Hoping for feedback on "Reader+ for Gmail"

By MurraySimpson, 5 November, 2016

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

A few months ago, someone who had actually downloaded my Gmail reader app ("Reader+ for Gmail") asked if it could use voice commands like Siri to help a blind person (her mother) read email messages. Luckily, iOS 10 which was just released about a month ago added the ability for developers to use Apple's voice recognition technology in their apps. I added this capability to the app in its latest version (2.0) to recognize basic voice commands like "next", "skip", "previous", "back", "pause", "continue", "play", "start", "stop", and "download" to navigate through your Gmail messages. I have tried to do a lot of testing without looking at the screen to see what use-ability issues could arise... for example the voice recognition does not work in the background so that if the app does move into the background you need to press the home button twice to get back to the app (I don't have a lock screen password!) before the voice commands will work again. I would like to add more voice recognition features to the app such as "search" and various setup commands to help control the various program settings. At some point I would also like to add the ability to create Gmail messages, in addition to reading them.

Anyway, I would be grateful for any feedback that people might have for the app. I find the best ideas for software features always come from people other than myself!

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Comments

By taichong on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 09:18

hello

before my feedback, or wanna know if there is you can send any attachment on gmail app?

best regards

By MurraySimpson on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 09:18

In reply to by taichong

Hello taichung, I am not sure by "attachment" if you are referring to the iTunes link for "Reader+ for Gmail"? or whether or not the app can send attachments? The iTunes link is: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reader+-for-gmail/id959397919?ls=1&mt=8. Currently, the app is only able to read emails; it cannot send emails or send emails with attachments. Those are features that I would like to implement at some point in the future though.

By Barbara Wilson on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 09:18

Had a very brief look at this and it does appear very promising. For Voice Over users, there are several unlabelled buttons, so if these could be labelled in the next update it would be even better. Also, would it be possible to add a Delete command for emails? Thank you.

Hi Barbara, Thank you very much for your feedback! Sorry I did not notice it until now. For some reason I did not receive an emailed notification about your reply, but happened to be checking the site today and saw your message. I will definitely check all of the buttons for labels in the next revision, as well as look into a Delete command. Thank you again for trying out the app... it means a lot to me!

By MurraySimpson on Saturday, November 26, 2016 - 09:18

Hi Barbara, I was able to fix the missing accessibility labels for a number of buttons in Reader+ for Gmail. This version also has the ability to search for emails from the main screen when voice commands are enabled by saying "search for [whatever you want to search for]", and also fixes some stability issues with switching between the various app screens. I still plan to add a "Delete" function, but that will need to wait for a subsequent revision. Version 2.02 is available now on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=959397919&mt=8. Thank you again for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

By MurraySimpson on Monday, December 26, 2016 - 09:18

In reply to by MurraySimpson

Reader+ for Gmail now has a delete feature, for putting unwanted Gmail messages in the trash folder. You can either check selected emails on the list of emails page, and then press the 'Delete' button, or if if voice commands are enabled, you can delete the current email by saying "Delete" and then saying "Yes" to confirm the deletion. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reader+-for-gmail/id959397919?ls=1&mt=8