Are you experiencing some difficulties reading texts or emails on your smartphone? Are you always squinting just to make out the words? Luckily, you can make changes to make your phone easier to read. Follow these steps and your eyes will thank you:
Increase On-Screen Text Size
Whether you are using an Android, iOS or Windows phone, there’s a feature that enables you to increase its default font size. This will make your phone easier to read without affecting the device’s performance.
Android
1. Go to the “Settings” menu and tap “Accessibility”.
2. Select your preferred text size. If you like, you can also adjust the size of on-screen items with the “Display Size” function.
Tip: Different Android operating systems can have slight differences in the steps for selecting font sizes.
iPhone
1. Open the “Settings” menu.
2. Tap on “General” and then open “Accessibility”.
3. Enable the “Larger Text” function that is found on the “Vision” section and adjust the font size to what you want.
Tip: While the change may not be seen on all apps on the device, it will be applied to those that you need most, such as Messages, Mail, Calendar, and Contacts.
Use Magnification Functions for Screen Zooming
Known as Magnification Gestures on Android and Zoom on iOS, the magnification function on smartphones is very useful for comfortable reading. This feature allows you to increase the size of anything, including text, photos, and videos on your device’s screen through finger-spreading gestures or multiple tapping. To enable this function to make your phone easier to read, follow these steps:
Android
- Open the “Settings” menu and then go to “Accessibility”.
- Find the Magnification Gestures option and then turn it on.
- Try zooming in and out on the screen with triple taps.
Tip: You can keep the view zoomed in temporarily by holding the third tap and then dragging your finger to move the screen and find the text that you want to be enlarged.
iPhone
- Launch the “Settings” menu on the home screen.
- Tap on “General”.
- Choose “Accessibility”.
- Select “Zoom” to switch it on.
- Double-tap with three fingers to enable the zoom
Making On-Screen Text Bold
Bold Text is a feature that will truly help make your phone easier to read without magnifying the other interface elements on your device. Unfortunately for those using Android phones, this feature is only available on iOS phones. Here are the steps to enable it:
- Open the “Settings” menu.
- Tap on “General”.
- Navigate “Accessibility”.
- Select the “Larger Text” option and then set it to Larger Accessibility Sizes.
- Return to the previous screen and then turn on the “Bold Text” option.
- Complete the process by rebooting your device.
Tip: Enabling the bold text function will apply it to all of Apple’s apps that work with the dynamic framework of your device.
Using High-Contrast Text
In some cases, the transparent layers and blur of your smartphone can make reading uncomfortable. Luckily, there are some tweaks that you can do in its accessibility settings to make it easy on your eyes.
Android
- Launch the “Settings” menu.
- Go to “Accessibility”
- Check the box next to “High Contrast Text” to fix the text color on any related app on your device.
Tip: The high contrast function is still an experimental feature on Android, so it may not work properly on all devices. Nevertheless, you can expect Google to come up with improvements and make it foolproof in the near future.
iPhone
1. Open the “Settings” app.
2. Go to the “General” menu.
3. Click on the “Accessibility” option.
4. Tap on “Increase Contrast”. You can also reduce transparency to make the text more solid, thus making it easier to read.
Applying Inverted Colors
The bright white screen on your mobile can make it difficult for you to read in a dark environment or in the sunlight. It can also strain your eyes and cause headaches. Turning on the inverted colors feature will make your phone easier to read.
Android
- Launch the “Settings” menu and then tap on “Accessibility”.
- Check the box next to the “Inverted Rendering” option.
iPhone
- Go to the “Settings” menu.
- Tap on “General”.
- Navigate to “Accessibility”.
- Enable “Invert Colors”.
Tip: For a shortcut, you can turn on the ability to triple-click the Home button for this feature to work. In “Accessibility”, enable the “Triple-Click” option that you will find at the bottom of the menu. Now, you can tap your phone’s Home button three times to invert and revert colors instantly.
No matter how good your smartphone’s screen is, it could be difficult for you to read tiny text and emails under certain circumstances. However, by following these tips, you can make it more comfortable to read and finally give your eyes a break!
