AppleVis Unlimited: What's New and Noteworthy for August 2019

Welcome to the August 2019 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, our monthly series which aims to highlight what's new and noteworthy on the AppleVis website. Below, you'll find a selection of the best content posted to AppleVis by members of the community - from new app entries, to app updates, to the latest news and podcasts. For easier navigation, the major sections of this post are at heading level 3, and each individual item is at heading level 4.

New and Noteworthy App Entries

1.1.1.1: Faster Internet (iOS, Free)

1.1.1.1 -- the world's fastest and safest DNS resolver --

1.1.1.1, the privacy-first DNS resolver is now available on the go. No one should be able to snoop on what you do on the Internet. We've created 1.1.1.1 so that you can connect to the Internet securely anytime, anywhere.

• Greater privacy

  • By using a secure connection, 1.1.1.1 makes sure no one can snoop your DNS queries.
  • Some ISPs use your DNS queries to sell your data. Cloudflare will never sell your data or use it to target ads. Period.

• Fastest way to experience the Internet

  • 1.1.1.1 makes the Internet faster by using Cloudflare's global network.
  • On average, we are 28% faster than the next fastest public resolver.

• Easy to use

  • One-touch setup to make your Internet more safe and private.
  • Install it today, get faster Internet, it's that simple.

Best of all: No upsells, no in-app purchases, and free for life. Website owners pay us to make your Internet faster so you don't have to.

Current Version: 2.0.9 (June 18, 2019)

Read 1.1.1.1: Faster Internet's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit 1.1.1.1: Faster Internet's App Store page 

Calca (macOS, US$4.99)

Calca is a powerful symbolic calculator that updates as you type giving you instant answers. It solves equations and simplifies complex expressions. It's also a rich Markdown text editor so that you can explain your ideas alongside your calculations.

Calca is perfect for professionals and students - anyone who works with numbers and equations. Variables and functions can be created with only a few keystrokes and can be manipulated with a rich library of operators and functions.

Calca updates as you type - just like a spreadsheet. You can declare variables, edit their values and watch everything update before your eyes. Since everything is calculated on the device - no network needed - you get answers instantaneously.

All calculations are stored as plain text so you can easily share them with other editors and move them from device to device. Calca has been designed to work with iCloud documents so all your devices can access your calculations - you'll always have the latest files ready for viewing and editing.

Calca comes with a suite of examples to help you get started covering topics from home mortgages to kinetics. All these examples are fully explained within Calca itself.

Are you still using a desktop calculator? Are you using the silly calculator with the giant buttons that came with your OS? Computers are much more capable than doing simple one-line arithmetic - put your machine to work with Calca!

Calculation Features:

• Variables x = 42
• Functions f(c) = 9/5*c + 32 and even recursive functions
• Units 42 mph in kmph and currency ¥599 in $
• Solves equations (x + 2x + 4x = 42, what is x?)
• Matrices with inverses so you can solve linear equations
• Sum, prod, map, and reduce operations on lists, matrices, and ranges
• Trigonometry and complex numbers
• Derivatives of functions
• Logic operations and if statements
• Binary math (& and |) and support for binary and hex number (0xA9 and 0b1010)
• Keeps track of units (m, s, m/s, m/s^2, etc.) so you can verify your equations as you compute

Current Version: 1.5 (October 19, 2018)

Read Calca's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Calca's App Store page 

Circus Master’s Revenge (iOS, Free With In-App Purchases)

There's been a big hole in the visually impaired gaming community for quite a long time. Their craving for that game, which they can call their own, is now over. Mental Vision LLC has created such game, that can fill this void in this community. Circus Master's Revenge is here.

An epic non-graphic binaural battle of circus freaks, which you will never forget & which will need you to have tremendous courage in order to defend yourself. Beware, the circus master is definitely not very friendly. Like most antagonists, he tries to hurt your feelings as often as possible to throw you off your game. Hopefully, his insults will enforce you to focus on the enemy. Good luck to anyone who is up to the challenge. Hope, you enjoy it.

Current Version: 1.0 (August 16, 2019)

Read Circus Master’s Revenge's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Circus Master’s Revenge's App Store page 

Invisible Dragons (iOS, Free)

The age of the Ice Apocalypse has begun.

