The Android Journey - One Day In.

Introduction.

You wil remember in my previous blog post, I discussed some of the difficulties we were having with using I O S on the iPhone at the time, especially those relating to both VoiceOver and transferring videos. Most of those have been resolved now I'm glad to say, but it did highlight the need to explore the alternative option to see if it was just as usable and accessible. You'll remember I was also encouraged by Nick Adamson's poddcast on his conversion to the Android platform from I O S.

I did delay my purchase of an Android phone for a while, principally because it seemed the Google Pixel 3 did not have stereo audio when recording videos, and this was important if I was to go into this in the long-term. But once the Pixel 4 was released, and I found that problem was overcome, I wanted to commit to it.

I am certainly not going to be writing a blog post every day, nor am I going to tell you how to accomplish particular tasks on an Android phone. But given I am now one day into this experiment, I thought some people may be interested in some of the things I have discovered and really like.

I've been an iPhone user for many years and before yesterday had never used the Android platform, so please bare that in mind. However, I also train people in the use of Assistive Technology, so some of my comments below are within that context too.

The Pixel 4.

Apart from its good reviews in the mainstream media, I liked the idea of getting a Google Pixel phone. This was recommended since other brands can customise Android to their own specifications. It's a little like many Content Management Systems which are used in places of employment, such as CRM. There's a basic template available but companies can take that template and do what they like with it. This is the case with phone manufacturers also. So I took that advice because I was hoping things would be pretty much as Google intended.

Sadly, the phone does not come equipped with headphones which, while travelling in the car this morning, has been somewhat of a disadvantage. But I have purchased an adaptor which I am hoping will solve that problem using an existing headset.

Before You Begin.

I would recommend to anyone who plans to start out on the road to Android that they should learn as much as they can. Even then, that probably won't be enough to help you do what you need to do. The operating system is changing so fast that even those resources which are available may well be out of date when you consult them. But do your best because it will help you. I read a Facebook post recently on an Android group to the effect that a person was not good at following tutorials. Well, do try, because unless you've got someone with you who is proficient in the use of the TalkBack screen-reader, it is going to be quite a bumpy road ahead otherwise.

I would highly recommend the Mystic Access Android tutorial. This is an audio archive of a series of Webinars which took place during August and September of this year. While audio tutorials are not especially helpful if you want to find something very quickly,I did find lots of tips in this to help jump-start me on this whole process. But more importantly, I found the question and answer sections at the end of each Chapter just as valuable as the tutorial itself.

The National Braille Press also produce a text-based guide on using Android. I've not read this. Had I known about it, I may have purchased it as their books generally are very low cost. But while I don't want to sound too vain, I think I am passed the stage now of neding that as I went through the Mystic Access product and made my own notes.

Getting to Grips and Playing With It.

I cheated a little. Someone in our local phone store helped me set up the phone to some degree and at least activated the TalkBack screen-reader. But there were some things he could not do once TalkBack was activated, such as go to the Home screen. Fortunately, because I had done some research, I knew how to help him!

The thing I was most nervous about, even before I got the phone, was entering the password for our wifi network. I am someone who does not like using a QWERTY keyboard on a phone; "explore by touch". This is where you find a character on the keyboard by moving your finger around it and, when the desired character is located, you lift your finger. It doesn't come naturally to me, and while you might think "well it would get better with practice", it doesn't. I am not as fluent as I would like to be. So on my iPhone, I've either used dictation or Braille screen input. Android doesn't have Braille screen input.

However, returning to the story, I was very pleased that I was able to enter the password correctly first go.

The issue which really caught me out was that the audio tutorial kept referring to three Buttons on the bottom of the screen: "Back", "Home" and "Overview". These were not present at all and I could see how useful they were going to be. Thanks to some assistance on Twitter, I was able to change the Google interface under Settings/System/Gestures so as to allow the Buttons to be displayed rather than Google's more modern gesture-based interface.

What I Have Achieved So Far.

• I've been right through all of the settings in every section, including TalkBack screen-reader settings. I believe I now have the phone customised to the way I want it to be.
• Made some phone calls.
• Sent and received text messages.
• Added some contacts.
• Used Google Assistant to open programs, hear the weather and listen to the news from the BBC.
• Installed several apps.
• Uninstalled an app.
• Moved an app to the Home Screen.
• Worked with Tweetings to send and read tweets, and customised its settings.

What I Love About Android and TalkBack.

Now I have increased the speed of screen-reading, I do like TalkBack a lot. So far, it has always worked and it is very responsive. I am using the default UK English female voice and I'm very happy with that at a rapid rate. Don't like the voice? No problem. This is Android, which leads me to my second point.

If there is something you don't like about Android, you can change it. Whether that is a gesture to carry out an action, a text to speech engine you are not particularly fond of, or a QWERTY keyboard arrangement which is not to your taste, you can change it. Regarding text to speech, there are plenty of TTS engines out there. So this isn't just a case of thinking that you would like to change the individual voice. This is about having a choice of TTS engines too! Many people for example like Eloquence speech on the computer. I do too, but I've decided to keep the default voice for now because I'm happy with it. It's nice and clear and I can increase the speech rate without it mangling words.

