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Berserker

Berserker

Berserker

Man of Honour
Joined
4 Nov 2002
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West Berkshire
I've been looking at Android vs iOS. I'm far from an Apple fanboy (their attitude towards customers stinks), but the realist in me is telling me that much as I really want a Samsung Galaxy S II, the only phone that's ever going to be practical for me is an iPhone.

My problem - I can't read the labels in Google Maps. Having tried this with arguably the best Android phone on the planet right now, if I can't read it on that, I'm not going to be able to read it on any Android phone. Yes, iOS has the same issue, but it also has a three-finger salute. That's an acceptable if at times awkward workaround.

I'm not the only one with this problem (I found countless posts dating back up to five years, but despite me wishing it wasn't so, the only people who can solve this are Google, and they don't seem to have any interest in doing so).

So, before I bow to the mighty Apple logo once again (I owned an 'old bootrom' 3GS until six weeks ago), have I missed some obvious solution to this problem?

Thank you for reading! :)

PS - I managed OK-ish before Google Maps, and I'm managing OK-ish now without it, but having been without for six weeks I know exactly how much I rely on it (and how much it has helped me the last two years). Thus this is a killer app, and my purchasing decision hinges solely upon it (both options are otherwise more than capable of doing everything I need, and the price isn't that different either).
 
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Won't it be just as bad on the iphone with its retina resolution now?

edit:

I see what you mean by 3 finger salute. The zoom accessibility option on iOS.
 
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If there is, then that's exactly what I need.

Edit - can't find anything about what zoomservice.apk does (besides it being on a lot of 'bloatware' lists).
 
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It'll be bloat to most, maybe it's part of Motorola's mods???

5850216466_92ff428e24_b.jpg


The screen shot messed up but you get the idea, there's probably better solutions out there.
 
Thank you - that's a possibility, but I'm not convinced the usability is there - unless of course it's possible to move the map around behind the zoomed bit (in which case it could well be better than Apple's solution).

Of course, you've just ruined my main excuse for succombing to two more years of Apple :D (lesser excuses being the £100 worth of apps and similar amount worth of dock-compatible accessories).
 
Yep, thats the whole point of accessibility? The zoom window is present all the time (desktop, all apps, dialer etc) so you can use everything as normal through it (obviously not the zoom/pan parts of the window)

Sounds like your itching for new Apple hardware though :)
 
It's extremely difficult. I had this very same quandry two years ago - but back then Android was very 1.0 and the choice became easy. Now, they're just so damned close in many ways.

Money-sense is telling me to stick with my existing investment but gadget-sense is telling me 'new toy', and in any event I can't help feeling that the future is Android-powered (there's no denying Apple are playing catch-up, again, and an awful lot of the latest batch is lifted straight out of Android).

I'm also reliant on an ageing Mac Mini for iTunes (thoughts of putting Apple software on a PC fill me with dread), so when that dies I'm in trouble. Add the whole Apps problem - there's no denying the good commercial Apps (some of which I'd like to use) gravitate towards iOS and the good free ones towards Android - and my brain explodes. :(

I'm clearly over-thinking all this, but given how much I've relied on my iPhone the last two years, I don't want to be left with a lemon for two years. Nor do I want to be left behind. :(

So, can anyone confirm Zoomservice exists, or is available for, Samsung? Almost all of the references I've found have been on Droid forums.
 
Something that zooms everything on screen! (Like a holding magnifying glass on the screen)

General phone settings > accessibility > zoom mode

I've also got a great voice read out option too, that generic woman says everything you select/type :D i.e. press the home button and she says 'launcherPro' (and a few things you touch in maps!) Phone laggs like a bitch with it on though... (tehehe she just said bitch :p)

Can't remember any of these options on the desire, maybe it's just for MOTOBLUR phones?

(Note to self, must explore the voice capabilities of Android when sober)
 
Neither have a zoom mode or any built in options, they just offer to download a text to speech reader.

I'm sure there is one you can get from the Market though, surely?
 
There's the 'Sight Free Project', but that's really for people with little or no sight, and thus is all about TTS. I found VoiceOver frustratingly slow, and no doubt TalkBack would be too. It also wouldn't solve the maps problem. Google, at least, seem to have no interest in the middle ground.

It's not hard - if you can capture the screen (the Samsung can do that), you can magnify it. :(

I looked at the Motorola Atrix. It's OK, but I don't like the interface nearly as much as the Samsung.
 
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