Google has started rolling out TalkBack version 15.1. The rollout is gradual, so it might take some time before the update reaches your device. Here’s what’s new in this version.
Table of Contents
Extended Reading Controls
With this release, additional items can now be included in TalkBack’s reading controls, including:
- Buttons
- Checkboxes
- Edit fields
- Focusable items
- Heading 1
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- Images and videos
- Lists
- List items
- Tables
- Combo boxes
- Visited links
These new reading controls should make navigating the web more convenient.
Additionally, the screen search function has been improved. After adding screen search as a reading control, you can swipe down to go to the next result or swipe up to go to the previous result after performing a screen search.
Improvements to Opening Links
Previously, opening links in text or messages required focusing on the text, opening the TalkBack menu, and then selecting Links to view all available links. Now, with TalkBack 15.1, accessing links is easier. When encountering an item with one or more links, the links are now available in the Actions menu. Since they are the last items in the list, swiping up should take you to the link, which you can double-tap to activate. Additionally, if an item with a link cannot be activated by double-tapping, double-tapping will now open the link. If there are multiple links, you’ll be presented with a list to choose from.
Manual Text and Icon Detection Restored
In TalkBack 15.1, manual text and icon detection has been fixed. When selecting Detailed Image Description, the detected text or label, if available, will now appear in the results window, making it possible to manually recognize icons and text again.
Enhanced Hide Screen Feature
In TalkBack 15.1, hiding the screen has been improved. Talkback menus and switching between reading control text is no longer shown when the screen is hidden.
Updated Copy Last Utterance Behavior
The Copy Last Utterance option, which copies the last spoken item, now copies the actual text if an item contains repeated symbols. Previously, it would copy the number of repeated symbols, which sometimes interfered with copying items like URLs. Google has addressed this in TalkBack 15.1 by modifying the behavior.
Note
Most team members have not yet received the update, so we’re currently unable to provide detailed test results. This post may be edited if we find additional changes or need to add comments after testing the update ourselves.
Check out Official release notes
Report bugs using this version on our Bug Tracker
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