Ideas for future apps

  • For future apps that could be done is an app that would let a blind person or visually impaired person know when their food is cooked to the proper temperature. This would have to do with both frying meats and baking meets, to make sure that the germ of salmonella are killed in the meat that one is cooking. This would also alert a blind person to when meat that one can eat rare or medium rare is cooked to that temperature.
    An app for the blind to let them know that their refrigerator and freezer are at the proper temperature for storing food.
    An app to check out a thermostat in one’s house.
    Of course, these apps would have to be put into large print, Braille and audible format and made to work with both iPhones, iPads, android systems, such as smart phones and tablets and also the windows based phones and tablets.
    What would be included in the temperature telling apps would be probes that operate remotely from the device, to the house, the refrigerator, freezer and the thermostat. Also, if someone could make it with the raw materials and also do it in a cost effective manner, and then sell them in app stores, for a cheap price, like $50.00 or even $100.00 it would be nice. It would also be nice to have these apps and probes sold in volumes, (bulk quantities) to public housing authorities to accommodate their blind tenants.
    I hope that you will take these ideas into consideration. Have a nice day.
  • Accessible app I would like to see world record audio mp3 from web videos such as YouTube, and preferably record other streaming audio as well for later reference.
  • Something like this may already exist and I just don't know about it, but I would love an app or built in feature that would allow me to easily use VoiceOver and Zoom at the same time. I get so frustrated when writing a text and I switch to VoiceOver and it takes me all the way back to the beginning of a text. It is also frustrating to not be able to use zoom on pictures when VoiceOver is on...
  • Remember when you were a kid and looked up in a cloud-strewn sky and imagined what the clouds looked like. My app, maybe called Cloudspotting, would give that same whimsical experience to blind and VI users. Just point the camera in the sky, and by using pattern recognition it will discern and speak aloud wondrous shapes in the firmament.
    Great contest idea! Keep ‘em coming!
  • What I would like to see:
  • Voice initiated UI interaction, Siri is so limited and has no interaction with other apps
  • Less confusing controls in VoiceOver, like to be able to turn off certain areas to VoiceOver commands, like typing (rather use speech when possible). Or just use VO for reading.
  • Camera apps with bigger controls or speech initiated (I do have one with special connection that allows me to control my camera via iPhone by clapping).
  • I would LOVE to have a good app for reminder of appointments – Iuse a combination of Calendar 365 and Re.minder for appointments but neither one is perfect due to the inability to increase the font size in the description part.
  • Apps for time and attendance for companies
  • An app idea that does not exist (or at least I have not seen): a VoiceOver accessible Scrabble game I can play with friends.
  • A dream app is one that combines all in one app. This app would let you control all functions under one app. It would need to be voice recognition so that you can tell it what you want it to do. Such as make changes to your phone, access emails, get the weather, allow you to listen to your bookshelf on the cloud and more.
  • I would like to see an app that would be able to read menus in restaurants quickly with voice. It also should be able to recognize objects, and recognize people that I know. If I put a person’s name to what it sees, it should come back with an automated voice and not my own voice saying who that person is each time it sees that person. It needs to recognize colors quickly giving me real life colors like green, light green, dark green, gray, light gray or dark gray. I would like it to read these new washing machines when an item is lit up to say what is lit up, like Normal, or Heavy Duty etc. But what the light is on.

I would like to be able to use the ZoomReader more, however it is difficult for a totally blind person to use. It would be better if it would recognize words whether it was sideways or upside down. It would also be better if after a scan then hitting the OCR button and hearing the garble not to have to hit back twice to be able to do another scan.

  • The app I would like developed is one that would allow you to hold up a document or a label or anything in a store in front of the built in camera and it would read the document or item to you.
  • I would love an app that recognized faces. Not realistic, but you never know!
  • I have yet to find an app that I would like that hasn't already been invented.
  • 1. I'd like to have an app developed that can convert DAISY files so they can be used on a non-specialized device.

Or, a DAISY app that will run on android or iOS / OSX or Windows platforms.

Or have DAISY accessible via something like Adobe Digital Editions so I could get NLS books on the device I have without having to buy a 2nd device.

Then people could buy one device...android, iOS, Windows...and use it to read NLS titles on the phone, iPod or tablet they have bought to do other things.

An added benefit would that NLS would not have to invest in DAISY players and could spend more of their budget on putting older titles into DAISY format.