The world falls into absolute darkness and everything is frozen to death. Everything except the Dragon Eggs.

Create your Dragon empire and try to survive.

Invisible Dragons is a unique text based strategy about ice and fire, dragons and gold, spells and rituals. Stay in touch with your magic world through the interactive notification and get the full experience from your Apple Watch.

Current Version: 1.3 (July 19, 2016)

Read Invisible Dragons' AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Invisible Dragons' App Store page 

MasterBrain (iOS, US$0.99)

Based on the popular MasterMind, this game consists in finding out the combination of randomly generated colors for each game bearing in mind that no color is repeated in the solution. The play screen contains a horizontal row of buttons that depending on the selected level Will have for, five or six buttons.

Additionally, on the upper right side of the screen the play button launches the selected color combination, (this can also be achieved by a double tap with two fingers), and on the upper left side the back button interrupts the current game and returns to the start screen.

Information about each play, displayed between both buttons on the upper part of the screen Will help infer the solution. the colors of the game buttons, can be switched by swiping up or down on them to set the desired combination and launch a new play by tapping the play button.

Two modes of information display are available which can the toggled at the setting screen:

text mode: enumerates de numbers of items well placed, incorrectly placed and not presents.

Emoji mode: information is displayed with emojis, ✅, well placed, ❔ incorrectly placed and ❌ not present.

The result is also revealed by means of different sounds.

Higher levels are unlocked when scoring above 0.

Read MasterBrain's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit MasterBrain's App Store page 

Planet Life: A curious planet adventure (iOS, Free With In-App Purchases)

In Planet Life you are born again as a planet. Being a planet in space can be very lonely, but fortunately there is life out there.

Search the corners of the universe, for new friends, who will help you on your quest to become a happy little place to live. Manage your resources, and upgrade tools to advance.

Fight your way down a deep deep dungeon leading to the core of yourself, and gain the respect of mysterious space gods.

Current Version: 2.0.3 (June 20, 2019)

Read Planet Life: A curious planet adventure's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Planet Life: A curious planet adventure's App Store page 

TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome (iOS, US$3.99)

For musicians from pros to beginners, whether you sing, play a brass, woodwind or stringed instrument or any type of guitar, this app provides a set of feature-rich practice tools that gives fun and rewarding feedback. It’s much more than just a tuner!

So what makes the TonalEnergy the best selling music practice app?

• It's an all-in-one app, with a state-of-the-art tuner, an advanced metronome, dedicated orchestral strings and guitar tuning page, a piano keyboard, sound analysis pages, and audio/visual recording capabilities.
• It’s easy to use. Options like the Target Tuner or Pitch Tracker are on all the main pages. TonalEnergy helps users create rewarding and attainable goals during a rehearsal or when working alone. Colorful analysis data pages and audio/video recording features enhance the experience of practice.
• The metronome is cutting edge. It offers unmatched flexibility in sound choices, tempo settings, meters, subdivision patterns and visual displays. Voice count-ins, the ability to create and edit preset groups and Ableton link for syncing multiple devices make this a superior tool for performers.
• Ear training possibilities are endless. The high quality multi-sampled instrument sounds for symphonic instruments are unique among all other tuning applications. Listening skills can be developed through the use of the eight-octave keyboard, chromatic wheel and tone generator. There are no other sounds like these.
• Learning is a social activity. Using features unique to the TonalEnergy Tuner, data can be collected, reviewed, edited and shared with others. Feedback is essential for growing and developing great performers. It’s all about connectivity.

FEATURES

• Recognizes a large pitch range, extending to lower registers than many competing tuners (C0 - C8) that is highly responsive to wind instruments, as well as acoustic and electric string instruments
• Adjustable A=440 Hz reference
• Automatic or manual transposing options
• Instantly changes between equal, just and other custom temperaments, including user-defined ones
• Auto or instant pitch reference note feature using the TonalEnergy sounds
• Extensive tuning list for all orchestral string and fretted string instruments including many more features than most other string-only tuner apps
• An expandable eight octave piano keyboard enhancing many of the key aspects of the tuner’s functions
• Chromatic wheel tone generator, with optional auto-vibrato feature
• Frequency and Harmonic energy overtone graphs, along with a multi-function waveform
• Dedicated metronome page that matches or exceeds the features available on all other stand alone metronome apps
• Notation options including standard English, Solfege, Northern European, and Indian variants
• Bluetooth output/input support
• Audio and Video recording capabilities including, editing, looping, timestretch that are all exportable via iTunes sharing, AirDrop, email, AudioCopy, SoundCloud, etc
• Import music from iTunes Library or email attachments
• Compatible with external microphones and clip-on vibration sensor devices
• Supports external video output to an external display for use in rehearsal halls
• External MIDI keyboard control support
• Apple Watch app acts as remote control for the phone app
• Audiobus and inter-app audio support
• VoiceOver support for the blind or visually impaired

