iOS vs. Android: Which mobile platform has the best accessibility features
Smartphones are a daily part of our lives, but with this growing reliance on tech comes the need for accessibility and assistive features that allow people of diverse abilities learn, work, share, and communicate with others. So whether you own aa top-tier Android phoneor partake of Apple’s wares, you may want to know how accessibility features compare on each platform, which is what today’s roundup is all about.
We gathered many of Android’s best accessibility features to see how they compare to Apple’s offerings. Now that new Apple accessibility features are available to improve cognitive, vision, and speech accessibility, we have a host of new features to explore below to see how Android competes.
So if you’re keen to dive deep into Android and Apple’s accessibility features to contrast and compare which one comes out on top, enjoy the curated list we built to make this task as simple as possible.
Assistive Access, Live Speech, Personal Voice, and Point and Speak will be on iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and the upcoming version of MacOS. Thesefeatures will be available in late 2023.
1Assistive Access — Apple’s latest accessibility-friendly UI update is a game changer
A new feature announced on May 16th as preview software is Apple’s new Assistive Access UI. Apple overhauled its base UI by simplifying the design so those with cognitive disabilities can easily navigate Apple devices without dealing with confusing clutter. This way, users can keep on task with a streamlined UI designed for ease of use, and it’s only a single toggle away.
Android doesn’t offer a streamlined UI in its accessibility settings. However, there are existing controls to make buttons larger, getting users closer to Apple’s large icons in Assistive Access. On top of this, you can change your launcher on Android, and there are a few launchers built for ease of use thatinclude large iconsand easily navigable menus. So thanks to Android’s openness, there are existing options to simulate an experience close to what Apple built into its OS with Assistive Access.
2Personal Voice lets you keep your voice, even if you can no longer speak
Simply put, Apple’s Personal Voice is among the best assistive features we’ve ever seen. With Personal Voice, people who are at risk of losing their ability to speak can save their voice to their iPhone or iPad. People who have been diagnosed with ALS or disorders that progressively impact speech, can then use the feature to recreate their voice when they’re no longer able to speak
Setting up the feature is simple: simply record 15 minutes of randomized text on your iPhone or iPad. Once completed, Personal Voice will use on-device machine learning to securely store and recreate your voice. The feature work seamlessly with Live Speech.
Google doesn’t have an exact equivalent to Personal Voice just yet. It is, however, working on anapp called Project Relate. The app allows users with non-standard speech communicate with others in real time.
Google’s Speech and Research teams began working on Project Relate in 2018, and it opened up testing to English-speakers with unique speech patterns in 2021. Project Relate lets users transcribe their speech, restate what they say in a clear voice (though it’s not a recreation of the user’s voice), and chat with the Google Assistant to complete tasks and control various smart home hardware.
3Live Speech lets you chat with others in person or via FaceTime
Much as you’d guess from the name, Apple’s Live Speech lets users type conversations into Apple devices which are then read aloud. The feature allows people who are non-verbal to communicate with others.
Live Speech is available on iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS. The feature works for in-person conversations as well as on FaceTime calls. The feature is easy to use and even has a bookmark feature that lets users save and access commonly used phrases.
This is another area where Android has a direct equivalent. It’s called Text-to-speech output. It’s available in Android’s accessibility settings and can be used in any app. So if you’re looking to communicate with the people around you with Android’s Text-to-speech output, all you do is open a notes app, type what you want to be said, then highlight that text for the feature to read aloud. Easy peasy.
4Point and Speak gives iPhone users a low-vision tool that’s similar to Android’s Select to Speak
Point and Speak is an extension to Apple’s magnifier tool that helps the visually impaired interact with objects that offer text labels, such as elevator doors. This way, users can point their phone’s camera at a panel filled with numbers and letters to have the phone shout out the words and numbers it sees, essentially filling the user in on where each button is located and what it does.
This is a feature where Android was leading the way withSelect to Speak, which functions similarly to Apple’s offering. After turning on the accessibility option, point your camera at an item, then highlight the part of the image you want to be described by OCR.
6AssistiveTouch
Apple’s AssistiveTouch accessibility feature is an iOS equivalent to Android’s Switch Access feature. In essence, it’s a useful feature for anyone who, for whatever reason, finds using the device’s touchscreen or physical buttons problematic. These include but are not limited to multi-finger gestures, adjusting volume, accessing Siri, or any of the accessibility features outlined below.
Here’s how to set up Switch Access on Androidfor those looking for comparable AssistiveTouch accessibility.
If you own a mobile device, you may use a fingerprint scanner to access it. It’s especially pertinent when accessing banking apps. But fingerprint scanners can get smudgy and don’t always read your fingerprint correctly, leading to a frustrating experience. While Apple’s Touch ID is known to be fairly reliable in that regard, it’s always nice to have a backup option.
Face ID replaces the usual Touch ID for many of your device’s functions. Instead of scanning your fingerprint, Face ID scans your face and uses the built-in camera to let you into the device.
Android offers a comparable feature, known asFace Authentication, with a new stack available for Android 10+.
8Flash the LED for Alerts
Withthis accessibility featureturned on, your iPhone flashes the LED next to the camera instead of playing a sound when receiving notifications or calls. It’s a useful feature for people with trouble hearing. But it works equally well in overly loud environments, where you might not hear the ring or notification.
Android has offered alert LEDs for years, though the inclusion of these LEDs is waning, so you have tochoose your handset wiselyif it’s a feature you require. If you prefer to use your camera’s flash like you would on iOS,there are apps for that.
9Background Sounds
Background sounds are more of a productivity than an accessibility feature. It drowns out environmental noises or your inner critic.
You could play a YouTube video with a related sound and focus that way. But doing it via background sounds consumes less RAM, and you might be tempted to watch the video when on YouTube. It’s especially useful if you’re on a limited data plan with no Wi-Fi access.
Also, for all you Android users, you’ll find plenty of background sound apps on the Play Store, such asAmbioandEndel.
10Guided Access
Guided Access combines productivity and parental controls into one accessibility feature. This feature allows you to adjust which apps or features can be accessed at specific times or the duration they can be used for. In a nutshell, it allows you to prevent your child from playing games for more than the designated time. Or, it prevents you from playing games when you should be focusing on work.
On Android, you’ll find a similar featureknown as App pinning. This way, you can pin a single app to the screen just as you would on iOS with Guided Access, thus limiting what’s used on a device to ensure the user can focus on their task.
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