Voice Assistant + TalkBack
Samsung and Google have been working closely to provide a unique, accessible and unified experience throughout Android devices.
Now, Samsung's Voice Assistant and Google's TalkBack are merged into one unified screen reader. With both Voice Assistant & TalkBack's unique identities in control, you now have a much more convenient and effective screen reader across all of your Android devices.
Experience the newly improved TalkBack.
How to use TalkBack
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• Learn basic usage
TalkBack reads the focused item aloud. Focus can be controlled by tapping or sliding on the screen.
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• Hear what's on the screen
Tap the screen with one finger, or explore the screen by moving freely on the screen while touching.
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• Run the focused item
Double tap with one finger.
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• Move focus to another item
Swipe left/right with one finger.
* You can learn basic usage methods through ’Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Tutorial and help’
Identity of Voice Assistant integrated with TalkBack
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• Multi-finger Gestures
Voice Assistant's multi-finger gestures are now available in addition to TalkBack’s one-finger gestures. Run TalkBack's various functions right away using multi-finger gestures without having to go to settings. If you don't like a gesture, you can always change it anyhow, anytime.
* Go to 'Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Customise gestures' to find out more and change the actions of each gesture -
• How to use Gesture Pad
Forgot a gesture? You can test and check various gestures on the Gesture Pad. To execute the Gesture Pad, tap on the screen once with 4 fingers.
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• How to use Reading menu
Voice Assistant‘s Quick Menu is also available in the new TalkBack. Slide three fingers in any direction - up, down, left, right - to access the available reading menu. Continuous 3-finger swipes will allow you to choose the desirable reading menu, such as granularities, speaking speed, and spoken language.
* Set up your own reading menu in 'Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Customise menu' -
• Activate TalkBack in the setup wizard
You can now activate and use TalkBack from the very first screen that appears when unboxing your phone. This method is available throughout the entire setup wizard process.
- Press and hold with 2 fingers
- Quickly press the Side and Volume up keys
- Press and hold the Volume up and down keys
Other useful features of TalkBack
Other useful features of TalkBack, such as text editing and keyboard shortcuts, help you control your device faster and easier. Learn more in
TalkBack settings and tutorial.
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• Edit text
Editing features, such as select, select all, copy, cut and paste can be performed using gestures.
* Find out more about gestures in 'Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Customise gestures' -
• Keyboard shortcut
You can control TalkBack with keyboard shortcut keys when a Bluetooth or USB keyboard is connected.
* Find out more about key map in 'Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > Settings > Advanced settings > keyboard shortcuts'
Use TalkBack gestures
Click here to see the single-finger and multi-finger gesture supported by TalkBack.
Voice Assistant and Voice Assistant Tutorial
Voice Assistant can act as your eyes when you're using your phone. Its features give you maximum control of your phone even if you can't see it. When Voice Assistant is on, your phone provides spoken feedback to help blind and low-vision users. For example, it describes what you touch, select, and activate. You can also edit text or change various settings such as volume or speech rates through familiar swipe and tap gestures.
Navigating your phone
When you interact with an item on the screen, a rectangular focus surrounds it. You can use tap and swipe gestures with your fingers to control the focus. When you move it around the screen, Voice Assistant will tell you what it is.
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• To hear what's directly under your finger
Tap and drag your finger around the screen.
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• To activate an item
Double tap with 1 finger.
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• To move the focus box to another item on the screen
Swipe left or right with 1 finger.
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• To move to the next or previous page
Swipe left or right with 2 fingers.
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• To scroll up or down the list
Swipe up or down with 2 fingers.
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• To scroll up or down through screen content
Swipe side to side with 1 finger (left then right to scroll up, right then left to scroll down).
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• To move the focus box to the first or last item on the screen
With 1 finger, swipe up then down to go to the first item, or down then up to go to the last item.
Doing things quickly
Voice Assistant provides shortcuts for frequently used functions. You can change your settings or stop the voice feedback with simple gestures.
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• To change Voice Assistant settings
Swipe left or right with three fingers to select the setting you wish to change (listed below), then swipe up or down with 1 finger to adjust.
- Speech rate: Increase or decrease speech rate
- Punctuation: Include or omit punctuation in voice feedback
- Dark screen: Turn screen display on or off
- Thick borders: Turn on or off a thick border around the focus
- Focus indicator colour: Select the colour of the border around the focus
- Notification: Open or close the notification panel
- Sound feedback: Turn sound feedback on or off
- Vibration feedback: Turn vibration feedback on or off
- Quick typing: Use the Samsung keyboard and the keypad by tapping keys once
- Focus on speech audio: Reduce the volume of other audio while Voice Assistant reads aloud -
• To adjust the granularity of what Voice Assistant reads
Swipe up or down with 3 fingers to choose from the different granularities listed below, then swipe up or down with 1 finger to implement the selected granularity.
