Vorail

Description of App

Talk instead of type. Answer a question and make a friend.
Be social through voice, QA format. Talk about issues you like with people you love.
Start and join conversations in voice with a subscription to Vorail:
• monthly subscription enables unlimited access for a month at a time. Listen to and record an unlimited number of questions and answers.
• annual subscription enables unlimited access and two free months. Listen to and record an unlimited number of questions and answers.
• monthly subscription is usd 4.99 per month, annual subscription is usd 49.99 per month.
• Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase
• Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period
• Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal
• Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase
• Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable
– terms of use
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ogySQksL63fq4IrLVxVRmbmdmLf74k3yV7UcesOz6C4/edit?usp=sharing
– privacy policy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Gj1qwU5CDfrlHR_ll8cyRlhw6TA2ED4JXagBwDtOlu4/edit?usp=sharing
Vorail in the news:
.. Dr. Mara Karpel & Your Golden Years ask the Vorail community about finding joy and happiness at http://drmarakarpel.com/sun-jan-22-vorail-com-social-media-app-global-visually-impaired-community-developer-tom-rosenthal-cellist-jen-mulhern-laura-gelezunas-puerto-vallarta/
.. RNIB App of the Month, May 2016 - Vorail (http://www.rnib.org.uk/blogs/technology-blog)
.. AppleVis Extra #43 Scott Davert and Thomas Domville talk about Vorail at http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/applevis-extra-43-interview-developers-vorail

.. The Tech Doctor Blog and Podcast, Robert and Allison speak with a developer and a user of the new social media app called Vorail at http://dr-carter.com/podcasts/20160509withchapters.mp3

.. Randy and Jason feature Vorail on American Council of the Blind's Main Menu at http://acbradio.org/sites/default/files/archives/shows/mainmenu/mm20160610.mp3
.. iAccessVO Episode 15 by Ed Plumacher and Brian Fischler chat with Vorail developers at http://traffic.libsyn.com/iaccessvo/iAccessVO-015.mp3
.. AppleVis podcast by Scott Davert demos Vorail at http://www.applevis.com/podcast/episodes/get-talking-vorail-ios
.. Blind Hour Podcast with Tom R (Vorail.com) at https://soundcloud.com/blindhour/bhp109
.. "Social networking through voice rather than vision" (E-ACCESS BULLETIN)
http://www.headstar.com/eablive/?p=1192
.. "Vorail: Social Media for People with Vision Loss" (Second Sense)
http://www.second-sense.org/2016/10/vorail-social-media-for-people-with-vision-loss/
Vorail VoiceOver implementation:
.. rotor action on feeds to connect with voices and people in different ways.
.. four button touch to bring focus to tabs.
.. magic tap on feeds and inbox to pause and resume playback of questions & answers.
.. magic tap on IM screen first time starts recording, second magic tap ends and saves.
.. magic tap on record screen first time starts recording, second magic tap ends and saves.
.. magic tap during play-all on feed skips to next answer from next person.
.. scrub to return to previous screen.

Version

1.87

Free or Paid

Free With In-App Purchase

Apple Watch Support

No

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

12.1

Accessibility Comments

Fully accessible with voice over

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Recommendations

8 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Joseph 4 months 2 weeks ago

Options

Comments

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

New: preventing screen lock during recording. The ask-all we create now show up in our questions screen (after creating the ask-all, need to leave questions screen, then return to questions screen to force a refresh, then our new ask-all shows .) Extending VoiceOver announcement of tags to inbox. Changing "start recording" VoiceOver announcement to a default sound. Fixed bug that caused an app crash, and many other minor improvements.

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

New: Added device vibration to accompany start and stop recording chimes, not everyone's ears detected the chimes. Fixed our answers showing up temporarily twice on feed. fixed long answers not playing back in full on first attempt. Fixed magic tap error. Screen will no longer dim or auto-lock on playback. Other minor improvements.

By Jason on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

What do I have to turn on in the iCloud for in ordor for to work?

