[Update: app to continue] Menus4ALL Accessible Restaurant Menus - App Discontinued

By Dennis Long, 23 January, 2024

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

This is some sad news.
https://www.menus4all.com/

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Comments

By gailisaiah on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Hi Dennis: Thanks for letting us know. I really liked that app too! I will cancel my subscription.

By John on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

This is one of the apps that I truly love. I subscribe to it just after a few minutes using it. Before my trial. Was over. I really wonder whether subscribership is. And I wonder how many people are using it under somebody else’s subscription. Be My Eyes is not a replacement for something like this. I really hope somebody else picks up the idea.

By Dennis Long on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

I agree it is useful I had no idea they had so many menus. They really should've have promoted it more.Things such as top tech tid bits adds ETC. That would've helped to spread the word. Social media and Youtube would've helped as well.

By neosonic2 on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Then you won't need an app like this and restaurants will do what they should have done all along. Put the onus to improve accessibility on the restaurant itself, not on a third party. And if the restaurant refuses, let your wallet speak for you and do not continue giving them your business. Problem solved.

By techluver on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Honestly , although this saddens me, i'm not surprised. i never signed up for it because frankly i'm sick of subscriptions.
I don't want to subscribe to an app. i want to buy it once and have it forever. I asked them if they'd ever have a buy it once or lifetime membership but they didn't seem open to it so I never bought the app.

By Brooke on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

It's sad that not enough people in the blind community found this a worthwhile app. I subscribed to it soon after it was released. They could have charged twice what they did, and I still would have subscribed. I've seen several people on different platforms suggesting that restaurant owners should make their websites more accessible. Good luck with that; they often seem to be more difficult to use now than they were several years ago.

By Dennis Long on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

The attitudes of people wanting to pay nothing to very little is why this didn't last. Let me ask you something. If you were developing an app and had a one off for $100 or $50 would that be enough to pay your bills? Would it make it worth your while to continue adding to the app? Would it be worth your time to try and add new places? Would it be worth your time to fix bugs? Maybe you should put more thought to where you subscribe to. One last question do you get a Starbucks, eat out or anything like that? Point is one Starbucks is more than the cost of this app.

By Tina on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

While this announcement didn't surprise me, I'm sorry to hear this app is being discontinued. I'm thinking some of this has been due to subscription overload. Many apps are going for the subscription model to sustain themselves, but there's no way you can subscribe to every app out there. While I'm not against the subscription model, there comes a time when you have to make a choice and decide that enough is enough.

One thing is certain. I'm seeing more and more a tension between the need to have a one-stop shop for accessible content and the wish to spread material out to restaurants.

Yes, restaurants need to do better at menu accessibility, and this app was meant to fill in this gap. But I also realize that having a lot of restaurant apps on your phone can also be a problem.

While I don't have an answer to this problem, I thought I'd share this insight, for what it's worth. Thanks.

By mr grieves on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Firstly, it’s always ad to see an app designed for accessibility go under.

I know app devs need to make money and we shouldn’t expect anything for free, but I do struggle with the idea of having to pay a subscription to get something that sighted people get for free. It feels to me that it would be much better to have an app that is designed for all users that happens to be accessible rather than an app for blind users. And this should be funded by restaurants who end up getting business from the app, in the say way that Just Eat/Deliveroo/Uber Eats etc work. I wouldn’t be surprised if an app like that exists already somewhere.

Although I don’t like paying for subscriptions at all, I don’t mind contributing to things like Voice Vista that provide me a service for quite a low cost. But, at the risk of a terrible pun, having to pay for something like this does give me a bad taste in my mouth.

Not a dig at the app devs because they are trying to fulfil a need for us, so I am grateful to them for trying to make this work and I wish they had succeeded.

By Troy on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

I'm just going to put this out here because it's the truth. Our community of blind and visually impaired folks think they should get everything for free. Well, look what happened.

By mr grieves on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Well I can only speak for myself. Like many I don't like subscriptions because they add up. I will pay for something if it is affordable and I get enough benefit from it.

I don't go out to restaurants enough to warrant subscribing to an app. It's something I will do very occasionally and it's often quite expensive in itself, so it feels a bit off that I should pay a subscription just so I can read a menu. That's borderline discrimination by the restaurant.

There are also workarounds like asking sighted people to read it or using OCR, or trying to navigate the web site. Usually I manage to find the menu on the web site and just prep myself beforehand so I don't have to bother on the day.

But sure if you are going out all the time then maybe this sort of thing works well. I In this particula case it just doesn't sit well with me.

Contrasting with, say, Voice Vista which has a very cheap and optional subscription and is providing me with something entirely different because it is not adding an extra charge on top of something I am paying for anyway.

Again I don't want to sound like I'm being down on the devs - they have seen a problem and tried to fix it and I'm sorry it didn't work out. But I just think in this particular case a subscription model isn't the right way to go.

As a comparison, I recently went on a cruise and in the restaurants they would bring me a braille menu. Imagine if they had charged me extra to read it.

By Bingo Little on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

First, this app was never for me. I'm in the UK and they never tried it here.

