Announcing the AppleVis Golden Apples of 2014

By AppleVis, 29 December, 2014

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

We are pleased to announce the results of the third annual AppleVis Golden Apple Awards.

The AppleVis Golden Apple Awards were launched in 2012 as a way for the community to recognize the best apps, products, and developers of a given year.

To be shortlisted for the Golden Apple Awards, apps must be completely accessible to blind and low vision users; they must be exceptionally good at their intended purpose; and they must have a developer who has continually demonstrated a strong commitment to accessibility.

The 2014 AppleVis Golden Apples consist of awards in five categories:

  • Best iOS App
  • Best iOS Game
  • Best Assistive iOS App
  • Best Mac App
  • Developer of the Year

For the Best iOS App of 2014, the AppleVis community chose Voice Dream Reader in a landslide vote. Dropbox took second place, and Twitterrific 5 for Twitter came in in third.

Dice World! Six Free Dice Games! took the Golden Apple for Best iOS Game of 2014. Audio Defence : Zombie Arena followed as a very close second, and Papa Sangre II placed third.

The community voted KNFBReader Best Assistive iOS App of 2014, with BlindSquare and TapTapSee - Blind & Visually Impaired Camera also being popular choices.

VMware Fusion was chosen as the best Mac app of 2014. 1Password - Password Manager and Secure Wallet followed close behind, and Amadeus Pro placed third.

MIPsoft (Creator of BlindSquare) was voted as the Developer of the Year, with Sensotec nv/K-NFB Reading Technology (Creator of KNFBReader) and Somethin' Else (Creator of Audio Defence : Zombie Arena, Papa Sangre II, and others) rounding out the top three.

We would like to extend our congratulations to the winners of the 2014 Golden Apple Awards. We wish everyone a happy and safe new year and a prosperous 2015.

About the Apps and Developer Chosen as the 2014 AppleVis Golden Apples

Voice Dream Reader (Paid)

"Having reached top 10 in Education in 86 countries, Voice Dream Reader is the world's most accessible reading tool. With advanced text-to-speech and a highly configurable screen layout, it can be tailored to suit every reading style from completely auditory to completely visual, plus synchronized combination of both.

Voice Dream Reader supports reading PDF and Word documents, DRM-free EPUB and DAISY eBooks, Web pages and more. It's directly integrated with Bookshare, Dropbox, G-Drive, Evernote, Pocket, Instapaper, and Gutenberg." - App Store Read the AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for Voice Dream Reader Download Voice Dream Reader from the App Store

Dice World! 6 Free Dice Games! (Free)

"Dice World! Bringing the world together with dice games! Not just one dice game, but Six different games! Farkle, Yatzy, Threes, 1-4-24, Balut.. and PIG! Challenge your friends or random opponents to any or all games! - App Store Listen to a podcast demonstrating Dice World Read the AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for Dice World Download Dice World from the App Store

KNFBReader (Paid)

"The highly anticipated KNFB Reader converts printed text into high quality speech to provide accurate, fast, and efficient access to both single and multiple page documents with the tap of a button on the iPhone. Picture accuracy is facilitated by a Field of View Report, Automatic Page Detection, and Tilt Control. Our app allows users to capture pictures of virtually any type of printed text, including mail, receipts, class handouts, memos and many other documents that you may encounter. Proprietary document analysis technology determines the words and reads them aloud to the user with high quality text-to-speech and Braille access. Individuals with print disabilities will benefit from the synchronized speech and text highlighting capabilities. KNFB Reader will revolutionize access to print materials for the mobile professional and busy student by providing advanced state of the art mobile reading technology in a single hand-held device." - App Store Listen to a podcast demonstrating KNFBReader Read the AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for KNFBReader Download KNFBReader from the App Store

VMware Fusion (Paid)

"VMware Fusion allows you to create a Virtual Machine on your Mac and run Windows (including Windows 8.1) and Windows software on your Mac.

Run your favorite Windows applications alongside Mac applications without rebooting. Whether you would like to run Windows XP, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 on a Mac, the VMware Fusion easy install feature will get you up and running in no time. With the ability to run Windows-only applications like Microsoft Project, Access and Internet Explorer, VMware Fusion turns your Mac into the ultimate computer for compatibility." - MacUpdate Read the AppleVis Mac App Directory entry for VMware Fusion Visit the MacUpdate page for VMware Fusion

MIPsoft and BlindSquare

MIPsoft is the creator of BlindSquare, a wildly popular Foursquare-based GPS app for blind users. Visit the MIPsoft website

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