The BrailleNote Touch (Touch) from HumanWare has full access to the Google Play Store. Many third party apps are made available in a notetaking device for the first time. While this provides a lot of opportunity, there are also many chances for things to go wrong when developers haven't made their apps accessible. The Touch handles many third party apps very well, but sometimes the Braille keyboard interface can cause some interesting interactions, and there are also the expected issues when encountering partially inaccessible apps. In general, the TalkBack gestures translate well to keyboard commands either with TouchBraille or the physical keyboard. It is also possible, by pressing the previous and next thumb keys together, to turn on explore by touch mode and access many of the usual gestures that Android users will be familiar with.

Getting Android Apps

As with any other Android device, apps can be downloaded from the Google Play store. When searching for apps, the app name is listed followed by an options button which lists the things you can do with an app, such as install, add to wish list, etc. If an app isn’t compatible with the BrailleNote touch, which is extremely rare, instead of the install button there will be a message that this app is not compatible with this device.

Google Apps

There are many Google apps that are either included with the Touch or freely available from the Play Store. For the most part, these apps are very accessible and work quite well. Google Maps, for example, works very well on the Touch and, after downloading an offline area (a map for offline use), will actually provide turn-by-turn directions. Similarly, the Play Store itself behaves quite well. Sometimes, the Touch's keyboard interface can be somewhat inefficient. The most significant example of this is in Google Sheets. There is no easy way to move around and get the layout without turning on Explore by Touch and examining the sheet that way. Also, due to a current limitation of Android, it is not possible to scroll the sheet to see the cells that are not on the screen without using touch gestures. Google Docs works for editing documents in collaboration with others, though it struggles to open large documents. I attempted to open a 90+ page document, and it slowed the system to a crawl before crashing out to a “Docs isn’t responding” message. Gmail is another accessible alternative to the KeyMail app that HumanWare includes, though there is a “tap to select this conversation” button next to every message which causes extra scrolling, especially when moving through a large list of messages.

Other third party apps

I downloaded and tried a number of apps on the Touch. For the most part, the apps work quite well. The MLB At Bat, Audible, BARD Mobile, TuneIn Radio, and several other apps worked well with only a few issues. Occasionally, there were unlabeled buttons in some apps or controls that didn’t read right, but aside from a couple common issues discussed below, apps that are accessible on other Android devices will be accessible on the Touch and vice versa.

Using other voices with the BrailleNote Touch

There are many other TTS voices available for download on the Google Play store, and these are usable on the Touch. After downloading a voice, such as Eloquence, go into the Options menu with Space+O, and configure whichever language profile you wish to use the voice with. Choose the voice from the list of available engines. It may be necessary to restart KeySoft by triple pressing the home button twice, but then the voice should work.

Common issues

Unfortunately, as of the current software version, certain web view controls are not accessible. When entering these controls, one of three things will currently happen. In the best case scenario, such as with the in-app browser in BARD Mobile, the word webview will be displayed, speech will turn on if it is not already, and it is possible to interact with the control using audio only. The second scenario simply displays webview, and it is not possible to interact with anything in the control. The third and least common scenario causes the app to hang and eventually crash when entering a webview control. HumanWare have told me that this issue is being improved in the next version of the software. Another issue unique to the Touch is that, when disabling KeySoft by triple pressing the home button, the current app is exited and you are returned to the home screen. This is inconvenient as if a sighted user wants to use an app, or if an app is self-voicing, it is necessary to go back into the app using the standard Android interface. This is also being improved in the next version. Two other issues that are common to all Android devices are the lack of headings in apps and occasional loss of focus. Unlike in iOS, there is no easy way to navigate between sections within apps such as the Play store, making navigation slower. Additionally, sometimes focus is occasionally moved while browsing, causing occasional confusion when focus does not end up where you expect.

Running TalkBack on the BrailleNote Touch

Running TalkBack on the BrailleNote touch is most certainly possible, though it takes a few steps to get running and does not provide access to all of the Touch’s controls. To install and run TalkBack on the Touch, follow the below steps.
1.    As TalkBack does not come installed on the Touch, download it from the Play Store.
2.    Under Accessibility in Android settings, make sure the accessibility shortcut is turned on.
3.    Triple press the home button to disable KeySoft.
4.    Press and hold the power button until the device vibrates.
5.    Touch and hold two fingers on the screen until you hear TalkBack activate.
6.    Press the home button to return to the Android home screen.
TalkBack is now running on the Touch. Explore by touch works fine. The thumb keys and Braille keyboard do not work with TalkBack. Lastly, another triple press of the home button, or restarting the device, will restart KeySoft and TalkBack will be disabled again. Using TalkBack on the Touch does not serve much of a purpose, beyond possibly comparing how an app works with TalkBack versus KeySoft.

Conclusion

The BrailleNote Touch handles Android apps, whether from Google or other developers quite well. As long as the apps were developed accessibly, they are generally going to work on the Touch. Once the software is updated and the camera is enabled, apps like KNFB Reader and TapTapSee will only add to its usefulness. Overall the BrailleNote Touch should serve most people who need a tablet with Braille support on the go, but the occasionally laggy performance, and the current hardware specifications, leave me somewhat concerned about its long term viability.