Accessibility - turning off swipe gestures

[lilliterra]

This is really a post for all phones. I know that most people feel like swipe gestures are more "accessible", but actually some of us experience unwanted hand and finger movements and wish to reduce swipe gesture utility whenever possible. I feel very, very frustrated about more and more swipe gestures being added to basic apps, as well as there is basically no direction or area of the screen to rub my fingers on that doesn't do some action. This post was triggered for example by the "swipe down to switch to selfie mode" in the Galaxy S9 camera app, which I cannot find any way to disable. There desperately needs to be an accessibility option for those of us who do not work well with swipe gestures. I crave the stability of buttons. Please introduce some interface buttons that can replace swipe gestures on the screen. You can hide it as deep in the settings as you like. But the point of it is to REDUCE touch gestures, not to enable them, like with the existing accessibility features.

[Oxford]

The final update for the Galaxy S9 was Android 10 back in March of 2022. I don't know if Android 10 had this capability but Android 16 does. Go into camera settings, scroll down until you find "Swipe preview up/down to" and turn it off. If Android 10 does not have this setting, unfortunately, you're stuck.

[lilliterra]

I think that what happened for me is that I had force stopped all app updates on my previous Galaxy S9, but when I replaced it recently many apps were updated, so I did not get this "swipe for selfie" update until recently. At any rate, my phone doesn't contain a setting to turn this off.

[nullandvoid]

My camera still shows the icon to switch to the front camera.  The swipe down to switch, is just another way to switch for people who find it more convenient.  I have both options on both my older phone and my newer one.

Does your camera not have the pictured icon? The swipe/preview setting is not in Android 13, so I doubt it's in Android 10.  Nevertheless, the swipe to switch cameras still exists - it's just that it can't be turned off.  The switch icon should still be present, though.

[lilliterra]

My camera does have the pictured icon. I am using Android 10. The setting to turn off the swipe gesture is not there.

[nullandvoid]

You don't have to turn off the setting. You can just tap the icon when you want to switch cameras (try it), regardless of whether the swipe setting exists or is on. As I said, the swipe is just an alternate method and does not have to be used

[lilliterra]

Did you read my post? I said that I have motor issues with making unwanted movements and my desire is to turn off the swipe gesture so that I cannot accidentally swipe when I don't intend to. Telling me that "The button still exists" is not helpful.

[nullandvoid · Accepted solution]

Go to accessibility settings. Interaction and dexterity. Turn on the assistant menu and then turn on replace swipe with single tap. You can also turn on interaction control which can block touches on certain areas of the screen (screen shots below). Or, if feasible, purchase a newer phone with at least Android 14, where the ability to turn off that particular feature for the camera exists. There's no way to add it to a phone that is no longer eligible for updates. You can also go to the Galaxy store and choose a different camera app that maybe doesn't have the swipe feature. This appears not to have the feature https://apps.samsung.com/appquery/appDetail.as?appId=camera.adelis.selfie You don't have to use the Samsung Camera app. Although it can't  be uninstalled, it can be hidden.

[lilliterra]

Thanks, I hadn't seen the advanced functions of the assistant menu. I'll have to see what I can do with touch blocking, although "replace swipe with single tap" only applies to taking calls and alerts, so it doesn't have too much utility. I understand that I have an older phone though. At least in this one way the updates are moving in the right direction.

[nullandvoid]

It should apply to all swipe gestures.  The setting in the phone app will allow you to choose tap instead of swipe.  It's a separate setting.