Android versus IOS Part One

Android versus Apple IOS

For those who are blind or visually impaired there are many different things we can purchase to help us function on a day-to-day basis. This article is going to cover android versusApple iOS. 

When you are blind or visually impaired trying to decide what kind of cell phone or tablet to get is a little more difficult. Right now Android and Apple are the two main devices that are out there and they work great. we want to attempt to educate you on both devices so you can make an informed decision on which one suits your needs. Please note that you should always go out and play with both before making a decision there is no substitute for hands-on experience. We will be covering Android and  Apple IOS in more detail in separate postings.

You have  a little more freedom with Android. Such as You can install other synthesizers. Not just what Apple makes available. For example, the $20 Eloquence synthesizer. course the android article pool cover more in detail what you can do regarding its operating system.

Screen Reader— VoiceOver on iPad is much more comprehensive than an Android Talks.

VoiceOver will read webpages while Android Talks will not. voiceover will read books to students. Books can be purchased from iBooks, Amazon.com, or Google Play Store. On iPad over 4 million books can be read aloud. None of these books can be read aloud on Android  The exception for Android   is that it can read public domain books, that's all. VoiceOver can read email. Talks cannot.

Book share: Both devices can read Book share books. Apple IOS uses Read2Go app Android uses Go Read app. The Read2Go app offers a better control over speech rate and color of text and background.

The one place where Android shines is in the Swype Keyboard. It has word prediction. This means word prediction in any text field. Apple iOS8 does  have word prediction. One must buy specific apps on IOS.  like Co:Writter to get word prediction.

Pinch and Zoom is much better on iOS than Android. When pinch and zoom does not work iOS offer a Zoom feature that magnifies the whole screen. Android offers the Zoom feature but it only magnifies part of the screen and is less effective. And now iOS has a feature called speak screen which android does not. 

Apple iOS now has switch control build in. Android requires purchase of additional hardware for switch control e.g. Tecla Shield.

Apple iOS has Braille keyboard support. Android does not.

There are a number of apps that are the same for iOS and Android. However, over all, the apps work much better on iOS than Android.  

Article written by Ashley Nemeth and Chelsea Stark