Welcome to the August 2023 edition of AppleVis Unlimited, your monthly digest of the latest and most notable content on the AppleVis website. This edition features a curated selection of community-submitted updates, including new app entries, updates, news, and podcasts.
New and Noteworthy App Entries
Brave Brain trivia quiz game (iOS/iPadOS, Free With In-App Purchases)
Brave Brain is a fun knowledge game that lets you look at familiar and unfamiliar places on the world map, test your knowledge in quizzes, and learn lots of interesting facts!
Choose a country and a location and try to correctly answer the quiz questions. You have 30 seconds to answer. One of the four choices is always correct.
The correct answer will earn you additional coins for the game. Wrong answer? Redeem yourself using diamonds. The more correct answers you get, the higher you climb on the ladder of those who aren’t afraid to think.
When do you win? Whenever you get something right! The game has no definitive end, just like knowledge of the world. You can go back whenever you have a moment and expand your horizons.
Game Features:
- Enjoy playing solo or compare your knowledge with others in leaderboards.
- More than 10.000 questions from all continents and fields of knowledge.
- The game is completely barrier-free: you can play without sight or hearing! (VoiceOver is supported)
- The game is fully playable in the free version: with money you can buy in-game currency, personal avatars and other bonuses.
Current Version: 1.10 (July 30, 2023)
Read Brave Brain trivia quiz game's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit Brave Brain trivia quiz game's App Store page
Raivo Authenticator (iOS/iPadOS, Free With In-App Purchases)
A simple, secure, free & ad-free, native, clean & lightweight authenticator (2FA/MFA) that synchronises your one-time passwords (OTP) across all of your Apple devices.
Open Raivo Authenticator in one tap, sign in with FaceID and copy your one-time password to your Mac in one tap with the Raivo MacOS companion app. Using a multi-factor authenticator has never been easier!
- Backup/synchronise one-time passwords to iCloud (end-to-end encrypted).
- Export your one-time passwords to encrypted ZIP archives.
- Import one-time passwords from previous exports.
- Send your passwords to your Mac in one tap, cross iCloud account (end-to-end encrypted).
- Add (custom) icons to your one-time passwords and apply effects.
- Fast user experience with most often used functionality easily accessible.
- Scan a QR code or add a one-time password manually.
- Show both the current and previous one-time password.
- Unlock Raivo OTP with FaceID, TouchID or a passcode.
- Raivo OTP is native and open-source (built in Swift 5)!
- Raivo OTP is open-source and community-driven!
Current Version: 1.4.21 (July 2, 2023)
Read Raivo Authenticator's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit Raivo Authenticator's App Store page
Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out (iOS/iPadOS, US$9.99)
Life after myths. Death, disaster, despair.
This new installment in the Six Ages series is a stand-alone survival-storybook combining interactive fiction and turn-based strategy. The world is ending, and your small clan’s survival depends on how you manage its relationship with the remaining gods and their followers.
Whether you’re dealing with angry ghosts, clan policy, enemy gods, or squabbling advisors, there’s rarely one “right” or “wrong” answer, because the deep simulation makes your particular situation unique. Your choices have socio-economic impact, and some consequences might not be obvious for decades, and could affect future generations of a character’s bloodline.
Your clan struggles to survive in the world of Glorantha, the setting of games such as RuneQuest and King of Dragon Pass. This bronze age world is facing an existential crisis. Ten generations after the events of Ride Like the Wind, some gods have already perished and humanity itself seems to be on the brink of annihilation. Here, the laws of physics themselves are subordinate to the whims of the gods and spirits.
In Lights Going Out, you can continue a game you began in Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind, or start a new story in this Great Darkness.
Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out is immensely replayable, thanks to over 600 interactive scenes with multiple, system-driven outcomes. Short episodes and automatic saving mean you can play even when you only have a minute or two. The built-in saga writes down the story for you. And advisors with distinctive personalities help you track your promises (and your cows).
Miracles have always required sacrifice. Now, your people need them more than ever, but the costs are higher, too. Is it worth aiding the destructive gods of Chaos to ensure your own survival?
The game is completely accessible via VoiceOver.
