Dave, my eyes aren’t what they used to be and I’m finding it hard to read what’s on the screen of my Android phone. What can I change to make it more legible? I’ve got a Pixel with Android 14.
The Android development team has always done a very good job with the accessibility features in the operating system, and they keep adding new and improved features with each release. Android 12 improved screen magnification, and Android 13 added a new reading mode. Font size increases were capped at 130%, however, so you could only get so large and then it maxed out. Until Android 14! Android 14 actually extends this accessibility feature so you can increase the font size on your device to 200% if you’re so inclined. That’s a big (pun intended) improvement.
Other factors can go into the legibility of the screen too, most notably color scheme (is the text color a significant contrast versus the background color?) and your brightness setting. There’s a tendency to have the brightness set low both for privacy and to extend battery life but higher brightness does make the screen easier to read. It’s worth experimenting to find your sweet spot, for sure.
ANDROID 14 ACCESSIBILITY SETTINGS
Start by going to the Settings app. Notice how many items appear on this screen. With the default font size and display zoom settings, here’s what I see:
That’s seven items, with the bottom one being “Sound & vibration”. We’ll compare this to some other settings in a moment.
For now, search for “font”…
Thought it’s not in the Accessibility area, choose “Font size” which can be found in Display > Display size and text.
ADJUSTING FONT SIZE IN ANDROID 14
Here’s what you’ll see on the Display size and text screen:
The top portion is a reference image that you’ll see change as you make adjustments to Font size and Display size. Let’s start by maxing out Font size to that 200% point:
Notice that the High contrast text option has dropped below the end of the screen. You can also leave the Font size at the default level and change the Display size instead:
Can you see the difference? In the second screen capture, everything’s “spread out” more, but the font isn’t actually much bigger even with the Display size increase. This is a bit more obvious if we reset the Display size and instead slide that Font size back up, then bounce back to the Settings screen:
Before we had seven options on the screen, now we have five. More swiping, but bigger, easier to read text.
If you have excellent eyesight, you could go in the other direction too; minimizing both Font size and Display size. The main Settings menu has quite a few more choices with this configuration:
We’ve gone from our original 7 options to a whopping 10 different options. If your eyes can handle it, this definitely minimizes the amount of times you’ll need to swipe to scroll around!
RESET IT ALL BACK TO THE DEFAULTS
At any point, if you’ve changed the settings, going back to the Display and font size screen will add a small “Reset Settings” button on the lower left (you can see it in one of the earlier screen caps). A tap on that and…
This allows you to experiment with various settings and options, while easily being able to pop right back to the device defaults. Remember that not every Android app is going to work properly with changed font sizes or display size, so be sure to test out a few of your favorites before you settle on a favorite configuration!
Pro Tip: There are lots of ways to manage your Android devices and ensure the best possible experience. Learn more by checking out my extensive Android help area while you’re here!