At Samsung, we design meaningful, human-centric innovations that offer people greater control and more enriching experiences in their daily lives. Through a variety of Galaxy features — from simple, easy devices gestures to auditory assistants and vision enhancements — we strive to open access to technology that works for people of all abilities.

To celebrate this year’s Global Accessibility Awareness Day, let’s take a look at some of these features and how we continue to bridge barriers.

Making the Galaxy Experience More Accessible

Adding Clarity With Relumino Mode

Born out of Samsung’s in-house incubator, Relumino Mode was designed to improve the lives of those with low vision by increasing the visibility of on-screen text and images. This feature enhances the screen’s contrast and brightness and sharpens image outlines and shapes, enabling users to easily discern content on their devices.

To understand our users’ perspectives and needs, we collaborated with advisors with low vision, researchers, engineers, programmers and testers to develop a solution for inclusive visual displays. Relumino Mode is the product of years of research and development to advance Samsung’s goal of providing “Screens for All” and improving the viewing experience for those with limited vision. This new feature is available in the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and beyond.

From following a ball during a sports match to reading smaller text on a news broadcast, Relumino Mode¹ helps users with low vision to connect with the world and enjoy content that matters most to them.

Enabling Relumino:

Providing Audio Descriptions With TalkBack

The TalkBack² feature, also known as Voice Assistant, is designed to help users with low or no vision to get the most out of their device experience without looking at their screens. This feature transforms Galaxy smartphones and tablets into an intuitive audio interface. As users navigate their devices, Talkback can provide speech feedback for anything they touch, highlight or select, such as menus, emails and notifications. TalkBack shortcuts can also be enabled for more seamless navigation.

Navigating the screen is simple. With easy-to-use gestures, such as Swipe Left, Double Tap or Use Two Fingers To Scroll, TalkBack provides users the freedom to control their devices conveniently.

Turning on TalkBack:

1) Launch the Settings app, and then select Accessibility

2) Tap TalkBack

3) Tap the switch to activate TalkBack

Bringing Media to Life With Live Captions

Live Captions³ helps those who are hard of hearing to follow their favorite media and audio content effortlessly. The feature transcribes audio as it plays through the device in real-time. With Live Captions, users can better enjoy videos, podcasts, phone and video calls, audio messages and voicemails.

Live Captions are available in English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.⁴

Activating Live Captions:

1) Open Device Settings

2) Tap on Accessibility

3) Tap on Hearing Enhancements

4) Turn on Live Caption

Fostering Inclusivity Through Accessories and Wearables

Amplifying the World With Ambient Sound

The Galaxy Buds2 Pro features an Ambient Sound setting that adapts background noise at five levels of amplification,⁵ designed to cater to a diverse range of needs and situations. This feature gives users the ability to customize how they want to hear and experience sound. From making a conversation more audible to increasing the noise of traffic at a crosswalk, the Ambient Sound feature allows users to participate in social interactions while being aware of their surroundings.

Setting up Ambient Sound:

1) Insert both Buds into your ears

2) Open the Galaxy Wearable app

3) Tap on Earbud settings

4) Tap on Accessibility

5) Tap the Ambient Sound button

Reimagining Your Galaxy Watch With Universal Gestures⁶

Universal Gestures offers an innovative way to use your Galaxy Watch touch-free. With four intuitive gestures, Make Fist, Make Fist Twice, Pinch and Double Pinch, users can navigate their Galaxy interface, open apps, scroll messages and more, without needing to push down or touch the screen with force.

Prompting Universal Gestures:

1) Open Device Settings

2) Tap on Accessibility

3) Scroll to the Interaction and Dexterity Section

4) Turn Universal Gestures on

A Better World for Everyone

Samsung is on a journey to advance a more inclusive and sustainable future through our innovations and open collaborations, and will continue to take steps in delivering accessibility features to our devices, so more people can enjoy what our Galaxy products have to offer. The work does not end here.

For more information, visit our Galaxy Mobile Accessibility page.

¹ Relumino Mode is available on Galaxy S24 series operating on One UI 6.1 or above.
² Talkback is available on all Galaxy smartphones.
³ Live Caption is available on Galaxy smartphones with 4GB memory or higher.
⁴ Additional languages will be available in coming updates.
⁵ Additional two levels can be activated in the Laboratory — Ambient Sound menu under Earbuds settings in the Galaxy Wearable app.
⁶ Universal Gestures is available on Galaxy Watch6, Watch5 and Watch4 series with One UI 5 Watch.

