[Electronics-Talk] Apps that deliver alerts and vibrations when you get to where you want to be.

Jim McCarthy jmccarthy at mdtap.org
Thu Jun 8 15:09:27 UTC 2017 

Lori,
This is my go to app! I use others at times but it is my favorite. My one
complaint, and it is minor for me, is that the app gives lots of information
at startup and I am not sure if there is a way to stop it from that or mute
that. I generally know what state, town and county I am in, for example.
That is though, a very minor complaint and it could be that I have not
figured out how to adjust it. Also, the app is very customizable, as the
letter states, but infrequent users probably won't get as much out of that
feature. It is very easy to select among the information you want and do not
want though, hiding that you do not want and taking that you do. Also, you
can easily change that based on whether you are in a car, walking and so
forth.

I realized from the manual recently, " You may also use the devices position
and orientation to obtain additional targeted details such as pointing the
end of the device to scan for businesses, even in a moving vehicle, or
tilting it vertically to function as a compass, including a listing of
streets in the indicated direction. This all works with the device locked,
so one need not fuss with the touch screen while moving. You may even mark a
point, then use the position of the device to get haptic feedback about that
point's location." To me these are some of the most interesting
possibilities but so far I have not figured them out yet. That's because I
have not put the time in to trying them much. It is my opinion that the app
really has features that blind users will value but there is plenty
available from Google Maps and Apple Maps at no cost so one needs to
consider that for his or her on situation and desires
Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Lori Motis via Electronics-Talk
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2017 8:14 PM
To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
Cc: Lori Motis
Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Apps that deliver alerts and vibrations when
you get to where you want to be.

I recently read about a new GPS app in the AppleVis newsletter.
I copied and pasted the info below. The price is high, but it sounds really
good. If anyone has used this app, I would appreciate your feedback on it.
Lori AKA Food Lady
  Nearby Explorer (iOS, US$79.99)

  Nearby Explorer is a full featured GPS app designed for use by people who
are blind. Instead of just providing directions, it describes the
environment in ways comparable to reading signage or observing road
characteristics.

  It uses onboard maps, so a data connection is not required, but if you
have one, Nearby Explorer supplements the on board map data with crowd
collected locations from Foursquare or Google Places. It includes complete
maps for the United States and Canada which contain millions of points of
interest. The onboard maps are over 4GB in size, so be sure the device you
plan to  use has enough available space before purchasing.

  Nearby Explorer works by letting you select from several different
location related options about what to announce as you move. These include
both typical items like street name and address and specialized options like
approaching streets, intersection configurations, and nearby places and the
distance and direction to them. (All announcements are optional.) All of
this information is shown on the home screen and is available at any time,
but typical use is to adjust the level of announcements, then lock the
screen and put the device away. This keeps both hands free and let's your
preferred voice speak the characteristics of the environment as you move.

  You may also use the devices position and orientation to obtain additional
targeted details such as pointing the end of the device to scan for
businesses, even in a moving vehicle, or tilting it vertically to function
as a compass, including a listing of streets in the indicated direction.
This all works with the device locked, so one need not fuss with the touch
screen while moving. You may even mark a point, then use the position of the
device to get haptic feedback about that point's location.

  Nearby Explorer includes a transit feature that provides detailed mass
transit schedules for over 60 metropolitan areas in the U. S. and Canada. It
treats transit stops just like favorites and points of interest by
announcing their name and relative position as you move, but in addition,
transit stops add next vehicle stop time, direction of travel, and route
name to the  announcements. You can use the transit schedules to look up
times or even follow a route.

  You may virtually move to any area in the U.S. or Canada and explore the
road network, search, or use the transit maps for that area.

  Current Version: 1.05.00 (May 3, 2017)

  Changes in Version 1.05.00

  Updates the onboard maps to the first quarter of 2017.
  Splits the onboard map into two separate maps -- one for the United States
and one for Canada. The combined map may still be used if desired.
  Adds map download progress to the report you get when shaking the device.
  Improves support for roundabouts. The street name on which to exit is now
given, and when walking, the direction the exit street heads is also given .
The exit announcement should also trigger earlier in small roundabouts.
  Adds a setting to set the turn-by-turn destination as the Watch when
selecting a new destination.
  Adds the Neighborhood item to the Home screen. This item is always empty
when using onboard maps in the US, but other address providers will use it.
 As a result of this addition, all Home screen items will be unhidden. You
will need to hide items again which you do not want to see.
  Uses the correct vehicle type for transit stops.
  Adds clock face support to the Watch point.
  Fixes an issue where the states of certain options were reported
incorrectly in Settings.
  Fixes a bug where contacts with no type displayed "null" for the type.
  Geobeam, Compass mode, and Shake to Repeat all now default to off.
  Read Nearby Explorer's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more
information https://www.applevis.com/



