Episode 210: 2nd visit with Tech-Freedom

Welcome to Episode210.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

We would like to remind you that next week, Dec. 21, is our 4th anniversary celebration of the existence of Blind Android Users.

We encourage all our readers and listeners to join us in celebrating this monumental milestone.

Spotlight

We are joined by the crew of “Tech-Freedom” (their second appearance on our podcast) to talk about the changes that came down earlier this month and what that means for users of the app.

TIP OF THE WEEK

For this week’s “Tip of the week,” we highlight some exciting development in the way of Google’s Gemini 2.0, in which an exciting feature called "Stream Real Google AI Studio."

This feature has something we’ve been dreaming of, that is, giving us the ability to use the camera on both our phones and on the computer.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us with suggestions or comments, Send in your Android journey stories, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube and rumble channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797

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Episode 209, Samsung One UI 7 Beta 

Announcements

• The countdown is on to our 4- year anniversary celebration! We will be recording on 21 December at 12PM Eastern or 9AM Pacific and you are invited to take part.  We’ll be posting a link on our usual channels closer to the time.

Android Basics

We discuss the December feature drop for qualifying Google Pixels, and the announcement that some phones will get upgrades for longer than previously thought.  You can read about these features at this Link.

Spotlight

We talk about Samsung’s One UI 7 Beta 1 which you can install on qualifying Samsung phones.

App of the week

Warren demonstrates the Aggregator news RSS reader.

Commentary

Karene demonstrates the OCR functions and settings of the Jieshuo screen reader.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 208, the role of AI in the life of a blind person 

Announcements

• The countdown is on to our 4- year anniversary celebration! We will be recording on 21 December at 12PM Eastern or 9AM Pacific and you are invited to take part.  We’ll be posting a link on our usual channels closer to the time.
• Our Youtube channel has reached 1,500 subscribers! Thank you so much for all your support.

Android Basics

The crew discusses the rapidly evolving world of AI and its use cases for blind people.  We discuss the AI capabilities of TalkBack and Jieshuo, implementation of AI by other blindness-specific apps such as Be My Eyes, Seeing AI, PiccyBot and Ally from Envision, and mainstream solutions on which these capabilities are built - ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Also, check out Karene’s article comparing the video description capabilities of Seein AI and Piccybot.

TalkBack Highlights

John shows us the new screen search reading control we now have access to as of TalkBack 15.1.

Tip of the week

Karene demonstrates chat filters in Meta’s WhatsApp Messenger.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 207, All About Android 16 Developer Preview 

Announcements

Join us in 4 Weeks for our 4- year celebration. We will be recording on Dec 21st at 12PM Eastern or 9AM Pacific and you are invited to take part.

Android Basics

android 16 has shown itself early this year. We discuss the developer preview that just dropped this past week and what we are looking most forward to.

TalkBack Highlights

John shows us the new web reading controls we now have access to as of TalkBack 15.1.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 206: TalkBack 15.1 is Here

Android Basics

We discuss all that's new in Android 15 QPR2 Beta 1.

Spotlight

TalkBack 15.1 has arrived, and we share everything new we have discovered so far.

App of the Week

Warren demonstrates Startpage, a web browser focused on privacy.

TalkBack Highlights

John shows us the new ways of activating links as of TalkBack 15.1.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 205: Concluding One UI settings

Announcements

• We would be delighted if everyone could join us for our 4-year anniversary on Saturday 21 December.  Please join us at noon Eastern, 5 PM UK time and 9 AM Pacific so save the date!
• Android turned 17 this week.  It can now obtain a driving licence in the UK and apparate in the Wizarding World.

Android basics

This week, John concludes our look at Samsung One UI settings, demonstrating what you’ll find in About phone.

App of the week

Warren brings us a demo of Listen AI, another TTS reader.

Commentary

Karene demonstrates a new AI-powered feature, which will attempt to describe videos while they’re playing.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 204: Seeing AI Video Descriptions and One UI Tips and User Guide

Announcements

Don't forget to join us for our 4-year celebration on December 21st at 9 AM PST or 12 PM EST.

Spotlight

We discuss all the new features in the latest update to Seeing AI, but focus mostly on our first impressions of the video description feature.

Android Basics

John takes us through the "Tips and User Guide" portion of Samsung's One UI settings.

App of the Week

Warren demonstrates the reading app that calls itself “SpeakUp AI - Text to Speech”.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 203: Big week for Qualcomm and Android15 QPR1 Beta 3

ANDROID BASICS

This week has been a busy week for many companies, among them, Google who rolled out Android 15 QPR1 Beta 3 for Pixel6-series through Pixel9-series.

Spotlight

This week, Qualcomm showcased the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite during its annual conference in Maui, HI, where it unveiled the new generation of the Qualcomm chip that would be powering most flagship phones next year.

APP OF THE WEEK

For this week’s “App of the week,” we take you on a tour of the “Hermit” browser by Chimbori.

The “Hermit” browser combines features of the traditional browsing features with the ability to create “Lite apps” and several customizations for those who like customization.

TIP OF THE WEEK

For the tip of the week, Warren shows you how to make sure your phone is taking full advantage of Google's "Find My Device" network.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 202: Android 15

Announcements

• We would be delighted if everyone could join us for our 4-year anniversary on Saturday 21 December.  Please join us at noon Eastern, 5 PM UK time and 9 AM Pacific so save the date!

Android basics

This week, it’s all about Android 15 which dropped for eligible devices on 15 October.  The crew talk you through some of the key features and changes.

App of the week

Warren brings us a demo of Simplenote.

Tip of the week

Warren shows us how to archive an app instead of uninstalling it – a new feature of Android 15.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 201: A conversation with the developer of WalkersGuide

Announcements

• Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 200th episode.  The next big thing is our 4-year anniversary on Saturday 21 December.  We would be delighted if you could join us at noon Eastern, 5 PM UK time and 9 AM Pacific so save the date!

Spotlight

We are joined by Eric Scheibler, the developer of the GPS app WalkersGuide.

App of the week

Warren demonstrates the email app Thunderbird, which many listeners will be familiar with from Windows.

Commentary

Karene demonstrates improvements to Jieshuo’s AI features, which allow users to submit spoken questions to query screen content or the item in focus.

Staying in touch

Make a donation via PayPal, Email us your Android journey stories, suggestions or comments, subscribe to our Email list, join our Telegram and Facebook groups, subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Leave us a voice message via our suggestions, comments and questions phone number at: +1-307-202-9797.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.