Second, let's not get holier than thou about paying for things - cost of a coffee, etc. the point about subs' mounting up is a very good one. i'm not against subscriptions but when it's £3.99 for this, £4.99 for that, and so on, before you know it you're shelling out £50.00 a month. I have wasted a lot of money on subscriptions I simply don't use but have allowed to continue on the basis that they're only a drop in the ocean.

Third, did you guys in the US/Canada ever worry that you had an out-of-date menu when using this app? certainly when I see online menus in the UK and Europe that'll be a concern for me. I'll have looked through and decided what I want only to find that the menu changed six months ago.

Speaking for myself, if the restaurant won't make the menu accessible I'd much rather put them to the trouble of reading it to me. If they won't, or if they do not have someone whose language skills are sufficient to do so, I'll jolly well complain. And no, I am not someone who expects a member of staff in a restaurant in Bordeau to bee able to speak English. when I allude to language skills, I mean the local language. I'm quite happy being read to in several and where I struggle I'll just do my best.

It doesn't sound like they had all that many menus. 80,000 I read somewhere, across the US. That's not all that many.

By Brian Giles on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

I agree that subs don't work for everything and subscription fatigue is becoming a thing. Look at all those Rocket Money adds.

I personally didn't see the value in this app so never tried it. I've been to places that have a current year Braille menu and then all of a sudden they don't have one, but it doesn't bother me all that much.

I also think online menus might get more common. I went to lunch with a buddy last year to a local place I hadn't heard of before. They didn't even give us a regular menu, they just had a QR code at our table that you scanned with your phone to see the online menu which was accessible. I thought that was cool.

delivery apps have boomed since covid and everything is on them. Heck, there are places that are only on apps like Uber Eats, Door Dash et also that are just off shoots of other places that have a more limitted menu.

Sometimes I know if I'm going to eat somewhere ahead time I'll look them up on Door Dash and browse their menu. Most of the time I don't know where I'm going until I'm on my way somewhere so I forget to do that, and a lot of times it's somewhere that I have an idea what I want anyway.

By Dennis Long on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

I completely agree with you. Until the mindset changes good things like this will not work.

By Brooke on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Nothing else to add, I completely agree with your comment.

By Tina on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

While I didn't try this app, I can see where it had potential. It did its best to fill a need, and I'm sorry it didn't last.

But this does give me an idea for how to make something like this last. If this app was marketed to everyone, and had strong accessibility baked in, maybe it could have held on. If the restaurants payed to post their menus, it could still be free to consumers.

As I stated before, I think subscription overload is a problem, and while I don't oppose subscriptions, it shouldn't be the only way. Yes, I also recognize that these people need to pay the bills, but I also see the argument for not having to pay for something just because you're part of the blind community. That doesn't seem right, yet I also realize that there comes a time when you just don't want to see ads all over the place.

Bottom line: As I see this from my chair, creating an app that is sustainable, accessible and affordable is tricky. I don't have any good answers, but I think there's bound to be a need to look at finding creative ways to make apps like this marketable and sustainable. Thanks.

By Missy Hoppe on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

A couple of years ago, I was meeting with a tech trainer at work and she told me about how she was developing this app. When it was released, I signed up for the anual subscription, just out of support for the tech trainer who helped me set up face ID and a few other things. The price was a bit shocking, and if I'm being honest, the app is virtually useless for me on several levels, but at least when it was first released, I could afford to subscribe. I tried playing around with the app several times, and was honestly a bit disappointed; when I tried it, it wasn't showing menus for restaurants which I knew full well were near by. I'm very sorry that the app is going a way; I know several people who really loved using it, but I agree with those on here who have said that they like being able to pay a fee for an app and then being able to use it for life. I've paid for quite a few apps that were very expensive, and I'm not sure if any of them were ever worth it. I have no idea what the ideal solution is, but again, as others have said, subscriptions really add up after a while, so we're forced to prioritize the ones we make the most use of just to keep our budgets within reason. I also agree that there are other options available for reading menus, but no matter what, I do feel bad for the developers who put so much of their time and effort into developing this app, as well as developers of so many other apps we've lost over the years.

