AppleVis Unlimited: What's New and Noteworthy for March 2017

By AppleVis, 1 April, 2017

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Welcome to the March 2017 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 - 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

Adblock Mobile — Block ads in apps/browsers (iOS, Free)

Mobile ads drive you mad?

Adblock Mobile removes them all.

  • Blocks ads in most apps and browsers, like Safari or Chrome
  • Works on both Wi-Fi and cellular networks
  • Reduces your mobile data usage, which saves you tons of money

Current Version: 3.2.9 (March 7, 2017)

Read Adblock Mobile's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Adblock Mobile's App Store page

Blindfold Words From Words (iOS, Free with In-App Purchases)

Blindfold Words From Words is a fully accessible word game for both sighted and visually impaired people, designed for rapid audio play.

You want to create as many words as possible words from the letters of a chosen word. For example, if the chosen word is "blindfold", you can create the words such as blind, fold, bind, old, find, oil, foil, din, and so on. Words must be at least 3 letters long.

There are thousands of words, and you can play either a timed or untimed game. At the end of the game, you can get a list of all possible words that can be created from the chosen word.

Current Version: 3.2.3 (March25, 2017)

Read Blindfold Words From Words' AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Blindfold Words From Words' App Store page

Chess-wise 3 (iOS, Free With In-App Purchases)

With Chess-wise 3 you can play chess, analyse games, annotate game notations, play online, solve exercises, watch training videos and much more.

Games are represented as trees, so they can have side-lines. This means when analysing moves, this will not anymore overwrite the moves of the main game

On the new annotation screen, you can add comments and !! - or ?? to the moves

Current Version: : 3.3.8 (March 19, 2017)

Read Chess-wise's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Chess-wise's App Store page

Crafting Kingdom (iOS, Free)

Every empire starts small!

Build production sites, and start crafting resources. Harvest logs, coal, iron and many other goods. Then craft them into more valuable items and sell them on the market! Complete quests, build your own estate, and become the richest merchant in all of Crafting Kingdom!

Crafting Kingdom is a lovingly crafted (pun intended!) idle crafting game with a huge amount of goods to produce, complex production chains and plenty of quests for you to complete.

  • Buy production sites
  • Build complex production chains
  • Complete quests and get powerful rewards
  • Expand your storage facilities
  • Build you very own estate
  • Endless hours of fun. How much money can you make?

Note to our visually impaired players: This game is fully accessible without the use of VoiceOver. You can enable/disable Accessibility Mode by tapping three times with three fingers in the main menu. Have fun!

Current Version: 1.2 (March 23, 2017)

Read Crafting Kingdom's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Crafting Kingdom's App Store page
View a very active forum topic where people have shared feedback and suggestions with the developer of this game

Examine Clothes Color (iOS, Free)

This application plays a role as eyes so that visually impaired persons can choose the color and pattern on clothes by themselves.

When you take a picture of clothes with this application, it speaks the color and pattern on clothes. The color included in clothes is expressed by up to 4 colors. The pattern is expressed by a category of 5, vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, checker, plain color and other pattern.

Photographing location is the room where direct sunlight does not gleam. After starting the App, move the iPhone from the clothes to the position of about 40cm, and take a picture. The flash fires automatically.

The Models that can appropriately correct the color are the iPhone4S, 5S, 6, 6S. The App will work with any other iPhone models.

This system has been developed in order to support the independent living of visually impaired persons, and uses a special method of correcting the color in order to correctly recognize the color that changes by lighting environment.

Current Version: 1.21 (May 125, 2016)

Read Examine Clothes Color’s AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Examine Clothes Color’s App Store page

Life Period Tracker: Period & Ovulation Tracker (iOS, Free with In-App Purchases)

Track your period, predict your fertile days, schedule cycle reminders, track your symptoms, moods, and more! Upgrade to Premium and track your health using any one of nine new health trackers! Track sex, fertility, weight, nutrition, fitness, sleep, medication, health, and even keep a diary! Download the best and most customizable women's health tracker on the App Store!

We take your privacy very seriously! Unlike many other women's health apps, we do not require your email address to sign up and we do not sell or share your personal health data. All proceeds come from your support. It's your Life and it should stay with you!

INNOVATIVE CALENDAR: We weren't satisfied with the methods other apps used to enter women's cycle dates. We went through hundreds of prototypes before we were satisfied with the final result.

PERIOD TRACKER: We wanted a display that was simple yet beautiful for the Period Tracker. A page that could be viewed with only a passing glance yet still have it's own personality.

OVULATION PREDICTIONS: Viewing your ovulation predictions is fast and easy with our ovulation calculator. Gone are the days of information clutter. Enjoy viewing your ovulation predictions at their most beautiful.