INSTRUMENT SOUNDS

• Piccolo, Flute
• Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon
• Eb, Bb/A Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
• Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone Saxophone
• Trumpet
• French Horn
• Tenor and Bass Trombone
• Euphonium and Tuba
• Square, sawtooth, and sine waveforms
• Organ
• Plucked Strings

Current Version: 1.7.2 (August 14, 2019)

Read TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome's App Store page 

Venture Zone Global (iOS, US$0.99)

The Venture Zone Global was created with sight loss in mind and it’s fully accessible. Anyone can play, including sighted individuals.

In the Venture Zone Global, you will:

• create and name your own company
• choose products to sell based on different price points
• raise virtual cash with seed funding, a bank loan or friends and family

If you’re a beginner, turn on tutorial mode and a narrator will guide you through the game and teach you about the world of business.

Current Version: 1.0 (August 1, 2019)

Read Venture Zone Global's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Venture Zone Global's App Store page 

YouDescribe (iOS, Free)

The YouDescribe app gives blind and visually-impaired viewers convenient mobile access to a rapidly growing collection of YouTube videos with audio description -- an extra soundtrack added by a describer to tell the viewer about text, illustrations, setting, gestures and facial expressions that are otherwise not accessible to blind viewers, or to otherwise aid viewers who benefit from additional description to understand the video content. The YouDescribe app for iOS lets you choose from thousands of YouTube videos described by our global community of contributors. The app also lets you request descriptions for YouTube videos that have not yet been described, and rate descriptions that have already been created.

YouDescribe is free and easy to use from the iOS app or from the desktop. The app has been extensively tested with the VoiceOver screenreader, and the web site works well with a variety of screen reader/browser combinations.

Current Version: 1.0.1 (January 31, 2018)

Read YouDescribe's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit YouDescribe's App Store page 

All recent app entries posted to AppleVis can be found at:

iOS
Mac
Apple Watch
Apple TV

Notable App Updates

Backgammon with Buddies (iOS, US$0.99)

Backgammon with Buddies lets you play backgammon with your friends whether they’re nearby or far away.

You can open the app and play on your phone or tablet, just as you would with a board. It’s also possible to play with your friends through the Messages app, by sending the board back and forth after every turn. If you don’t know the rules, the app also contains a small guide to help you get started.

Backgammon with Buddies also supports a wide range of accessibility features, such as Dynamic Type, reduced transparency, VoiceOver and custom rotors. This means that you can play Backgammon with all your buddies, not just those who can see or touch the board.

Features

• Beautifully designed board with rich wood textures and felt lining
• An integrated Messages app experience to play with far away friends
• Highly accessible with VoiceOver and Dynamic Type
• A lightweight app that respects your privacy

Current Version: 2.0 (August 13, 2019)

Changes in Version 2.0

Added a new help screen with additional information about game play and accessibility affordances

Read Backgammon with Buddies' AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Backgammon with Buddies' App Store page 

Bose Connect (iOS, Free)

Bose Connect unlocks the full potential of your Bose Bluetooth® Product.

EASY ACCESS TO EVERYTHING: Get quick access to the key features on your products, like the auto-off timer, volume control and battery readings. And it’s the easiest way to manage multiple Bluetooth connections. But that’s just the beginning.

SHARE THE MUSIC: MUSIC SHARE lets you listen together. Now two pairs of Bose® wireless headphones can share the experience—listen together, at the same time, while one of you DJs. New PARTY MODE lets you sync two SoundLink® speakers for double the audio—ideal for listening in two different places and new STEREO MODE immerses you in music by separating the sound into Left and Right channels across two paired speakers for that amazing stereo experience.

