List of apps

This is a list of some apps that people with vision impairment in New Zealand can use to enable their participation in
activities of daily life.
The focus is on iOS apps, as Apple devices appear to be highly rated by those who are living with blindness or visual
impairment. An added bonus is that if you download the iPhone version of an app to your iPad, the font and display is
larger.
My sources were: interviews with people living with visual impairment, an occupational therapy student who worked
with a group of people with vision impairment, my own exploration on the iPad and internet, and the following
references:
Royal National Institute of Blind People. (2014). iOS apps. Retrieved from http://www.rnib.org.uk/informationeveryday-living-reading-ebook-app-reviews/ios-apps
stella@appadvice.com. (2014). Apps for the blind and visually impaired. Retrieved from
http://appadvice.com/applist_ipad_client_view/apps-for-the-visually-impaired
Woodbridge, D. (2013). iSee. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/isee/id786823972?mt=11&ls=1

List of apps

Categories Ctrl + Click on the title to navigate, or scroll through the document
Use to get around 3
Use to enhance vision 6
Use to read, write, and organise 11
Use for shopping 17
Use to listen to podcasts
Use to magnify

17

18

Use to explore iPad apps

20

Use to educate family and friends 21

Use to talk

22

Use to play

22

Use to assess for vision impairment

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use to get around

Zoomy - Zoomy
Ltd

Large font and on screen keypad.

Fixed fare to airport.
Remembers your location.
Pre-load a credit card.
Emails you a receipt.
Promo codes give you a discount.
Create favourite locations, such as home, airport, doctor, work, anything
you like.
Only available in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.
No mobility service may be able to add this information in the notes.

Name of app
MetroInfo
- Rhod Pickavance

Features
Official app for anyone in Christchurch and Timaru that wants to use
Metro Bus service.

iOS

Android

Shows you closest stop and hooks into the real time tracking system to
tell you how far the next bus is and where it is.
Also lets you browse all stops for any route, save favorites etc.
Latest version contains real time bus position and removal of the
discontinued Metro card data feed.
iMove EveryWare
Technologies

Use with profile: know the address where you are, know the points of
interest around you, record speech notes attached to certain locations,
customise messages, orientation and speed, about speech notes, nearby
points of interest.

Name of app
Ariadne GPS Giovani Ciaffoni

Features

iOS

Android

Talking maps allow you to explore the world around you by moving your
finger around the map. While exploring, crossing a street is signaled by
vibration. It has a favorites feature and can be used to announce stops on
the bus or train. Rotating maps keep you centered, with territory behind
the user on the bottom of the screen and what is ahead on the top
portion. Available in multiple languages, Ariadne GPS works anywhere
Google Maps are available.

Works with VoiceOver

https://itunes.apple.com/NZ/app/id441063072?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use to enhance vision

TapTapSee
This is an iPhone app so it appears larger on iPad.
Blind and Visually
TapTapSee is designed to help the blind and visually impaired identify
Impaired Camera objects they encounter in their daily lives.
- Image Searcher
Simply double tap the screen to take a photo of anything, at any angle,
and hear the app speak the identification back to you (Note: Spoken
identification requires VoiceOver to be turned on).
A written description is also provided.
* Identify images from your Camera Roll
* Repeat last image identification
* Share identification via text, email, or social media
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/taptapsee-blind-visuallyimpaired/id567635020?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.msearcher.taptapsee
.android&hl=en

Name of app
Light Detector
- EveryWare
Technologies

VM Alert - Adam
Uccello

Features

iOS

Android

Point your iPhone camera in any direction. You will hear a higher or lower
sound depending on the intensity of the light.

