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ZDNET's key takeaways
- The free Magnifier + Flashlight app works with any Android phone.
- It magnifies small text or far-off signs, making things easy to read.
- The app also features a flashlight for dim settings.
As much as I hate to admit it, there are times I struggle to read small text or far-off signs. This issue is something everyone deals with (at least that's what my editor at ZDNET assured me when I lamented that my middle-aged eyes struggled with small text), but that doesn't make the problem easier to deal with.
Fortunately, I've found a tool that can turn frustratingly small menu text or fine print into something easy to see. Also fortunately, there's a good chance you can access this tool for free.
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I have a Pixel phone, meaning that I can use the Google Magnifier app. But I was curious whether there's an app like this for all Android devices. I found several apps (and learned that there's a magnifier feature built into Samsung phones), and after trying out a few tools, I found one that worked better than the rest.
The Magnifier + Flashlight app was new to me, but it has more than 10 million downloads from the Google Play Store and a very solid 4.9 rating across nearly 250,000 reviews.
The app functions just like zooming in with your camera, but it offers several advantages over that method. The tool lets you freeze the image on screen (essentially taking a picture without adding it to your camera roll), invert the colors on screen to make text easier to read, and turn on your phone's flash to add illumination.
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Several other apps I tried used an arrow that zoomed in by increments, but this app has a slider that lets you zoom in exactly how much you need.
Testing Magnifier + Flashlight
I tested the app while I sat in a local tire shop's lobby waiting on a repair. With my normal vision, I could see a sign across the room describing tire tread, but I couldn't read most of the sign's text. Using the app, I could read everything on the sign with no trouble.
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I also used the app to read small text around my house -- things like instructions on a medicine bottle, nutrition labels in my pantry, and small serial numbers on devices and appliances. I even used it to help thread a needle when my wife was working on a craft project.
Overall, this tool is a very strong alternative to the built-in Google Magnifier. There's only one thing I missed from my default Google app: the little reference window that pops up when you zoom in, so you can see where you're pointing your camera.
The app is free, but it does have a few small ads that, thankfully, don't impact usefulness at all. If you want to go ad-free, the paid version of the app is $1.99 a year.
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