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR HEADPHONES: CONTROLLABLE NOISE CANCELLATION on our QC®30 headphones lets you decide how much of the world to let in by adjusting the level of noise cancellation right in the app. And the built-in HEART RATE MONITOR for our SoundSport® Pulse headphones displays your heart rate clearly in the app.

AND SO MUCH MORE

Current Version: 9.0.1 (August 23, 2019)

Changes in Version 9.0.0

Here’s what we did for Bose Connect version 9.0:

• Made improvements to the Product Update process
• Made Accessibility improvements
• Fixed bugs, improved the UI, and did some general cleaning up under the hood

Read Bose Connect's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Bose Connect's App Store page 

Discord (iOS, Free With In-App Purchases)

Discord is the only cross-platform voice and text chat app designed specifically for gamers. With the iOS app you can stay connected to all your Discord voice and text channels even while AFK. It is perfect for chatting with team members, seeing who is playing online, and catching up on text conversations you may have missed.

Download Discord and experience modern game communication:

• Voice chat: Join voice channels and chat with your group
• Real-time text messaging: Share video, gifs, emojis in text rich chat
• Push notifications: Never miss a thing with @mentions and direct messages
• Instant invite: Easily add friends to your server by sharing the Instant Invite link
• Direct messages: Send one-to-one private messages
• Multiple server support: Manage all your game groups in one client
• Channel categories: Organize and customize your channel listings
• Roles & Permissions: Robust permission system that lets you assign customized roles to any user
• Video Chat: See your friends in the wild (or their couch)
• Stay connected: Access Discord voice and text chat while AFK

Current Version: 3.1.1 (August 26, 2019)

Changes in Version 3.1.1

• Callkit integration can now easily be disabled in settings; incoming calls can be set to push notifications.
• Hoisted active voice indicator to the top of the screen. It's now way easier to tell when you're in voice.
• Improved the accessibility labeling around the app to make using VoiceOver easier.
• Updated the look of our user profiles. Easier to see information with easier to manage settings in an easier-on-the-eyes update.
• Eggs over easy tip: Crack it a cup or ramekin first and then transfer it to the pan to make sure it cooks evenly.

Read Discord's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Discord's App Store page 

Related forum topic: Welcome to a new, more accessible Discord

Gmail - Email by Google (iOS, Free)

The official Gmail app brings the best of Gmail to your iPhone or iPad with real-time notifications, multiple account support and search that works across all your mail.

With the Gmail app, you can:

• Undo Send, to prevent embarrassing mistakes
• Switch between multiple accounts
• Get notified of new mail fast, with notification center, badge and lock screen options
• Search your mail faster with instant results, predictions as you type & spelling suggestions
• Swipe to archive/delete, to quickly clear out your inbox
• Read your mail with threaded conversations
• Auto-complete contact names as you type from your Google contacts or your phone
• Respond to Google Calendar invites right from the app
• Organize your mail by archiving, labeling, starring, deleting and reporting spam
• Send and receive attachments
• See profile pictures as part of the conversation

Current Version: 6.0.190721 (August 13, 2019)

Changes in Version 6.0.190721

• Send messages using the confidential mode. Confidential mode allows you to remove the option to forward, copy, download or print messages. You can also make a message expire after a set period of time to help you stay in control of your information.

Read Gmail - Email by Google's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Gmail - Email by Google's App Store page 

Keyboard Maestro (macOS, US$36.00)

Whether you are a power user or just getting started, your time is precious. So don’t waste it. You can quickly benefit from Keyboard Maestro. Let Keyboard Maestro help make your Mac life more pleasant and efficient.

“The most powerful Mac productivity and automation app available”

If you can perform it manually, Keyboard Maestro can almost certainly automate it for you. Whether it is typing your email address, going to Gmail or Facebook, launching Pages, or duplicating a line, Keyboard Maestro can help.

Launch commonly used applications, open specific documents, rearrange windows, play music, handle email, you can do it all with Keyboard Maestro, faster, easier, and much more reliably.

Create reports, transform text, OCR images, download files, expand text snippets, perform calculations, filter clipboards and work with multiple entry clipboard history. Make email and end-of-month processes so much quicker and easier.

