Smartphone accessibility is essential for equal access to software and hardware. It also opens the door to capabilities that the status quo might not have otherwise considered. Guided Frame, for example, helps you frame yourself in a photo. This tool, designed for people who are blind or visually impaired, is so helpful for everyone that Google has made it a key part of the Pixel Camera app.
A robotic voice helps you figure out how to frame a photo, and anyone can benefit from it. Guided Frame has been around for a few years, but now it’s available directly 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 to get a closer look at things without glasses, has also been improved for everyone’s use with a bit of AI. You can search for specific words in your surroundings viewed through the camera.
Use this when you’re at the airport looking for your gate number and can’t see it from far away. Magnifier also uses the handy picture-in-picture format like Android’s video apps, so you can leave it on standby while you navigate. A selfie lighting mode boosts the brightness so you can see what you look like in direct light. Magnifier is available on the Play Store for Pixel 5 and above, but not Pixel Fold.
Believe it or not, Live Transcribe also started as an accessibility feature. Google has introduced a new dual-screen mode for it on foldable Pixel phones like the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which is only launching in a month. Dual-screen mode works just as it sounds: put the foldable device on a table and start chatting. This makes it easy to add captions to your real life.
Google has more information to share about accessibility features on Android hardware. If you’re curious, you can check out what’s new on this official YouTube playlist or read today’s official blog post.
