Tech on accessible.tips

Android Keyboards

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Attribution

This tip is a syndicated copy of part of KemoNine’s blog post about tuning Android.

What?

This page outlines a number of different keyboards that can make using an Android device less frustrating. It’s a simple list and it’s assumed you can sort which keyboard you prefer based trying the options that look most compelling (or all of them).

Good Android Keyboards, A List

Unexpected Keyboard
- full blown qwerty keeb implementation
- if you use termux/juicessh/connectbot/other terms you want this keeb
- has a lot of good features and tunables
- can have custom layouts (there are docs and a web based layout editor)
- kemonine implemented a messagease layout for unexpected here
- if you use this keeb and are considering thumb key or flickboard, consider using kemo’s messagease layout for this keeb instead
HeliBoard
- basically a std android keep with the usual features
- qwerty / bog std for what youd expect these days
Florisboard
- boring qwerty with spell check/auto-correct/etc ‘under development’
- qwerty / ultra boring
- what kemonine uses for a ‘standard / normie using their phone keeb’
Thumb Key
- a novel one handed layout with speed in mind
- one handed and fast once you learn the layout
- is a spiritual successor to messagease
- includes messagease layouts (use the messagease ones, not thumb-key ones)
- has good blend of features but not ‘all’ ive seen asked for
- this or flickboard will be a win for most
Flickboard
- novel one handed layout with speed in mind
- uses std messagease layouts
- was created because messagease moved to a subscription model to use
- has good blend of features but not ‘all’ ive seen asked for
- this or thumb-key will be a win for most
8VIM
- if youre into swiping to type, this is the keeb for you
- has a novel approach thats faster than the qwerty swiping keebs
- highly regarded as ‘good’ and definitely worth investigating if swiping is your thing
Graffiti
- literal palm graffiti on android
- works with s pen and adonit styluses and others
- install on any device where pen may be used

Android Launchers

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Attribution

This tip is a syndicated copy of part of KemoNine’s blog post about tuning Android.

What?

This page outlines a number of different launchers that can make working with an Android device less frustrating. It’s a simple list and it’s assumed you can sort which launcher you prefer based trying the options that look most compelling (or all of them).

Good Android Launchers, A List

olauncher / pro launcher by digital minimalism
- for focused devices (boox book devices / fiio music devices / etc)
- simple, straightforward and gets out of your way
- has some basic amenities but is very clearly ‘a textual list of apps’ above all else
niagara launcher
- great text launcher
- if you’re into text lists, this is a good one to review
- can do widgets and more on ‘main page’
- very good ’list style’
- youll want pro to get at all the fancier tunables
- if you’re into olauncher or text launchers, this is worth looking at closer
smart launcher
- highly tunable
- mash up of Nova and microsoft launchers
- probably a better starting point than Nova these days
- no way to have separate layouts for phone and tablet modes
square home
- think windows phone launcher and windows 8 start menu tile/dash board setups
- literally: this is a proper hot take on the windows 8 and windows phone launcher stuff
aio launcher
- minimal launcher with lots of ‘bells and whistles’
- feels like a big text dashboard
nova launcher
- great, been around forever custom launcher on the whole
- no way to have separate layouts for phone and tablet modes – this is a deal breaker
- seeing implications the devs have no interest in foldable phone support / dual screen support
- may be on life support post-purchase from the original dev/team
- smart launcher is probably the better choice as of the writing of this blog post

Using a phone or tablet as a laptop

Sat, 25 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Attribution

This tip is a rewritten copy of KemoNine’s blog post. It has been adapted to our site’s format by KemoNine.

What is this magic?

This page outlines how to setup a phone or tablet as a laptop. With modern technology and the proliferation of smart phones being used as a person’s primary computer, very little cannot be done using just a smart phone.

Considerations

Before getting too deep into the topic, a few considerations

Split voice and non-voice audio

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Attribution

This tip is a syndicated copy of KemoNine’s blog post. It has been split into this page and a related anecdote.

What?

This page outlines how to split your computer audio output so a game or aplication’s audio is sent to your speaker and the voice audio is sent to a headset.

This can be helpful for those with speech processing needs. It allows you to isolate voice to a headset or similar which lets the voice audio come through more strongly than any other audio.