Introduction and general discussion of CrowdViz, a new iOS app to connect the blind with sighted helpers

This seems like a great app. My only question though is how is this going to stack up with the Be My Eyes app. I understand the helpers for this app are paid which is the reason for purchasing calls, but I feel like a lot of people will turn to the free app instead unless the help is guaranteed to be high quality. I hope I get a chance to try this out

To me, paid services are generally better then the free ones as we have found out through various experiences. I have not yet tried this out, but I have a feeling it will be way better then the be my eyes app. Finally, some competition.

Are there plans to make this app available in other countries? I checked in the Canadian app store, only to find out that app isn't available in Canada. This was a very big disappointment.

Is there a possibility to add an option for a subscription, instead of paying for individual calls through this app, as what was said earlier? That might convince more people to give it a try and or use it more often.

Hello,

As it stands, there are glaring accessibility concerns, including graphics missing alt tags, on www.crowdviz.org. When one is selling to the blind community, it seems to me a fully accessible, standards-compliant website is the very least we could ask for. Please address this as soon as possible.

To me so long as the app is accessible, as that's what we re using, the accessibility of the site itself can wait for a while. As long as the alt tags are clear enough that's fine to me. I would not worry about it right now.

I do agree that subscription would be an option, although not the only option. But one for those of us with varying uses for the app.

Hi again,

I love this app. I again used it to check to see if my bread had gone moldy. The assistant was thorough and did not end the call till he checked it all out. Sure enough, it'd started to go bad so I tossed it. However, the app doesn't seem to be registering that I've used the calls. I also couldn't rate the assistance (which again was stellar). I will get in touch with you so you can deduct the two calls from the eight I was given. If there's some setting I need to enable or disable so this works properly, please let me know as well. Thanks again.

Well, there is a Screen Reader Mode link on their web site which is very accessible as far I could tell. So you may want to look for that link.

Hello,
Even though your staff is trained and have been screened is it still safe to say that if we need help reading a new creditcard number or something very personal that might risk us getting into trouble to still not do this type of thing with these types of apps?
I do plan to try this out! Also it might of been done already and I will look but I think someone should post a podcast here on applevis of them using it.

I don't think asking someone over face time to read a credit card is a good idea even though the person was trained, and went through background checks. I'd still do what I do, I have a family member text me the info as it shows up on my mac and computer.

Hi Akash!
I understand the this app is brand new, and it only will launch at US, Canada and UK
that's mean only seen as the issue has been seeing Eyes GPS,
This app support other language?
If you want to compete to Be my Eyes launch the app as global and multiple languages.
I live in US but thing about others countries.

They said they will increase the number of countries each week, so hopefully other languages will be supported.

Based on your revenue model, I wonder if an annual subscription could be an option. Personally, I don't like to pay for each call. Given that so many in the blind community in the US are unemployed, short-term or monthly subscriptions could be a challenge. Maybe an annual subscription could convince more people.

On the other hand, why not just go for an up-front payment of, say, $20? I want to pay for a quality app, but at some point, I have to stop buying apps and work within my budget. Thanks.

I had two contacts with Crowdviz today and both were totally excellent except that when I hung up, The Crowdvis App did not come back to allow for any evaluation, most unfortunate.

The initial registration of the app was totally annoying with a done button which needed activation after each field entry, rather than to simply move to the next field; this needs cleaning up as I almost scrapped the app. There are no instructions in the app itself and that annoying "done" button was a troublesome surprise. After registration, before my first call, I still had to log in again fiddling with that nuisance done button.

My call concerned the reading of a serial number on the back of my brother printer model MFC-J450DW since I needed a replacement CD; the available drivers from the unfortunate and grizzly Brother web site will not install despite claiming to be a full package without the CD, go figure. I made the second call to confirm the serial number since for reasons with no feedback from the web site my printer selections on the registration portion of the site, which took forever, and the entered serial number, was not accepted. Both helpers read the exact same number with the required spacing with no resulting joy. My initial call had used up one of my 8 free trials but my second helper apparently made an adjustment so that I would still have 7 calls left and not six, obviously giving me the benefit of an unsuccessful initial call despite the problem not belonging in any way to my initial helper and crowdvis. Perhaps I'm being niave here since others have reported this call count being a glitch in the App itself.

After four hours of struggling with the Brother site, I was having extreme difficulty in not projecting my grumpiness onto my excellent helpers but their support and obvious interest and desire to be of good service certainly chilled me out.

My second assistant went far beyond anything I expected, visiting the Brother site to see what he could do. Due to time constraints on each call, he could not work through the maze to where the printer registration could be found and I was too annoyed by this time with the site to recall my glass onion experience, so did not give him all the required links to land on the printer registration area which was in fact successfully completed by my sighted friend sometime in July, or so we thought by the resulting web site feedback.

Because it was a facetime call, which I had forgotten but were there instructions within the app itself, I might have read about, I had to enable the rear camera after exposing each helper to my ugly puss, no big deal for me but maybe for them; I did have on my shades.

Are the helpers aware that each facetime call appears in the Phone App under :"recent" as does any of the callers on their system? I don't know for certain but the helpers may have protected email addresses.

This particular session involved more than a simple identification and from my end, might have been more productive had I been able to have a device which would hold the phone stable for me while I managed the keyboard. I believe a useful system would operate much like a boom mike with a floor stand and the usual adjustable vertical pole, hopefully a considerably lighter construction than a traditional floor mike stand. I am currently looking for such a contrivance to hold my Iphone 5C but don't want to pay hundreds of dollars.

Once past the initial stages of the setup, I have no problems with the charge rates and would happily pay for such excellent help, far above the well-intended BeMyEyes offering without any intended slighting on their efforts . All the boohooing about such small charges for so much excellent help simply leaves me flat; most of us, even those who cry poverty, spend more on junk food, electronic toys, etc.BTW, Ben And Jerry's ain't junk food but rather nectar of the gods!

I can't hardly wait to exercise the impressive skills of the Crowdvis gang when I go for one of my many exploratory and yes, theropudic walks when I stop and am curious for a good description of what can be seen around me; that should be a real fun experience