Now I have an Android. Ho ho ho.

[yendi]

As some of you know, part of my day job involves accessibility*. And as became clear at a recent conference, Android devices are finally approaching a level of accessibility (especially for blind/visually impaired users and users with physical disabilities) that makes it viable (noting that iOS remains ahead of the curve here; Windows is still painfully barely in the game).

As a result, I now possess a 7" Galaxy Tab 4. As with my iPad, I'm planning on using it for enough day-to-day stuff to get comfortable enough with the OS to be able to take a deep dive into how it works for accessibility, so will also be using it as a general tablet. But other than my "smart" phone (a Kyocera Rise which is literally the worst thing I've ever owned, and is bad enough to have nearly soured me on Android usage in general), I don't have a huge amount of experience with the Android ecosystem. So for those of you who use Android, what works well for you? What are the essential apps? What apps don't exist on iOS that I need to know about? What do you wish you knew when you got your device? I'm still very much getting my sea legs here. The interface is just enough like what I'm familiar with to make the differences more jarring and confusing, but that's a day-one (or two, technically) learning curve.

The goal here is to be able to live in both ecosystems, both for day-to-day, and for understanding how they handle accessibility. I'm more looking for advice on the former front (since I have plenty of resources for the latter).

*as a former co-worker once pointed out, accessibility is often the thing that gets done by the person who cares about it, since too few organizations have the resources in willingness to treat it seriously. That's another rant, and I'm happy to be working in one that actually is making moves

Comments

Accessibility

[robby.livejournal.com]

My Android tablet can transmit voice commands via Bluetooth to certain Android devices, and of course, lots of people use them to listen to audio books.

Re: Accessibility

[yendi]

Thanks. Right now, I'm not using any other Android devices, but it's worth remembering that down the road.

Re: Accessibility

[robby.livejournal.com]

I think we both have Bluetooth on our new tablets, which opens a new realm of communication and control possibilities.

[greylistening.livejournal.com]

It's times like this when I think you have the BEST JOB. *is jealous*

[yendi]

:-)

[rosefox]

I have no idea about comparisons with iOS.

As a person with an intermittent arm disability, here's the big thing that makes Android accessible for me: Swype + Dragon. The speech recognition is worlds better than anything I've ever used on a full-fledged computer. If I were having a bad tendinitis flare and needed to dictate emails, I'd do it on my phone or tablet. And Swype is much better than the built-in keyboard: it understands my sloppy gestures, its suggestions are smart, and I very rarely have to correct it.

Beyond that, for "essential apps" I'd ask: essential to what?

[yendi]

Thanks -- that sort of insight into Swype and Dragon is exactly the sort of thing I appreciate hearing; obviously, I'm generally familiar with the core accessibility stuff, and I've used Dragon and seen enough demos at A11y conferences (but hearing it again is always helpful), but your description of Swype is one of those examples of something that isn't necessarily an accessibility feature by design, but which becomes one (and I'm a big fan of usability/accessibility confluence).

As to what's "essential," I left that open because different things are essential to everyone. Beyond using it for myself for day-to-day work, and as an accessibility tool, I also work with enough different users with enough different interests (since academic tech is so broad), that I never know what folks might be interested in.

[rosefox]

Essential for me are Gmail, Email, Chrome, White Noise Lite, Hootsuite, Headspace, a dozen different e-readers, Profile Scheduler+, SleepBot, Gentle Alarm, Maps, Yelp, local transit apps, WaniKani Mobile and WaniKani Speed, Visual Voicemail (there's another great accessibility app), AirDroid (much more usable than the default Android-to-laptop software), GoWeatherEX, and Play Music.

[yendi]

Thanks! This gives me a lot of things to check out.

[asim.livejournal.com]

My useful apps on Android:

* Evernote (or Google Keep, or OneNote -- basically my catch-all "data dump")

* Twilight for nighttime reading

* Aldiko for reading non-DRM'ed books

* Buffer, for scheduling social media posts on the fly

* Sunrise, which connects my Google Calendar w/Social Media events

* Lux Light for auto-adjusting of light levels

* Tasker for auto-adjusting settings on the fly (for example, unlocking phone when connected to specific Wifi)

[yendi]

Thanks! I'll check some of these out! Evernote's already there (I need a data dump that can also go to my iPad and my Mac, and although I'd been using Apple Notes since it didn't require an online connection, Evernote's a fine alternative that exists on all platforms), but not the others. Out of curiosity, what makes Aldiko better than free readers? I've been spoiled by iBooks, no doubt, but Google Play Books does allow ePubs, I think?