Tag Archives: dpi

Comparison of different camera apps for Low Vision / Blind users (with data)

Ok the last couple of posts have been:

– Camera apps for blind users
and
– Camera apps for low vision users

To come up with my recommendations for those two posts, I looked at 36 camera apps.

Today I thought I’d present the list of apps I compared, along with some brief notes on each, to help you investigate the options you might be interested in.

I’ve also included two screenshots of each option – one at normal DPI and the other at double that. That follows on from my recent post about Adjusting android resolution, pixel density and font size and my series on Rooting Android (You need to have a rooted device in order to adjust font size beyond the “Huge” size which is actually only 1.3 times the size of the regular font size, or to adjust the DPI). So this page should be of interest both to those looking at different camera apps, and those looking at how adjusting the DPI affects a range of apps.

So here is a list of all the apps I tested, some points on each (in a table) and some images of each in both standard DPI (320 DPI on my Galaxy Note 2) and after I manually doubled the DPI to 640.

A Better Camera

[Image of A Better Camera]

[Image of A Better Camera]

a better camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-21-18-45-40

A Better Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Back Camera Selfie

[Image of Back Camera Selfie]

[Image of Back Camera Selfie]

Back camera selfi - high dpi - Screenshot_2015-06-01-08-49-15

Back Camera Selfie in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Binoculars

binoculars Screenshot_2015-05-19-14-10-14

binoculars - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-39-48

Binoculars in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera (Google)

[Image of Google's default camera]

[Image of Google’s default camera]

camera google high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-40-35

Camera (Google) in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera 2

camera 2 - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-41-01

Camera 2 looked exactly the same in normal and high DPI.

Camera 51

camera 51 - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-29-14

camera 51 - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-34-56

Camera 51 in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera Awesome

[Image of Camera Awesome]

[Image of Camera Awesome]

camera awesome high dpi - Screenshot_2015-05-20-08-52-20

Camera Awesome in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera Fun Free

camera fun - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-44-40

camera fun high dpi - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-41-31

Camera Fun Free in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera Fv-5

[Image of Camera FV-5]

[Image of Camera FV-5]

camera fv-5 high dpi - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-41-57

Camera FV-5 in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera HDR Studio

camera hdr studio - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-45-48

Camera HDR Studio did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Camera ICS

camera ics - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-31-48

camera ics - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-46-46

Camera ICS in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camera Zoom

binoculars Screenshot_2015-05-19-14-10-14

binoculars - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-39-48

Camera Zoom in normal (left) and double DPI (right). The app looked identical to Binoculars by the same author.

Camera Zoom FX

camera zoom fx - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-36-06

camera zoom fx - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-55-51

Camera Zoom FX in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Cameringo+

[Image of Cameringo+]

[Image of Cameringo+]

cameringo+ high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-57-17

Cameringo+ in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Camu

[Image of Camu - with one of the easiest to see shutter buttons]

[Image of Camu – with one of the easiest to see shutter buttons]

camu - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-57-51

camu - high dpi - Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-57-48

Camu in normal (left) and double DPI (middle and settings at double DPI right)

Cymera

cymera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-43-21

Cymera did not change appearance between normal and double DPI.

DSLR Camera

[Image of DSLR Camera]

[Image of DSLR Camera]

dlsr camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-59-20

DSLR in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Fast Burst Camera

fast burst camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-44-19

fast burst camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-00-08

Fast Burst Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

FX Camera

fxcamera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-30-15

fxcamera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-01-10

FX Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

HDR Camera

hdr camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-45-30

HDR Camera did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

High Speed Camera

high speed camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-46-03

high speed camera - Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-02-13

High Speed Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

InstaCamera Pro

[Imstacamera - no controls to see here (there is another icon added to your apps to edit app settings!]

[Imstacamera – no controls to see here (there is another icon added to your apps to edit app settings!]

