Android users may soon have an easier, faster way to magnify on-screen elements

Date:
Fri, 10 May 2024 23:00:32 +0000

Description:
Android 15's potential fourth zoom-in method could be the solution users have been waiting for, as the others aren't great.

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As we inch closer to the launch of Android 15 , more of its potential
features keep getting unearthed. Industry insider Mishaal Rahman found evidence of a new camera extension called Eyes Free to help stabilize videos shot by third-party apps.

Before that, Rahman discovered another feature within the Android 15 Beta 1.2 update relating to a fourth screen magnification shortcut referred to as the Two-finger double-tap screen within the menu.

What it does is perfectly summed up by its name: quickly double-tapping the screen with two fingers lets you zoom in on a specific part of the display. Thats it. This may not seem like a big deal initially, but it is.

As Rahman explains, the current three magnification shortcuts are pretty wonky. The first method requires you to hold down on an on-screen button, which is convenient but causes your finger to obscure the view and only zoom into the center. The second method has you hold on both the volume buttons, which frees up the screen but takes a while to activate.

The third method is arguably the best onetapping the phone display three
times lets you zoom into a specific area. However, doing so causes the
Android device to slow down, so it's not instantaneous. Interestingly enough, the triple-tap method warns people of the performance drop.

This warning is missing on the double-tap option, indicating the zoom is near instantaneous. Putting everything together, you can think of double-tap as
the Goldilocks option. Users can control where they want the software to
focus on without experiencing any slowdown. Improved accessibility

At least, it should be that fast and a marked improvement over the triple
tap. Rahman states in his groups time testing the feature, they noticed a delay when zooming in. He chalks this up to the unfinished state of the update, although soon after admits that the slowdown could simply be a part
of the tool and may be an unavoidable aspect of the software.

Itll probably be a while until a more stable version of the double-tap method becomes widely available. If you recall, Rahman and his team could only view the update by manually toggling the option themselves. As far as we know, it doesnt even work at the moment.

Double-tap seems to be one of the new accessibility features coming to
Android 15. There are several in the works, such as the ability to hide
unused notification channels to help people manage alerts and forcing dark mode on apps that normally dont support it.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar's round up of the best Android phones for 2024 . You might also like A big Google Maps redesign is now being tested on Android Googles Find My Device network seems to be slowly rolling out in the UK and beyond Gemini AI is heading to older Android
phones, and could get a new 'conversation' mode



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/software/android-users-may-soon-have-an-ea sier-faster-way-to-magnify-on-screen-elements


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