Get started with Switchify

Day one with Switchify takes about fifteen minutes. You'll install it, turn it on in Android's accessibility settings, pick a way of selecting things, set up your switch, and try it on your home screen.

1. Install from Google Play

Open the Play Store on your Android phone or tablet and search for "Switchify", or open this link on the device: Switchify on Google Play. The free version installs in a few seconds.

2. Turn on Switchify in Android's accessibility settings

Open the Switchify app. It asks you to turn it on as an accessibility service. Tap through to Settings → Accessibility → Switchify and switch it on. Android will warn you that the app can read what's on screen and perform taps on your behalf — that's how every switch access app works. Approve it.

3. Pick how you'll select things

Switchify supports three access techniques: item scanning (highlights interactive things one by one — start here if you're new), point scanning (uses moving lines to pick an exact spot), and radar mode (a rotating line for awkward corners). You can change this any time. How it works explains each one in detail.

4. Set up your switch

Connect your switch interface (Bluetooth or USB), or assign a facial gesture as your switch. In Switchify, go to Switch Setup, add a new switch, and press your hardware switch (or perform the gesture) when prompted. Switchify learns it. Add a second switch for manual scanning if you want one switch to move and another to select.

5. Try it on the home screen

Close Switchify's settings. You should see the service indicator in your status bar. Press your switch. The scanner starts. Move through your apps until you reach one you use every day — Messages, the browser, Spotify — and select it. If it doesn't feel right, slow the scan speed down (in Switch Setup → Scan Rate) and try again. Scan speed is the single biggest tweakable thing in switch access. Take time on it.

What to try next

Once the basics feel comfortable, read How it works to see what else Switchify can do — head control, facial gestures, gesture patterns, the service menu — and adjust the parts that don't yet fit how you move.

Stuck? Email Owen at owen@switchifyapp.com or schedule a call.