Turn on screen-off crown talk (Accessibility)

Let the crown talk even with the watch screen dark, and what the Accessibility permission actually does.

What it is

Crown talk is built as an accessibility feature: a way to talk without looking at or touching the screen, for anyone whose hands are full or who can’t easily see or tap it. Turning it on for screen-off use needs one extra permission from watch Settings.

When to use it

Use it once, after you turn on crown talk in KeyUp, if you want the crown to work with the screen dark.

How to do it

In KeyUp, turn on crown talk first: on the phone, go to You › Watch and turn on Twist the crown to talk. On the watch, you can also turn it on from the watch controls.
On the watch, open Settings › Accessibility and find KeyUp crown talk. On some watches it’s listed under Installed apps or Downloaded apps or services instead.

Screenshot coming soon crown-a11y-01

Find KeyUp crown talk in Accessibility.
Turn it on. Android shows a general warning that the service can see and control things on your screen, the same warning it shows for any accessibility service. Tap Allow.

Screenshot coming soon crown-a11y-02

Android’s standard accessibility warning.
That’s it. The crown now works to talk even when the watch screen is off, or when KeyUp or your watch face is showing.

Tips

Why the warning: Android shows the same generic wording for every accessibility service, because the permission is powerful. KeyUp only uses it for one thing: reading crown turns.
What KeyUp actually does with it: it reads crown turns only while crown talk is on, and only when the screen is off or KeyUp or your watch face is on screen. It checks which app is showing so it knows when to stay out of the way. In any other app, the crown scrolls normally, like always.
What it never does: read anything on your screen, see what you type, or reach into other apps. Nothing from this permission is stored or sent anywhere.
To turn it off, go back to Settings › Accessibility › KeyUp crown talk and turn it off, or turn off crown talk inside KeyUp.
After a watch update or restart, you may need to turn KeyUp crown talk back on in Accessibility if it got reset.
No rotating crown or bezel on your watch? Tap the talk button on screen instead. See Talk from your watch.
Galaxy Watch Classic’s rotating bezel may work the same way as a crown for this. We haven’t tested it ourselves yet.

Still stuck? Email [email protected]. Tell us your phone and watch model and what you tried.