Hi, I've been searching for information about Blindsquare. However, this app is quite expensive I'd like to know if it is worth purchasing. I have seeing assistant move and loadstone GPS, and also google maps and Apple maps. I've been playing with lazarillo in fact speech output that overlaps with VoiceOver is a bit annoying. Please tell me if is it worth purchasing Blindsquare. to be clear: I want an app for: looking what is around me and the important is that information are up-to-date, giving directions or indicating routes to a selected place, turn-by-turn guidance would be of great value. Thank you all for your assistance.
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Hi Rafal, In order that…
Hi Rafal,
In order that Lazarillo doesn't overlap with voiceover, you can go to settings and change the voice for Lazarillo so is different from the one of voiceover and it will not overlap.
Best wishes,
Lazarillo
I cannot recommend Blind Square
As someone who used to use and love Blind Square, and continue to try it out on occasion, I can no longer recommend the app, especially given its price.
My biggest problem with the app is its continued reliance on Foursquare for POIs, which at least in my area is a huge mess, with many POIs with bad GPS coordinates (sometimes miles away from where they actually are), as well as POIs for places that no longer exist and haven't been there for a decade or longer.
The app also relies on OpenStreetMap to determine where approaching intersections are located, but that is also proving to be a problem in my area, where some intersections are not announced at all and others are mislabeled. I investigated OSM some years ago and discovered that some of the mistakes were already corrected in the OSM database, and with some sighted assistance I was able to correct the other mistakes in my general area, but to this day Blind Square continues to announce the bad data, never updating to the latest map info from OpenStreetMap. I emailed the developer more than once about this, asking why his app continues to rely on map data that's years out of date, but nothing's improved.
Also, Blind Square used to mix nicely with audio from other apps, such as music or podcasts, but as of a couple of years ago that stopped. Now, background audio either stops playing or gets permanently ducked to a low volume, which does not restore until Blind Square is closed from the App Switcher. I usually have some audio playing in the background while I'm out and about, so this is a major dealbreaker for me, on top of the other issues I have.
It's a real shame, because Blind Square has a great feature set. I really liked how the app announces things as you go, with a perfect balance of not saying too much yet always letting you know where you are. It even has some nice little extras like pedometer announcements (like, "You've walked 1.2 miles in 30 minutes"), battery percentage warnings, network disconnect warnings, and other things that I don't ask an app to do, but are appreciated nonetheless. It's too bad there are major problems keeping me from using Blind Square, and there's no way I can recommend it until at lease some of these issues are finally addressed.
BlindSquare has always worked for me
I formerly worked as an accessibility trainer in the Denver area. To visit clients, I would take public transit to some new part of town, then use BlindSquare to give me turn by turn walking directions from the bus stop to the client's house. I never encountered any problems.
I've heard a lot about Microsoft Soundscape, but avoided it because I didn't want earbuds in both ears. However, I recently acquired an Aftershockz bone conducting headset, so I can experience Soundscape's stereo effect without blocking out ambient sound. It seems pretty nice, but I haven't used it enough to recommend it.
I suspect this will be one of those threads where everyone has an opinion. LOL. Good luck sifting through the comments.
GoodMaps
is free. Do not know how good but check that one before you pay for one. Do have blind square. Got it when it was free and did not pay anything.