Use to understand where the light fixtures are and whether they are
switched on, check if there is a window and where it is, find out whether
the shades are drawn by moving the device up and down.
Video Motion Alert (VM Alert) is an advanced video processing application
for the iPhone capable of detecting motion seen by the iPhone camera.
Use to alert you to colleagues walking up behind you, or visitors arriving
can warn with a tone or alarm.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vm-alert-video-motiondetector/id387523411?mt=8

Color ID - Free Color Identifier uses the camera on your iPhone or iPod touch to speak
GreenGar Studios the names of colors in real-time. It's an Augmented Reality app for
discovering the names of the colors around you!
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/color-id-free/id402233600?mt=8

Name of app
LookTel
Recognizer IPPLEX

Features
LookTel Recognizer allows users with visual impairments or blindness to
instantly recognize everyday objects such as packaged goods in the
pantry, identity cards, soda cans at the grocery store, or CDs in a music
collection. Once a library has been built, users can simply point the
iPhone's camera at an object and the phone will recognize and describe
the item instantly.
The app does not require an internet connection, which means it will read
money at any location, and at anytime.
The app does not require an internet connection, which means it will read
money at any location, and at anytime.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/looktelrecognizer/id501088555?ls=1&mt=8

iOS

Android

Name of app
LookTel Money
Reader
- IPPLEX

Features
LookTel Money Reader instantly recognizes currency and speaks the
denomination, enabling people experiencing visual impairments or
blindness to quickly and easily identify and count bills.
Point the camera of your iOS device at a bill and the application will tell
you the denomination in real-time. Twenty one currencies are supported,
including the New Zealand Dollar, Polish Zloty, Russian Ruble, Saudi
Arabian Riyal, Singapore Dollar, and United Arab Emirates Dirham.
Theres no need to hold the iOS device still or capture a photo and wait
for a result. The app does not require an internet connection, which
means it will read money at any location, and at anytime.
LookTel Money Reader provides Voice Over support for several languages
including English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Polish, Portugese,
Russian, Korean, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Japanese, Greek,
Hungarian, and Mandarin.
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/looktel-moneyreader/id417476558?mt=8

iOS

Android

Name of app
VizWiz - ROHCHI

Features
VizWiz is an iPhone app that allows blind or visually impaired users to
receive quick answers to questions about their surroundings.

iOS

Android

You take a photo of an object or location and ask a question verbally.

VizWiz combines automatic image processing, anonymous web workers,
and members of the user's social network in order to collect fast and
accurate answers to the questions.
More info: http://www.vizwiz.org/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/vizwiz/id439686043?mt=8
Is it dark outside? Based on your current location and time zone, this app determines, if it is
- Dirk Malorny.
dark outside or not.
Paul Rogalinski

Additional, the current position, date, time and times of todays sunrise
and sunset are shown.
Works with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
Information for blind users:
If you have VoiceOver enabled, you just have to tap the middle of the
screen after launching the app, to hear "YES" or "NO"
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/is-it-dark-outside/id336536208?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use to read, write, and organise

iBooks - Apple
Inc

Works with the built-in accessibility features - Zoom, Invert Colors and
VoiceOver.
Allows you to change the font of book content up to approximately 40 pt.
Has three colour themes.
Can purchase books from within the app.
RNIB review and tutorials

List Recorder Sixth Mode

Solutions

List Recorder enables both visually-impaired and sighted users to create

lists of items that can contain text and audio. For example:
Record information given to you by phone or face-to-face
conversation
Record information someone reads for you such as mail, articles or
recipes and add text notes
Copy information from a website and add auditory notes
Email a text or audio item you created to someone else
List Recorder has the ability to be used eyes-free by integrating VoiceOver
(iPhone's built-in screen reader) with additional accessibility features.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/list-recorder/id381936335?mt=8

Name of app
Siri - Apple Inc

Features

iOS

Android

Use voice prompts to use the iPad/iPhone features, eg alarm, favourite

radio station, weather forecast, keep track of where you are on the bus on
the way to work, read out appointments, set reminders, make quick
notes, look up and call people, send iMessages, set a timer, dictate text
rather than type.

Only on devices that came installed with iOS 8.

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Dictation and
Dragon Mobile
Assistant
Nuance
Communications

Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application powered

by Dragon NaturallySpeaking that allows you to easily speak and
instantly see your text or email messages.

Voice-to-text transcriptions that may be sent as SMS, Email, or pasted

into any application using the clipboard
Submit update to Twitter & Facebook
Convenient editing feature that provides list of suggested alternatives
Voice driven correction interface
Dragon Mobile Assistant (on Android)
Set reminders, make appointments, and search the internet without
lifting a finger.
Be prepared for your day and ask about the weather or your
upcoming appointments.
Turn on Attentive Mode to wake up your assistant at any time, even
if your screen is locked.
Create your own voiceprint so your assistant will be attentive to only
your commands and no one else.
Choose a voice and create a name for your assistant.