By Chrystal on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Jason

Hi Jason, switch on your iCloud Drive. This should fix it. :-)

By Jason on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Chrystal

HI Crystal, thank you for your help I got it now thanks again.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Jason

hi @Jason, sign into icloud on your device (settings / icloud) and enable icloud drive. then open Vorail and all should work. apple requires Vorail have a way to block abusive users, and a long number associated with your icloud is the only way Vorail has to identify a user.

thanks,
tom

By Krister Ekstrom on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Hi i noticed that in the feed there can be a message saying "so and so replied to a reply " how do you do this? I think that would be a cool thing if we could reply to someones reply in an AskAll thread.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Krister Ekstrom

hi @Krister, the VO announcement is not accurate, and is being updated to something like "so and so answered to her ask-all". we are planning to add "Reply to the answer" action, but a few features ahead of that, including: like an answer/question and opt-in to be alerted when this question has new answers.

thanks,
tom

By kool_turk on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Would it be possible to add a raise to listen feature, that way you could flick to someone's question or answer, raise the phone to your ear and listen privately if you wanted.

I don't mind using the speaker, but sometimes you might not want to disturb others and might not always carry a pair of earbuds or headphones.

hi @kool_turk, great idea. "raise to listen feature". if VO focus on an answer or question and device is raised to the ear (proximity detection), auto start playback of the answer or question. is this correct?

thanks,
tom

By kool_turk on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

that is correct

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Be careful with the raise to listen. I've had issues in other apps where my finger touches where the proxi sensor is and I've triggered it. It's right where you would go to check the time. If it's possible a toggle would be handy for those of us that have the issue, or don't want to turn the feature on at all, or when they are not out.

hope that helps aib.t

hi @KE7ZUM, good point. today's new beta auto starts playback on feed when device moved to the ear, but it can be triggered by covering top part of phone. today's beta does not yet re-route audio to device ear speaker when proximity detected. discovered a bug that relates to audio routing. audio plays through main speaker, but during record, voice over announcements getting route to the device ear speaker. working through this bug :)

tom

By kool_turk on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

The way Vorail is set up at the moment doesn't make it easy to reply to a question thread, especially if the question you're trying to reply to gets pushed so far down the feed it takes forever, sometimes impossible to find.

Visiting that users profile only shows you their answers.

Are there any plans on making it easier to reply to existing threads that get pushed down the feed?

Maybe if you can subscribe to threads so you can find them easily or something.

The way it is now, I can only scroll back so far.

I've seen that bug in other apps that switch to the ear speaker and refuse to switch back.

I don't know if it's the app that's the problem, or just some bug in iOS.

I resolve it by force quitting the app.

Lately it's been happening on Roger, and when I use to use it, Voxer as well.

Hi Kool_turk, I am one of the public beta testers for this app. We are currently testing a feature whereby when we enter somebody's profile, we can both listen and respond to the ask Alls they have posted. I tend to agree with you; questions can disappear way too quickly off the feed. I believe this new feature will go a long way to remedying that problem.
Cheers, Chrystal. :-)

By kool_turk on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Unless the beta has the questions it's not much help.

At the moment, it's only the answers that are displayed, I'm of course refering to the public release not the beta.

If the beta has the questions as well as the answers, then that is something to look forward to.

It would make it a bit easier to reply to existing questions.

hi @kool_turk. i am trying to understand your comment that "it's only the answers that are displayed". on 'feed' tab, answers are displayed, but after answers are played, the question auto plays, and there is a voice over (flick down) option to 'play the question'. the 'questions' tab lists all questions.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

we are also working on new feature to subscribe to questions, to opt-in to receive new answers to questions i answered.

By kool_turk on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

When you go to someones profile, you only see their answers.

Sure you can see the question that answer is associated with, but you can't view all answers like you can in the feed.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by kool_turk

hi @kool_turk, i understand now :) beta release has already fixed that, profile pages include ask-all, answers, and voice over includes tags and time stamp in the announcements. apple is currently reviewing an older version of vorail for general, app store release. the next, next app store release will include the updates to profile.

thanks,
tom

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Fixed stuttering at beginning of voice playback. In profile, also show ask-alls posted and include standard rotor actions (eg. add an answer). While recording, can double tap on done to save and send (but will not auto play recording). Start/finish recording chime & bibration synchronized.

By AnonyMouse on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

What's New in Version 1.63

List of ask-alls changed to ephemeral, enable us to hear more of the questions, plus other minor voice over improvements.

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

New: ability to change our own user name. Play-all button on feed screen. Ask-all tag extended to 40 characters. Minor improvements and bug fixes.

