Use Camera Switches

You can use Camera Switches to navigate your phone with a few simple facial gestures. When you use Camera Switches, you can browse or select apps on your phone with the use of your phone’s front camera.

To use Camera Switches, your phone should be securely mounted, charged, and have a clear view of your face.

Camera Switches | How to get started

Set up Camera Switches & assign facial gestures to action

Important: If you can't tap the screen yourself, you’ll need some help to get started.

  1. On your device, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under “Interaction Controls,” tap Switch Access.
  4. Turn Use Switch access on.
  5. Tap Settings and then Setup Guide.
    • Tip: You can clear existing switches.
  6. In the “Setup Guide,” tap Camera Switch and then Next and then Two switches and then Next and then Linear scanning and then Next.
  7. To assign gestures to actions like scan, pause, or select, follow the on-screen instructions.

Choose your gesture size

  1. On your device, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under “Interaction Controls,” tap Switch Access.
  4. Tap Switch Access Settings and then Camera switch settings.
  5. Select the gesture you want to update.
  6. Under “Gesture size,” move the dial to change the size of the gesture, such as a big smile or small smile.

Choose your gesture duration

  1. On your device, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under “Interaction Controls,” tap Switch Access.
  4. Tap Settings and then Camera switch settings.
  5. Select the gesture you want to update the duration.
  6. Tap Gesture hold time.
  7. Select a time.
  8. Tap Save.

Use gestures

Important: You can't use Camera Switches with other apps that use the camera.

Find your photos with facial gestures

Before you start, make sure that you:

  • Set Switch Access to on.
  • Set Camera Switches to on.
  • Assign the following gestures:
    • "Look right" and Volume up to "Next" action
    • "Look left" and Volume down to "Select" action
  • Sign in to an Android device with Android 6 or later.
  1. On your device, to navigate to the Home screen, use the “Look right” gesture.
  2. To open your photos app, use the “Look left” gesture.
  3. Navigate to the photo with the “Look right” gesture.

Make a video call & hang up manually with Camera Switches

Before you start, make sure that you:

  • Set Switch Access to on. 
  • Set Camera Switches to on.
  • Assign the following gestures:
    • "Look right" to "Next" action.
    • "Look left" to "Select" action.
  • Sign in to an Android device with version M and up.
  • Install the Android Accessibility Suite from the Play Store and then sign in to your account.
  1. On your device, to navigate the Home screen, use the “Look right” gesture.
  2. To open the Line app, use the “Look left” gesture.
  3. To open Chats, use the “Look right” and “Look left” gestures.
  4. To select a friend to enter a Chat room, use the “Look right” and “Look left” gestures.
  5. To navigate and make a video call to a friend, use the “Look right” and “Look left” gestures.
    • Tip: You must hang up a video call manually or with a physical switch.

Browse Google News

Before you start, make sure that you:

  • Set Switch Access to on. 
  • Set Camera Switches to on.
  • Assign the following gestures:
    • "Look right" to "Next" action.
    • "Look left" to "Select" action.
  • Sign in to an Android device with version M and up.
  • Set Auto rotate to off.
  • Check that the All Apps screen is located on your device home screen.
  1. On your device, to navigate the Home screen, use the “Look right” gesture.
  2. To open Google News, use the “Look left” gesture.
  3. To browse any news, use the “Look left” gesture.
  4. To navigate to select the "Back" button, use the “Look right” gesture.

Create a Keep Notes & fill in the "Test" in the title

Before you start, make sure that you:

  • Set Switch Access to on. 
  • Set Camera Switches to on.
  • Assign gestures for “Next,” “Select,” and “Previous” actions.
  • Sign in to an Android device with version M and up.
  • Set Auto rotate to off.
  • Open the All Apps screen.
  1. On your device, go to the Home screen.
  2. To navigate to Keep Notes, press the Bluetooth keyboard down key.
  3. To open Keep Notes, use the “Smile” gesture.
  4. To go to the  button, use the "Look up" gesture.
  5. To select the button to create a Note, perform the gestures assigned to “Select” and “Next.”
  6. To go to "Title" and fill in "Test," perform the gesture assigned to “Next” and “Select.”
  7. To navigate to select the "Back" button, perform the gesture assigned to “Previous.”

Add a timezone to your clock

Before you start, make sure that you:

  • Set Switch Access to on. 
  • Set Camera Switches to on.
  • Assign the following gestures:
    • "Open mouth" to "Next" action.
    • "Raised eyebrows" to "Select" action.
    • "Look up" to "Previous" action.
  • Sign in to an Android device with version M and up.
  • Set Auto rotate to off.
  • Open the All Apps screen.
  • Connect your device to a Bluetooth keyboard.
  1. On your device, go to the Home screen.
  2. To navigate to Clock, use the “Open mouth” gesture.
  3. To open the Clock tab, use the "Raised eyebrows" gesture.
  4. To navigate and select the "Cities” button, use the“Look up" gesture and the “Raised eyebrows” gesture.
  5. To search for a city, use the “Open Mouth” and “Raised eyebrows” gestures.

Use Shortcuts

You can record touch gestures, such as pinching, zooming, scrolling, swiping, or double tapping, when you assign them to physical or camera-based switches or when you launch them from the Switch Access Global menu. When you use Shortcuts, you can launch helpful or complex actions, such as a gesture that swipes left twice to turn 2 pages of an ebook, with a single switch.

  1. On your device, open the Switch Access menu.
  2. Tap Record Shortcut.
  3. When you find a chip below your screen, perform any touch gestures that you'd like to have a Shortcut for.
    • Tip: You can combine a series of gestures into one Shortcut such as 2 downward swipes and then a long press. 
  4. Once your gesture is recorded, tap Pause and then Complete.
    • To preview a recording: Tap Play .
    • To cancel a recording: Tap Cancel  or select Stop Recording from the Switch Access global menu.
  5. To launch the created Shortcut, you can:
    • Use Switch Access menu: Launch the Shortcut from the Switch Access menu.
    • Assign the Shortcut to a switch:
      1. On your device, open the Settings app.
      2. Tap Accessibility.
      3. Under “Interaction Controls,” tap Switch Access.
      4. Tap Settings and then Assign switches to shortcuts.

Change Point scan direction

Point scan lets you choose a specific place on the screen to tap, swipe, or zoom. Lines move across your screen to let you select a specific horizontal and vertical location.

To specify which direction the bars should move:

  1. On your device, open the Settings app.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under “Interaction Controls,” tap Switch Access.
  4. Tap Settings and then Point scan.
  5. Choose the direction bars should move.


Learn more about how to use point scan.

true
Search
Clear search
Close search
Google apps
Main menu
3247426663931634062
true
Search Help Center
true
true
true
true
true
717068
false
false