InstaCamera Pro did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Lapse It

lapse it - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-47-30

lapse it - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-03-27

Lapse It in normal (left) and double DPI (right). Interestingly some of the controls got smaller at higher DPI rather than bigger.

Night Camera

night camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-15-48-00

Night Camera did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Open Camera

[Image of Open Camera]

[Image of Open Camera]

open camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-13-51

Open Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Paper Camera

paper camera - Screenshot_2015-05-20-10-14-22

Paper Camera did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Pro HDR Camera

pro hdr camera - Clipboard01

pro hdr camera high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-11-36
pro hdr camera setting high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-09-12-06

Pro HDR Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (middle and right)

ProCam

procam - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-05-07

procam - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-13-28

ProCam in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

ProCapture

[Image of Pro Capture]

[Image of Pro Capture]

pro capture - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-17-02

ProCapture in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Selfish

[Image of Selfish]

[Image of Selfish]

selfish - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-33-13

Selfish in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Silent Camera

silent camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-08-36

silent camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-18-16
Silent Camera in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Simple Camera Silence

simple camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-08-44

simple camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-28-59

Simple Camera Silence in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Smart Selfie

[Smart Selfie - works really well, not sure why preview is so small though]

[Smart Selfie – works really well, not sure why preview is so small though]

smart selfie - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-34-28

Smart Selfie in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Snap Gallery

snap camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-09-25

snap camera - high dpi Screenshot_2015-05-20-11-31-04

Snap Gallery in normal (left) and double DPI (right)

Vignette

vignette - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-09-49

[Image of Vignette]

[Image of Vignette]

[Image of Vignette waiting for movement to stop after pressing the shutter to take the picture]

[Image of Vignette waiting for movement to stop after pressing the shutter to take the picture]

Vignette did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Zoom Camera

zoom camera - Screenshot_2015-05-21-16-10-12

Zoom Camera did not change appearance between normal and high DPI.

Following is a table I compiled of information about each camera as I was making my notes. I contemplated different ways of presenting the information and in the end decided “as is” was probably the easiest as different elements of the table will appeal to different users.