Keyboard Maestro can help you fill in web forms, visit commonly read pages, download reports or bank statements, format web pages, and generally make browsing the web more efficient.

Current Version: 9.0.1 (August 27, 2019)

Changes in Version 9.0

Main highlights:

• Support multiple editor windows
• Support Dark Mode (requires 10.14+)
• Added JSON support
• Added OCR support
• Added extended Regex support
• Added support for Stream Deck
• Hardened Runtime. Notarized

Full release notes are available here

Read Keyboard Maestro's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Keyboard Maestro's website 

Subwords (iOS, US$1.99)

Subwords is an exciting mix between a trivia and a word game. Words are split into syllables and you have to put them back together as fast as possible. The words in every level are bound to a certain topic, so you have to know about the topic to solve it. But it's no problem if you aren't that familiar with a specific topic: Simply click the bulb to learn something new!

Features:

• 40 levels, ranging from animals and fruits to European countries, our solar system or greek mythology etc.
• 20 bonus levels built specifically for kids up to an age of 8 years.
• Two modes: Classic and Timed!
• Fully accessible via VoiceOver
• Learn spelling and syllabification of words, plus new vocabulary!
• Head control: Play the game by just moving your head! (Requires a device with a TrueDepth camera)
• Play in different languages (English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian)

Current Version: 1.4 (August 30, 2019)

Changes in Version 1.4

Happy birthday Subwords! To celebrate the first anniversary, Subwords gets FIVE new levels for free: Minerals, Birds, Literary Greats, African Countries and South American Countries!

Thank you all for your support over the last year and have fun with the new levels! :)

Read Subwords' AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Subwords' App Store page 

Twitterrific 5 for Twitter (macOS, US$7.99)

Re-imagined from the ground up to be the Mac's most friendly, powerful and modern Twitter client. Twitterrific makes Twitter fun.

A clean, uncluttered timeline featuring just the content you care about. Tweets are presented in chronological order and other people's likes aren't placed in your timeline.

Twitterrific feels right at home on the Mac. Support for Notification Center, Retina displays, built-in sharing, beautiful animations, full-screen mode & more.

Take control of your tweets with multiple timeline windows from the same account or multiple accounts, all organized on your Mac’s desktop.

Navigate the timeline, compose tweets, and even attach image descriptions quickly and easily using Voice Over.

Current Version: 5.4.1 (August 29, 2019)

Changes in Version 5.4

Improved handling of media, all-new themes, a new Safari extension to clean up Twitter.com plus support for quoted tweets w/ media, bug fixes & more!

NEW FEATURES

• View full images right in your timeline!
  • Tweets with images display the thumbnail at the photo's native aspect ratio
  • Tweets with 2+ images use adjusted aspect ratios to minimize screen real estate
• Support for Twitter's new quoted tweets with media:
  • When quoting another tweet, you can attach photos, a video, or an animated GIF
  • The timeline displays both the media you attached and your quoted tweet
• New themes and app icons!
  • Three light themes: Swan, Dove, Akikiki
  • Six dark themes: Raven, Puffin, Falcon, Parakeet, Blackbird, Trogon
  • Three playful new app icons: Flamingo, Pinkachu, Dove
• Fixerrific Safari Extension:
  • Cleans up and simplifies twitter.com
  • Useful for those sad occasions when you must use the website
  • Enable in Safari's Extensions preference panel

IMPROVEMENTS

• Added options to turn retweets on or off to the profile view’s action menu
• Media popups are now larger and optimized for improved presentation
• Reduced memory usage by more aggressively purging the image cache
• Added a High Contrast Text presentation option in Appearance Prefs
• Replies to a tweet are now sorted by date instead of by engagement
• Timelines never refresh if the “Automatically Refresh Timelines” setting is off
• Added a "More" button to the muffle panel for bulk operations such as deleting them all, activating them all, deactivating them all, and more
• Added image previews for apps.apple.com links
• Improved scrolling performance

BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug that caused newly muffled tweets to appear blank
• Fixed several issues that caused crashes when clearing the cache
• Trends are now correctly sorted by popularity

OTHER

• Removed support for Tweet Marker (service was discontinued)
• Upgrading from a prior version may result in previously read messages and tweets being marked as unread
• Custom themes can be added to the Twitterrific iCloud Drive folder and shared with Twitterrific for iOS

Read Twitterrific 5 for Twitter's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Twitterrific 5 for Twitter's App Store page 

Where To? (iOS, US$2.99)

SEE WHAT’S AROUND YOU…

… in an easy, fun new way! Where To? is an incredibly easy way to find the closest steakhouse, bank branch, billiard club, or anything else you might be looking for in seconds — whether you are on vacation in Paris or in your own back yard!

