Braille on Android: TalkBack Braille Keyboard and Displays
Yes, you can use braille on an Android phone, with nothing extra to install. TalkBack, the screen reader built into Android, does two things in braille: its braille keyboard lets you type braille on the touchscreen, and since TalkBack 13 it connects to a braille display by itself, so you no longer need the old BrailleBack app.
Below is how to set up each one, step by step, the gestures you will use every day, and where an app like Braillito fits if you are still learning braille. Everything about Android here comes from Google's own help pages, read on October 28, 2026. Disclosure: Braillito makes a braille learning app. Nothing on this page needs our app; we say where it fits, and where it does not.
Key points
- Everything starts with TalkBack. Turn it on in Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack > Use TalkBack, or hold both volume keys for a few seconds if the TalkBack shortcut is on. Braille on Android is part of TalkBack, not a separate app.
- The TalkBack braille keyboard turns the screen into a six-dot keyboard. You lay the phone flat (tabletop mode) or hold it in landscape with the screen facing away (screen-away mode).
- It types grade 1 or grade 2. Swipe up with three fingers to switch between uncontracted and contracted braille, and to change language.
- A braille display connects over Bluetooth or USB with TalkBack 13 or later. Google says plainly: "You don't need BrailleBack to connect to a braille display."
- Google lists 52 languages for braille displays, but it does not publish a list of supported display models: check with the maker of yours.
Two ways to use braille on Android
| What you need | What it does | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TalkBack braille keyboard | The phone and TalkBack | Type braille with your fingers on the glass, in grade 1 or grade 2 | April 2020 |
| Braille display support | TalkBack 13 or later and a braille display | Read the screen in braille and type on the display's keys | 2022, TalkBack 13 |
A braille display used to need BrailleBack, a separate download from Google Play. In May 2022 Google announced that it was building display support into TalkBack itself, starting with an Android 13 beta, with "no additional downloads necessary to use most braille displays". Its help page now asks only for TalkBack 13.0 or higher.
Turn on TalkBack first
Google gives three ways, and notes that the steps can vary by phone:
- From Settings: open Settings > Accessibility > TalkBack and turn on Use TalkBack.
- With the volume keys: if the TalkBack shortcut is set up, press and hold both volume keys for a few seconds.
- By voice: say "Hey Google, turn on TalkBack".
With TalkBack on, you touch to hear an item and double-tap to activate it. The TalkBack menu, where the braille settings live, opens with a three-finger tap on Android 10 and later, or by swiping down then right in one stroke. Our guide to Braillito with VoiceOver and TalkBack has a table of the basic TalkBack gestures.
Type braille on the screen: the TalkBack braille keyboard
Google launched the TalkBack braille keyboard on April 9, 2020, built, in its words, together with braille users and developers. It arrived in English, with grade 1 and grade 2, for phones on Android 6.0 and later. It is not a separate app: it lives inside TalkBack and shows up as one more keyboard you can switch to.
Set it up
Google's steps, in order:
- Make sure TalkBack is on and magnification is off.
- Open the TalkBack menu and go to TalkBack settings > Braille keyboard > Set up braille keyboard. Follow the prompts.
- Open an app with a text field, such as Gmail or Google Keep, move focus to the field and double-tap to bring up your usual keyboard.
- Choose the keyboard's switch input method or next language option, usually at the bottom right. The exact option depends on the keyboard you use.
- Select TalkBack braille keyboard. The first time, it offers a tutorial, worth doing once.
Screen-away or tabletop
By default the keyboard picks its mode from how you hold the phone. You can fix one mode in TalkBack settings > Braille keyboard > Layout.
Screen-away mode. Hold the phone in landscape with the screen facing away from you: your left hand holds the top, and your right hand the bottom, near the USB port. Support it with your little fingers and thumbs, and hover your three middle fingers over the screen. Your left index finger is dot 1, so the left index, middle and ring fingers are dots 1, 2 and 3, and the right index, middle and ring fingers are dots 4, 5 and 6. Google's own example: d is dots 1, 4 and 5, typed with the left index, right index and right middle fingers.
