Whenever possible, I do not purchase blindness specific apps. Because the blindness market is so tiny, the developers need to charge significantly more money just to break even; not to mention earning a profit. Apps for the sighted have pretty visual interfaces. As a blind user, it is our job to adjust to those interfaces, or pay the premium for blindness targeted apps.
For almost every blindness targeted app, I have multiple general market apps which do the same thing plus more. However, the interfaces are usually more complicated for a blind person. This is almost never a problem for me, but can be a problem for some. Finally, as with blindness targeted products, many features are not, and will not be, available in the blindness targeted app. As always, this is specifically because of the size of the available market and economies of scale. David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: dchitten...@gmail.com Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone > On 28 Oct 2013, at 12:15, "Joe" <jsoro...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Alex, > > I don’t want my personal opinion to taint your interest in purchasing the > app. I do feel like the skunk at the picnic for being the only person who has > found the app disappointing, but after another round of putting the app > through its paces, I don’t get the wow factor. WhereTo lets you choose from a > wider selection of business categories and gives you the same distance > monitoring that BlindSquare provides. Ariadne performs the same function you > mention regarding the bus travel example. I’m not saying the app can’t be > great for some people, but for me the excitement just isn’t there for the > money you pay compared to other orientation apps. I knew not to expect > turn-by-turn directions. I knew it was not a fully functional navigation app > like the Seeing Eye app, but I was expecting better accuracy, better > stability and, frankly, better coverage than what BlindSquare is providing. > The app is not providing nearly the amount of information it ought to be > providing for an area I am very familiar with. Anyway, I’ll stop slamming the > thing. I know people are loyal to it, but at $24 I thought it worth sharing > my candid thoughts on the thing. Besides, if Apple refuses my refund request, > I’ll have no choice but to start liking the blasted thing.--Joe > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Alex Hall > Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 12:48 PM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: BlindSquare, A Disappointment > > First, I do not have this app, but I have done a lot of research into it and > am thinking of buying it at some point. > > That said, it all depends on what you want from a navigation app. Blindsquare > can’t do turn-by-turn directions, so that’s where other mapping apps come in > and it is why Blindsquare can run in the background. What you can do, though, > is monitor a POI, with the app telling you where it is in relation to you as > you move. This way, if you know the general layout of your area but not where > a specific point is, you can find it easily enough. You can also set up > triggers to have the app alert you when you pass within a distance you pick > of a point you pick. For example, if you need to have the bus stop at First > and Main, just set a 200 meter trigger for that spot. You can then use the > app to see your current street, and when you are on Main or First and the app > alerts you that you are within your notification distance, you can have the > bus stop or remind the driver where you need to get off. > On Oct 27, 2013, at 11:41 AM, Richard Turner <richard.turne...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Also, to add to Sieghard’s comments, using Blind Square together with Google > Maps gives the best combination for knowing what is around you, what street > is coming up and turn-by-turn directions for one third of what you would pay > for one year of the Seeing eye app. > Blind Square has been updated numerous times since it came out and the next > release will likely simplify the main screen and may get closer to what you > were expecting in the first place. > Very few app developers have been as responsive to user feedback. I would > strongly recommend that you contact the developer directly with your concerns > and I think you may find, with some patients, that you will become much more > fond of using it. > If not, then by all means, go for that refund. > > Good luck with either choice, > Richard > > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Joe > Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 7:50 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: RE: BlindSquare, A Disappointment > > Hi Sieghard, > > The BlindSquare app is very accessible. I don’t want to give anyone the > impression that it is not, and as far as I know, Apple gives other reasons > for why you can request a refund. It’s a long shot, hence my pointing out my, > hope, for a refund. In that regard, Android gets a small nod from me for > allowing a try before you buy scenario, but that’s beside the point and not > an attempt to stir up a debate. > > I listened to a few podcasts about the app. That’s ultimately what motivated > me to take the plunge, but I may not have heard the one you’re specifically > referring to. If you can think of the episode title or date, I’d be much > appreciative. At $24, I’d be glad to find ways to like it, though I did spend > time reading through all the documentation. > > Anyway, just my two dollar’s worth. I’m open to being convinced otherwise, > but so far the alternatives are winning out. > > Joe > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Sieghard Weitzel > Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 10:36 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: RE: BlindSquare, A Disappointment > > Hi Joe, > > First of all, I doubt you will be able to get a refund. Apple has been giving > refunds for inaccessible apps, but you can definitely not argue that > Blindsquare is inaccessible since it was made for blind users. > > I think Blindsquare is awesome when it comes to finding out what’s around > you. First of all it is by far the best of these apps (I am not including the > Seeing-Eye app when I say “these apps”) when it comes to announcing upcoming > intersections without having to interact with the device. I know Ariadne has > a Monitoring function which is supposed to do this, but I somehow never found > it was all that reliable. I admit, however, that after I bought Blindsquare I > deleted Ariadne from my phone and I haven’t used it probably in at least a > year. > I also like the fact that it’s very easy to put in my own points of interest > in Blindsquare. Later I can, for example, sit in my house and I can check out > where these points are in relationship to my house, e.g. “Start of Trail, 550 > metres at 11 o’clock”. You can, of course, do the same with other points of > interest, e.g. stores, restaurants etc. > > From what you said I assume you haven’t listened to any Podcasts about > Blindsquare because then maybe you might have had a better idea about what to > expect. But I think it’s a good idea to go to www.applevis.com, search for > Blindsquare and listen to especially the one Podcast, can’t remember the name > of the person who does it. Maybe you will find some information or hear about > uses you hadn’t thought of before. > > > Regards, > Sieghard > > From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of > Joe > Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 7:25 AM > To: viphone@googlegroups.com > Subject: BlindSquare, A Disappointment > > I purchased the BlindSquare app on account of I did not want to spend a lot > more for the Seeing Eye GPS app. To be fair, I’m not entirely sure what I was > expecting, except I was hoping for a little more familiarity with my > environment. As it stands, the only real advantage is that BlindSquare can > tell me, maybe what intersection is in front of me, and that with some > turning this way and that to make sure the app is not capturing intersections > further away than what you’re looking for. Actually, it seems a little > illogical that you would need to tap into two screens to turn on a mode that > ought to be readily accessible from the main screen. By all means buy it if > you’re on the fence, but my personal recommendation is that it’s more than a > little overblown. If you use Ariadne GPS with a combination of WhereTo or > Around Me, and pair these up with Google MAPS or Apple’s own Maps app, you’ll > be more than good to go without spending more than twenty bucks. I would > venture to suggest that even Sendero’s Look Around app could help. Me, I’m > hoping I’ll be able to get a refund. Thumbs down.--Joe > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > > Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing viphone@googlegroups.com. > > Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting > http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. > > Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by > emailingviphone+ow...@googlegroups.com. > > Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailingviphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > More VIPhone group options can be found by > visitinghttp://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > > Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing 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