Name URL Talkback accessible Blind useable Face recognition tap anywhere does hardware volume keys Size of shutter button size of other buttons focus type zoom Image effects available DSLR type options Preview of last photo Works with high DPI Wait for device to be steady Items on screen Notes
Camera FV-5 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flavionet.android.camera.lite Buttons unlabelled no no focus pretty much any setting 1.5cm 5mm Auto / options regular none most (exposure / iso / focus / shutter time) icon some options overlap yes 12 – 16 Lots of options, medium size icons, thicker black rule of thirds lines
Silent cameraw https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.joeware.android.camera Buttons unlabelled no no focus shutter 1.5cm 1cm tap regular none exposure, flash icon ok no 9 shutter button gets washed out in large white panel at bottom of screen, some small icons.
FX camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ymst.android.fxcamera Buttons unlabelled no no focus 1cm 5mm tap no post processing flash, timer icon some options overlap no 7 Need to sign in with facebook / twitter / email and starts in its own social page rather than camera.
dslr camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=pl.vipek.camera Buttons unlabelled no visual indicator focus shutter 7mm 5mm Auto / options regular 10 many icon some options overlap no 12 Lots of DSLR features but small buttons.
fast burst camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spritefish.fastburstcameralite Buttons unlabelled small controls and touch anywhere to shoot make it possible no Focus / shutter shutter, zoom 1.2cm 7mm tap regular none flash, exposure, scene modes icon some options overlap no 4 Slide to zoom, tap to focus and shutter in corner work ok with talkback even though buttons unlabelled
Camera fun free https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spiceloop.camerafunfree Buttons unlabelled no no hide controls 5mm 5mm auto regular 30 in full version flash icon ok no 6 Only does effects (no regular) buttons small
Simple Camera Silence https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kaname.surya.android.simplecamera&hl=en Buttons unlabelled yes, tap to take photo, clear screen no shoot 1.5cm 5mm auto regular none flash icon yes no 6 Works well as a very simple camera, can touch screen to take, some small icons.
Camera HDR Studio https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ht.cameraapps.LayoutActivity Buttons unlabelled no no shutter 1.5cm 1cm Auto / options regular many hdr focus flash icon no different Yes – waits for good shot 8 graphical menus, HDR can improve pictures, complex icons
High speed camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hantor.CozyCamera Buttons unlabelled no no shutter 1.5cm 1cm auto regular 10 flash, torch, timer, icon some options overlap no 12 lots of small icons
A Better Camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.almalence.opencam Buttons unlabelled tap to shoot no shutter shutter, zoom, exposure 1.5cm 12mm – 2cm Auto / options regular Ad-in post processing Exposure / focus / flash icon some options overlap Yes – waits for good shot 8 Works well, large buttons and DRO mode lights well.  Grid and horizon lines very faint and zoom tucked off to the side.
Snap Gallery trial https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marginz.snaptrial Buttons unlabelled no visual indicator shutter, focus shutter, focus,zoom,exposure 1cm 1cm tap regular 12 iso, white balance, exposure, flash, scene none some options overlap no 5 Sinple layout and menu options though small icons
HDR Camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.almalence.hdr&hl=en Buttons unlabelled no no 2cm 1cm auto regular HDR options flash, exposure icon no different no 3 Works well, large buttons, but replaced by a better camera.
Night camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.almalence.night&hl=en Buttons unlabelled no no 2cm 1.5cm Auto / options regular night mode no icon no different no 4 Not brilliant photos in most light, may get extra detail in low light for some?  Replaced by A better camera in any case which has similar options included.
Camera Zoom FX https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=slide.camZoomFree Can’t access all controls yes (voice activated) no pretty much any pretty much any setting 1.5cm 5mm touch regular many horizon, rule of thirds, flash, white balance, iso icon some options overlap Yes – waits for good shot 11 many fx, some small icons
Camera 2 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dama.camera2 no no no zoom 1.3cm 7mm auto regular many Exposure / focus / flash, iso icon no different no 5 Many options but mostly tucked away in graphical menus, small print, poor contrast (white on grey).
Lapse It https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ui.LapseIt Some buttons labelled yes no 1cm 1cm auto regular 12 iso, white balance, exposure, flash, scene none good though some icons smaller no 7 More designed for taking time lapse images, starts in menu rather than camera.
Selfish https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bengigi.selfishfree Some buttons labelled yes Audible and visual indication – 1.5cm auto no some no none yes no 2 kept crashing on my Note 2, worked on my Nexus 10.  Spoke “point towards face” and “smile”, but didn’t give any indication of whether I needed to move camera.