On 6/7/17, Jim McCarthy via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org>
wrote:
> Jenny,
> I am quite uncomfortable with using the word exactly because GPS is 
> not exact. Also, I imagine there are several on this list who use 
> Google Maps or Apple Maps with walking directions and who feel like 
> those work for them. I do not think either of those has a feature that 
> would let me mark the door I mentioned with the steps here. I think 
> there are some other features they do not have for me also but the 
> flipside is that they are free; I am sure some on this list think they 
> work just fine and great for the cost.
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of Jenny Keller via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2017 6:25 PM
> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
> Cc: Jenny Keller
> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Apps that deliver alerts and 
> vibrations when you get to where you want to be.
>
> OK, I missed one part right didn't understand it. Like Google maps or 
> whatever, you can put in an address and it will verbally give you 
> directions. So the other apps will do the same thing and then tell you 
> exactly where doors are in stock. That's really cool if it does that.
> Because I don't know necessarily how to get to a route. I just like 
> the ability to say like go left on such and such street or you have 
> reached the street turn left. Do you like I love apps that help as much as
possible.
>
>
> Jenny
>
>> On Jun 7, 2017, at 5:04 PM, Jim McCarthy via Electronics-Talk
> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> Jenny,
>> You can create roots and the app will give you turn by turn directions.
>> There may be situations when one wants to find a gazebo in a park and 
>> there are not trails but instead is just a vast open space; in a 
>> situation like that, one may prefer to think of a clock face for the 
>> directions or one app calls this "getting warmer."  The root 
>> suggested may not be the one you would prefer, which means that the 
>> user needs some travel skills and to use the app as an additional 
>> tool. There may be sidewalk construction on the suggested root; there 
>> may be no sidewalks at all so the traveler needs to use trailing 
>> techniques along roads. In the wide open spaces example, there may be 
>> drop offs or who knows what. In my earlier post, I said the door 
>> might not be where the app directs a person. I can give a good 
>> example so you know how that would work. My office is in the building 
>> that is the headquarters for Maryland's rehabilitation agency. This 
>> is a large, three-story building with several doors. I have its 
>> address  marked as a favorite and can root to it easily. The address 
>> is a main door and is where paratransit drops people off or where a 
>> cab would drop one off. The building is almost a block long. My 
>> office is toward the far west of the building and the main door is 
>> probably 50 yards east of my office. Walking east on the street where 
>> this building is located, there is a set of steps that goes up to a 
>> door on the west end of the building closest to my office. I will not 
>> be told that I have reached my
> destination that is marked as a favorite at those steps because they 
> are several yards west of the official address.
>> They lead to a door though that is closest to my office. I know they 
>> are there as does my dog guide, so I use them. If I wanted to be sure 
>> to get them located by the app, I could mark them. That would improve 
>> the GPS ability to inform me of them, but there is the imperfect 
>> accuracy issue of earlier so it might not be exact.
>> Jim McCarthy
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
>> On Behalf Of Jenny Keller via Electronics-Talk
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2017 5:02 PM
>> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
>> Cc: Jenny Keller
>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Apps that deliver alerts and 
>> vibrations when you get to where you want to be.
>>
>> Hi Jim, question, hey, how's dark. Also, wanted to know about these apps.
>> Does it give you directions and then let you know where you're 
>> supposed to be like by the doors. Or, do they just tell you where you 
>> are at but let you find it yourself. I don't know about these apps.
>>
>>
>> Jenny
>>
>>> On Jun 7, 2017, at 3:27 PM, Jim McCarthy via Electronics-Talk
>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> All of the blindness specific apps, Blind Square as mentioned, 
>>> Seeing Eye GPS, and Nearby Explorer alert for location arrival. For 
>>> those not familiar with GPS, it should be noted that this alert may 
>>> be close but not exact to the desired location because of the in 
>>> perfect accuracy of GPS. All the 3 apps I mentioned have a cost and 
>>> for phone based apps, it is somewhat high, I think at least $30. The 
>>> other item I think relevant here is that the address in the maps is 
>>> not always equivalent to the door of the place one seeks; some 
>>> shopping centers or  apartment complexes may only have one address 
>>> for several buildings, stores, or doors; also, the actual point of 
>>> entry may not be where the desired address is located on the map. 
>>> Apps allow one to
>> modify this for commonly used places though.
>>> Jim McCarthy
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Electronics-Talk [mailto:electronics-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On Behalf Of Lori Motis via Electronics-Talk
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2017 11:50 AM
>>> To: Discussion of accessible home electronics and appliances
>>> Cc: Lori Motis
>>> Subject: Re: [Electronics-Talk] Apps that deliver alerts and 
>>> vibrations when you get to where you want to be.
>>>
>>> I have that feature on Blind Square. I have it set to alert me when 
>>> I arrive at the destination that I am tracking. I am not sure of its 
>>> current price, since I bought it several years ago. They have added 
>>> a lot of features, and I use it whenever I am out walking and 
>>> looking for a particular place. Apple vis gives a lot of info on it 
>>> and other similar apps on their website which is applevis.com I 
>>> think since I am writing this from memory, and mine is getting old, LOL.
>>> Lori AKA Food Lady
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Jun 7, 2017, at 6:39 AM, Philip Blackmer via Electronics-Talk
>>> <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I am looking for a GPS app that can play some kind of alert sound 
>>>> or
>>> vibrate my phone when I get to a selected location.   Does anybody know
> of
>>> an app that has that feature?
>>>>
>>>> Sent from my iPhone
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--
Lori Motis
Publisher & Editor of The Blind Post
www.theblindpost.com

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