Love it! – Seeing AI Review

I installed this app the day I first heard of it, while listening to the ACB national convention nearly two years ago. Even though I had had KNFB Reader for a number of years, I mainly added this one for comparison, but soon discovered that it compares favorably with the aforementioned app, as well as with other light-detecting, color-identifying and currency-reading apps I have used over the last five years. I soon realized that I needed to get a newer iPhone in order to use the Products feature—which I did. I use the app just about every day, for everything from reading mail to reading books, some magazines, and cooking instructions on that packaged dinner I just pulled out of the freezer, and even making sure that coupon I plan to use at a local business hasn’t expired. The Short Text works especially well, for those times you don’t wish to scan an entire document. For most things, the Document channel works well, and I like it that the focusing is done automatically. However, there are occasions when I get the “No text recognized” alert; so then, I revert to KNFB Reader, and sometimes it does a better job reading that document. I am totally blind from birth; so I am assuming that the documents for which I get that alert are those printed in multiple colors, and with numerous graphics that land smack in the middle of the written text. I can’t vouch for the color identifier channel—as I have never been able to see color; but, knowing that lighting can affect the way color is perceived—even by a good set of eyes—my take is that any attempt at a color identifier is better than none at all. The currency reader has improved markedly since the app first came out. I have been able to read a number of handwritten greeting cards—and other items as well—with the Handwriting channel. The light detector has saved me any amount of grief, since I have a number of light switches (for overhead lights, of course), which are push-buttons rather than up-and-down toggles; and, we all know people who can’t remember to turn the lights off when they leave. I’ve had considerable fun with the Scene channel, which is often quite accurate. I have occasionally had a bit of difficulty getting the bar-code reader (Product channel) to work; but then, bar codes aren’t always in the same location on a box or container. Just today, I had to search diligently for the bar code on a frozen meal, in order to then read the cooking instructions. By the time I found and read that information, my battery status had dropped precipitously, from 85 to 60 percent! If one is using the app for any length of time at a stretch, I suggest that they either have their phone plugged in, or have an external battery handy, as it is a major drain. On the other hand, this afternoon I was able to read an online menu—which was otherwise totally inaccessible because it was an _image— from a local restaurant. In this case, SeeingAI did a better job reading it than KNFB Reader! Finally, to those who insist that there is no currency reader channel, could it be that they are still on an iPhone 5S or earlier? And to those who insist that the app doesn’t work well with VoiceOver, perhaps they are just new to VoiceOver and need help with it? This has really been a life-changing app! I look forward to even more improvements and enhancements, and apologize for the length of this review.
Review by VoiceOver user. on Seeing AI.