Back camera selfie https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fueneco.backcameraselfie no yes, speaks directions and takes photo automatically Audible and visual indication – – – 6mm auto no none flash automatically yes waits 8 Buttons unlabeled, also for some reason setup in 640×480 by default even though it can use full range of resolutions.  Also large instruction panel in centre of screen.
Camera 51 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.camera51.android no no visual indicator focus 1.5cm 5mm auto regular none flash, exposure icon some options overlap no 7 beeps when in best position (though what that is I’ve no idea)
Cameringo+ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.perracolabs.cpd no small controls and touch anywhere to shoot make it possible no shoot Zoom / focus / shoot 8mm 5mm Auto / touch regular many horizon, rule of thirds, flash, white balance, iso icon some options overlap no 5-12 lots of options and fx, small buttons.
Zoom camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ar.com.moula.zoomcamera&hl=en no yes, large shutter area no shoot 10x6cm 12mm auto 10x many flash, exposure, wb, scene icon no different no 15 buttons reasonable size, and options like torch mode, negative and extra zoom nice.
vignette https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.neilandtheresa.VignetteNewDemo no yes, tap to take photo, clear screen no shoot shutter Whole screen 12mm auto regular many flash, exposure yes no different waits 0 – 8 large buttons, easy to use, more for ‘instant’ or effect than DSLR.
Camu https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sumoing.camu no no no 1.5cm 8mm auto? regular many flash icon camera good, some options overlap no 5 basic camera with large coloured button and after effects.
Pro HDR Camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eyeappsllc.prohdr no no no shutter 1cm 1cm auto regular HDR options flash icon some options overlap no 8 Does HDR well enough and that’s it. Doesn’t work with talkback.
paper camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dama.papercamera no no no zoom 2cm 1cm auto no many no icon no different no 12 Camera viewfinder only takes up half the screen, designed for effects photos
InstaCamera Pro https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=longwell.instant.camera yes Yes – instantly takes photo when started no shutter Whole screen – auto no none no none yes no 0 Camera takes a picture instantly then exits, or double tap anywhere, no buttons
binoculars https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.IdanS.binocularsfree Some buttons labelled yes (shutter labelled) no – – 1cm 5mm Auto / options 30x (full version) none torch icon yes no 9 30x zoom with full version, zoom / torch etc small (can pinch zoom).
Camera ICS https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moblynx.cameraics Some buttons labelled yes (shutter labelled) visual indicator focus shoot,af,zoom 1.2cm 5mm touch regular four iso, exposure,flash,whitebalance icon some options overlap no 7 large shutter button section though only button itself active.  Small other options.
Procapture https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.neaststudios.procapture.free Some buttons labelled Yes – physical buttons no shutter, focus shutter, zoom 1cm 5mm Auto / options regular 12 iso, white balance, exposure, flash, scene icon good, some options cut off no 12 lots of options, small buttons, reasonable sized shutter.
Camera Zoom https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.IdanS.camerazoomfree Some buttons labelled Shutter labelled no 1cm 5mm Auto / options 30x (full version) none torch icon yes no 9 30x zoom with full version, zoom / torch etc small (can pinch zoom).
ProCam https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wisesharksoftware.procam Some buttons labelled no visual indicator focus shutter 1cm 1cm tap regular none iso, white balance, exposure, flash, scene none some options overlap no 3 Camera buttons themselves labelled but not labelled to get into camera, also gets stuck in camera mode and starts in menu
Cymera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyworld.camera&hl=en no no no Focus / shutter zoom 1.5cm 5mm Auto / options regular many flash, exposure icon no different no 12 large shutter button, others smaller icons.
Camera (Google) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.GoogleCamera yes yes no – shutter 2cmx6.5cm 8mm auto regular lens blur / photosphere modes grid, timer, flash none some options overlap no 2 very large shutter button, but other buttons small .
Open Camera https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera yes yes visual indicator focus most controls 1.5cm 8mm Auto / options regular 12 iso, white balance, exposure, flash, scene icon some options overlap no 0 – 11 nice big shutter button, other buttons smaller.
Camera Awesome https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.smugmug.android.cameraawesome yes yes visual indicator shutter 2cm 5mm auto regular many horizon, flash, white balance, exposure, iso icon some options overlap no 10 Works well, gives post processing effect options. Not a fan of flurry, good talkback access. I never quite figured out what awesomise was though.
Smart Selfie https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aidedesk.smartselfie yes yes Audible and visual indication shutter (double tap) – 5mm auto none none none left on screen yes waits 4 Automatically gets faces focussed and takes hpoto, advises direction to move, preview not full screen?

