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

Thu Jun 8 15:49:11 UTC 2017

The transit routes sound really good. However, the ones on Google map and the Apple map that's already on your phone, has the bigger cities of Transit but not Rockford. Don't quite get it.

It would be really cool though, that just hop on a bus and have it tell me where we're going. Or where were at. Even if it doesn't say what direction the actual roots are for the Transit companies themselves. But, it would be nice to ride a bus, and find out what streets are coming up even if it doesn't have the route schedule. Anyhow, I can see where that alone would be really helpful.

Jenny

> On Jun 7, 2017, at 7:14 PM, Lori Motis via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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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