VoiceVista

Category

Description of App

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.

For more information on how the app works and how your data is used and protected, please review the service terms and privacy policy:

Service terms: https://drwjf.github.io/vvt/terms.html

Privacy policy: https://drwjf.github.io/vvt/privacy.html

Version

1.0.9

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Not Known

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

iOS Version

16.4

Accessibility Comments

Unlike soundscape, this app is available around the world.
Supports the following features:
- Siri shortcuts.
- Street preview.
- Direction tracking using headphones.
- Marker and route import and export.
- Apple maps and Google maps are available to choose from.
- Media controls from headphones.
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Callout of mobility related places in the surroundings
- Generation of reversed routes for backward walking

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads all page elements.

Button Labeling

All buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Other Comments

Dr. Jianfeng Wu, has been working on this application for the past month or so. Once again, this developer has done a fantastic job. I cannot overstate his skill, work ethic, and contribution to this community. I am truly amazed by the product of his work.

Having said that, since the application is brand new, Dr. Jianfeng Wu is asking for any feedback we can provide to help improve the app.

Recommendations

12 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Peter Holdstock 2 months 1 week ago

Options

Comments

By LaBoheme on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

i don't know about yu, but for me, "street preview" was the true game changing feature of the original soundscape. imagine as a blind person can effectively learn the street layout of a new place like reading a map, and know the place well, like one has been living there for a while. hell, one can even learn old places, because let's be honest...when you are blind, sometimes you really don't know what you've been missing even though the thing is right in front of your face.
this is a good start, and i trust the developer understands the value of "street preview", and we can see it in subsequent updates shortly.

By Knut on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

I downloaded the app and faced some problems:
1. Although I can change the language of the app, neither the interface nor the voice changes: living in Italy but using the iPhone in English, the app reads me the names with the English voice and not the Italian one.
2. Despite having given consent to location and fitness tracking data, in every tab the words 'To browse nearby places, access to location is required' appear.
Finally a question: Which map services does the app rely on? Would it be possible to integrate it with Google Maps?
Thanks.

By Brad on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

It's slow at the moment when it comes to finding places to go to and i'd like a catigory selection but I'm liking the app so far.

I've not walked with it yet but wouldn't be surprised if there's a podcast on the way about this app and hopefully someone will walk with it.

By BC4000 on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

There are updates in the version 1.0.1 as follows:

- Remove unnecessary permission requirement text to avoid confusing
- Add sleeping and snoozing modes to conserve battery
- Implement a street preview feature to allow virtual exploration
- Introduce a search feature to facilitate exploration of distant places

Still try to catch up the original Soundscape's full feature set in the future versions.

By Brad on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

I've not downloaded the update but that was quick and very impressive.

By Shersey on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

Does anyone know how to go about changing the voice used for announcements? Right now, it's using an Australian voice, and I'd like to change it, but I can't find anything in the app's settings for this.

Also, does anyone know if this is the same or a different app than OpenScape, an app I saw discussed a while ago on AppleVis which was supposed to be a SoundScape replacement? It was in beta the last time I heard about it.

Thanks,
Shersey

By Justin Philips on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

For google map annoncements, we go to siri voices and change. So check out that setting and see. Openscape is a different app. After the update, Voicevista is almost similar to Soundscape. Took it for a spin yesterday.

By Dave Nason on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Indeed, it does not seem to be possible to Change the voice at this time.
The other thing Iā€™m not sure is there is the head tracking headphones feature. While it does of course have 3D audio with announcements coming from different directions, I donā€™t think it tracks the direction your head is facing, as SoundScape and OpenScape do with compatible headphones like AirPods. Or at least I donā€™t recall it asking me to enable this.
Whereas OpenScape is a direct clone of SoundScape, Voice Vista has designed their own user interface. Some features have been missing early on, but updates seem to be coming fast, and I guess it even has the potential to add things that the others donā€™t have.
Dave

By Cordelia on Friday, July 21, 2023 - 16:41

1) Checking through Settings, I was expecting to see an option that would let me select the map -- Google or Apple -- in order to see which one of the two might work best for me. How and where do I set it?
2) Which navigation app does VoiceVista support?
3) Will there be a user guide to help better understand how best to operate this app? The FAQss are a right step in the right direction but I am still a little unsure.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into this.

By Panais on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

Supports Siri shortcuts.
Support street preview.
Supports direction tracking using headphones.
Supports marker and route import and export.
Supports Apple maps and Google maps.
Supports media controls from headphones.
Markers can be displayed by alphabetical order.

By Ambro on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

Everything works fine. A question. But how do you use for example google maps with VoiceVista? That is, among the updates you wrote that there is integration with Google Maps. How to use it?

By Panais on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

Open the application and then go to settings. There is an option to change the default map there.
Make sure you have the latest version of voice vista.

By WellF on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

The option to choose Google or Apple maps is so welcome.
On the other hand, the Portuguese translation could see some revisions, it's sounding kinda weird right now.
Other than that, fantastic app!
What do you folks think is the best, google or apple? I'm gonna try both the next days but wanted to see people's opinion.

