3 months ago
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Smartphone accessibility is essential for equitable access to software and hardware. It also opens the door to abilities that the status quo might not have otherwise considered. Guided Frame, for example, helps you frame yourself in a photo. This tool, built for people with blindness or low vision, is so helpful for all that Google made it a prominent part of the Pixel Camera app.
Having a robotic voice helps you figure out how to frame a photo, and anyone can benefit from it. Guided Frame has been out for a few years, but now it’s directly available in the Pixel Camera app rather than hidden behind the TalkBack menu.
Magnifier, another helpful Pixel-exclusive accessibility app that uses your camera to zoom in and get a closer look at something sans glasses, has also been beefed up for use for all with a little AI. You can search for specific words within your surroundings, as viewed through the camera.
Use this when looking for your gate number at the airport if you can’t see from far away. Magnifier also employs the handy picture-in-picture format like Android’s video apps, so you can keep it on standby while navigating. A selfie light-up mode fires up the brightness so you can see how you’re looking in direct light. Magnifier is available in the Play Store for the Pixel 5 and up but not the Pixel Fold.
Believe it or not, Live Transcribe also started as an accessibility feature. Google has launched a new dual-screen mode for it on folding Pixel smartphones, like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which won’t be out for another month. The dual-screen mode works like it sounds; set the foldable on a tabletop and start chatting. It’s an easy way to add subtitles to your real life.
Google has more to share regarding accessibility features it’s brought to Android hardware. If you’re curious, you can check out what’s new on this official YouTube playlist or read through today’s official blog post.