MOOD TRACKER: With Life's innovative multiple entry method, you are free create separate entries for each mood as often as you feel them. And because no mood comes without details, each and every entry also has the option of writing an associated note.

IRREGULAR CYCLE SUPPORT: By default, the app defines cycles as irregular if the cycle has a length less than 21 days or over 36 days however these values are easily personalised to fit your needs within Settings.

MENSTRUAL HISTORY: The menstrual history was visually optimised to include thoughtful choices that take advantage of the available real estate in an easy-to-read vertical orientation.

CYCLE HISTORY: The days of difficult-to-create reminders are over. Our cycle reminders are incredibly easy to create, modify, and set. We give you six various reminders to keep you current with your important cycle days.

SYMPTOM TRACKER: We saved one of the best features for last. Like the Mood Tracker, each symptom can be kept as a separate entry for later analysis or to share with your physician.

Current Version: 4.0.3 (March 30, 2017)

Read Life Period Tracker's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Life Period Tracker's App Store page

Power 2 for iPhone and Apple Watch (watchOS, US$1.99)

Power 2 enables you to quickly see your iPhone battery life and more from your Apple Watch just by raising your wrist.

Complication: Add Power 2's complication to your favourite watch face so you can quickly see your iPhone battery life. Power 2's complication also knows when your phone is in low power mode, charging or fully charged. Its that smart, fast and simple.

Notifications: Power 2 will notify you when your iPhone battery is running low and/or is fully charged, even if your iPhone is charging in the other room.

Time Travel: Have to run out but forgot to charge your iPhone so now you don't know how long your iPhone battery will last? Time Travel will give you an idea of how long your iPhone battery could last for.

Power 2 is set to automatically check your iPhone battery life once every 30 minutes and will only send you a notification when your iPhone battery is within the following range:

  • Full Charge
  • 95% – 85%
  • 55% – 45%
  • 20% – 10%
  • 9% – 1%

Current Version: 1.0.1 (November 30, 2016)

Read Power 2's AppleVis Apple Watch App Directory entry for more information
Visit Power 2's App Store page

The Lost Heir 3: Demon War (iOS, US$4.99)

Defeat the rampaging demon horde, save the Kingdom of Daria, and avenge the death of your parents in the thrilling conclusion to this epic three part series! You’ll need all the power you can muster to finish building your legend, tapping into any of the dozen new prestige classes, including Druid of Decay, Dragon Knight, and even fighting the demons with their own fire by becoming a Demon Master!

"The Lost Heir 3: Demon War" is a 250,000-word interactive fantasy novel by Mike Walter—the conclusion to the trilogy—where your choices control the story. The game is entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

Face betrayal, seek romance, battle enemies in war, and navigate the intrigues of court. The fate of the kingdom of Daria is in your hands.

• Play as male or female, gay or straight. • Pursue romantic interests, get married, have a child! • Acquire legendary magical artifacts. • Reach one of seven different endings! Restore peace and harmony to the Kingdom of Daria or plunge the world into chaos, the choice is yours!

Current Version: 1.0.0 (March 16, 2017)

Read The Lost Heir 3: Demon War's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit The Lost Heir 3: Demon War's App Store page

Threema (iOS, US$2.99)

Threema is the world’s favorite secure messenger and keeps your data out of the hands of hackers, corporations and governments. Threema can be used completely anonymously, and offers a rich set of features.

HIGHEST ENCRYPTION STRENGTH: Threema encrypts ALL your communications END-TO-END including messages, group chats, media files and even status messages. You can rest assured that only the intended recipient can read your chats, and nobody else – not even us. Threema uses the trusted open source NaCl cryptography library for encryption.

The encryption keys are generated and safely stored on user’s devices to prevent backdoor access or copies.

GUARANTEED PRIVACY: Threema is designed to generate as little data on servers as possible – this is a core part of our concept. Group memberships and contact lists are managed on your device only, and never stored on our servers. Messages are immediately deleted after they have been delivered. Local files are stored encrypted on your mobile phone or tablet. All this effectively prevents the collection and misuse of your personal information, including meta data.

COMPREHENSIVE FEATURES: Threema is not only an encrypted and private messenger but also versatile and feature-rich.

  • write text and send voice messages
  • share videos, pictures and locations
  • send any type of file (pdf, animated gif, mp3, doc, zip, etc.)
  • create groups
  • conduct polls with the unique poll feature
  • choose between a dark and a light theme
  • quickly and silently reply with the unique agree/disagree feature
  • verify the identity of a contact by scanning their personal QR code
  • use Threema as anonymous instant messaging tool
  • synchronize your contacts (optional)

FULL ANONYMITY: Each Threema user receives a random Threema ID for identification. A phone number or email address is not required to use Threema. This unique feature allows you to use Threema completely anonymously – no need to give up private information or to open an account.

TRUSTED CONTACTS: We let users confirm trusted contacts with a QR code or a key fingerprint to prevent man in the middle attacks.