- Character granularity: Read each character
- Word granularity: Read each word
- Line granularity: Read 1 line at a time
- Paragraph granularity: Read 1 paragraph at a time
Editing text easily
With Voice Assistant, you can just swipe your fingers to copy and paste.
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• To enable or disable selection mode
Double tap and hold with 2 fingers.
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• To select characters
Swipe upwards or downwards with 1 finger while selection mode is enabled.
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• To cut selected characters
Swipe left with 2 fingers.
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• To paste characters
Swipe right with 2 fingers.
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• To select all characters
Swipe downwards with 2 fingers.
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• To copy selected characters
Swipe upwards with 2 fingers.
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• To move the cursor in an input text field
Press the volume up/down keys.
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• To move the input cursor to the first or last position
Swipe upwards then downwards or downwards then upwards with 1 finger.
Tailoring Voice Assistant to suit your requirements
Voice Assistant gives you various ways to access information.
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• To have Voice Assistant read aloud the information displayed in the status bar
Triple tap with 2 fingers. You also can select the specific information you want to hear: time, date, battery power, signal strength, Bluetooth status.
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• To have Voice Assistant read aloud the first item to the last item on the screen
Tap the screen with 3 fingers.
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• To hear items on the screen in order after the currently selected item
Double tap with 3 fingers.
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• To hear and copy the last thing Voice Assistant said
Triple tap with 3 fingers.
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• To go back, cancel, or close a pop-up
Tap with 4 fingers or swipe up then down with 3 fingers.
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• To go to the Home screen
Double tap with 4 fingers or swipe down then up with 3 fingers.
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• To list recent apps
Triple tap with 4 fingers.
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• To mute voice feedback
Double tap with 2 fingers.
Getting started with Voice Assistant
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• To get a full step-by-step tutorial
* Go to Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader> Tutorial.
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• To practise the gestures you've learned
* Go to Settings > Accessibility > Screen Reader > Tutorial > 1. Using this tutorial.
Keyboard shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts are available.
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• Go to next item
Alt + right arrow
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• Go to previous item
Alt + left arrow
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• Go to first item
Alt + Ctrl + left arrow
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• Go to last item
Alt + Ctrl + right arrow
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• Go to next window
Alt + Ctrl + down arrow
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• Go to previous window
Alt + Ctrl + up arrow
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• Tap
Alt + Enter
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• Touch and hold
Alt + Shift + Enter
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• Go back 1 screen
Alt + Delete
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• Go to Home screen
Alt + Ctrl + H
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• Go to Recent apps
Alt + Ctrl + R
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• Open notification panel
Alt + Ctrl + N
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• Stop or start voice feedback
Alt + space bar
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• Perform special actions
Alt + Shift + space bar
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• Scroll through Quick menu
Shift + Ctrl + left or right arrow
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• Change Quick menu option setting
Ctrl + up or down arrow
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• Select next/previous granularity
Shift + Ctrl + up or down arrow
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• Read from top
Alt + Ctrl + Enter
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• Read from next item
Alt + Shift + Ctrl + Enter
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• Show custom actions
Alt + Ctrl + space bar
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• Search screen for items
Alt + Ctrl + Slash
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• Read status bar info aloud
Alt + Shift + S
Keyboard shortcuts
Web navigation.
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• Go to next button
Alt + B
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• Go to previous button
Alt + Shift + B
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• Go to next control
Alt + C
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• Go to previous control
Alt + Shift + C
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• Go to next ARIA landmark
Alt + D
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• Go to previous ARIA landmark
Alt + Shift + D
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• Go to next edit box
Alt + E
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• Go to previous edit box
Alt + Shift + E
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• Go to next item
Alt + F
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• Go to previous item
Alt + Shift + F
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• Go to next image
Alt + G
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• Go to previous image
Alt + Shift + G
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• Go to next header
Alt + H
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• Go to previous header
Alt + Shift + H
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• Go to next header by header level
Alt + [number]
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• Go to previous header by header level
Alt + Shift + [number]
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• Go to next list item
Alt + I
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• Go to previous list item
Alt + Shift + I
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• Go to next link
Alt + L
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• Go to previous link
Alt + Shift + L
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• Go to next list
Alt + O
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• Go to previous list
Alt + Shift + O
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• Go to next table
Alt + T
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• Go to previous table
Alt + Shift + T
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• Go to next combo box
Alt + Z
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• Go to previous combo box
Alt + Shift + Z
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• Go to next checkbox
Alt + X
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• Go to previous checkbox
Alt + Shift + X
- Device images simulated for illustrative purposes.