Mobile Screen Magnifier Round Up

Not that long ago I took a look at the Windows Mobile Phone 8 Screen Magnifier in comparison with the iOS Zoom functionality.  Back then I was a bit oblivious to the fact that at long last Android had acquired its own in-built Screen Magnifier (note that I have no idea about Blackberry OS....).  So, now that all three major players in the smartphone and tablet markets have similar functionality, let's line then up and take a closer look at what each has to offer over the other.

 

Android Screen Magnifier

As the newcomer to this particular functionality (at least to my knowledge) Android has some expectations to live up to and a fairly high bar to match.  There are some key and interesting differences between this implementation and the one present on WIndows and iOS based devices even though at first glance, it offers the same feature set.

Unlike iOS and Windows Phone the Android based magnifier does not zoom in on the keyboard.  What?  Yes that's right it doesn't zoom in on the on-screen keyboard.  This may sound odd at first but if you've ever attempted to type while the screen is magnified you can probably recognise that this actual feature comes in handy.  This one works by retaining the screen itself still being magnified (in particularly the text you are entering) while slotting the standard keyboard at the bottom of the screen.

The other odd feature is that when you get a notification in a dialog box the screen automatically disengages the magnifier.  This might seem unusual to start with as well but ends up working favourably as it stops you from remaining oblivious when there is a change in focus in the application which can sometimes occur in iOS (where you might be zoomed in somewhere and not aware of an item requiring your attention somewhere else on the screen).

Apart from this, all functionality is essentially identical to those in Windows Phone and iOS based devices.

iOS Zoom

The iOS Zoom has been around since the first iPad and offers the same functionality as that available on the Windows Phone and Android based devices.  It's key difference here is that it utilises three fingers to implement its functionality.  This can be both good and bad as it's distinct and you won't be setting it off accidentally but it can sometimes be hard to pull off without accidentally clicking on an icon or something you didn't intend to.

Perhaps the most useful distinction here is that the iOS Zoom still retains its kinetic scrolling and flick functionality.  This is handy for reading long lines of text or if you want to quickly go from one side of the screen to the other without zooming out.

WP8 Screen Magnifier

There's nothing really here to set it apart.  About the only thing I can mention here is that the combination of the layout design, capability to enlarge the font sizes in all aspects of the OS and the implenentation of a basic, but well executed magnifier works well.

So which one's for me?

In my view, Android has the edge on the other mobile OS' here.  The way it implements its magnifier is a much more readily useable system that ensures you stay aware of your full screen content while allowing you to zoom in on what's important