Hello,
Are there any good free navigation apps for the blind? I live in a very very small town, which doesn’t have any sidewalks, so I have to walk in the street itself, and nowhere really close in walking distance, but I would like to be able to take my dog for walks, without getting turned around. So, it would be good to be able to set some kind of route and also make it back home. So, at a minimum I need something that will let me know when I am approaching a street crossing, let me know when to turn, etc. My o&M has never been the greatest, but I’m trying to work on it. Especially for those of you who consider yourselves to be o&M challenged, which app would you consider has helped you the most?
By Justin Harris, 8 December, 2022
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
Lazarillo
The best free iPhone navigation app for the blind is Lazarillo, developed by a Chilean national who moved to the United States after he was chosen to join a technology incubator program in Tampa, Florida. He is actively working with a community of blind people associated with the Pinellas Lighthouse for the Blind. The app is almost as good as Blind Square. I tested this app myself on several trips and I was not disappointed in the slightest. The integration with Apple Maps and Google Maps is amazing. Visit YouTube for tutorials.
Microsoft Soundscape
This app will suit your requirements equally well.
Soundscape
By microsoft is free
Soundscape
I like Soundscape for knowing what businesses are around me. Unfortunately, it pulls from Bing maps which tends to sit in the corner eating glue along with Apple Maps, so there may not be as much info in rural areas.
That said, you can set your own audio beacons and create routes by creating a series of audio beacons to follow. I recommend bone conduction headphones such as the Aftershocz Aeropex to maintain awareness. If you can swing it, AirPods Pro in transparency mode will give you 3D-positioning of audio beacons, but I can't walk around safely with them in because of the occlusion effect. It's a really cool app for sure and has come in handy when I'm out and about in the city.
In regards to getting turned around, learning cardinal directions can help significantly. If you have light perception, you can use that to keep track of the position of the sun and correlate that with the time of day to approximate which direction you're facing. Failing that, a compass app can do the job, albeit with some clunkiness.
Good Maps explorer
Another map is free.
Thanks!
Hello,
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
Jenna, I never did get good with cardinal directions. I have been blind my whole life, but o&M was never my strong point. My family always lived out in the country, and was never able to get much in the way of practice with my family, just the few hours a week or every two weeks from the traveling instructors while in public school, and a bit more when at the school for the blind, but I just never got good. I lived in a bigger city for a while, and really enjoyed being able to use Uber for getting out and about, but once again find myself in a small town, and we don’t even have that here, so I don’t get out much unless I have a ride to wherever I need to go. I’m slowly trying to change that. Even if it is only to take my dog out for walks. And hoping some of these apps can help. I will try and get my hands on some bone conduction headphones. I do have the AirPods Pro, and love them, but completely understand what you mean about not walking around with them in. I mean inside, sure, but not outside. No way.
Question about goodmaps explorer
Have they fixed the problem with not being able to lock the phone and still use it? I find that when the phone is unlocked I get lots of information from voiceover and when it's locked the program may say something but I don't get anything else from voiceover from which all the necessary information comes. If I am using the app wrong or if someone has ideas please share and thanks.
Soundscape is amazing!
Wow, Soundscape is awesome. I was able to take my dog out, and walk up and down my street from intersection to intersection several times. Some of the streets around mine have pretty bad ditches along them, so not quite ready to venture further than that on my own just yet, but it was pretty awesome just to be able to get out, just my dog and I, and know when I was approaching each intersection. This dog is not an officially school trained guide dog, but I’m working on self training her, and so far she is doing really well, and this app has given me the confidence to get out and about with her so we can practice. I have gotten to the point where I do feel more confident walking with her, and at a higher speed, than what I feel while walking with the cane, and I have been a cane user my whole life. I know just going up and down the street might not seem like a big deal to most, but that’s a lot more than I’ve been able to do by myself in this small town since I’ve been here. When I was in a big city, I used Uber, but I could also get to a bus stop and then from the next stop to where I was wanting to go, whether that was the mall, gym, or whatever, so I was a lot more active. But, I moved back here to be closer to family, though I do live alone. And since I’ve been here, since 2015, I get out whenever I go to church, or go shopping with family or a neighbor. And in summer when the weather is nice, I have a neighbor who will go on walks with me, but other than that, I never had the freedom to just take off and go. It’s kinda funny. It is nothing for me to hop on a plane and fly across the country, or even international. I’ve been to Mexico, Ecuador, and Puerto Rico multiple times. Yet, I can’t even make it around my block alone. It’s the orientation in orientation and mobility that messes me up. But this app I think is just enough of a confidence booster for me to get out there and do more exploring.
One question about it though. Will it keep working when the screen is locked? I didn’t try locking it, since I just wasn’t sure.
I think so
It should do so. However next time lock the screen and see. Be careful.
Yes, it will.
I do that all the time. I don't use the beacon much so not entirely sure about that, but you can experiment.
Yes it does
Hi, yes when the screen is locked it still works 100%.