Tabletop mode. Lay the phone flat with the charging port on the left; it says "Tabletop mode" when it detects the position. The six dots run in one row, 3, 2, 1, 4, 5, 6 from left to right, the same order as the keys of a Perkins brailler. Your left index finger goes over dot 1, and the letters are typed exactly as in screen-away mode.
In both modes you press all the dots of a character at the same time, as on a braillewriter, not one after another.
When the dots are in the wrong place
Your hands are not the size the keyboard assumes. To teach it where your fingers are, hold six fingers on the screen for about 3 seconds until you hear "Dot position updated". Each mode remembers its own positions. To adjust one hand at a time, swipe up with three fingers and choose Update dot positions.
The gestures you will use every day
| To | Gesture |
|---|---|
| Add a space | Swipe right |
| Delete the last character | Swipe left |
| Delete a word | Two-finger swipe left |
| Start a new line | Two-finger swipe right |
| Submit the text (send, search) | Two-finger swipe up |
| Hide the keyboard | Two-finger swipe down |
| Switch to your next keyboard | Three-finger swipe down |
| Help and other options | Three-finger swipe up |
While the braille keyboard is open, other TalkBack gestures do not work. Close it with a two-finger swipe down when you want to move around the screen again.
Move the cursor, select, copy and paste
These gestures pair a held dot with a swipe from another finger. Hold the dot, then swipe:
- By character: hold dot 3 or 6 and swipe up or down.
- By word: hold dot 2 or 5 and swipe up or down.
- By line: hold dot 1 or 4 and swipe up or down.
- To the beginning or end: hold dots 1 and 2, or 4 and 5, and swipe up or down.
- Select works the same way with two-finger swipes: dot 3 or 6 selects by character, dot 2 or 5 by word.
- Copy, cut and paste: hold dot 1 or 4 and swipe with three fingers down to copy, up to cut, right to paste. Three fingers left selects all.
A proofreading mode, opened from the three-finger options, steps through typos and spelling suggestions. Most gestures can be changed in TalkBack settings > Braille keyboard > Gestures; hide keyboard, switch keyboard and help cannot.
Grade 1, grade 2 and languages
Swipe up with three fingers and choose uncontracted braille for grade 1 or contracted braille for grade 2. To type in more than one language, tick them in TalkBack settings > Braille keyboard > Languages; a next language option then appears in the three-finger menu. If you are not sure what the two grades mean, our guide to braille contractions explains it.
Go back to your usual keyboard
A three-finger swipe down switches to your next keyboard, which takes you back to the one you were using. The braille keyboard stays installed in TalkBack for the next time. Google notes two quirks: on some devices the Back button may not work after you close the keyboard in Messages (go to the Home screen to recover), and the options can look different if your main keyboard is not Gboard.
Read braille: connect a braille display
A refreshable braille display shows the screen in braille, one line at a time, and its keys let you type and move around. On Android, TalkBack does this itself.
BrailleBack is no longer needed
BrailleBack was Google's old braille display app, a separate download from Google Play. Since TalkBack 13, display support is built in. Google's help page puts it in bold: "You don't need BrailleBack to connect to a braille display." If an older guide tells you to install BrailleBack first, it predates that change. The only requirement Google lists is TalkBack 13.0 or higher.
Pair it
- Turn the display on and put it in pairing mode. Some models also need a terminal mode; the display's manual says how.
- Open the TalkBack menu and go to Braille display settings.
- Make sure the braille display option is on.
- Select your display and tap Connect.
Google says displays connect over Bluetooth or USB. In the same settings you can change the braille grade or language, and choose a preferred language for reading and another for typing. The list has 52 languages.
Commands you will use at once
Display keys differ between models, and Google warns that "keystrokes might vary by braille display device". These are the defaults from its command list:
| To | Keys |
|---|---|
| Next item | Dots 4 and 8 |
| Previous item | Dots 1 and 7 |
| Activate the item | A cursor routing key, or Enter |
| Go back | Space + dots 1 and 2 |
| Go to the Home screen | Space + dots 1, 2 and 5 |
| Open the TalkBack menu | Space + dots 1, 3 and 4 |
| Switch contracted and uncontracted | Space + dots 1, 2, 4 and 5 |
The full list, with scrolling, reading and editing commands, is on Google's braille display commands page.
