Google has partnered with Samsung to create a new version of TalkBack, an accessibility service that provides voice feedback on what’s happening or happening on the screen. TalkBack was released from Android in the early days, but in 2018, Google built it into the Android Accessibility Suite app along with other services to help users with disabilities use their smartphones.
On Galaxy Unpacked, Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer announced the new version of TalkBack, saying it ‘will only be available on Galaxy’. The Galaxy S21 series was the star of the show during the event, and it’s likely that Samsung’s latest flagships will be the first to benefit from Google’s revamped screen reader service.
‘As part of our commitment to making computers so accessible to everyone, we’ve partnered with Samsung to develop a new version of TalkBack, a Google screen reader, first available on Galaxy. It can really help shape the future of how everyone communicates with their phones. Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of platforms and ecosystems at Google.
Google followed up this announcement with a brief mention of the revamped TalkBack in a blog post. The company says that “TalkBack has been revamped so that people with blindness or problems with the display of their screens can use spoken feedback and gestures to navigate on their phone without having to look at the screen.” We contacted Google for clarity on the features added to this revamped version of TalkBack, and we received the following statement:
TalkBack is a Google screen reader embedded on Android devices. Using voice feedback and gestures, it provides a complete phone experience without having to look at your screen. This revamped version of TalkBack, working with the blind and visually impaired communities, includes many of the users’ top wish list items: new, more intuitive multi-finger gestures, a unified menu, new read controls and customizable menus and gestures. “- Google Spokesman
We have been informed that the new version of TalkBack will be coming to more devices soon.
Google has only updated the Android Accessibility Suite app a few times in the past with new features for TalkBack. In October 2020, the company actually released new options for multi-finger gestures, while the company added a Braille keyboard in April 2020. We do not have screenshots to share that show the revamped TalkBack, but if you decide to pick up a Galaxy S21 or own a recent Galaxy device, you will experience the first version.