Current Version: 1.0.2 (August 26, 2023)
Read Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out's App Store page
VO Starter (iOS/iPadOS, Free)
VO Starter teaches new blind and visually impaired iOS users how to use their device with Apple's built in screen reader, VoiceOver.
Learning a new device can be challenging, and learning a new device and a new screen reader can take time and patience. VO Starter provides a step by step guide to learn to use the iPhone, while keeping lessons quick, and easy to learn.
Current Version: 4.0.1 (August 15, 2023)
Read VO Starter's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit VO Starter's App Store page
All recent app entries posted to AppleVis can be found at:
iOS/iPadOS
Mac
Apple Watch
Apple TV
Notable App Updates
BookPlayer (iOS/iPadOS, Free With In-App Purchases)
A wonderful player for your M4B/M4A/MP3 based audiobooks.
Import
- Using AirDrop from your Mac or iOS device
- From Files and other apps on your device
- Via File Sharing in iTunes on your Mac or PC
- Zip files with your folders and books
Manage
- Maintain and see progress of your books
- Mark books as finished
- Drag & Drop to sort your library
- Create playlists
- Automatically play items in turn
- Play the first unfinished file by tapping on the playlist artwork
- Move files to playlists from the library or import them directly
- Edit your book details (title, author, artwork)
Listen
- Control audio playback from the lock screen, control center or from the companion app on the Apple Watch
- Play and navigate books with Chapters
- Jump to start of the current book
- Change playback speed
- Smart rewind
- Volume Boost
- Support for remote events from headset buttons and the lock screen
- Sleep timer with adjustable duration
- CarPlay support
- VoiceOver support
- Dark mode for night owls
- Continue listening across your devices with Cloud Sync
Current Version: 5.0.8 (August 23, 2023)
Changes in Version 5.0.8
- Cloud * Fix queued upload-file tasks getting stuck after sending the app to the background
- Add support for loading the artwork of each chapter on a Volume on the Player screen and control center
- Skip unplayable items when they are autoplayed (like images, or metadata files)
- Improve VoiceOver interaction on the playback controls screen
- Update Polish translation
Read BookPlayer's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit BookPlayer's App Store page
VoiceVista (iOS/iPadOS, Free)
VoiceVista is a critical application for the blind and low vision users' community. It is built upon Microsoft's discontinued and open-source project Soundscape (https://aka.ms/ossblog) and is licensed under the MIT License (https://github.com/microsoft/soundscape/blob/main/LICENSE.txt).
The app leverages advanced iOS audio technology and precise location services to empower individuals in developing a heightened sense of their environment. It offers reassurance in unfamiliar settings, assisting users in forming mental maps and confidently navigating their desired routes.
Current Version: 1.1.0 (August 27, 2023)
Changes in August
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Callout of mobility related places in the surroundings
- Generation of reversed routes for backward walking
- Explore nearby places in street preview mode
Read VoiceVista's AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit VoiceVista's App Store page
Weather Gods (iOS/iPadOS, Free With In-App Purchases)
Introducing Weather Gods, a unique weather experience where the elements come to life through the divine powers of Fire, Ice, Water, Air, and Moon. Our revolutionary app redefines weather forecasting with stunning visualizations, dynamic graphics, and immersive audio, allowing you to truly see, hear, and feel the weather around you.
Say goodbye to complex weather icons. Weather Gods provides the fastest, most engaging, and enjoyable way to obtain accurate weather information. Our goal is to deliver the most intuitive and visually stunning experience available.
Seamlessly integrating premium hyperlocal weather data, Weather Gods ensures precise forecasts for over a million locations worldwide. Whether you're a casual user or a weather enthusiast, our elegant and user-friendly interface captivates you from the moment you launch the app.
Current Version: 4.2.1 (August 27, 2023)
Changes in August
Apple Watch Complications
We've enhanced the reliability of our Apple Watch complications by harnessing the power of Apple's latest SDK for complications. Every complication has undergone a makeover, resulting in a more visually captivating and elegant display, and we have diligently worked on improving the VoiceOver experience for each and every complication.
The previous configuration for complications is no longer supported and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please take a moment to reconfigure your complications.
