How to turn off voiceover on android

The TalkBack screen reader speaks text and image content on your screen. On your Android device, you can turn this setting on or off.

A screen reader is an accessibility tool designed for people with vision impairments. It can read any text, buttons, or image descriptors aloud on a wide variety of devices, including the phones or tablets that run Android.

On most Android devices, the screen reader tool is called TalkBack, and there are several ways you can enable it. On Samsung devices with software versions earlier than One UI 3.1, TalkBack is occasionally labeled as “Voice Assistant.” Despite having different names, Samsung says TalkBack and Voice Assistant offer the same functionalities, so your experience might be slightly different depending on which type of Android device you’re using.

Turn TalkBack on or off with the volume key shortcut

You can use the volume key shortcut to turn TalkBack on or off. Use the shortcut the first time you turn on and set up your device or after your device is set up.

On the side of your device, find both volume keys.
Press and hold both volume keys for 3 seconds.
To confirm that you want to turn TalkBack on or off, press both volume keys for 3 seconds again.

The volume key shortcut won’t work if you haven’t enabled it. On a Pixel or other Android phone, you can toggle on the shortcut by going to Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > TalkBack shortcut.

On a Samsung phone, you can do this by navigating to the Settings app, choosing Accessibility > Advanced Settings > Volume up and down keys. From here, ensure the Selected service is set to TalkBack, and then toggle it on.

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Turn on TalkBack using Google Assistant

To switch on TalkBack using Google Assistant, first make sure you have Google Assistant’s voice command features enabled.

Choose “Settings” > “Google Assistant” > “Hey Google & Voice Match.”
Toggle on “Hey Google.”
You can turn on Google Assistant by opening your device’s Google app, selecting your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen, and choosing Settings > Google Assistant. Select Hey Google & Voice Match and toggle on Hey Google to start using the feature.

After that, to turn TalkBack on, simply say “Hey Google, turn on TalkBack.” Conversely, you can also say “Hey Google, turn off TalkBack” to disable the screen reader.

How to enable the screen reader through settings

You can turn on the screen reader through your device’s settings. Here’s how to turn on TalkBack — or Voice Assistant — through your phone’s settings.

If you have low vision or you help someone who is blind, you can navigate with settings to turn TalkBack on or off.

The TalkBack feature on the android smartphone is excellent. However, the same feature can cause some issues also. Most android users are complaining about the issue of automatically turning on the TalkBack feature on their smartphones. If the Talkback option is turned on, the phone starts speaking to you for all your actions, and the click-based activities will not work as before. In this article, we are looking at How to Turn off talkback on Android.

What is Talkback on Android Phones

Google introduced the talkback feature on the Android device to make Android smartphones useful for all users. They developed the service to help blind and visually impaired users use the smartphone without any external help. The device will start talking to the user when the talkback feature is activated. For each activity done on the smartphone, the device will speak the same aloud. So the user can understand what action was performed. It helps those visually impaired users.

How the Talkback Option Gets Turn on Automatically

As mentioned before, the Talkback feature on the android smartphone was useful for blind and visually impaired users. But this feature gets activated accidentally in most cases. If that gets activated, the normal touch won’t work as before. The phone will speak all the time when any touch happens.

All the android smartphones were provided with a shortcut option to activate the Talk back feature. For example, the talkback feature will activate if we press and hold both volumes up and down simultaneously for 3 seconds. However, since google integrated the shortcut with the volume button, most users might hit that accidentally. So, here we will check how to disable or turn off the Talkback feature on Android devices.

How to Turn off the Talkback on Android Smartphone

We have two options to turn off the talkback on android mobile if the service gets activated accidentally. Most people get frustrated if the option gets enabled and don’t know how to disable it. So we will check the two options to disable the talkback service.

How to Disable Talkback without settings – Turn off the Talkback on Android Using Shortcut Option

Now the question is how to disable talkback without settings. Press the same shortcut option again to turn off the talkback without setting the shortcut. Pressing and holding the Volume Up and Down button simultaneously for three seconds while the talkback feature is enabled will turn off the talkback feature on Android.