I have low vision and still like to read books using zoom software. But my eyes often get tired and hurt and I'd like the option of getting an NLS version of a book so I could switch between using my eyes and using my ears.

I found an app to increase the system font size on the Barnes & Noble nook HD+ I recently bought. It was less expensive than a dedicated DAISY player and I can do other things besides read books.

There are some things that I can't see but I am finding it a great way to explore learning apps using the system font size increased using an app I (finally!) found.

iPads have great accessibility features but are more expensive. The Kindle I bought from a friend does some things well for me but other things don't work so well.

2. There needs to be a system font increase / accessibility app that loads and can display the directions on the android screens. It's hard to follow directions when even the android accessibility setting does not allow for the zooming of all parts of the apps or the sign on screen of the tablet.

People with disabilities often are caught between spending a limited income on one type of device for reading one type of file (NLS DAISY format players, for example), buying ZoomText or JAWS for a computer, and then paying for a smartphone.

3. I'd like to have an app that somehow links NLS eligibility to the major phone carriers to get discounts based on accessibility needs.

Who can afford a smartphone and monthly service plans on SSDI?

But iPhones have Siri and other tools so that would be a useful phone for people with disabilities.

If people on Medicaid get access to a phone for free, can't the major carriers like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T develop a system that would offer similar limited plans for people with documented disabilities?

I know I wishing for the impossible there...!

  • I’m not really sure just what kind of app I would like to see out regarding functionality. Perhaps an app that would allow the iPhone to be a camera like a video magnifier only allow for connectivity to an external monitor.
  • My app idea I call “Q-Me” and I thought of it in 2009, though was never in a position to act. I imagined it as a facial-recognition app that would cue the user to the identities of people they encounter. Facial images would be captured via lapel-pin or glasses-mounted camera, and delivered to the user by wireless earbud. Though I wasn’t able to move on my idea, I am encouraged to find that a number of OCR solutions with robust facial, object & GPS functionality will be coming to market soon!
  • I want it to have a screen reader that reads where I am. If I am in my email, Internet or Facebook, I want it to read and enlarge text simply, I want it to have an option to wrap text so it does not go to the right or left of the screen even if I have to read one word at a time. I don’t want to have to scroll over and then find my place again on the next row. And if I am just wishing  how about having speech to text added to the same program so I can reply to email by voice. I know I am dreaming but what the heck.
  • I would like to see more apps for accessibility. Better magnification / zooming in increments. Have Siri come to the iPad. Voice control over actions of the device.
  • My “dream app” would basically allow me to interact almost exclusively by voice with the phone and also get stuff read out loud to me when I say I want it read out loud.
  • How about to set say 6 grocery stores, Canadian tire, sears, etc. so that each time their flyer changes the app info changes as well. That would be nice. So that you could just go into one place for all the sales.
  • So for an app that doesn't exist yet, it has to do with Mag. Light Pro. I use a Ruby hardware device for reading small text, but it is a bit large and difficult to carry everywhere I go. I have my iPhone on me all the time. While Mag. Light Pro tries to replicate what Ruby does, I don't find it to be as effective. An app that can easily zoom text and invert brightness in a simple manner using the iPhone camera would be much needed for someone like myself.
  • Future app: one that shows all the paratransit agencies (transportation for the disabled) in each state, by county.
  • And the big, juicy question I've been waiting for someone to ask...My fantasy app that (I believe) doesn't exist yet?...

A MONOCULAR function. I tried using the camera zoomed in to watch a play and it was super choppy and washed out. I thought my vision was funky until I sat through a while of this.

I don't know if it's possible with the current camera or if there's an attachable distance lens out there for iPhones that can be paired with a simple app. It would have a full screen mode as well as a couple focused settings to hold up close and eliminate bothering fellow audience members with that excess blue glow. It wouldn't have a "Take picture" mode so you can easily show the nice security people you are not taking pictures but rather using it to see distances.

Thanks to you and your team for asking these questions and taking the time to hear us.