Complication Locations
You have the freedom to assign different favorite locations to your watch face complications. Plus, to stay up-to-date with the weather right where you are, simply enable the 'Follow Me' option in the Weather Gods Watch app to configure complications that utilize your current location.
Complication Settings
The previous settings for complications, which were located in the Apple Watch app, have been relocated to the main Weather Gods app, under the 'Widgets and Complications' settings section.
Subscription
The yearly premium subscription is back!
Smart Conditions
The Smart Condition complication is reinstated and available on any widget or complication that supports the inline or regular slots.
Weather Station Widget
There is a new widget for displaying weather station data available in large and extra large sizes.
Precise Wind Speed
You can now toggle precise wind speed.
Severe Weather Indicator
We have combined weather alerts and storm threats indicators into a single severe weather indicator.
Lunar Calendar
The watch app has a 28-day Lunar Calendar.
Voiceover Widget Setting
There is a new option to have Voiceover speak the location name first for widgets and complications.
Read Weather Gods' AppleVis App Directory entry for more information
Visit Weather Gods' App Store page
Recent News and Views
See also the following new Guide in Kevin Shaw's series on usingPages:
This Month in Podcasts
AppleVis Unleashed August 2023: Golden Ears
In this month's edition of AppleVis Unleashed, Thomas Domville and Mike Malarsie are joined by John Gassman to discuss recent Apple news and other topics of interest. Topics featured in this episode include:
- Apple to hold iPhone 15 event on September 12
- ChatGPT's fate hangs in the balance as OpenAI reportedly edges closer to bankruptcy
- Be My AI has Opens the Beta Waiting List
- Latest News and Rumors on this year iPhone and Apple Watch
- New AirTag Likely to Enter Mass Production in Late 2024
- What's in this month AppleVis News
Listen to “AppleVis Unleashed August 2023: Golden Ears”
Learning Logic Pro X: Episode 1 - Creating a New Project
In the first episode of a series learning Logic Pro X for Mac, Ming introduces how to create a new project and audio for a Logic Pro X project. He also shows us some useful shortcuts to make the process easier and more efficient.
Listen to “Learning Logic Pro X: Episode 1 - Creating a New Project
See also: Learning Logic Pro X: Exploring Interfaces, Choosing a Microphone, and Basic Editing Techniques
AppleVis Extra #95: An Interview with Jianfeng Wu: Exploring the World through Sound with VoiceVista
In this episode of AppleVis Extra, Thomas Domville talks with Jianfeng Wu about VoiceVista, an iOS app that is essential for the blind and low vision community.
VoiceVista is based on Microsoft’s discontinued and open-source project Soundscape and is licensed under the MIT License. The app uses cutting-edge iOS audio technology and precise location services to help people develop a greater awareness of their surroundings, providing comfort in unfamiliar spaces, and supporting individuals in creating mental maps and making personal route choices.
How to Configure Your iPhone or iPad with Touch ID to Open Immediately After Authenticating
In this episode, Tyler demonstrates how to configure your iPhone or iPad with Touch ID to bypass the Lock Screen and open immediately after authenticating.
By default, after authenticating with Touch ID, you should hear what sounds like a lock opening, at which point you can either press the Home button if the device has one, or slide up from the bottom if it doesn't. However, if you'd rather the device opened immediately once you placed your finger on the Touch ID sensor, you can configure it to do so by going to Settings > Accessibility > Home button, and double-tapping the "Rest finger to open" switch.
Podcasts by Thomas Domville
- Describing Photos with Microsoft Bing for iOS
- How to Turn Off Repeated Text Message Alerts on iOS and iPadOS
Hot AppleVis Content
Here are some of the most talked-about posts from the past month:
- Annoying VoiceOver Bug in Kindle App
- Here Is Apple Accessibility's Latest Statement On The IOS Focus Bug
- Weather Gods 4.2.0
- AT LONG LAST, Wordvoyance is available in all regions!
- I wonder if generative AI could fix voiceover bugs
- New Mobile Game Brave Brain
- Am I alone in preferring Windows?
- advantages of switching to mac?
- third party screen readers on macOS
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