy: just record 15 minutes of random text on your iPhone or iPad. Once complete, Personal Voice uses machine learning on your device to securely store and play your voice. This feature works seamlessly with Live Speech.

Google still doesn't have an exact equivalent of Personal Voice. He's working on itan app called Project Relate. The application allows users to communicate with others in real time using non-standard speech.

Google's speech and research teams began Project Relate in 2018 and will open tests for English speakers with unique speech patterns in 2021. Project Relate allows users to transcribe what they say by repeating what they say in a clear voice (although it is not a reproduction of the user's voice) and talking to the Google Assistant to perform tasks and control various smart home devices. operate.

3 Live Speech allows you to chat with others in person or via FaceTime

As you can guess from the name, Live Speech from Apple allows users to write conversations on their Apple devices, which are then read aloud. This feature allows non-verbal people to communicate with others.

Live Speech is available on iOS, iPadOS and macOS. This feature works for both personal calls and FaceTime calls. The feature is easy to use and even has a bookmark feature that allows users to save and access frequently used phrases.

This is another area where Android has a direct counterpart. This is called text-to-speech. It is available in Android's accessibility settings and can be used in any application. So if you want to communicate with those around you using Android's text-to-speech feature, all you need to do is open the notes app, type what you want to say, and then select that text for the feature. loud. Piece of cake.

fuente:Appel

Point and Speak is an extension of Apple's magnifying glass tool that helps visually impaired people interact with objects with text labels, such as elevator doors. In this way, users can point their phone's camera at a panel filled with numbers and letters to have the phone call out the words and numbers it sees, essentially telling the user where each button is and what it does.

This is a feature where Android has been a leaderselect to chat, which works similarly to Apple's offerings. With accessibility enabled, point the camera at the item, then select the part of the image you want to OCR.

5

6 Touch support

Apple's AssistiveTouch accessibility feature is the iOS equivalent of Android's Switch Access feature. In short, this is a useful feature for anyone who finds using the touchscreen or physical buttons of the device problematic for any reason. These include, but are not limited to, multi-finger gestures, volume control, access to Siri, or any of the accessibility features described below.

Here's how to set up accessibility on Androidfor those looking for similar AssistiveTouch accessibility.

7 face identification

If you have a mobile device, you can access it with a fingerprint scanner. This is especially important when accessing banking applications. But fingerprint scanners can blur your fingerprint and not always read correctly, which is frustrating. While Apple's Touch ID is quite reliable in this regard, it's always good to have a backup option.

Face ID replaces regular Touch ID for many of your device's features. Instead of scanning your fingerprint, Face ID scans your face and uses the built-in camera to let you log into your device.

Android offers a similar feature known asface authentication, with a new stack available for Android 10+.

8 Flashing LED for warnings

whenthis accessibility featureWhen the iPhone is turned on, the LED next to the camera blinks instead of playing a sound when you receive notifications or calls. This is a useful feature for people with hearing problems. But it works just as well in overly noisy environments where you might not hear a ringtone or notification.

Android has offered warning LEDs for years, although the number of these LEDs is decreasing, so you shouldchoose your phone wiselyif this is the feature you need. If you prefer to use your camera flash as you do on iOS,there are apps for that.

9 background noises

Background sounds are more a function of productivity than accessibility. Block out the sounds of your environment or your inner critic.

You can play a YouTube video with the accompanying audio and focus that way. But doing it with background noise will use less RAM and you might feel like watching a video while on YouTube. This is especially useful if you have a limited data plan without access to Wi-Fi.

In addition, for all Android users, you will find many background noise apps in the Play Store, such asi roamjHoi.

10 guided access

Guided Access combines productivity and parental controls in one accessibility feature. This feature allows you to customize which apps or features are available at certain times or when they are used. Simply put, this allows you to prevent your child from playing for longer than the allotted time. Or it prevents you from playing games when you should be focusing on your work.

You will find a similar feature on Androidalso known as app pinning. This way you can pin a single app to the screen, as in Guided Access iOS, limiting what is used on the device so that the user can focus on their task.

11 Headphone adjustments

With headphone customization enabled, you can enhance some sounds in your headphones. This function amplifies quiet, often barely audible sounds or improves the clarity of dialogue when you talk to someone. Assuming you want to invest in expensive Apple or Beats headphones.

The accessibility feature of Android Sound Booster has the upper hand in this case. It works the same way, but with any headset, be it wired or Bluetooth. In addition to adjusting the sound during media playback, you can improve the sound in noisy environments or adjust the sound individually for each ear. Here's howset up sound booster on your android device.

12 live captions

Live credits do what they say on the tin. As it is still in beta, this accessibility feature is only available to iPhone users in the US and Canada and requires the relatively new iPhone 11 model. Live captions work across all media and apps. With this feature enabled, you'll see closed captions when you're live streaming on YouTube or Twitch, a podcast on the platform you're on, and when you're chatting with someone over FaceTime.

There is also a live caption feature on Android and we have a handy featureA live caption guide for Samsung users, jGoogle Pixel users are not left out either.

13 sound recognition

This accessibility feature from Apple recognizes sounds around you, such as a ringing doorbell or a crying baby. When this accessibility feature is turned on, your iPhone or iPad will listen for these sounds and notify you.

A similar feature is available on Android devices.called Sound Notifications, which works the same way. Both operating systems can listen to music playing in their immediate vicinity and name the song. This is a feature that is consistently accurate on Android and iOS.

14 Siri

Whether it's functionally better or worse than Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa is up for debate. But if you use an iOS device without enabling Siri, you are missing out on a lot of features. Virtual assistants like Siri have become indispensable for simple daily tasks.

By saying "Hey Siri," you can add events to your calendar, play your favorite music or podcast, make calls, and more. All this without lifting the device.

Google's answer to Siri islonely google, which is available on most Android devices. You can also opt for the Amazon Alexa smart assistant app if you don't want to use that eitherworks fine on android.

15 Narration

Wouldn't it be great if people like David Attenborough or Morgan Freeman could talk about your life? Or better yet, be the voice of your phone's AI?

While this is a future feature for now, VoiceOver talks about what you do on your device. This accessibility feature describes, among other things, which application your finger is currently in or who is calling you. You can even adjust VoiceOver speed and tone.

TalkBack-Androidhe does the same, acting as the on-screen narrator. Enabling this feature allows the device to read what appears on the screen. It containsnews articles on the internet, I like this. In addition, TalkBack can be set to read a word or character.

The best accessibility features for iOS and Android are at your fingertips

Accessibility is a growing area for Apple and Android. While Apple may be ahead, as you can see in this comparison chart, Android is no slouch and even surpasses Apple in some areas. In the end, they're all winners when both companies work to see which one can outperform the other with accessibility features.