Name of app

Features

Voice Brief - Dong Voice Brief reads aloud your customized contents of:
Baik
- Calendar
- Weather
- RSS news (Retrieves full websites and read)
- Google Reader (Retrieve full websites and read)
- Email*
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Stock prices
- Gmail notification
- Any custom sentence you type
https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/voice-brief-text-tospeech/id423322440?mt=8

iOS

Android

Name of app
Audibooks from
Audible - AMZN
Mobile LLC

Features
Designed to read audiobooks from your Amazon account.
No in-app purchase available.

iOS

Android

Membership is $14.95 a month.

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/audiobooks-fromaudible/id379693831?mt=8

Kindle - AMZN
Mobile LLC

Download books from your Kindle/Amazon account.

Some of the books in the Kindle library can be paired with the audiobook
of the same title. If you have both downloaded, you can read and listen
from inside the Kindle app.
Need to purchase book plus audio companion.
Cannot purchase in app need to visit Amazon store.
Accessibility features make it easier for blind and visually impaired
customers to navigate their Kindle libraries, read & interact with books,
and more. Enable VoiceOver in your device settings to begin. A quick
reference to gestures can be found under the FAQ section in settings.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindle-read-books-ebooksmagazines/id302584613?mt=8

Name of app
Read2Go and
GoRead Benetech

Features
DAISY ebook reader for iOS works with Bookshare only
(www.bookshare.org).
Read words on the screen with synchronized text-to-speech (Read2Go
audio on)
Read with highly natural Acapela voices and navigate with VoiceOver
gestures (Read2Go audio on, VoiceOver on)
Read with Apple VoiceOver gestures and voice (VoiceOver on, Read2Go
audio off)
Read with many choices of font size, color and backgrounds, and no
voices (Read2Go and VoiceOver off)
Read with Braille displays connected via Bluetooth
Adjust font size up to 70 pts
Adjust text-to-speech audio, either on or off for text-only or text-tospeech mode
Adjust rate of audio
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/read2go/id425585903?mt=8

iOS

Android

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use for shopping

Countdown
shopping app

This is an iPhone app so it appears larger on iPad.

-

Create a shopping list

App tells you which aisle the item is in
Send your order to online shopping
Browse specials
Scan the barcode items in your pantry or at the supermarket so you
can replace them easily

Use to listen to podcasts

Podcasts

Ask Siri to play specific shows or stations by name, like play TEDTalks

- Apple, Inc

Adjust the playback speed of your audio or video podcasts

Turn on Sleep Timer to automatically stop playing a podcast while
listening in bed
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/podcasts/id525463029?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Need to
investigate

Use to magnify
Zoom
Accessibility
feature on the
iPad/iPhone

Camera Manufactuer of
device, eg Apple
Inc, Samsung

Use as a magnifier, either full screen or using a window.

Adjustable lens (zoom in or out to the resolution you need)
Filters: inverted colours, grayscale, grayscale inverted, low light
Zoom in and out with a three-fingered tap
Intuitive navigation using three fingers to slide
Optional floating controller tool that can be moved to where you like

Can be used as a magnifier.

Name of app
Lumin Mahmoud
Zabetian

Features
Lumin is:
- a set of high-resolution reading glasses, with you wherever you take your
iPhone
- a versatile magnifying glass with the ability to lock a magnified image
Use to
- read restaurant menus with ease, even in low light
- read and share wine bottle labels
- zoom the fine print on contracts
- grab the serial number - in the dark - on the back of that cable box
- check your teeth, or makeup
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/lumin/id480343142?mt=8

iOS

Android

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

ViA has been designed to help identify apps that are useful for adults and
children who are blind or have low vision, including those with additional
disabilities. Users can easily sort through the 500,000+ apps in the App
Store and locate those that were built specifically for, or provide
functionality to, the user with a visual impairment.