INDEPENDENT COMPANY: We are a 100% independent and self-financed company in the heart of Switzerland with its own servers and in-house software development. Switzerland is a country with some of the most user friendly privacy laws in the world.

Current Version: 2.9.0 (March 28, 2017)

Read Threema's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Threema's App Store page

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

iOS
Mac
Apple Watch
Apple TV

Notable App Updates

Dropbox (iOS, Free With In-App Purchases)

Dropbox is the place for your photos, docs, videos, and other files. Files you keep in Dropbox are safely backed up and you can get to them from all your devices. It’s easy to send large files to anyone, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account.

Features:

  • Access your files on any device, even if you’re offline
  • Create and edit Microsoft Office files from your iPhone or iPad
  • Share links to your largest files without using email attachments

Current Version: 40.2 (March 21, 2017)

Changes in March 2017 Updates
  • You can now sign in to the app with your Google account
  • Improved the sorting options in the Files tab
  • Fixed a crash involving VoiceOver
  • Fixed a crash when previewing certain videos
  • Fixed a sorting issue when viewing offline files
  • Fixed a random crash involving app extensions, like when saving to Dropbox outside of the app

Read Dropbox’s AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Dropbox’s App Store page

FruitPot: Slots & More - Vegas Casino & Surprises (iOS, Free With In -App Purchases)

FruitPot: Not your typical slot machine. Enjoy the best features of slot machines, puzzles and life simulation games, mixed in the most amusing experience ever! Win MILLIONAIRE JACKPOTS using strategy and luck. You control this slot machine!

All the excitement of slot machines combined with original challenges:

Current Version:1.5.1 (March 28, 2017)

Changes in March
  • Improved explanations of the stores and their items for VoiceOver users.
  • Three new five reels slot machines with huge jackpots (like in Vegas). You will like them!
  • New in App Purchases for the Heroes slots and Heroes Jackpot.
  • Select between double or nothing and memory games when winning three in a row.
  • Now, winning the memory game triples the prize!
  • Look for the store where you won the symbol at the pay table.
  • Several bug fixes, like an automatic spin after hiding symbols on stopwatch that avoid crashes.

Read FruitPot's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit FruitPot's App Store page

Nebula Game (iOS, US$0.99)

Nebula is a spaceship battle arcade game that will provide you a new experience. With many features such as 3D audio, device movements and accessibility for the visually impaired.

FEATURES:

  • Gaming Modes: Campaign, Free and Multiplayer.
  • 3D audio*, allowing play without vision.
  • 48 enemy spaceships
  • Campaign with storyline
  • Upgradeable spaceship.
  • Detailed tutorials
  • 9 chapters and 36 levels

STORY:

During the last great inter-galactic war, the Spacial Defense Force created the Nebula project, an army of defense and attack composed by 2000 spaceships.

The project got it's name due to the difficult the pilots had to perform combats in space, as they face huge nebulas that limited their vision and scrambled their systems. Because of this, engineers have invested heavily to develop a technology that would allow us to hear other ships and unknown objects.

Current Version: 1.3 (December 5, 2016)

Changes in Version 1.3
  • Major bug-fixes throughout the game.
  • Upgraded device compatibility.
  • Voice-Over bug-fixes.
  • Full campaign now included in the game, no more in-app purchases!

Read Nebula Game's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Nebula Game's App Store page

TelevisionTime (iOS, US$2.99 with In-App Purchases)

Television Time is the best TV show tracker for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Easily and effortlessly you can track your favorite TV shows and discover new ones.

Features

  • Beautiful design, easily navigate between shows and episode and find everything you need to know.
  • Trakt.tv sync that just works
  • iCloud sync
  • Notifications to remind you that a show is airing soon
  • Easily view show information via Spotlight
  • See your overall show progress and time spent watching tv
  • Quickly view todays shows with the today extension
  • Export episodes to calendar
  • View cast and crew information
  • 3D Touch, Spotlight indexing, Low Power Mode detection
  • Special episodes support
  • iMessage app

Today Widgets

  • View upcoming episodes
  • View to-watch list

Apple Watch support

  • View upcoming shows quickly
  • watchOS complication support

Current Version: 1.3.6 (March 19, 2017)

Changes in Version 1.3.6

The accessibility of searching for shows has been improved as of version 1.3.6. The Discover feature has also been fixed.

Read TelevisionTime’s AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit TelevisionTime’s App Store page

Tile - Find & track your lost phone, wallet, keys (iOS, Free)

Welcome to Tile, the world’s largest lost and found. Tile makes tiny Bluetooth trackers and a companion app that allow you to locate lost or misplaced items in seconds — like your phone, keys, and wallet. Compatible with Tile Mate, Tile Slim and Tile Original.