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Looks good. I wish though the messages in the inbox could stick around for a while longer like for 24 hours after you listen this way you have a bit more time to respond.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

hi @KE7ZUM, we have received feedback on both sides of the ephemeral inbox issue. would be much more convenient if messages stayed around 12 hours, or 24 hours before disappearing, or if there was a revive button. however, for the folks that are very sensitive to privacy, the most private policy is the current one, inbox messages disappear after being played, unless sender and receiver are mutual likes (in which case the entire chat history is preserved).

tom

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

When you are planning to bring search?

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Holger Fiallo

hi @Holger, april priorities are... be able to like questions/answers, and subscribe opt-in to receive alerts when the questions we like receive new answers. in may, will schedule the next round of new features, and i will post link in this forum for list of top features, and maybe the beginnings of search or filter will be in the may schedule. are you looking to search for a person, or by criteria?

thanks,
tom

By Holger Fiallo on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Vorail

by place, age and gender. Just like you had it before.

By raaj on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by Holger Fiallo

I'm also spending more time on there with vorial these days. But I wish there was a search tab there for searching members/posts/questions.

One more suggestion. I think name change option is going to give some trouble. Some people are changing their names many times within a day. So I suggest there must be some limitations. Like only one name change allowed for a month or something similar. Just my opinion.

Raaj.

By Vorail on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

In reply to by raaj

hi @raaj, it's on the way :) april priorities include being able to like an answer or question, and the option to opt in to receive alerts when a question i like gets new answers. may updates will include easier way to unmute folks, and enhancements to the profiles, as well as being able to filter the feeds. we are working our way towards a new search screen. in first half of may, i plan to publish here the list of may priorities new features.

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

I was late posting this entry, sorry.
Version 1.66
New: improved stability when re-recording a message. Updated ‘listen to all answers’ to play all answers from oldest first, even when there is more than one screen of answers. During play-all on feed, magic tap skips to next answer. Can add url of your blog, podcast, twitter, etc to your profile page. Rotor action on profile page, can pin favorite question or answer to top. Fixed bug that caused app crashes.

By Nina on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

New: Ask-me tab. Easier to unmute. Updated likes screen layout, added segment control (four buttons along the top), including ‘muted’ to make it easier to unmute folks. Changed order of the ask-all presets, moved “create my own” tag to top of the list. Changed “ask all” tag to “not tagged”. Under the hood fix, working to reduce number of app crashes. Other minor user interface improvements, eg. per feedback, play and add ask-all buttons moved to both be after the header. Fixed VoiceOver bug when recording. Magic tap from mutual likes instant messaging screen will start recording. Single tap on the record button will bring up the record screen, and VoiceOver focus will be on the record button. Pin it rotor action added to ‘my profile’ screen.

By Lielle ben simon on Sunday, April 24, 2016 - 23:55

Hello!
I joyned to Vorail comunaty. i would like to say several things about this.
first of all, i very like it, it will be interesting that will be a chat room in older to know new piple.or to talk with people.
and question: can i joyne to beta testers of this app?
thanks!

By AnonyMouse on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

What's New in Version 1.68

new:
.. preventing multiple audios from playing at once
.. likes screen: updated the rotor action bug, rotor action now includes like or unlike
.. likes screen: table index added to likes, can jump to names starting with a particular letter
.. likes screen: include online, offline status in VO announcement
.. can replace your previous ask-me listing by adding a new one
.. view all answers screen: added rotor action "ask [name] a private question”
.. record screen: removed duplicate done button
.. changed mute action VO announcement, trying to encourage folks to mute before posting an aggressive or abrasive reply, it’s ok to mute :) mute is kind
of like a filter (more filters coming in future builds)
.. inbox screen: leave rotor action reply for as long as message is in the inbox
.. my profile page: added VO announcement "successfully pinned to top"
.. my profile page: enabled editing of link and description at beginning / top of page

By Chris on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

Hello,

When performing a magic tap or two finger double tap in the record screen, the recording is started. However, when performing the gesture again, the recording is stopped and sent. Is this a bug or feature? I would like it to simply stop recording and play the audio back just as tapping the record button to stop does.

