Comparison

Tactile Images READER vs Braille Typing

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Tactile Images READER

This educational tool provides audio descriptions for tactile graphics, allowing blind and visually impaired individuals to learn independently. It works with interactive tactile graphics from an e-learning platform, offering a virtual assistant to explain details when a phone is placed over the graphic.

Highlights
  • Audio descriptions for tactile graphics
  • Virtual assistant for detailed explanations
  • Supports independent learning
  • Works with interactive tactile graphics
  • Customizable descriptions
  • Multilingual support
Features
Read full description

Replicate the tactile learning experience at your own place & pace. Meet the virtual assistant that describes tactile graphics just like a specialist and allows blind people to study at home. This educational tool is part of the Tactile Images e-learning platform, where teachers and parents can find, personalize and create interactive tactile graphics, with audio descriptions. The Tactile Images Reader app teleports the voice and knowledge of the teacher at home. How? Let’s say that we have the tactile graphic of an African elephant. You will explore it with both hands, as you usually do, to contextualize. So far so good. But when you place the phone above the graphic, the magic happens. Just point at the ear of the elephant and the smartphone will tell you: ”This is the ear of the elephant. The ears of an African elephant are bigger than the ears of an Indian elephant because they help the elephants cool down by radiating the excess heat. The ears can also be used to communicate visually, flapping ears signifying either aggression or joy.” The descriptions are customizable and can be adapted to the specific needs of every person. The Tactile Images Reader mobile assistant empowers you to discover the world independently. It gives you the freedom to explore untouchable objects and study school subjects based on graphics, such as Maths, Geography or Biology at your own pace. Using this app feels like watching the Discovery Channel for the first time. How does it work? The app works only with interactive tactile graphics from our e-learning platform. Join for FREE right here www.tactileimages.org and get access to a Library of 800 tactile graphics with multilingual descriptions and drawing software that allows teachers and parents to create their own interactive tactile graphics. Download your first interactive catalogue for FREE https://bit.ly/Catalog_UrbanLandscapes, emboss the drawings and explore with the app! Remote teaching and homeschooling have never been easier for blind and visually impaired people! How to use? Position the phone above an interactive tactile graphic. The app will read the QR Code placed in the upper left corner and tell you the title of the graphic. Position the index finger on the Braille-written title (available for the tactile graphics in the Library) and the app will tell you the description of the graphic. Start exploring with both hands. The app will identify the position of the index finger and beep once when you come across an area with descriptions. Point the index finger if you want to find out the description of that area. Preferably, clench your fist and extend the index finger as if you were pointing to that area. Be steady for 3 seconds. The app will send you 3 beeps and deliver the audio description of the area. Additionally, you can touch the QR Code to listen to general information about the subject of the graphic. Features - Audio descriptions can be in these languages: English, French, German, Italian, Turkish, Romanian, Finnish, Spanish - You are free to personalize the descriptions of any graphic - Multi-sensorial learning - Mobile assistant (works anywhere: school, home, park, library, museum, city hall, train station, metro) - You can either hold it with your hand or use a phone holder (Gooseneck) - Modern technologies: AI, machine learning, interactive augmented reality, finger tracking This app was featured in the American Alliance of Museums http://bit.ly/exploration-at-museums and other 35 publications. The Tactile Images e-learning platform was financed by The Romanian Ministry of Culture, the Administration of the National Cultural Heritage, the Civic Innovation Fund, the Orange Foundation, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OMV Petrom, ING Bank Romania, Microsoft Romania, Electrica SA. This app is created by the Urban Development Association, which has the mission to improve the life quality of blind children through education.

About

Braille Typing

This application guides users in learning Braille typing on their mobile devices. It covers letters, punctuation, and numbers, offering a practical way to learn Braille through finger mappings. The training aims to equip users with the skills to compose accurate Braille sentences.