“For the past 10 years, the Samsung-Google partnership has been the driving force behind so many of this industry’s most important innovations,” said Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics at Galaxy Unpacked 2020. “Now, as we start a new decade, our partnership is more important than ever, as we work together to pioneer a new generation of breakthrough mobile experiences.”

The recent updates for YouTube are just one milestone in the developments the two companies have brought to Samsung’s flagship and foldable devices. Thanks to the partnership, Galaxy users get an optimized experience for the most popular Google apps, such as Google Maps and Google Play Store, and enjoy greater reliability, app continuity, and security. Last year, Samsung and Google ushered in a new mobile era by creating a seamless foldable experience for the Galaxy Fold. Here is a closer look at some of the latest ways Samsung and Google are delivering a more valuable Android experience on Galaxy devices.

A New Experience for YouTube with Flex Mode

With Galaxy Z Flip’s unique folding system, you can set your Galaxy Z Flip on the table and watch your favorite YouTube channel hands-free. And now, this hands-free experience is taken up to the next level with Flex mode compatibility. When you enjoy YouTube with your Galaxy Z Flip hands-free, the display evenly splits into two 4-inch screens. While watching a video on the top half of the display, you can use the bottom half to search for other videos, read descriptions and write comments with no distractions.

Unfolded / Half-Folded

The Flex mode-optimized YouTube app also ensures that no matter what the aspect ratio of the video you are watching, you can view in comfort by adjusting the way the video fits in the top half of the screen. Square and vertical videos will nearly fill the entire space, while 16:9 videos will adjust to the center. But Flex mode compatibility with YouTube was more than just a simple user experience upgrade.

Working together, Samsung and Google’s engineers redesigned the app from the operating system level. This included integration of the Android Support Library, making it easier to bring Flex mode to more third-party services. Through the collaboration, Samsung has worked closely with the Android developer community to drive innovation for foldable devices. Galaxy Z Flip users can download the Flex mode-optimized YouTube app from the Google Play Store starting from April 22¹ and enjoy the enhanced features that come with the latest update.

Galaxy users can also get up to 4 months of free YouTube Premium and enjoy benefits such as ad-free viewing, offline play, and background play.²

Beyond the latest YouTube updates, Samsung and Google have been working on several other innovations for Galaxy devices.

The Best Features Coming to Galaxy Devices  

To start, Samsung is bringing support for Google’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) to Galaxy smartphones to make your conversations more seamless.³ The two companies have been working since 2018 to bring the features to Samsung devices.⁴

The Samsung Messages app with RCS allows users to do more, including chat over both Wi-Fi and mobile data, send and receive high-resolution photos and videos, receive read receipts, and create feature-rich group chats. The Messages app is also available on desktop, making it easy to transition seamlessly from mobile to PC.

In addition to the RCS integration, Samsung kicked off 2020 by offering out-of-the-box integration for Google Duo on both the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Z Flip. Not only does Google Duo offer high-quality, high-speed video calling, it also allows up to 12 people to join a single video conference. On the Galaxy Z Flip, users can enjoy the app in Flex mode, where video chats appear on the top half, while call controls appear on the bottom half. Collaborations with Google are also bringing more interesting features to Galaxy devices.

With the ability to transcribe and caption media in real-time with incredible accuracy, Live Caption is one of the most exciting features on the Galaxy S20. Leveraging Google’s AI, Live Caption can produce captions for any audio or visual content, including YouTube videos, podcasts, and videos you and your friends have recorded. Developed in collaboration with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Live Caption is particularly helpful if you have hearing loss or are in an environment in which you don’t want to increase the volume. Users can toggle the feature on under either the Accessibility or Sound options in the device’s Settings menu.

As a result of the ongoing partnership with Google, Samsung is bringing monthly and quarterly security updates to Galaxy devices to further enhance user confidence and ensure the safety and security of their data. These include Google’s patches for Android, and Samsung’s patches for vulnerabilities and exposures.

“It’s been amazing to see Samsung continuously push the limits of what’s possible in mobile on the Android platform,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer at Galaxy Unpacked 2020, SVP of Platforms and Ecosystems at Google. “Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue to work together to build the next wave of helpful, mobile innovation.”

In the year ahead, Samsung will continue to work closely with Google to pioneer the next wave of mobile innovations that will change the way we communicate with the world.

* User interface shown in images is only a mock rendering. Actual user interface is subject to change.

¹ Update release date may vary by market and carrier.

² Availability dependent upon market. Galaxy S20 5G series, the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Fold are eligible for up to 4 months and all other mobile devices, including the A series, are eligible for up to 2 months.

³ Availability of Samsung Message app with RCS capabilities vary by market, device and carrier.

⁴ Samsung and Google Collaborate on RCS Messaging for Android