NO TYPING REQUIRED
Where To? will simply get you where you want to go with a fun, painless interface that caters to your personal preferences. See your options on the built-in map or in a list sorted by distance. With just a few taps, you can find any type of place you are looking for close to wherever you are!

YOUR LOCAL GUIDE
Where To? is your local guide in your pocket! It provides you with photos, videos, descriptions, special offers, business hours, and more. All you have to do is choose — then call to make a reservation or check the place’s homepage using the built-in web browser.

APPLE WATCH SUPPORT
Show your favorite places, select your favorite category or search by voice. And Where To? displays nearby results right on your wrist!

IMESSAGE APP
The included Where To? for iMessage lets you search for locations and share them with your friends in a conversation without leaving the Messages app.

DINNER MENUS
Where To? includes dinner menus for more than 500,000 restaurants. Compare the menus to select your favorite dining location or decide what to eat while you’re waiting to be seated!

CHECK THE LOCATION REVIEWS
Is the food delicious? The service great? Where To? collects and displays ratings and reviews from all Where To? and Google users.

HELPS YOU DECIDE
Not sure what you want for dinner tonight? Just shake your iPhone and let Where To? decide. Take a chance and find something new and exciting!

SHOWS YOU THE WAY
Whether by car, bike or foot using the built-in route planner or any of more than 50 apps from the App Store — Where To? gets you where you want to go. The standard Maps app, Navigon, TomTom, Google Maps, and many others are supported.

MARK YOUR FAVORITE SPOTS
Save restaurants, shops and places as favorites to find them later easily. If you own multiple iOS devices or an Apple Watch, Where To? keeps them synchronized through iCloud.

SHARE WHAT YOU FIND
Share location infos by email, text message, Facebook, Twitter, or AirDrop with your friends. Or add the place to your contacts.

Current Version: 10.9.5 (August 6, 2019)

Changes in Version 10.9.5

• Support for myAudi (the successor of Audi MMI connect)
• Redesign of search bar
• Voice Over improvements
• Support for Garmin SmartLink app
• Preparation and bug fixes for an upcoming iOS version

Read Where To's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information 

Visit Where To's App Store page 

Recent News and Views

Acting as co-pilot on a United States Interstate Road Trip

By Deborah Armstrong | August 20, 2019

Taking a United States road trip with a sighted driver using your iPHONE, you can become a full partner in the experience.

My husband and I are again driving from California to Indiana on our seventh cross-country road trip, which gives me the necessary experience to share some tips.

First, as you drive the interstate highways, you will have varying levels of service from fast LTE to pokey Edge to no service at all. You might wish to keep a log of where you do not have service so on your next or return trip you can be prepared to download the navigation data you'll need. You might need a PC or Mac to collect data from websites, but exit guides are supported by advertising so are readily and freely available. To confirm the accuracy of any data source, compare it with others online.

I usually save websites as PDF files and store them in cloud storage, then download them from there to my phone for local viewing. You can also find apps that will save website content as PDF files. Though not all PDFS are accessible, if your website is text-based, you should be able to read the PDF in iBOOKS fine. Test things out before traveling!

Read More: “Acting as co-pilot on a United States Interstate Road Trip”

Say What? : Hearing Aids, iPhones and My Apple Watch

By Morgan Watkins | August 10, 2019

Don and I met during college Orientation in late July 1972. He was 18 and I was 17. Don was blind and I was heading in that direction. I have retinitis pigmentosa and had already lost my night vision. Don and I saw advantages to becoming roommates. He would teach me essential future blindness skills and, per his request, I would hide his bottle of Southern Comfort.

I started my university career with a serious problem. After the sun set, I could not find my way from my dorm in the northeast part of campus, to the dorm located on the southwest corner. This was terrible! The Freshman Girls Dorm was calling to me, and I was stuck. When it was dark, I wasn’t going anywhere.

