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Get Android 12’s Camera Switches on Any Android Phone
For starters, Switch Access is an accessibility service on Android that allows interacting with the device without using the touchscreen through USB or Bluetooth devices. It’s built for people who can’t directly access the device. Spotted first by XDA Developers, the Android Accessibility Suite beta 12.0.0, bundled with the Android 12 beta 4, adds a third option called “Camera Switches,” which uses the front camera to recognize your facial expressions. The new Accessibility Suite app is not exclusive to Android 12. You can sideload the updated APK to get the feature on your phone. We tried it on two phones running Android 11 and Android 10, and it worked perfectly fine. Check the steps below.
Step 1- Install Android Accessibility Suite
Step 2- Enable Camera Switches in Settings
Step 3- Setup Switch Access
List of Face Gestures in Camera Switches:
Open MouthSmileLook LeftLook RightRaise EyebrowsLook Up
Actions You Can Perform Using Gestures:
Pause Camera SwitchBackHomeNotificationsQuick SettingsOverviewAuto-scanReverse Auto-scanSelectNextPreviousTouch and HoldScroll forwardsScroll backward
Step 4- Control Your Phone with Face
Once you’ve set up the Camera Switches, it’s time to try and use the facial gestures on your phone. Tap the Try it button in Switch Access settings. Perform the face gestures you’ve set to see if they’re working fine- it’ll tell you the gesture name upon detection. When the feature is in use, an indicator will appear at the top, which will turn blue every time a face is detected.
Step 5- Adjust the Gesture Sensitivity
You may experience that the feature is too sensitive, i.e., automatically registers the smile gesture even when you’re not smiling. Thankfully, you can adjust sensitivity for each gesture, i.e., control how much effort it takes to activate it. Go to Accessibility > Switch Access > Settings > Camera Switch Settings. Here, select a facial gesture. Now, use the slider for “Gesture size” to adjust the sensitivity. The bigger the number, the bigger gesture you’ll have to make for it to be recognized. You can also set “Gesture duration,” i.e., for how long you’ll have to make the gesture before it gets recognized. Furthermore, there’s an option to enable audio feedback, which plays a sound in response to a gesture or when something changes on the screen.
Control Your Android Phone With Facial Expressions
This was a quick guide to get the Camera Switches from Android 12 on any Android phone. One can use it to control their Android phone via simple facial expressions. I hope it helps people with disabilities- if you know someone who finds it challenging to use the phone directly, please let them know about this feature. Stay tuned for more such articles.
