Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
In an update to TalkBack, Google introduced a new AI-powered image description feature that uses Gemini AI. However, this feature will not be available on Samsung phones and tablets due to Samsung’s own TalkBack service. Google created TalkBack to make Android more accessible to people with vision problems by offering a screen reader service. Samsung devices running One UI do not preload the Android Accessibility Suite app, which includes TalkBack, as Samsung has its own suite of accessibility tools. While Samsung’s TalkBack service includes most features of Google’s version, it is updated through the Galaxy Store rather than the Play Store.
Although the Android Accessibility Suite can be installed on Samsung devices from the Play Store, Samsung’s TalkBack service overrides it, making Google’s version unusable. This means that Samsung devices currently cannot utilize Google’s new AI-powered image description feature on TalkBack. However, on other Android 11+ devices, including the Google Pixel 9 series, the Gemini Nano with multimodality model will be used to generate on-device descriptions.
It is unknown if Samsung will update its TalkBack service to include an AI image description feature and whether they would use Google’s Gemini AI or another model. We may learn more at SDC 2024, where Samsung is expected to reveal the next version of One UI. If you have a tip, you can email us at news@androidauthority.com. You can choose to remain anonymous or get credit for the information you provide.