Use to explore iPad apps

ViA (Visually
impaired apps) Braille Institute

Using the industry leading accessibility features native to iOS devices, ViA
allows users to sort apps by category, price, and the App Store star rating.
The apps that appear in ViA are suggested by users, educators, parents,
and Braille Institute partner organizations.
ViA can also be used by teachers, orientation & mobility specialists, and
rehabilitation therapists to identify apps that enhance learning and
support educational outcomes, while family members will find apps to
assist loved ones in their daily lives. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/viaby-braille-institute/id528499232?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use to educate family and friends

VisionSim - Braille Braille Institute's VisionSim (v3.0) app for iPhone and iPad was developed
Institute
to allow people with healthy vision to see the world through the eyes of a
person experiencing one of nine degenerative eye diseases. The eye
diseases that are simulated are: age-related macular degeneration,
cataracts, chronic open-angle glaucoma, corneal edema, diabetic
retinopathy, homonymous hemianopia, macular degeneration, retinal
detachment, retinitis pigmentosa.
This application was designed to foster understanding and compassion for
the millions of people affected by these eye conditions.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/visionsim-by-brailleinstitute/id525114829?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Use to talk
HeyTell - Voxilate Send and receive voice messages with other HeyTell users with the press
of a single large button.
Use HeyTell as a walkie talkie, intercom, or instant voice messaging
system to send quick voice messages to friends and family with iPhones or
iPods. Use the integrated geolocation feature to find your friends when
they've given you bad directions and you're just around the corner!
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/heytell/id352791835?mt=8
Use to play
Audiorun Alexander Shen

Traverse the rooftops of the city with nothing but your sense of hearing?
This game has also been designed in such a way that the visually impaired
can also enjoy it.
Please note: As this is a game designed for the visually impaired and blind,
there are no actual visuals corresponding to the rooftop running in the
game. It is best experienced in a quiet area with headphones.
Users using VoiceOver will have to disable VoiceOver while this game is
running for it to work properly.

Name of app
BlindSide Epicycle

Features
Accessible for blind and sighted users.
BlindSide throws you into a fully-immersive 3d audio adventure set in a
world youll never see. Put on headphones, hold your iPhone, and face
the direction you want to go. Listen as the world rotates around you and
explore the darkness. The gyros in your device will point your in-game
avatar the same direction you're facing in the real world!

iOS

Android

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blindside/id524772888?mt=8
Papa Sangre Somethin Else

Explore an entire world created in real-time using incredibly realistic 3D

binaural audio
"See" with your ears we'll teach you how, and then it's up to you to
survive
Turn, walk and run using a beautiful, intuitive interface
A fully accessible game, tested by the RNIB.
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/papa-sangre/id407536885?mt=8

Name of app

Features

Stem Stumper Ananse

Productions LLC

Puzzle game for the iPhone and iPod Touch you can play with your eyes
closed.

Wheres my
rubber ducky? Accessibility
Foundation

First person shooter game designed for the blind and visually impaired.

iOS

Android

The app is fully compatible with VoiceOver.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/stem-stumper/id428175527?mt=8

This app is compatible with iPhone 3GS+ and iPad (WIFI + Cellular), but
does not work on the iPod and iPad (WIFI only). Because GPS and
compass are both required.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/wheres-my-rubberducky/id515304336?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

The SightBook mobile App contains a set of quantitative near vision

tests which an individual can take at home or elsewhere using an Internetconnected mobile device. This self-testing enables the individual and, if
desired, his or her physician, to detect changes in eye function, thereby
facilitating timely diagnosis and therapy.

Use for Functional vision assessment

SightBook

The SightBook mobile App tests include Snellen Visual Acuity, Amsler
Grid, Contrast Sensitivity, Color discrimination and Low Light acuity and
contrast..
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/sightbook/id468016180?mt=8

Name of app

Features

iOS

Android

Visual Fields Easy

Glaucoma is called the silent thief because of the way that it insidiously
steals peripheral vision. Early diagnosis is really important. The Visual Field
Easy app simulates a visual field test on an ipad and it is comparable with
the traditional industry standard visual field test upt to 79% of the time
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141020084751.htm)

You can download it here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/visualfields-easy/id495389227?mt=8