Top Apps for Everyday Use
Top Apps for Everyday Use
So as Visually Impaired people ourselves Mared and i thought we’d share with you our top apps that we use for our everyday use. These apps make it possible for us to do those annoying everyday activities as simply as anyone else would. From reading, to travelling and doing your weekly shop this list of apps might help you out in the future.
- Audible – Free (Free 30 day trial, then £7.99 a month)
Audible is an app we both absolutely love! It’s got the world’s largest selection of audiobook and premium spoken-word entertainment. With a monthly subscription of £7.99 gives you one Credit a month allowing you to purchase any book in the library. You can buy anything else at an additional cost. We are both keen readers and love that we can still have access to this experience at any moment of our day. If you struggle to read or thought if wasn’t possible to do now you’ve lost your sight i highly recommend giving the free trial a go.
- Trainline – Free
Trainline, another one of our favourites, if you travel by train a lot and don’t use this app then i’d suggest having a look in to trying it out. This app allows you to look up your train times, plan journeys and purchase tickets in advance. You can also check what platform you need, track the trains progress as its approaching your station or while you’re travelling. There is also new feature to this app that allows you to purchase e-tickets so that can be scaned from your phone.
- Shopping Apps – Free
There’s isn’t a specific app to list here as it depends on what supermarket or type of online shopping you want to do. Any apps like Asda, Tesco or Acado offer the ability to use the app to do an online shop that can be collected or delivered. We both use these apps to do our shopping as the apps are far easier to navigate than a desktop website. It also saves items you’ve previously purchased to your favourite so no need to go searching for them the next time you go to make and order. This app can also be used to help familiarize yourself with certain items you’re looking for that when you get in-store you can find them with a little more ease. Other apps such as ASOS, H&M or IKEA are also great apps to use as again there apps are far easier to navigate than the web versions that are available.
- Google Maps – Free
Ok, so i’m sure you all know about Google Maps but we wanted to mention it because its saved us on several occasions. Whether you’re walking to somewhere new or familiar having the reassurance that you are in fact going the right way is invaluable. If your travelling in car with someone and you’re somehow in charge of navigating just let google take over for you. You can also plan your journey, which for everyone with sight loss knows is the key to getting anywhere successfully. Planning well in advance is super simple on this app, you can get familiar with the complexity of the journey, how long it will take you and what sort of area you’ll be walking around.
- Festival – No.6 – Free
Festivals, one of the best parts of summer and finally getting the opportunity to do some stuff outdoors, even if our welsh weather is still as unpredictable. Visiting a festival or two is a great thing to do but for a lot of Vision Impaired people navigating them or seeing the programme can be totally in accessible. This is where an app can come in. Some festivals create apps for their festivals and Festival No. 6 which is held in Portmeirion every year is one of them. Here you will find all the information you need to have the best experience and get all the same info that your fellow sighted festival goers get from just looking around. You won’t miss those little things tucked away. Next festival you go to have a check and see if they have an app, you may discover some hidden gems.
- Colour ID – Free
There are several versions of this app floating about but it’s a great tool to have to hand. This app you can hold up to an object, item of clothing or a wall to identify it’s colour. For anyone who have trouble identifying colours especially where they are next to others this is the app for you. I know from experience that telling the difference between navy and black can often be tricky but this app eliminates that difficulty after only a few seconds. A handy app to have.
- Headspace – Free
Now as young Vision Impaired people ourselves we know the struggles of living with sight loss everyday and the struggles of just living with everyday life. It can be stressful and we all need that little bit of down time to decompress from the day. If you haven’t tried mindfulness or meditation before it’s a great way to relieve anxiety and relax either at the beginning or end of your day. Headspace is a great app to try especially if you’re a beginner, it gives you a step by step guide and a few tips and tricks to help you get started. Once you’ve done this you can choose specific things you’d like to focus your meditation on. Give it a go, see what you think.
So that’s our tops app we thought would be useful to share with you, we hope that it helps you discover some more accessible ways to do those day to day things. Let us know if you think we’ve missed out an important app to the list.
