Visual Hearing Aid vs BeAware Deaf Assistant
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Visual Hearing Aid
This app converts spoken words into text for easier communication with individuals who have hearing loss. It offers adjustable text display and the ability to share conversations.
- Speech-to-text transcription
- Adjustable text size and color
- Share conversations via email
- Delete conversation history
- External microphone support
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Communicate fast with your friends, family or anyone who has hearing loss or are hearing impaired with Visual Hearing Aid. Speak into your phone or tablet and the app displays your words. It can get frustrating if you don’t read sign language, but using this app you can get back to communicating and deal with more important issues. Super easy to use! • Select green button to start the app listening • Button turns red when it’s ready to transcribe your words • Speak clearly into the device • Point the screen at the person you’re communicating with You can also: • Forward conversations to email or other shareable platforms • Delete information when you’re done Quick options to make things easier to read: • Change color of text • Change size of text Other great ideas to use Visual Hearing Aid: • Do you work in a noisy location with loud music and can’t hear what customers are asking for? Setup Visual Hearing Aid, add on a microphone. The only limitation is the quality of the microphone. • Work in emergency services and your trying to help someone who can’t hear you? Use the app to get the information you need right away.
BeAware Deaf Assistant
This app offers advanced communication tools for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It features real-time voice-to-text transcription, customizable alerts for loud noises, and a unique text-to-speech function for phone calls. It also includes a notepad with preset phrases and an emoji board for easier communication.
- Real-time voice-to-text transcription
- Customizable noise and alert notifications
- Text-to-speech for phone calls
- Note-taking with preset phrases
- Flip text for easy viewing
- Emoji and image communication board
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BeAware is the most advanced communication tool for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community with the latest features that do not exist on other apps! It even hit top 5 on Ycombinator's HackerNews! Are you tired of using apps with bad user experience, while being forced to watch ads and paying $50 a year for functionality that you need to use everyday? Look no further, BeAware is the only free, privacy-safe, no-ads, open-source, completely offline, battery-efficient app designed for Deaf users. With a proven and award-winning development process, BeAware was built from the ground-up with the deaf community in mind. It would not have been possible without the help of 100's of volunteers, testers and dozens of design and development iterations. - BeAware comes with a customizable Alert tool, that can detect loud noises and communicate that to the deaf using vibrations, LED flashes, and sending notifications to your phone and connected Apple Watch. So now, a Deaf new mom can leave the app running and get alerted if her baby is crying, or a Deaf delivery driver can move to the side to make way for emergency vehicles. - BeAware comes with the fastest Speech-to-Text transcription tool that is optimized for accuracy and works in any language that is set in the device Settings - The Text functionality is the best note pad app for the Deaf. The "Preset phrases" feature can make note taking a breeze and the "Flip Text" provides ease while showing the note. Enjoy your custom order at the coffee shop, without having to retype it every time, or having to turn your phone around. - Play Text - The Text tool also comes with a unique ability to Play the Text that you type in through your voice and video phone calls! So if you are not able to speak over the phone in an interview, you can just type out your responses and have the phone play it to the other side of your call. The language of the speech depends on the one selected in your settings - Emoji Board allows you to communicate with people who don't use ASL using emoji or images uploaded from your photo gallery *Users with Usher Syndrome can switch the phone to dark mode to view the app designed to accommodate them.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BeAware Deaf Assistant at 4.5 against Visual Hearing Aid's 2.3. BeAware Deaf Assistant also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 12 months). Visual Hearing Aid's advantage is iOS requirement (11.4 vs 14.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Visual Hearing Aid sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. BeAware Deaf Assistant asks for nothing beyond the download.
BeAware Deaf Assistant holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BeAware Deaf Assistant has 192 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Visual Hearing Aid's written reviews are positive against 59% of BeAware Deaf Assistant's.
Visual Hearing Aid ships an update every 12 months, BeAware Deaf Assistant every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Visual Hearing Aid | BeAware Deaf Assistant |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (4 ratings) | 4.5 (192 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | 59.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 192 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.4 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Berry Wing LLC | Saamer Mansoor |
Customer experience
Visual Hearing Aid
BeAware Deaf Assistant
Bugs and requests
Visual Hearing Aid
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
BeAware Deaf Assistant
Reported bugs
11 issues- Speech recognition is finicky and not exact
- App crashes regularly
- Microphone does not capture sound for transcription
- App consumes battery very quickly
- App makes iPhone extremely hot
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- Does not work in noisy environments
- Icon options are cropped with larger text display zoom
- No audio when typing in texts and hitting iPhone's play button
- Transcription is full of errors and often makes no sense
- Turning app off with blue/red dot does not work; transcription continues
- Cannot have an entire conversation, only line by line recording
Requested features
5 requests- Improve speech recognition/transcription accuracy
- Implement true AI system for better accuracy
- Add automatic punctuation (commas, periods, question marks)
- Allow paragraph breaks for better text structure
- Distinguish between different voices
In-app purchases
Visual Hearing Aid
- One hour of usage$0.99
- Ten (10) hours of usage$6.99
BeAware Deaf Assistant
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Visual Hearing Aid free?
Is BeAware Deaf Assistant free?
Which has better reviews, Visual Hearing Aid or BeAware Deaf Assistant?
Do Visual Hearing Aid or BeAware Deaf Assistant have ads?
Which is updated more often, Visual Hearing Aid or BeAware Deaf Assistant?
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