  • I’d really love an app I can use on a stationary bike that simulates riding through scenic areas, with the option to have descriptions of common flora and fauna...birds, indigenous animals...
  • App idea: An accessible “what’s near me” App. The App can list points of interest near the phone’s position.
  • The app I wish for most is apparently coming, a reader for NLS digital talking books.
  • I take a picture of something I want measurements on and it measures it for me. I don't want to have to move the phone over the device and I have seen the ones that let you take a pic and then YOU take measurements and add them to it.
  • I really want an app that will "print" a PDF (or something similar) with OCR. Something similar to "Cute PDF writer" for my computer, but for my iPhone/iPad with the added OCR capability. There have been times that I want to save "something" on my iPad in some sort of document form that I can store in my Evernote account & access other places and/or be able to do a text search on the resulting document.

An app that contains contact information for various software/product developers "accessibility" divisions, where users can quickly and easily send product enhancement ideas/requests. In the past I have spent quite a long time trying to find that contact info, but when I finally find it, I usually get a pretty quick response, if not always a quick result. I think that accessibility tools would increase/improve DRAMATICALLY if the developers were able to communicate with the accessibility users more easily.

  • What would be nice to have are truly great action games that are accessible for blind users, especially children and teens.
  • I would love an app that would read out loud documents, especially PDF, like ZoomText AppReader does.
  • Don’t have a way to send a picture. An application what would be good for a phone for a individual who is blind is a way to take pictures of things and make as mall recording with the picture to what it is such as labeling clothing or even food items in cans a device like a Friend Pen but in your phone.
  • I would like to have an app that magnifies the whole screen much like ZoomText does on my laptop or that will allow any app to be “stretched”. (Many apps don’t allow for the “stretch” zoom feature). Let me know if this is clear! Happy to provide further clarification.
  • As for an idea for another app, probably something to read books.
  • I would like an app, which allows me to play some kind of game, like crosswords or chess or even an audio baseball game.

I would also like to use a 'Word' type app with which to write articles, letters and to use as a diary. An iPhone app would be perfect because I do not need the screen, which sighted people do need.

  • I would very much like to see ZoomText on the Android platform. The wife just bought a tablet, and it would be awesome to be able to use it. :)
  • I am still looking for a great OCR app for my iPhone. I realize that Apple does restrict OCR app developers a lot in terms of tweaking the camera settings. I have tried ZoomReader and have not had much success. I did get assistance from your tech support but unfortunately nothing has helped. I am not really interested in using a device like the Scan Stand to perhaps get better images. I just want something that will work consistently and fast and without extra attachments. I have tried several other OCR apps and none of them have given me results much better than ZoomReader.
  • An app to aid in navigating light rail / subway stations, inside buildings, malls, stores.
  • This may be a little science fiction. I would love an app that would allow me to point my iPhone at steaks on the grill and tell me if they are rare, medium, well done.
  • Future app that doesn't exist yet: copy the following For videos, search YouTube fororcam.
  • I would love to be able to use an app that could read the screen on my Insulin pump.
  • The app I would like to see created is a partnership between grocery stores/other stores/and manufacturers of products that would allow an individual to take a picture of the item, or the barcode if we can’t just do the entire item, and then inform the user what the price is and if there are any ecoupons available. My problem in so many stores is not telling what the item is with my low vision, but I can’t manage price labels or stickers at all. Since I try to be frugal, I feel left out of the ability to save money with printed coupons unless I have assistance with expiration dates and sizes of product. Wouldn’t it be great if a particular store chain could get behind this and allow us to check the prices of items before we go to the store in order to plan our shopping. If they could combine it with a ‘pick and pick-up’ feature that would allow you to submit your list and then schedule your grocery pick up –even better.
  • As far as my idea for a future app…. I would really like to see a good useable video magnifier app. That would be so helpful for restaurants and such.
  • I’d love to see an app that could read the barcodes in stores and provide information on the products – it would make shopping independently much less frustrating . Thanks again for all the helpful tips.
  • I’d love to find an app that works like ZoomText on my desktop. I hate that I can’t do magnification and speech at the same time. I have to make do with speech only. I’d also love an app that works like a telescope or pair of binoculars so I can read signs that are far away. There may be an app like that already. I also want a GPS app that works well with the screen reader and is easy to see. I haven’t tried one, but it sure would have come in handy when I got lost in a large city in June. The Map app was barely adequate. 
  • I would like to see a simple system level app that would reverse video on all apps the way ZoomText or Windows can do on a computer.

My Samsung Galaxy S4 can do this on the settings screens for the OS and some apps. But things like the phone dial pad, calendar, calculator, etc. are white with small thin fonts that cannot be changed.