By KE7ZUM on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

This is a feature. To stop the recording an dplay it simply tap the record button with 1 finger. I don't listen to what I say as I hate my voice so I just send it wiht the magic tap.

By Kwork on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

I've been playing now for a couple of days, and want to profusely thank the developers, beta testers, etc for a fine app, and for continuously improving an already fun experience. You have my gratitude. Please keep up the great work!

By Nina on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

NSFK filter turned on by default, visit settings screen to enable.

.. on inbox, added a button after header to access settings screen.
.. on settings screen, added option for faster audio playback and NSFK filtering.
.. on question and view all answers screens, added “notify me of new answers” rotor action, also added as a button on view all answers screen.
.. on questions screen, added segment control buttons for “all / subscribed / muted”.
.. on feed & questions screen, remembering VO focus after leaving screen to listen to all answers and returning.
.. on feed screens, added “mute this thread” rotor action.
.. on feeds and inbox screens, added magic tap for inbox pause, resume during playback.
.. on record screen, updated VO announcements to make start/stop recording more clear for new users.
.. on ask-me screen, changed sort order to most recent online on top.
.. on inbox screen, fixed bug of certain messages not self-destructing.
.. added two ask-all preset tags, “politics” & “religion”.
.. when adding a person to your mute bin, added VO announcement saying who has been muted.
.. “view profile” rotor action returned to likes screen, mutual likes.

By kool_turk on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

Muting threads is ok, but what about the reverse?

What if you change your mind or mute a thread by accident?

Am I missing something or is there no way to unmute a thread.

By Nina on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

Hi,
I don't think there's an unmuting option for threads at this point.
If I am wrong I hope the developers correct me; because if there is, I can't find it.

By Nina on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

.. totally redid the subscribe to questions back end. we will loose our list of subscribed questions :( and for the next few days we may receive the same push notification twice (until enough folks update to this new release).
.. mute enhanced to prevent person i muted from hearing my ask-alls and answers. principle of vorail is each of us chooses what we share, when we share, and with whom we share.
.. changed label (VOa) of record start/stop button, different VOa when recording is in process.
.. in subscribed questions list, show most recently answered on top, with time stamp of most recent answer.
.. added tags to the push notifications for received new answer.
.. fixed bird that caused dt on long names to activate view profile screen instead of playing the answer / question / message audio.
.. after listen to all answers, return to previous location on questions list (do not return to top of questions list if we were previously at a different location). if this fails, please find if you can replicate what causes VOf to end up at wrong location
.. in feed tab VOa, including time of most recent refresh.
.. added segment control buttons near top of profile screen to separate ask-alls and answers.
.. changed ask-all preset "bug report" to "bug report / feature request”.
.. added preset “music”.
.. Vorail questions separated from community ask-alls, new segment control button near top of questions screen.
.. for gender ‘would rather not say’ pronoun is now neutral “name answered their own question”.
.. ‘add my answer’ button at lower right of ask-alls now works
.. added visual way to ask member a question from ask-me screen

bird = bug
VOa = voice over announcement
VOf = voice over focus
dt = double tap
mt = magic tap

By Brooke on Tuesday, May 24, 2016 - 23:55

I'm happy to see the update to the muting feature. This makes sense to me. If I mute someone, I don't want them to be able to hear me. Thank you for listening to our feedback!!

I think it is in the questions tab and you will be shown all the muted people and threads there and you have to use your action I mean the swiping up or down action and select what you wanting to do.

Raaj.

By Nina on Friday, June 24, 2016 - 23:55

.. new optional enhanced profile (inbox / profile / edit / enhanced)
.. keeping correct VOf after complete listening to all answers and returning to questions or feed screens
.. new custom made sound by LogicalWoman, and edited by BigR, to notify message sent
.. in profile screen, added ability to subscribe to person, receive notifications when she post a new ask-all
.. updated push notification handling, when select a push notification, Vorail will open to the appropriate place
.. three finger drag down = pull to refresh table
.. made vibration settable option
.. allow 'would you like to share your question outside of vr' alert sheet to be turned off in settings
.. prevent people in mute bin from showing in profile screen
.. prevent receiving push notifications when questions we subscribe to receive new answer from person we muted
.. while playing audio on profile page, mt now = pause / resume
.. on questions screen, updated VOa to "from community" and "from Vorail"
.. on questions screen, changed label of from community ask-alls to “Community”
.. on feed screen, update VOa from “create new Ask-all" to "Create new ask-all"
.. VOa changed to "... mute-bin" instead of "... mute, bin"
.. more clear ask-me questions are public, show up on main feed when answered
.. added “Blind” preset for ask-alls

bird = bug
VOa = voice over announcement
VOf = voice over focus
dt = double tap
mt = magic tap