Current Version: 2.10.0 (March 28, 2017)

Changes in Version 2.10.0

Now supports VoiceOver - allowing accessibility for the Tile app to be navigated with ease.

Read Tile's AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for more information
Visit Tile's App Store page

Recent News and Views

Apple Releases iOS 10.3; Bringing a Number of VoiceOver Fixes, but also Introducing at Least One New Bug of Note

By AppleVis | March 27, 2017

Apple has today released iOS 10.3 to the public.

At the time of posting, release notes are not yet available; however, this release brings a number of new features to iOS in addition to the usual mix of under-the-hood improvements and fixes.

For blind and low vision users, our testing indicates that Apple has made some progress towards addressing the accessibility bugs present in iOS 10.2.1.

Read More: “Apple Releases iOS 10.3; Bringing a Number of VoiceOver Fixes, but also Introducing at Least One New Bug of Note”

Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.4, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2

By AppleVis | March 27, 2017

Today has seen another round of software updates from Apple. In addition to the release of iOS 10.3, there have also been updates for the Mac, Apple Watch and fourth-generation Apple TV.

At the time of posting, full release notes for these updates are not yet available; however, it is safe to assume that there will be the standard mix of bug fixes, security patches, and under-the-hood performance improvements.

Read more: “Apple Releases macOS Sierra 10.12.4, watchOS 3.2 and tvOS 10.2”

Summary of Apple's March 21, 2017 Product Announcements

By AppleVis | March 21, 2017

Today has seen a round of product announcements from Apple, including the launch of a new iPad; a special PRODUCT(RED) iPhone; changes to storage sizes; some new accessories; and a new iOS app.

Read More: "Summary of Apple's March 21, 2017 Product Announcements"

A Hope for iOS 11: How Apple Could Implement Spellcheck with VoiceOver in iOS

By Brian Giles | March 13, 2017

The influx of new notetakers at the last couple of CSUN conferences is great to see. More choice is always a good thing, as is having fewer, and lighter, devices to cary around to get things done. But what about iOS? Apple positions its iPad Pros as a way to take better notes and a great way to get rid of things on your desk in their latest adds. But there is one feature Apple needs to implement for this to be a viable option for VoiceOver users -- an easy way to spell check.

Read More: "A Hope for iOS 11: How Apple Could Implement Spellcheck with VoiceOver in iOS"

Yo, Human! - Knowing the Shortcuts is Key(s): Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology

By Nicholas | March 1, 2017

Brought to you by the letter "Control-Option-A".

Before my VoiceOver adventures began, I would tutor my clients on the use of standard shortcut keys and how to discover new keys by looking at the menus. The key-combinations are listed to the right of each menu item. Most of the often-used keys involved the use of the Command key on Mac, or the Control key on Windows. On the Mac, hold down Command with your thumb and press "s" and the current document will be saved. Look at the File menu, next to the "Save" menu item is "Command-s." Simple, right?

Most people can speed up their navigation by using only a dozen or so keys. The most-used keys on Mac and Windows can be activated by pressing their first letter, command-o for open, command-s for save, etc. With a few exceptions. see the list below.

Read More: "Yo, Human! - Knowing the Shortcuts is Key(): Accessing Life with Adaptive Technology"

This Month in Podcasts

A Demonstration of Blindfold Feud

In this podcast, Joseph Weakland provides a brief demonstration of Blindfold Feud, one of many games in the Blindfold Games series.

Listen to "A Demonstration of Blindfold Feud"

A Demonstration and Walk-through of Mine Racer for Mac

In this Walk-through, T Dog gives us a brief demonstration of Mine Racer for Mac available from 2MB Solutions. You can play a free demo of the game, and purchase a fully-functional copy for $5 U.S.

Listen to "A Demonstration and Walk-through of Mine Racer for Mac"

Keep Track of Sunrise and Sunset Times with DayNight for iOS

In this podcast, Thomas Domville gives us a demonstration of DayNight: Daytime & Nighttime Awareness, a free iOS app which notifies users of sunrise and sunset times each day.

Listen to "Keep Track of Sunrise and Sunset Times with DayNight for iOS"

Connect Securely and Privately with the Threema Messaging App for iOS

In this podcast, Thomas Domville introduces us to Threema, a powerful and secure messaging app for iOS.

Key features of the app include:

  • write text and send voice messages
  • share videos, pictures and locations
  • send any type of file (pdf, animated gif, mp3, doc, zip, etc.)
  • create groups
  • conduct polls with the unique poll feature
  • choose between a dark and a light theme
  • quickly and silently reply with the unique agree/disagree feature
  • verify the identity of a contact by scanning their personal QR code
  • use Threema as anonymous instant messaging tool
  • synchronize your contacts (optional)

Listen to "Connect Securely and Privately with the Threema Messaging App for iOS"

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

Options