By Jo Billard on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

I've looked everywhere I can think of but the option doesn't appear to be there.

By BC4000 on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

When you tap the marker link shared from VoiceVista by your friends, the App will be started to ask you to import that mark.

p.s. A new version will allow to import markers from Soundscape. Please wait a few days. LoL

By mr grieves on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

I was only ever an occasional user of SoundScape, but when I needed it I loved using it. I finally got to give Voice Vista a decent go and I get exactly the same feeling again. It is wonderful. And listening to the interview with the dev on here, I love it even more. I love the little improvements it has too - the interface makes a lot more sense now it behaves like a proper iOS app.

The only very small thing I noticed was that there didn't seem to be a category for shops and I couldn't really figure out where they lived. I think under Facilities I just had a lot of benches. They were probably under the App places list, I just didn't end up going there. I thought I would try OpenScape to compare but it doesn't really have any categories yet.

I wish Bose hadn't discontinued head tracking on their frames. Using my Bose frames with head tracking was a great feature of SoundScape, but probably not worth asking for support of a product that has been discontinued.

Anyway, I really just wanted to write this to express my gratitude to the author. Amazing what he is able to do in his spare time.

By BC4000 on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Callout of mobility related places in the surroundings
- Generation of reversed routes for backward walking

By Cordelia on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

Hi,
I do look forward to more extensively exploring the surrounding with VoiceVista. However, I noticed that there is a discrepancy in the version number given on my iPhone SE 2022, running iOS 16.6. I updated to 1.0.9. After rebooting the iPhone I still see 1.0.8 when opening it among the ones recently updated whereas it shows as 1.0.9 among the "purchased" ones. What can or do I need to do to have both versions correspond and reflect 1.0.9? And most importantly, which version is currently running? I am stumped, for I have never seen such a discrepancy before.
--Cordelia

By Ambro on Monday, August 21, 2023 - 16:41

With this new feature, turn by turn navigation, which was the feature that was always missing in Soundscape, this app is really beautiful. Compliments!
A question. But where does the turn by turn information come from? Do they depend on the user's choice between Google Maps or Apple Maps?

By Ambro on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

I really appreciate this feature ie turn by turn navigation in voicevista.

By Panais on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

Explore nearby location in street preview mode.

By Panais on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Call out the abbreviated address name at a user-defined rate
- Sleep when no beacon is set while running in the background mode
- French translation contributed by Saladeuh
- German translation contributed by Sandra Pilz
- Italian translation contributed by Simone Dal Maso

By Panais on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Import a GPS exchange file to generate a route with waypoints automatically
- Russian translation contributed by Š”Š°Š½ŠøŠ» ŠšŠ¾ŃŃ‚ŠµŠ½ŠŗŠ¾Š²

By Panais on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Generate route with markers calculated by navigation algorithm
- Refine categories of places and improve data quality
- Import markers from GPX file
- More assistant commands

By MarkSarch on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

Hello as the subject says
SoundScape with asteroids but becoming in BlindSquare but sometimes is annoy to much talk without given options to turn off.
for example every cross st that pass keep saying the city where you are
frequently announcing the street address.
but not all is bud one thing I really like is the turn by turn navigation in routes

By BC4000 on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

1. Go to settings tab, there is a switch for "Abbreviated Name of Address", turn off to disable street name automatically callout.

2. Or change the slider under this switch to adjust the callout rate.

By MarkSarch on Thursday, September 21, 2023 - 16:41

Hello nothing to do street callout with city and street address.
I am referring at when cross any street intersection callout the city name and also when you are walking in a street frequently announcing only the number for example 1000 then seconds later 954 and so on
the switch that you are talking is to Abbreviated Name streets
for example for long name streets
100%
North Las Vegas Blvd
80%
North Las Vegas
and so on.

By Cordelia on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

Thank you, Dr. Wu, for making VoiceVista better and better! I truly enjoy using it.

By Panais on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Options to delete markers when deleting a route
- Select from markers to define starting and destination points of a route
- Search by text when adding a new marker or defining starting and destination points
- German, Russian and Spanish translation corrections from Sandra Pliz, Š”Š°Š½ŠøŠ» ŠšŠ¾ŃŃ‚ŠµŠ½ŠŗŠ¾Š² and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

- New relative and clock styles for beacon direction
- Report beacon summary from the assistant tab
- Update route to circular by appending reverse waypoints
- Addition of a same marker multiple times to a route's waypoints
- Russian and Spanish translation by Danil Kostenkov and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Route Breadcrumb marker mode
- Execute more Voiceover actions without opening detail pages
- German, Italian, Spanish and Russian translation from Sandra Pilz, Simone Dal Maso, Danil Kostenkov and Enrique Varela