I love the fact that you can change the gestures. Yes I know I O S is starting to do this as well, but for this phone it was quite important for me. I'm not too comfortable yet with some of the Android gestures. For example, with what Android calls the local context menu, I didn't find I could do this right off the bat and it is fairly important to have it. So I changed it to the new facility of tapping the side of the phone once. That's made all the difference. Not only can you do that but you can increase or decrease the sensitivity of the side tap. This I had to do as occasionally the context menu was being invoked unnecessarily.

I like a lot of the Android interface. The Android phone with TalkBack has a gesture where you can systematically move through each item in turn, much like I O S has. However, unlike I O S, when you reach the end of the list of items it wraps back to the start. I do accept some people might find this disconcerting. What I would say is this. First, listen to the audio cues, because the sounds will tell you when you have reached the end of a list. But second, to be productive what you should be learning to do is not sequentially swipe at all, but rather, learn the placement of items so you can reach them almost immediately. This is certainly the case with areas of the phone you wish to access frequently and quickly.

Other Quick Things I Like So Far.

• Terminating a call by pressing the Power button on the phone, and no that the call is guaranteed to be disconnected.
• All the options you have while on a call, such as to mute, put on hold, etc.
• The text message interface. From a training perspective, I think it is great that when you open an incoming message, you immediately drop into the Edit Field for a reply. Furthermore, it's incredibly easy to work with that message, such as add the person to Contacts, delete, block, etc. It's a lovely intuitive interface and there is everything within it you could need. I cannot say the same for the I O S interface. It's not quite as slick.
• The vast range of customisation you can achieve with the screen-reading. Again, there are many options to explore.
• The fact that there is an easily accessible method of shutting down the phone and restarting it, nor does it take 10 years to boot up.
• Updates to the TalkBack screen-reader are conducted separately to that of the main operating system, the theory being that if something needs fixing, it can be done without a need for a major update.

The Big Finish.

I've left the coolest thing I love until last.

If you have a GMail account, (and you probably should have one if you want to invest in Google's infrastructure), not only do you have some wonderful technology at your disposal but some very accessible technology.

If you are not as efficient at searching the Play Store for apps as you would like to be on the phone, or you want a fast way of inputting contacts etc, you can do it all from your computer! Just stop and think about that for a moment.

If you are comfortable using the web with your computer screen-reader, you can search for apps, and even install them, right from the Play Store on the web. But you can also manage your contacts that way. So you can see your existing contacts, edit them, and add new ones from an extremely accessible web-based interface. This latter point is very helpful for me. I can grab phone numbers from Emails my customers have sent me and paste them straight into Google Contacts. When I go out, and I need to call them, I know the contacts are there. The Google EcoSystem is incredibly powerful in that respect, as against iCloud which is a horror to my way of thinking.

I have installed onto my PC the Google suite of apps, and I look forward to finding out about synchronising files between devices.

So, Where Are the Problems?

As I've previously written, some of what I am about to write may well be able to be rectified. It just may be that I don't know how to achieve these tasks yet, but there are some significant issues too.

The big one here is Braille screen input, or the lack of it. I'm quite sad about this because for me, that means voice dictation. On the upside, Google Assistant works fine. I can ask her for things to be researched, if I didn't hear her the first time I can review that text, and I can get her to send text messages etc, all without a problem. It's accurate, as is Google's Voice Input tool. Voice Input isn't quite up to I O S standard I don't think in terms of ease of use. When in an Edit Field, you need to locate the Voice Input button, activate it, then speak, then double tap to finish. I O S has this nailed down because with that operating system, you do not need to do anything special. You just talk. I O S Voice Control maybe at its first version, but they've got that one licked.

Now having said all of that, I have found an app in the Play Store called Voice Access, which I have set up and it seems to work well. However, to really test that, I need a pair of headphones which I do not possess at the moment. But it does look really promising.

But returning to Braille screen input, the Pixel 4 has such a small screen I'm not sure whether I would be able to Braille on it successfully anyway, unless there was the equivalent of an I O S Table Top Mode. But the lack of Braille is obviously something which needs some serious attention.
Updated 30 October: For me at least, this problem is now solved.

Other Niggles.

• I am using the GBoard UK English keyboard for when I need to enter text. I haven't found a way yet of deleting a word. I can delete characters but not words. I am also finding the ability to invoke the Voice Input button a little tricky at the moment due to its location on the GBoard keyboard, but maybe the Voice Access app I found will help with that. Nick Adamson, who I mentioned earlier, has just recommended to me a virtual keyboard which should be better and I will report back on that. Updated at 17:49 same day. This problem is solved.
• Notwithstanding what I've said about the interface for text messages, deleting a message is not particularly intuitive. You need to open the message and delete it from within it. There are a few steps involved. Even if the delete item was on a context menu, that would have been quite good. Updated at 17:49 same day. This problem is solved.
• Disappointingly, there is no Touch ID on the Pixel 4. They've also removed the ability to unlock the phone by voice for security reasons. So it's either a PIN or Face ID. I haven't even thought about Face ID yet.

Summary.

Before this blog post turns into a book, I hope you found this interesting. As you can tell, I am very much enjoying getting to know the new Pixel 4 and I'm grateful to all the people who have helped me so far on Facebook and Twitter.

While undoubtedly the lack of Braille input is quite a problem, it seems that the Android platform is a very credible alternative for blind people to use. I'm only just tapping into its potential at this stage.

Read the Next Post for Day Seven.