Category: Cell Phone Talk
Okay, here goes, at this time my phone "nexus5" is loading android-l so over the course this month I plan to run with android-l as my dayly driver. I will be posting findings for accessibility not found in KitCat. If talkback updates I will report what is added or removed from android L.
Thanks a ton! Do you know how I can find out if my next phone will be eligible for upgrade to Android-L?
yes, if you get a nexus5, galaxy s4, 5 note III note 4 when it comes out or a soney experia 2 its probly going to get android-l. Maybe the LG flex and I bet the LG G3. At this time its not certain what phones are getting android-l or what ever android plans to name the OS after it leaves beta. So here goes in the next post my finding.s
Web views, lets tackle this issue up front and first, most people have heard or used android's web views if they own a nexus7 or any nexus devices. That goes for any other jelly bean 4.3 or hier devices. Its good really good or a fun time in the pit of hell. I wont sugar coat how web views work on jelly bean its either really great, okay or find a gun to shoot google's add views. yes Add views drive talkback users crazy and web pages that refresh cause the Chrom extention to lock up talkback. What about android-L, come on now, web views have improved a lot!. There is a app called sound face not even in kitcat I could read its web content to log-in. I will admit there is still an issue to loging in to sound Face but its an issue to sound face not android-L web views. Now lets talk about the keyboard
The keyboard is super smooth when typing fast and after google released an update to tis keyboard it now can use char-letters for those who speak a different language. Now lets touch on device responsiveness, apps on my nexus5 really seem to open a slite quicker then on KitCat, don't get me wrong kitcat is fast but android-L seems to be a bit more responsive. Now lets cover lock screen, notification and quick settings.
Okay answering the phone when screen is unlocked, first off lock screen, one of the for most gripeds about android that I hear from IOS users is that when you unlock your screen you have to drag-down the notification tray, not sow in android-L, notifications are up front and senter. When you unlock your screen you see or hear with talkback "tb" how many text messages you have, email and any other app that is using your notification tray. Now remember I brought up quick settings. Now its its own panel, no need to find a button called quick settings to find WYFI, Blue tooth, battery status and singnal status. Oh, quick settings, its still there but its a quick way to the system settings for your phone. Now lets cover accessibility
Oh I for got before moving on to accessibility, when you get a call the phone screen does not intrude while reading a app your using at the time. the Answer button, hold button is right near the notification tray which is at the top of your screen. Now lets cover low vision and get into the meet of android accessibility for android-L.
The most talked about thing or gripe I get from users is that android does not have a reversed color built into android. Samsung does this but not the stock android. Not true in android-L this issue is now fixedits a part of android-l not some third party add on or something that will be added on via Samsung later. In short things are looking up for android and its accessibility. Keep in mind android-L is a beta build and does have bugs.
I for got to add here to access quick settings panel take to fingers and slide down twice.
Answering the phone should be as simple as pressing one button, even when the phone is locked. That's how it is with my Galaxy S4 mini
Keep in mind your galaxy phone has a physical button on it and my nexus5 has soft buttons. So answering a call via the come button would be annoying to me. Galaxy line users I can see how you like a physical button to answer your phone. Now one more item I left out, in kitcat stock rom not Samsung's rom, there is no search button to quickly get to the settings you want on your device's android settings. Well android-L took a page out of the galaxy line settings and placed a search button in settings. Its quite handy and I do not know why or how I did not miss such a feature in kitcat. Okay bugs, this is a beta so yes there a bugs, firefox doe not work at this time but its being worked on, sometimes talkback does not send its TTS speech through a connected head set. I had to restart my nexus5 to get talkback to rerout my sounds and talkback's speech to my stario blue tooth head set. If any more bugs come up I will report them here as well my findings.
So let’s make this posts productive feel free to ask me any android L questions. So it’s been about a week sense I have been using android L. Here are some of the features that keep me from flashing back to kit Kat. Just as a side note, I am not going back to Kit Cat. 1. Notifications on the lock screen being supported natively, you guessed your notification tray is your lock screen. To unlock your phone just swipe two finger’s up in the middle of your screen and to open your phone app which is at the bottom left side of your lock screen near the back button swipe left and you will access your call history, speed dial and more related to the phone app. The same jester “two fingers” right on the bottom left where your camera app is lock when you unlock your screen will unlock the phone and allow you to quickly access your camera. 2. Earlier I made a direct reference to andorid’s hit and miss web views on kit cat, well its true web views are fixed. I can easily use chrome, log-in to sound face and more apps that have web views without seeing any lock up. 4. Bugs, yes it’s a testing platform for the next android so bugs do abound here. When someone calls you the phone says “screen unlocked” many times over until you exit the phone app. If I am missing anything feel free to chime in here or again ask questions.