So, we can say that Pressing and holding the volume UP and Down button together for 3 seconds will activate the talkback feature. Again, pressing and holding the same Volume Up and Down button for 3 seconds will turn off the talkback feature.

Each time the talkback option is activated and deactivated, the phone will show a small notification on the screen. Likewise, you will hear a voice saying the Talkback feature is activated and deactivated once turned off.

Disable Talkback Feature from the Settings

Follow the steps below to turn talkback off on the android device from the setting.

Step 1: Open the setting app on the mobile.

Step 2: From the settings, scroll down to the bottom, and you will find an option called Additional Settings. Click on that.

Step 3: You can find another option called Accessibility from the Additional settings. Click on that.

Step 4: Inside the option, you can find another option called Talkback. Click on Talkback.

Step 5: Finally, you can see TalkBack enable and disable options. Turn off the Talkback option.

Now, the android phone will work as usual, and you can use the same as before. However, the shortcut method is the best and easiest way to turn off the TalkBack option on Android Phones.

How to Turn Talkback Off Completly

If the Talkback feature is activated, we can deactivate and turn it off using the shortcut and settings option. But we cannot remove the talkback option entirely from the device as it is an inbuilt feature.

How to Turn Off Talkback Shortcut

The talkback shortcut is added to the volume up and down button. So if we press and hold the volume up and down button for 3 seconds, the talkback option will be activated and deactivated. However, we cannot remove the shortcut option from the volume up and down button.

Why the Talkback Feature Can’t Be Disabled on Samsung Phones?

The Talkback feature is named Voice Assistance on Samsung devices, and Samsung placed it under the accessibility setting. So, to disable the talkback without the volume pressing, follow the below steps on the Samsung devices.

Step 1: While the talkback is activated, swipe down the screen using two fingers so that you can find the notifications panel.

Step 2: From the notification panel, tap on the setting icon (now it will be selected). Now double-tap it again to open the settings on your Samsung device.

Step 3: Now, scroll down using two fingers from the settings.

Step 4: You can find the Accessibility option at the bottom. Tap it once, and it will get selected. Then double-tap it to open.

Step 5: Within the Accessibility settings, tap on the Screen Reader and double-tap it again to open.

Step 6: Next, within the Screen Reader page, you will see the Voice Assistant option enabled.

Step 7: You need to disable it by tapping and double-tapping.

Step 8: A confirmation window will appear. Then tap on OK, then double-tap it again so that the Voice Assistance or the Talkback feature on the Samsung device will be disabled.

How to Disable Talkback Without Settings

For the question of how to disable talkback without settings, we have explained the shortcut method in the initial part of this article. To disable the talkback without the settings option, you must press and hold the volume up and down buttons together for 3 seconds. Then, a small notification will be visible on the screen saying that the talkback is turned off.

Why Talkback is named Voice Assistance on Samsung Phones?

Samsung devices are customized with the One UI over the stock Android versions. Hence Samsung modified the talk back feature also with a customized naming. Since the talkback feature is a voice assistance feature, Samsung renamed it with a more appropriate naming like Voice Assistance, which is more understandable for end-users than the default Talk back naming. So, while you turn off talkback on the Samsung device, follow the same.

Why Talkback on iPhone is Not Available?

The Talkback feature is a feature that is available only on Android mobile, and you can find it on Apple devices. However, since both are different operating systems, you won’t be able to use the talkback feature on iPhone.

Complete Turn off Talkback Shortcut is Possible?

No, you can turn on and turn off talkback using the shortcut. However, completely removing the shortcut from your Android mobile is not possible.

Do We Have a Talkback Feature on Google Pixel Phone?

Yes, Google Pixel is also an Android phone, and you can also see the Talkback future on Google Pixel. All android phones, including Google, Samsung, Motorola, Nothing, Huawei, Vivo, etc support the Talkback feature. However, you may see changes in the name and settings based on the customization on each mobile.

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