Certainly from the images, you can tell that with higher DPI opens up a lot more options for camera apps for low vision users, but sometimes at a price.

Has this week’s info changed your mind from what you decided after the last two posts?  Has it given you some more to think about and try?  Let us know in the comments below!

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Adjusting Android Resolution, pixel density and font size for large print

The quick recommendation: What works best in one app, doesn’t necessarily work best in other apps, so the best solution is one which can be adjusted easily. Font size is easy to adjust and effective. Pixel density can also be effective in some cases.

The longer answer:

Recently I’ve tried rooting my phone and installing a custom ROM. More on that in another post shortly, but one of the big reasons I was keen to try this, is that it gives you access to settings you can’t otherwise touch and I wanted to see how I could manipulate these to increase the large print useability of my phone.

My previous post on DPI (Pixel density) and resolution on a Windows PC (here: https://22point.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/resolution-vs-dpi/) has some explanation of the technicalities, which mostly translate across to a phone. On the PC I recommended setting he resolution to its highest, the DPI high and using the magnifier as needed beyond that, but I’ve never been a fan of using magnification on my phone if I could avoid it as the screen is so much smaller and more fiddly to pan around with my big fingers!

Settings:

In my testing, I manipulated three settings

Resolution: This is how many pixels (dots) wide and high the screen is. On my Samsung galaxy note 2 for instance, it is 720 x 1280. Theoretically, lowering these numbers could make things appear larger as something which is 180 pixels wide will take up ¼ of the width of the screen at this resolution, but if I drop the resolution to 360 x 640 then that 180 pixel wide item is now half the width of the screen (that’s how it works on a Windows PC).

Pixel Density: (often used interchangeably with the terms Pixels Per Inch, PPI and Dots Per Inch, DPI) This is how many pixels are displayed in a line per inch of screen space – From a hardware perspective, the higher this number, the sharper and clearer the display looks. Adjusting this higher than the hardware specifications has the effect of enlarging things. If your phone has an actual hardware Pixel Density of 200 and you change the pixel density setting to 400, something which should be 1” high will be drawn 400 pixels high, but because your phone can actually only display 200 pixels to an inch, that object will render at 2” high.

Font size: I’ve covered apps which let you change font size before (here: https://22point.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/android-font-enlargement-apps/ ) and this time I’m looking at the effect that adjusting font size (along with resolution and pixel density) has on the useability of apps.

Testing methodology:

Currently, I have 200 apps on my phone, and even more conveniently, 100 of these could be considered to be ‘games’. I make the distinction because some will say they don’t play games, and I was also interested to see how differently games behaved to other apps. I tried using each app in six different scenarios:

  • Control: The native resolution (720 x 1280) and pixel density (320) of my phone at standard font size.
  • Most adjusted: A lower resolution of 450×800, higher pixel density of 400 and font size at 200%.
  • Slight tweaking: Native resolution, 150% pixel density (480) and 150% font size.
  • High DPI: Native resolution but double pixel density – 640 rather than 320, standard font size.
  • Lowest resolution: A resolution of 270 x 480 (pixel density scaled back accordingly to 120)
  • Large Font: Native resolution and pixel density but 200% font size.

The “most adjusted” setup was designed to affect the most parameters and so be more likely to have an effect (one way or the other). The “Slight tweaking” setup was designed to be a potentially practical solution which didn’t adjust any value too harshly, but provided a combination of effects which would hopefully be beneficial.

Effect of adjustments:

Resolution: Changing the resolution had the least effect in most cases. It turns out that most apps seem to be designed to draw things as a percentage of screen size so this didn’t make any difference to most things.

Pixel Density: Changing the pixel density tended to make things bigger, from the status bar to the size of icons and information within apps. Some apps handled this well and it was a great improvement and other apps, particularly some of the games, became unusable.

Font size: Changing the font size increased the size of text in many apps. Often this made the text easier to read, however in some cases the text was then bigger than the app was expecting and so overwrote other information or caused things to disappear off the side or bottom of the screen.

Some apps displayed exactly the same regardless of how I changed settings. In one way this was good as it meant that they were not negatively affected by any of the changes, but on the other hand it meant that I was not able to come up with a way of improving their large print readability beyond any settings in the app itself.

Just to take one marker, I’ve listed the size of app headings on their individual pages in the Play Store for each setting below:

  1. Control: 12pt
  2. Most Adjusted: 48pt
  3. Slight tweaking: 24pt
  4. Highest DPI: 22pt
  5. Lowest Resolution: 12pt
  6. Large Font 22pt

Usability results for (non-game) apps:

Leaving things untouched was the equal best case in 39% of apps and the equal worst setup in 89%. It was possible to adjust the pixel density, resolution or font size such that there was an improvement in 83% of apps, and in only 16% of apps, some combinations of changes caused a negative reaction.

