The First iPhone and iPad Apps for the Visually Impaired Are Offered in Apple's App Store

Because of the convenience of carrying smart phones it was probably inevitable that their features would be applied to support the visually impaired. iBlink Radio introduced in July 2010 by Serotek Corporation of Minneapolis, Minnesota, called itself the first iOS application for the visually impaired. It provided access to radio stations, podcasts and reading services of special interest to blind and visually impaired persons, as well as their friends, family, caregivers and those wanting to know what life is like without eyesight. By September 2020 when I reviewed this entry this app had been renamed Sero.

SayText, also introduced in 2010 by Haave, Inc. of Vantaa, Finland, read out loud text that was photographed by a cell phone camera. In 2020 this app was not offered in the U.S.

VisionHunt, by VI Scientific of Nicosia, Cyprus, introduced in 2009, was a vision aid tool for the blind and the visually impaired that uses the phone’s camera to detect colors, paper money and light sources. VisionHunt identified about 30 colors. It also detected 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 US Dollar bills. Finally, VisionHunt detected sources of light, such as switched-on lamps or televisions. VisionHunt was fully accessible to the blind and the visually impaired through Voice Over or Zoom. In 2020 this app was no longer available.

Numerous other apps for the visually impaired were introduced after the above three.