By Jonathan Candler on Monday, January 22, 2024 - 20:41

Don't come for me but this is how I feel bout this whole thing. Kind of always knew this wasn't gunna last. The price for what you get, kind of why I didn't wanna touch it in the first place. Plus, If I'm being completely honest, I shouldn't really have to pay a sub fee like this if I need help getting access to a particular menu for a particular place. I don't ah, know. Just felt sus and scammy to me. One time purchase? Sure, for like 6 bucks or so? I would have justified that, tried it and either go yay, or nay then it would have been no scales off my back. I guess I could say the same thing for a subscription but this sort of thing felt... Off... Being a coder myself I do understand that devs gotta make their money but was this the smart way of going about it? probably not. However, with that being said, this sort of thing is tricky to say the least if you wanna do it right. I know, not everything is free and I'm cool with that, however, I didn't see the hype in this much if I'm being fair. I don't know, I guess I myself can't justify paying a subscription fee just for me to have accessible menus. Feels discriminatory and I shouldn't have to pay what I need access for if a sighted person can get the same, exact, info, for free I might add. If I'm out and I am out on the road a lot of the times, I'm usually working with sighted people anyways so I'll either use my phone to look online on their site, use another alternative method weather it be if they gotta braille menu for me to just skim over and look or what have you, both, of which I can get for free, or ask either someone who works their to read me off what I'm looking for, or ask my people who I'm out on the road with for a particular thing if I don't know what I want from said place if I don't feel like grabbing out my phone. Again, all... Of which I can get, for F R E E! So, in summary, was this app worth it? Nope. Not in the slightest. Do I think they could have done better with their pricing? Oh for sure. Was this a lesson learned and do I hope they learned from their mistakes? Yes! Do I hope they make more apps in the future? Sure. But don't do it like this. If a sighted person can get the same info for free, why should, we, have to pay extra or, a sub fee for the same access to the same thing? Ask yourselves that. If it was marcotted for equal access, however you'd wanna market such a thing, then I'd see it a bit differently. Netflics and spotify are good examples. I know they're music and TV streaming apps but it's the best thing I can think of. Lol. But marketing this app for a particular minority, and we're the ones who of which have gotta pay to use it? Na... I think I'm good. I should also state that this in no way should this have restaurants be off the hook for creating accessible menus in accessible formats in the first place.

By Dennis Long on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

the app is not going away after all. if you follow the techVI email list night they sent out a message to their subscribers that the app is not going away.

By Helen the menus lady on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

Thanks Dennis for posting our good news. Thank you everyone for all your comments. Getting candid feedback is very helpful.

Here's a copy of our latest social media post.

Menus4ALL has secured new contracts with our vendors, which means the app is back in the Apple App Store without having to increase prices. Many of you have expressed a desire to help. The easiest way to assist is to spread the word about our app. If you enjoy using it, share posts. Call a friend. Leave a review on the Apple Store. Thank your for your support.

If you have the app on your iPhone or iPad it will continue to work. No need to update anything.

Thank you for your support,
- Helen Fernety

By Mister Kayne on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

I be from India the land of the Elephants, Cows, Crowds, Snake Charmers who have retired and pappadums. We never had a app. that offered accessible menus to anything locally. Instead we need to rely on shabby food delivery apps. to search by restaurant and get to their menu and place an order through them so we can over pay for our food!

By Angel Blessing on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

For those of us who have canceled because of the app supposedly going away how can we get back into the subscriptions? do we need to pay again? or can the canceled subscription be reactavated?

By Siobhan on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

In any app not just this one, go here before wondering if you need to pay again. See if it restores your purchase. If not, then reach out to the developers.

By sockhopsinger on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

I am glad the app is continuing for those who use it. I tried the app and even subscribed for a month. My problem was it showed a ton of restaurants near me, but I'd say about 30-35% of them were repeat listings. Also, like many others on this list, I agree that there are just getting to be too many subscription apps that, combined, really start to show in the wallet. Also, there is no real way to know how up to date each menu is. Still, I am glad the app is continuing.

By Angel Blessing on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

what is the contact info for the devs of this app.

By Brad on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

Why not just ask a surver to readthe app to you? Or, these days,, you can use be my eyes and it's AI feature if you want to.

In my oppinion this app really isn't needed.

I'm from the UK so can't use it anyway but yeah subscribing when we can do something for free is pointless. For example; I use youtube a lot and am paying £16 a month for no adds, I wish I didn't have to but I do, if a free option appears, I'll use that.

I've tried add blockers but I just prefer the app to the site on IOS.

By Brooke on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

I'd rather not have to ask a server to read the menu, since most places are already short-staffed. I also hate trying to hear my phone in a restaurant, so using BeMyAi isn't the best option for me. When I know where I'm going, I'd rather check the menu ahead of time.

By Tina on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

I'm pleased this app is not going away. I still wonder if there could be other ways to keep the app going. Thanks.

By Brad on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

Fair enough.

By Helen the menus lady on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

Hi Angel,

I'm the CEO and I manage the development and Stephanie is our marketing VP. Are are business partners.

Feel free to email your ideas, suggestions and issues:
Helen Fernety - helen@menus4all.com
Stephanie Jones - stephanie@menus4all.com

We are looking for additional board members if any one is interested. Email us a small bio and how you see you can must contribute to the board.

Thank you,
Helen

By Helen the menus lady on Thursday, February 1, 2024 - 20:41

Hi Siobhan,

If you cancelled the app and did not delete the app from your device try to restore it. I was not charged when I tested this.

1. Go to Settings on your iPad or iPhone.
2. Find subscriptions
3. Scroll down to find Menus4ALL and double tap.
4. Select the "Renew for $2.99" or "Renew for $29.99" button. The rate you had last will only display.

When I tested this by cancelling my $2.99 subscription and selecting the "review for $2.99" button I have not seen an email from Apple saying I was charged $2.99. And all my favorites are still in the app.

But if you deleted the app from your iPad or iPhone I think you will be changed again as you will have to download the app from the Apple App Store. Plus all your favorites are lost when you delete the app.

Hope this helps,
Helen