By Nina on Friday, June 24, 2016 - 23:55

.. created different section of questions screen for anonymous ask-alls and answers. our user name not revealed, and our voices are masked. in settings screen, added ability to set anonymous voice ’disguise level’. example usage, ask-alls for alcoholics anonymous meetings.
.. updated settings screen to include choice of logicalWoman, bigR, and original iOS swoosh versions of message sent sound
.. changed push notification sound to one created by BigR. in future builds, plan to change push notification sound to other community generated unique sounds, until community has a favorite push notification sound
.. when receive an answer to our ask-all, add my answer to the ask-all should once again be in rotor action
.. add rotor action to questions screen, "Notify me when [name] creates new ask-alls"
.. enabled subscribe to vorail question from questions screen
.. added rotor action in mutual likes to follow (unfollow) the friend
.. made ask-me questions and their answers all private.
.. trying different approach to make pinned to top questions should disappear after being played
.. added VOa, “Successfully liked [name].”
.. added “Blindness” preset for ask-alls
.. can now set birthday to nov 10 1999

By Nina on Friday, June 24, 2016 - 23:55

.. option to view questions list with more interesting on top. in settings, can choose to sort questions chronologically, or by Vorail magic sauce.
.. new optional setting to protect against unwanted inbox messages: only allow those i like to send me a private question.
.. in mutual likes, made dt on"record a message" = record message screen.
.. closed a double-sided mute loop hole: now preventing B from seeing ask-all or answers from A if A muted B, but C answered A, and B looked at C profile. before, if A mutes B, and C replies to A ask-all, then before B can see A ask-all through Cs profile.
.. added place in settings to preview voice mask.
.. anonymous closed for all, can be opened in settings if you think it benefits you.
.. fixed bird that allowed person we muted to show up in anonymous.
.. new type of voice mask, can change the voice mask dial negative (distorted but easier understand).
.. add three finger pull down to refresh in ‘view all answers’ screen.
.. add rotor action in profile to follow a person.
.. new sent mail sound from Joseph.
.. change "Sexual Orientation" to "LGBT+" in anonymous ask-all preset tag.
.. system alert view will no longer not cause vorail to refresh.
.. include tag in "you got an answer from [name]" push notification.

bird = bug
VOa = voice over announcement
VOf = voice over focus
dt = double tap
mt = magic tap

By Nina on Friday, June 24, 2016 - 23:55

.. listen-to-all-answers is smarter, only plays answers that have not already been completely played
.. gracefully handling interruptions, recording will continue recording after interrupted by phone call
.. gracefully handling interruptions, items will not go ephemeral when app gets interrupted by alarm and other system alerts
.. totally rewrote the recording code, trying to eliminate the gap between beep/vibration and actual start of recording. now there may be more of a gap between select record and the beep/vibrate
.. search by name button after header on like screen
.. during recording, chime at five minutes. recordings of under 8 to 10 minutes are stable, but recording of over 8 to 10 minutes sometimes get corrupted on the backend (while voices being processed via google services) and become unplayable. until we change the back end, good idea to keep recordings under 8 minutes, and starting with this build, there is a reminder chime at five minutes.
.. VO off users, new UI, single tap to start recording, single tap to stop recording
.. new push notification received sound (from Joseph)
.. increased size of ‘Done’ button to make it easier to find by tapping near bottom of record screen

bird = bug
VOa = voice over announcement
VOf = voice over focus
dt = double tap
mt = magic tap

By Anonymous on Sunday, July 24, 2016 - 23:55

Hi I was wondering how do you delete a vorail account, I'm not talking about deleting the app, I'm talking about actually deleting the vorail account so everything you post is wiped off the system

Hello,
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think there is no actual acount for Vorail, it is associated with your Apple ID or iCloud, so I don't think there is a way to delete the account. You just delete the app.
Hth