In desperation, I bought a cheap wooden walking cane, which was way too short and only meant for appearing dapper. I tried to traverse the campus at night and only succeeded in walking with the slow and erratic gait of an inebriated toddler, slipping regularly off the sidewalk and looking very uncool.

Don was either embarrassed or took pity on me. He gave me my first white cane and tossed in some free mobility lessons. Before long, I was tap, tap, tapping my way to the girl’s dorm. My cane technique wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t elegant, but it worked. My delicate male ego was saved.

What I recognized in Don’s kindness was the utility of being prepared for inevitable changes in my vision. I learned Braille before it was absolutely needed and I mastered cane travel. I could do square roots on an abacus and I learned to love audio books before the lights completely dimmed. Because of my friend, I was fully prepared for the visual changes that followed.

Read More: “Say What? : Hearing Aids, iPhones and My Apple Watch”

Apple News

Apple Releases iOS 12.4.1, macOS 10.14.6 Supplemental update, watchOS 5.3.1 and tvOS 12.4.1

This Month in Podcasts

AppleVis Unleashed August 2019: iOS 13? Cluster Nuts

In this month's edition of AppleVis Unleashed, Thomas Domville, Randy Rusnak, and Mike Malarsie discuss recent Apple news and other topics of interest. Topics featured in this podcast include:

• Apple Card launches in the US
• Apple suspends the Siri program where people listened to your questions
• Apple considering $9.99 price for Apple TV+
• Apple to Spend More Than $6 Billion for Apple TV+ Shows
• Apple Locks New iPhone Batteries to Each Model
• Apple responds to aftermarket iPhone replacement battery health warning
• iPhone Pro? Leaker suggests marketing name of iPhone 11
• Apparent Foxconn insider spills big iPhone 11 secrets
• 2019 iPhones rumored to drop the 'iPhone' branding on the back
• Apple releases iOS 13.1 beta before iOS 13 is even out
• Circus Master's Revenge
• How to make Siri smarter with family relationships
• How to check which Mac apps are 32-bit and won't work in macOS Catalina

Listen to “AppleVis Unleashed August 2019: iOS 13? Cluster Nuts”

Prepare to Enter the Crazy World of Circus Master’s Revenge; an iOS Game

Get ready to dive in to the crazy world of Circus Master’s Revenge for iOS.

In this podcast, Tunmi takes us through the game basics and reviews what you can expect when and if you dare to take the plunge.

This is an epic non-graphic binaural battle of circus freaks, which you will never forget & which will need you to have tremendous courage in order to defend yourself. Beware, the circus master is definitely not very friendly. Like most antagonists, he tries to hurt your feelings as often as possible to throw you off your game. Hopefully, his insults will enforce you to focus on the enemy. Good luck to anyone who is up to the challenge. Hope, you enjoy it.

Listen to “Prepare to Enter the Crazy World of Circus Master’s Revenge; an iOS Game”

Monitor and Manage your Diabetes via your iPhone and Apple Watch with the Dexcom G6 CGM System

In this podcast, Hugo introduces us to the Dexcom G6 CGM System and its companion iOS app.

Hugo walks us through putting on the sensor and Bluetooth transmitter using the provided applicator; activating and calibrating the sensor; removing the sensor, and using the companion iOS app.

The Dexcom G6 System provides personalized trend alerts right on your smart device and lets you see when your glucose levels are going too low, or too high, so you can better manage your diabetes. The Alert Schedule feature lets you schedule and customize a second set of alerts. For example, you can set the schedule to match your work hours and have different alert settings during the rest of the day. Custom alert sounds are available, including a Vibrate-Only option on the phone for glucose alerts other than the Urgent Low Alarm.

Listen to “Monitor and Manage your Diabetes via your iPhone and Apple Watch with the Dexcom G6 CGM System”

A complete list of all podcasts posted to the AppleVis website can be found at www.applevis.com/podcasts

Hot AppleVis Content

Here are some of our forum topics which have got people talking in the past month:

• The Circus Master is here.
• Announcement: Release of Prizmo 5 for iPhone & iPad
• Has anybody in the UK tried the new Sky Q app?
• AudioWizards Gameplay Trailer and Launch Date
• We may soon get a text based GTA

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