Greetings!

For the best jump from IOS to Android, your best bet is to get a Samsung device, particularly either the S-Line, the A-Line, or the J-line, depending on your residing country.

Voice Assistant (formally called "Galaxy Talkback,")is the only screen reader on Android which has voiceover-like gestures, including the "magic tap" feature which Google's own"Talkback" does not have.
As a quick side note, if you'd like to email Samsung thoughts and suggestions, send an electronic mail to
[email protected]
, and visit their USA Mobile Accesibility info page over at
http://www.samsung.com/us/accessibility/mobile/
To start Voice Assistant on the Galaxy S8/Note8 and later, use "Volume-Up+Power." On the A/J-Line, use the "Triple-Click-Home" action. In addition if using a Samsung device with "Bixby" on it, you can now turn on/off Voice Assistant with your voice, which Talkback from Google will never be able to do sadly.

For a nice round up of Voice Assistant Gestures, please check out the below articles from
Android Central
and
Media Acces Australia

I hope all of the above helps.

Save yourself the trouble, and just don't switch. I don't have much experience with android, but I have tried talkback, and its kind of terrible. I know apple are very encrypted, I know how annoying that is for programers using python, but from an accessibility standpoint, apple is and probably will always be the better way to go.

OK, so, no IOS VS Android, but don't switch unless you are willing to be patient; it's just that simple.  While it's true that iOS sandboxes you in, most of it is self explanitory and holds your hand.  Android supposes that you already have an idea of what you want and how you want it and will, for the most part, make you do all the legwork required to get it.  This could be as simple as installing a shell or rooting your device entirely to work with a different mod to the one already set on your device, which may or may not contain a ton of bloatware you may or may not need, may or may not want, and which may or may not make your phone do a bunch of fun/annoying things you may or may not like.
And no, for every single Android loving guru out there, I'm not just saying that to be malicious... I've spent time with droids and I'd love to be one of you again but I just don't have the time.  The day Droids are on par accessibility wise with voiceover, I'll rethink this through and make the switch, because I miss all the power I once had.

@austin

You mentioned about the 'Smart Beetle" with BRLTTY. Your in luck!
Check out the following:
http://brltty.com/doc/KeyBindings/brl-hm-beetle.txt
Enjoy the read!
As for the "Magic Tap," ll Samsung phones from S6 onwards with Android 7.0 and newer, support answering/hangingup calls with that lovely feature.
You can also answer/reject calls withBixby Voice, by simply saying "Bixby"or holding down "Bixby Key," followed by either "Accept" or "reject."

@Anyone

For those of you who'd like to download the latest version of BRLTTY for your Android device, please click the link below:
http://www.brltty.com/archive/brltty-5.5.apk
, updated 2017-04-18

For BRLTTY Android documentation, please visit:
http://mielke.cc/brltty/archive/Android … droid.html

Don't know, but I first tell you I know I will purchase a Galaxy Note 8 for my birthday, if that's the case, I will know how to activate voice assistant.

I would say, if you want to truly learn Android, never ever compare it with voice Over. It is like comparing apples to oranges. Android is getting better by the day as an operating system, but you definitely need passion to learn.
Think of it, Apple makes their own OS and so their own phone and computer, whereas Android is made by google, and its openness allows customizations by various manufacturers. I'd say go for Stock Android for better experience and better in terms of update delivery.

That I can't really tell, but from what I saw on Inclusive Android, BRLTTY has it's own screen reader. I never really used a Samsung device or any Android device connected to a braille display for that matter, so I don't know if you would have to suspend or disable the Samsung screen reader when using BRLTTY, hopefully someone knows these things more than I do.

Everyone seems to agree on that. I know someone who works as a trainer for assistive technology and that's pretty much exactly what she says.
In fact, even in mainstream forums where accessibility isn't discussed that much, you still see pretty similar opinions.

Hey all. I really appreciate your feedback. I consider myself very technical minded so I don't mind a challenge if you will. I'm currently paying for my 8 plus through the tmobile jump program. Another thought i had was trading the phone back to tmobile and get the note 8 and an iPad through them. I still want IOS in my life for seeing AI and blindsquare and things like that.  But nearby explorer is good on android as well. Also another thing, I'm a very heavy braille user and have grown to like using my smart beetle with my iPhone and voiceover.  The main reason why I have not gotten the note 8 is because I don't want to buy the phone and find that BRLTTy will not fit my needs. I do know that brailleback  does not work with the smart beetle.

I'd like to try android at some point for curiosity, but at the moment the initial argument which stopped me even considering Android back in 2012 still seems to hold true unfortunately, namely what games, useful aps and other things can you get on  Android that are not available elsewhere?

People know my opinion of Itunes as a platform and the way Ios handles music and data, however that doesn't stop the fact that there are still far more accessible games and other Aps unique to Ios that I'd miss on Android if I switched completely, and even if I considered Android as a possible extra system, I'm not absolutely sure of what Android could do for me that I do not already do on Ios/windows (not to mention my new Alexa).

this isn't intended as an Android bash at all, I'm certainly not one of those raving Apple fan boys who thinks apple is god, it's just a genuine problem, since from what I've gathered  while it's certainly true Google's development policies as regards authorising aps and allowing data transfer etc are certainly nicer than  Apple's, I've just not really heard  of much which is unique that Android can practically do on a daily basis that would incline me to  invest time or money in it, much less switch from Ios.

Indeed from what I've gathered Android seems to be a system where the user needs to put in a lot of time and effort learning the system, uninstalling bloat wear and reconfiguring and in the endn do less with it.
After all while there are one or two unique android games, a lot are also repeated on Ios and there are still a lot of games and aps that run on  Ios but not Android.

Whether the aps being produced for Google assistant will change this, or whether there will be enough  developers working on Android in the future I don't know., but that seems  to be where I am with this at the moment.

it is why I bought an Iphone 8 this christmas (which is currently at my parents waiting to be unboxed and used), and never even considered Android as an alternative.

Of course, if anyone can! tell me about stuff that Android can do  which is unique to it as a platform I'd very much like to know about it, and  certainly if I ever get the chance to try out an Android device, at  tech demonstration or the like I'll take it.

@Trenton, thanks for the recommendation, but my point here was more that I don't particularly see what Android would do that Ios/windows/alexa wouldn't do, ie, what is unique about the system, feel free to set me straight on it's advantages, since I am genuinely interested in what advantages android gives other than the freedom from the Apple of evil .

I would be glad to have a poke around at an Android device for the sake of curiosity as I said, but I'm afraid I don't have a couple of hundred quid to spend on something just to poke around with, if I won the lottery fair enough, though likely I'd still be too busy playing Hero's call, going to  disney or hiering goons to kidnap the president of nintendo and tickle him until he makes accessible games  to bother with one then .