Tyto - a voice-first email app built for blind and VI users, looking for beta testers

By Emmanuel MacLaren-Yansouni, 13 May, 2026

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi everyone,
My name is Emmanuel, I'm 17, and I built Tyto, a voice-first email app designed from the ground up for blind and visually impaired users.

I started building this while working with a blind individual who needed a better way to handle email on his phone. Every email app out there is built around a visual interface, you're navigating someone else's layout through VoiceOver. The tools that try to solve this have drawbacks such as requiring VoiceOver to be turned off, needing sighted help for setup, reading emails raw with no intelligence one at a time, and clunky dictation with no cleanup.

Tyto takes a different approach. There is no visual interface. The entire screen is a single tap target. You tap, say what you want in plain language — "read my latest emails" or "reply to Sarah and tell her I'll be there at 3" — and the app handles it.AI summarizes emails, cleans up hesitations and backtracking in your dictation, drafts proper replies from your voice, and confirms everything before sending. Works with VoiceOver from first launch. No sighted assistance needed at any point. Gmail in this version.
I'm looking for 10 to 15 VoiceOver users to beta test through TestFlight. I want feedback, what works, what breaks, what's missing.

If you're interested or know anyone who might be interested, feel free to share this with them and reply here or email me at emmanuel.maclaren.yansouni@gmail.com.

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Comments

By Holger Fiallo on Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 00:01

Sound good. Would I be able to transfer my contact, what about attachments, photos.

By Don613 on Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 01:38

I was wondering what is required to test this app. Does It support Ios or mac or windows.

By Emmanuel MacLaren-Yansouni on Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 02:20

Thank you Holger! Contacts are already embedded in gmail but attachments and photos are on the roadmap for V2, the first version focuses on core email by voice. I'll send you a TestFlight invite as soon as the build is ready, should be within the next week or so.

I don't seem to have recieved an email however, if needed, you can reach out to me alternatively if it doesnt work again

By Emmanuel MacLaren-Yansouni on Thursday, May 14, 2026 - 02:22

Hi Don, thanks for your interest! Tyto is an iOS app, so you'll need an iPhone to test. Testing will be through Apple's TestFlight, I'll post the build link here when it's ready