The two biggest improvements here were in adjusting the font size (better in 71% of cases and worse in only 2%) and pixel density (better in 70% of cases and worse in 9%). While the slight tweaking scenario was only the best case in 3% of apps, this was mostly because there was an improvement (79% of apps) however it wasn’t as marked as when we doubled the DPI or font size. This setup was only worse than doing nothing in 6% of apps.

Adjusting the resolution had the least effect here – it was the same in 98% of cases (worse in one and better in one).

Results for games:

The default setup was the equal best setup in 78% of cases and the worst case in only 12%. Only 22% of games could be improved by adjusting the settings and 39% of games could be made worse or unusable with the wrong setup.

Similar to the non-game apps, lowering the resolution all the way down didn’t change anything for 93% of games though in 73% of cases this was still equal to the best setup. Adjusting the font size made 15% of games better and one worse and was the (equal) best setup in 77% of cases.

Changing the pixel density (and thus also the two combined scenarios) actually made things worse more often than better – not so much for font size alone, but just because some of games weren’t designed to cope with such an adjustment and only improved things for between 12 and 17 games but made things worse for between 14 and 35 games.

Overall results:

Screenshot_2014-12-12-16-08-22sScreenshot_2014-12-12-16-06-53sScreenshot_2014-12-12-16-11-47s

Above: The music Cyanogenmod music app, in the default resolution / pixel densit, in the most adjusted setup and in the slight tweaking setup.

Adjusting the pixel density seemed really good for many productivity based apps, but can be detrimental to some of the games. Adjusting the font size seemed overall to have the most positive effect with the fewest negative situations. In an ideal world, the best solution would be if there was a way of quickly changing the font size and pixel density for different situations.

Changing setups:

In my testing, I used an app called “Font Size Setter” by Cedric Gatay (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.gatay.android.fss) , to adjust the font size setting. I found this app good as the interface is basically just a slider you adjust to choose the size and an apply button which immediately makes the change. I also placed a shortcut to Font Size Setter in my notification shade using Custom Notifications, which made it even easier to bring up.

I used Resolution Changer by Lugalabs (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lugalabs.resolutionchanger) to adjust the DPI and resolution, and the way this worked was that after making the change, the screen would flicker, and then take you to the phone’s lock screen. During this time it also displayed a message asking if you wish to keep the changes and giving you 15 seconds to agree before going back to the old setting (similar to when you adjust the screen resolution on a Windows computer). While effective and potentially a safeguard in the event of choosing a setup your hardware could not display, I did find that this process took a little while, and I would be reluctant to want to change DPI too frequently. If there is another app which does the process more easily I would be very excited to learn of it.

Conclusion:

With most of my previous recommendations, it’s been possible to choose one or several apps or setups which work best to achieve a particular outcome. With adjusting the display properties with the goal of making the font larger, there isn’t one recommendation which will work for everyone. Some apps respond great to some tweaks, whereas others become unusable, and depending on what apps you use, you will likely find that what works in one app, doesn’t work in another. For myself, I’m still using the slightly higher DPI mode though I tend to leave my font set at 200% except where this causes problems, but at least I can easily adjust the font size back. There are a few (games) I won’t be able to play in this setup, and a couple more I can play by adjusting the font size, but overall it’s definitely an improvement on the stock experience.

Summary:

Adjusting the font size using an app like Font Size Setter is the easiest and quickest way of getting an overall larger font, and easy to turn off if needed. Changing the DPI can have more of an effect in some places (eg the status bar) but doesn’t work in some apps and can be a longer process to change back and forth. What works best for one person and one app, won’t necessarily work across the board so it’s a matter of trial and error to find the best setup. What setup have you found that works best for you personally? Please let me know!