By Deborah Armstrong on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

I use mapping apps occasionally, but I mostly go to work, go home, go to familiar places on the weekends with family and friends where I am often driven.
When I was younger, I could have used mapping apps more frequently, but iDevices, and the internet did not exist then.
Anyway, this week I went to a convention which was in a huge hotel that encompassed a golf course. All the buildings were in a huge circle, facing the golf course, with parking lots in the back. The whole setup was over one hundred acres.
I am used to hotels with maybe two buildings. But this one, in addition to all the places where your room might be, had a conference center on the other side of the parking lots. There were no sidewalks. Additionally, sighted people said the signage was poor so they had trouble finding anything as well. Attendees described it as a country club, and it reminded me of a business park.
I was at a convention for professionals who serve disabled students in hire education with only a few other blind people, and nearly every attendee had a car.
My guide dog and I were so, so lost. For the first two days I had someone guide and/or drive me everywhere. And even they had to drive around and around to locate a place we needed to go. Then I remembered a friend had recommended VoiceVista.
What a game changer. I marked the places where I relieved my dog, my room, friend's buildings, the hotel lobby and of course the conference center. Now, guided by the beacon, I could cut across the golf course on foot to get places almost faster than those stuck in their cars!
My sighted husband had always said that a true GPS lets hikers and sailors easily navigate terrain or ocean with no geo-coding, but I found if I wasn't at a place where I could navigate to a specific address, I couldn't use navigation apps. Now, that's no longer true. I can mark where my tent is at the campsite, or my chair at a picnic, or my husband's car. And I can go hiking around and easily return. This is so awesome.

By Deborah Armstrong on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

Is that there's a VoiceChat group, but the link in settings just opens What's App. Don't have any idea how to find the particular group.

By Panais on Saturday, October 21, 2023 - 16:41

- A new Siri command: 'Start Route'
- Callout for distance and direction to points of interest
- Callout for directions of surroundings
- Filter out auto-generated waypoints when not in route mode
- German, Russian and Spanish translation from Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Exploration of upcoming intersections
- Adjust speaking rates for pedestrians and vehicle occupants separately
- Option to deactivate turn-by-turn navigation
- Option to deactivate the shake-to-repeat function
- Enhanced turn-by-turn navigation
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Drop breadcrumb markers using the button on headphones
- Callouts for the next intersection along the road
- Adaptive callout frequency for distance to beacon
- Customizable units of measure
- Translation updates in German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Simone Dal Maso, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By Cordelia on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

What is the difference between these, and how do I invoke them for what purpose? Thanks.

By Panais on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Wake me up before you reach a location
- Sort search place results by distance
- Exclude user-generated markers from the 'All Places' list
- Clearly label 'Mute' and 'Unmute' for audio beacons
- Open Google Maps with the destination location
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By BC4000 on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Importing BlindSquare Backup
- Customize shake motion response
- Customize auto-mute distance for beacons
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By BC4000 on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- Merge features of Assistant tab to Surroundings tab
- Call out city of street when in vehicle
- Call out street name in What's My Location
- Allow to turn on/off Intersections and Transportation info separately
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 - 16:41

- New places data:Ā 
* California 1.4M recordsĀ 
* Germany 3M recordsĀ 
* United Kingdom 2.5M recordsĀ 
* Japan 2M recordsĀ 
- Relayout settings UI
- Translation updates in German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Simone Dal Maso, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

By Panais on Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 16:41

- New place type: tram stop
- Customization for POI Range Multiplier and beacon arrival message
- Translation updates in Italian and Spanish by Simone Dal Maso and Enrique Varela

By Callum Stoneman on Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 16:41

Hi,

First off, I can't thank the developer enough for this incredible revamp of the Microsoft Soundscape app! This is without doubt the best navigation app I have used so far.

I'm a bit confused by the new options for calculating the path. For example, if I start navigating somewhere and select the transit option rather than walking, what difference does this make to the directions I will receive? It doesn't seem like the app has public transit information available i.e. "take this bus number to this location", at least not in my area. I'm also not sure of the difference between using the last waypoint only" or each waypoint separately when starting a route. Could anyone shed any light on what these options actually mean?

Thanks for any help.

By BC4000 on Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 16:41

It based on Apple Maps data and algorithm.

If using the last waypoint, the path calculation will just use the destination to find path for this whole route.

If using each waypoint separately, the path calculation will split to multiple steps, each step just use the next waypoint as the destination. Switch to next waypoint to find path after you arrived the current waypoint.

By BC4000 on Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 16:41

- Places offline searching and markers filtering
- Wizard style UI for navigation parameters
- Translation updates in German, Italian, Russian and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Simone Dal Maso, Danil Kostenkov and Enrique Varela

By Callum Stoneman on Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 16:41

Hi,

Thanks for the response regarding the path calculation.

I'm still not entirely clear on the transit mode option. If I were to select public transit rather than walking, for example, what difference would this make to the beacon and the directions I would receive? s far as I'm aware VoiceVista doesn't have any local public transit data.

Also, I have noticed that the monitoring function (an amazing feature by the way!) seems to require VoiceVista to be in the foreground in order for it to kick in and start monitoring. It doesn't seem to work if the app is running in the background and the phone is locked, unlike the wakeup when I leave feature. Is this a bug with monitoring, or is it intentional behaviour?