If it does not connect
Google's checklist, in short:
- The phone cannot find it: check that the display is on and in pairing mode, and that it has not reached its limit of paired devices; remove ones you no longer use. Then turn the braille display option off and on again.
- It finds it but will not connect: make sure the display is not connected to another phone or computer. If it still fails, forget the display in the phone's Connected devices settings and add it again from TalkBack's Braille display settings.
- "Incorrect pin" errors: unpair on both sides, phone and display. Some displays need their saved devices cleared or a firmware update; the maker's support can help.
Google does not keep a list of supported display models on these pages. If you are choosing one, check the maker's notes for Android and TalkBack. On iPhone, Apple does publish a list; our braille on iPhone guide covers that side.
If you are learning braille: where Braillito fits
Everything above assumes you already know braille. TalkBack will not teach you which dots make the letter h. If you are starting from zero, or helping a child or a student start, that is the gap an app like Braillito tries to fill. This section is written by the Braillito team, about its own app.
What it is: a braille course for Android and iPhone. In English it has 59 lessons in 8 worlds, built from exercises inside each lesson, with lives, levels and a daily streak. It teaches uncontracted braille (grade 1), letter by letter; it does not teach contracted English braille. There are no games outside the lessons.
Tools besides the course: a braille translator and a braille dictionary.
With TalkBack: the app detects TalkBack by itself, announces each braille cell by its dots ("Braille sign, dots 1 and 3") and turns off its own voice so it does not talk over TalkBack. What it does not have: input from a braille display, and an external accessibility audit; nor have we run a complete, documented test of every screen with a screen reader. The details, and how to report a barrier, are in using Braillito with VoiceOver and TalkBack.
What it costs: Braillito is a subscription, with no free version. Depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or with a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription. The price depends on your country, and the plans screen and Google Play show it before you pay. More in is Braillito free? Without paying, the braille translator and the braille alphabet on braillito.com work in any browser.
An app teaches the system, which dots make each letter; reading by touch is trained on paper, a slate or a braille display, because a glass screen has no raised dots. Once you know the letters, the TalkBack braille keyboard is a good place to practice writing them.
Frequently asked questions
Does Android have a braille keyboard?
Yes. The TalkBack braille keyboard is part of TalkBack, Android's screen reader. Set it up in TalkBack settings > Braille keyboard, then pick TalkBack braille keyboard with your keyboard's switch option in any text field. It types six-dot braille on the touchscreen, in grade 1 or grade 2.
What is the Google braille keyboard?
It is the same thing: the TalkBack braille keyboard, which Google released in April 2020. It is not a separate app on Google Play; it is built into TalkBack.
How do I turn off the braille keyboard on Android?
Swipe down with three fingers. That switches to your next keyboard, normally the one you were using before. A two-finger swipe down only hides the braille keyboard.
Do I still need BrailleBack?
No. Since TalkBack 13, braille displays connect through TalkBack itself, and Google's help page says you do not need BrailleBack. You need TalkBack 13.0 or higher.
Can I type contracted braille (grade 2) on Android?
Yes, both on the screen and on a display. On the braille keyboard, swipe up with three fingers and choose contracted braille. On a display, Space with dots 1, 2, 4 and 5 switches between contracted and uncontracted.
Which braille displays work with Android?
Google's help pages do not list models. Its 2022 announcement said TalkBack 13 works with "most braille displays" without extra downloads, over Bluetooth or USB. Check your display maker's notes for Android before you buy.
Is there an app to learn braille on Android?
Braillito is one: 59 lessons of uncontracted braille in English, built to be used with TalkBack. It is a subscription; depending on the plan, it starts with a free trial or a discounted first period, if it's your first subscription. It does not teach contracted braille. Our comparison of braille apps lists the others.
How we checked this page
We read every Google source on October 28, 2026: the Accessibility Help pages for the TalkBack braille keyboard, braille displays, braille display commands and turning on TalkBack, and the Google blog posts that announced the braille keyboard in 2020 and display support in TalkBack in 2022. Menus differ between phone makers and TalkBack versions, so if a step looks different on your phone, Google's pages are the reference. The app figures are those of the app's published version.