Oh, when in a call that requires you to dial a number or select a digit, makes sure your dial tones are turn off for now. Talkback will long press every number and drive you batty. Its advised to leave the notification lockscreen announcements turned on so you can find the answer button when you get a call while your reading or enteracting with an app, the slide to lock is now gone. Its replaced with a answer button near the right hand side of your screen near the notification app. Oh, the audio "speaker button", mute button add call and dail pad are now in the upper half of your screen while on a call. The end button is right above your home button.
for the note 3, does Talk Back have any problems? Like, does the screen size make it more difficult and if so does Android L fix this? Also, how in the world did you get access to it? Just curious because if I get an Android I'm deffinetely going to join the dev previews or whatever that is.
Question: How do you check email and surf the internet? I had an Android phone a long time ago, so I hope things have changed. Basic apps that came with Android like email and the browser were useless. Do they work out of the box now, or do you have to go to Google Play and install some special apps just to get basic functions like internet and email working?
When I got my first iPhone, I opened the apps that came on the device and they were ready for me to use. That is the standard by which I will judge Android.
Things generally work on newer versions of Android depending on the phone manufacturer. Take a look at
http://www.blindtech.net/?p=26
It is a comparrison of Android and iOS I wrote. The short version from my experience is they are both usable, Android is better if your on a budget, iOS is better if you are not.
yes things work out of the box for emailing, phone and texting. Answer another person's question the android-L pre-view is only for nexus5 and nexus7 devices. Samsung will release it when android-L becomes official. Roman battle mask not to address you directly, both IOS and Android have there weeknesses, it goes back to what your looking for in a platform. I have both I sure could point to my annoyances with IOS but this is not the time nor place. I would say when looking for a phone what are you looking for, what is your expectations and if your a prier IOS user do you expect to swipe or learn how to use a hybrid approach to a smart phone. IOS takes a tab order when it comes to swiping and talkback sorta does this but not all apps are update to take advantage of tab order or swiping. That is all I can say with out putting my personal view on swiping VS exploring. Lastly, are you a heavy braille user, then IOS will be your platform until the brailleback team brakes silents and we find out what there cooking up. NOt a reference to the new beta of talkback, you now can tap the side of your device wants its set-up under TB settings to access to global and local context menu.
more on android L, its been close to a month and here are some bugs, keep in mind I promised to be up front here so here goes. Web views still sorta lag, they take a second or less to load depending on each app but wants there loaded you could not ask for a better experience. The stock alarm clock when the screen is lock needs some work with talkback or it could be the user here half a sleep. The slide to snooze or dismiss alarm clock is in the middle of the screen and if you miss it the buttons are in your notification for snooze or dismiss. Some apps are crashing more because there not update with the new material L view and its not ready for android-L. If I think of more I will post here. The screen lock spoken over and over while on a call still hangs around but its an easy fix just exit the phone app.
some more bugs but I am not returning to KitCat even if texas freezes over. While receving a call when the screen is locked sometimes talkback does not gain focus to the area where you need ot swipe left to answer and right to decline. Some times its a bit laggy but nothing I can not handle. Sometimes the phone gets laggy under huges list views but again nothing I can not handle. Well off I go and time to sleep.
Okay do to missing phone calls, constent lag under "screen unlock" when phone calls come in or alarm goes off I now am running kitcat 4.4.4. Keep in mind this was a pre-view as to what is coming down the pipe. yes, I am chomping at the bit for the next release of android sense I know web views are fixed and after listening to "that android show" developers will ge able to add to the local and global context menus. This in clues you guessed it speech TTS engines, what happens next is any ones guess. I am glad to see web views and the dialer I saw under L I am hoping will be the official stock android dialer.
When the next android is released I will write a review included with a podcast here.