Highlights
  • Learn Braille typing
  • Covers letters, punctuation, and numbers
  • Progressive lessons
  • Uses phone's built-in Braille keyboard
  • Learn Braille through finger mappings
Features
Read full description

Braille Typing — Learn the braille keyboard built into your iPhone Your iPhone already has a braille keyboard. Almost nobody knows how to use it. Let's fix that. Braille Typing teaches you to type with Braille Screen Input — the six-dot keyboard hiding inside VoiceOver — one letter at a time, until you're writing as fast as you think. No hardware to buy. No cables. Just your phone, your fingers, and a course that meets you exactly where you are. HOW IT WORKS Two new characters per lesson, with everything you've learned carried forward. Each lesson opens by teaching you to recognise the new dots, then hands you the keyboard to actually type them. You move on when you've genuinely got it — not after a fixed number of tries, but when your recent answers say you're ready. Every character you learn goes into Daily Review, a spaced-repetition system that brings things back right before you'd forget them. Miss one and it comes back sooner. Nail it and it stays away longer. That's how it sticks. THE COURSE Letters — the whole alphabet, plus capitals and your first common words Punctuation — because sentences need it Numbers — and your Grade 1 Graduation: from here you can write anything in uncontracted braille Then the contractions that make braille fast: Word Signs, Group Signs, Initial Letter Word Signs, Final Letter Group Signs, and Short Form Words MORE WAYS TO PRACTISE Tricky Pairs — d or f? e or i? Train the dots that mirror each other Dictation — hear it, type it: missing letters, whole words, numbers, sentences Speed Sprint — sixty seconds, how many can you type? Beat your best Contraction Choices — learn the rules for when a contraction is (and isn't) the right call The Two Lighthouses — a story that unlocks one chapter at a time as you finish each section, with a line from each chapter to type yourself BUILT FOR VOICEOVER, FROM THE FIRST TAP This isn't an app with accessibility bolted on. It was designed for people who use VoiceOver, by someone who tested every screen with it. Every prompt is spoken. Every answer is confirmed with a sound and a haptic you feel before you hear it. Progress is announced, not just drawn. And the setup walkthrough gets you into the braille keyboard in about a minute — including a live typing check that tells you if your dots are mirrored, before your first lesson. Sighted? A teacher, a parent, someone who's just curious? Everything works with VoiceOver off too — every braille cell is drawn on screen so you can see the pattern as well as the numbers. WHAT'S FREE, FOREVER Everything through Grade 1: every letter, number, and punctuation mark. Daily Review. The placement test. Your progress. No trial, no countdown, and it will never move behind a purchase later. Pro unlocks the five contraction categories, the extra practice activities, and the story. One-time purchase, or annual — your choice. $29.99 One-time purchase $14.99 Annual Privacy Policy and Terms of use: https://brailletyping.com/privacy-terms.html Your place in the course follows your iCloud account, so a new phone or a reinstall picks up right where you left off. Learn to type braille the way you'd want to be taught. Start today.

Screenshots

Tactile Images READER4 screens
Braille Typing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Braille Typing at 4.7 against Tactile Images READER's 4.0. Braille Typing also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). Tactile Images READER's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Braille Typing holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Braille Typing has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tactile Images READER ships an update every 4 months, Braille Typing every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Tactile Images READER versus Braille Typing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTactile Images READERBraille Typing
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings)4.7 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings210 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAsociatia pentru Dezvoltare UrbanaMycah Krason

Customer experience

Tactile Images READER

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Braille Typing

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Tactile Images READER

No in-app purchases

None

Braille Typing

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tactile Images READER free?
Tactile Images READER is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Braille Typing free?
Braille Typing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tactile Images READER or Braille Typing?
Braille Typing is rated higher. Tactile Images READER averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Braille Typing averages 4.7 from 10 ratings.
Do Tactile Images READER or Braille Typing have ads?
Neither Tactile Images READER nor Braille Typing shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tactile Images READER or Braille Typing?
Tactile Images READER ships an update every 4 months, and Braille Typing every 6 weeks. Most recently, Tactile Images READER was updated on October 24, 2026 and Braille Typing on September 26, 2026.

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