Last updated on 22 September 2025
The Jieshuo beta version released on August 1, 2025, introduces a new function that can be activated from
the main menu,
assigned to a gesture, or used through the
voice assistant. This function is called: Suspend screen reader gestures.
Table of Contents
What Does This Function Do?
When this function is activated, all Jieshuo onscreen gestures are suspended, including both one-finger and multi-finger gestures. Double tap to activate is also suspended. However, Browse by Touch remains functional, meaning the user can still explore items by moving their finger around the screen.
To activate an item while gestures are suspended, the user should tap once in the actual position of the focused item. This means the item must first be focused either by placing the finger directly on it or by exploring until it is reached. Then, a separate tap in the same position is used to activate it. Tapping in a different position will simply move the focus to that new item.
Note that since Browse by Touch is still active, system swipes, such as scrolling in any context and the back gesture for users who use gesture navigation, should still be performed with two fingers instead of one.
The Effect of This Function on Typing
Some might wonder why this function was added to Jieshuo and what it’s actually useful for. The most prominent advantage is a more responsive typing experience.
Before the introduction of this feature, many users, including myself, used to suspend
Browse by Touch
to type more smoothly. However, that method required tapping the exact position of each character directly, which not everyone feels confident doing, especially given the risk of unintentionally activating other onscreen items while Browse by Touch is suspended. Additionally, with newer Gboard versions, Jieshuo cannot announce typed characters when Browse by Touch is suspended.
Now, with this function, typing becomes much less laggy. That’s because Jieshuo no longer needs to interpret finger movement as potential gestures, resulting in faster and more responsive input. At the same time, users can still move their finger around to find a character before lifting it to type, something that isn’t possible with Browse by Touch suspended. This makes the new function more suitable for a wider range of users.
Resuming Screen Reader Gestures
To return to normal gesture usage, both volume keys must be pressed, first one key, then the other, then both released together. If the function is assigned to a volume key gesture, that same gesture can be used to deactivate it. Additionally, it can be turned off by speaking its name to the
voice assistant.
Automatically Suspend Screen Reader Gestures While Keyboard Is in Focus
Because of the improvement in typing responsiveness the screen reader gestures suspension provides, an option is added to Typing Settings found in Advanced Settings to suspend screen reader gestures automatically when the keyboard is in focus (the option name is still in Chinese for now). When the option is checked, Jieshuo activates the suspend screen reader gestures function automatically when the user touches the keyboard area and deactivates it when the user touches other areas on the screen. This means that it’s possible to perform gestures normally on areas that are not covered by the onscreen keyboard, whereas the area where the keyboard is present has all gestures disabled. As mentioned earlier, it is still possible to explore the keyboard items then lift the finger to input one. This is true also for suggestions that appear above the characters when suggestions are enabled. However, there is an issue that prevents inputting certain keyboard elements like emojis and clipboard items. Unchecking double tap to type doesn’t help here; in fact, it makes the issue worse by causing Jieshuo to repeat the emoji the user is trying to insert, for example, continuously until it is restarted. So it is recommended to check the double tap to type option and focus the keyboard element with the finger, then use the click function or the direct click to activate it. These functions can be spoken through the voice assistant or assigned to gestures, but make sure that if the gesture is an onscreen one, it is performed outside of the keyboard area. The default gesture for the direct click is the single tap with two fingers.
Note that I only use Gboard and I haven’t tested with any other keyboard. Additionally, the double tap to type option when used with Gboard doesn’t convert the input method to double tapping, so the characters are still inserted directly when the finger is lifted.
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