Comparison

BlindSquare vs DokoDemo Transit Board

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

Head to head
About

BlindSquare

This app provides accessible navigation for blind and visually impaired users, both indoors and outdoors. It uses GPS and compass data, combined with location information, to announce points of interest and street crossings. Users can also search for places, get contact details, and initiate turn-by-turn directions.

Highlights
  • Indoor and outdoor navigation
  • Announces points of interest and street crossings
  • Voice command functionality
  • Search for places by category or term
  • Turn-by-turn navigation integration
  • Save private locations
  • Foursquare client features
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

BlindSquare is pioneering accessible navigation both indoors and outdoors. Know where you are, know where you're going, travel with confidence. BlindSquare is a new solution that combines the latest technology to help the blind with their daily lives. It has been developed in collaboration with blind people and carefully field tested. You need either an iPhone or an iPad to get started. It also supports some additional accessories to enhance the experience. How does it work? BlindSquare uses GPS and the compass to locate you. It then gathers information about the surrounding environment from FourSquare. BlindSquare has some unique algorithms to decide what information is the most relevant and then speaks it to you with high quality speech synthesis. “What's the most popular café within 200 meters radius? Where is the post office or the library?” You can control BlindSquare also through voice commands. The Voice Command feature is a premium service requiring purchase of credits for continuous use. Voice Command Credits are available as an in-app purchase on the App Store. Using BlindSquare as a GPS solution: When you start the app, it will start telling you the interesting places and street crossings around you. By changing the radius, you can limit the area you are interested in. You can also search by search term or by category. You can select an interesting place from the search results and perform the following tasks: 1) Get contact info (address, phone number) 2) Open twitter feed or restaurant menu (if provided) 3) Make a phone call 4) Start tracking the place (BlindSquare will assist you by repeating the distance and the clock face direction) 5) Start your favourite navigator for turn-by-turn instructions (TomTom, Navigon or Apple Maps) BlindSquare is aware of when you travel by car, bus or train and starts to report interesting places in front of you (for example, the next stops) and street crossings when you are passing them. You can also save your own private places to iCloud so they will be found with your every device. Using BlindSquare as a Foursquare client: If you like to play Foursquare, you can do the following with BlindSquare: 1) Get a list of nearby FourSquare venues 2) When you are in a place, you can check in by shaking your device 3) Do a check in with commenting and twitter/facebook sharing 4) Correct the location of the place BlindSquare supports the following languages: English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean (South Korea), Norwegian, Polish, Portugues, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. VoiceOver usage is supported but it also includes higher quality additional speech synthesis by Acapela Text-To-Speech from Acapela Group. Instructions in English: https://www.blindsquare.com/user-guide/ and https://www.blindsquare.com/faq/ Please note: This app retrieves data in real time from Foursquare and Open Street Map. Use of a flat rate data plan is highly recommended. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Having only been released in May 2012, BlindSquare has already received several prizes and awards: - GSMA: Global Mobile Awards 2013, Best Mobile Health Product or Service - Apps4Finland 2012 - OpenCities App Challenge 2012 - The Finnish Information Processing Association: Best Product 2012 Please note: To use BlindSquare, your iCloud account has to be active so BlindSquare can access it to save your settings and places. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

DokoDemo Transit Board

Features
Read full description

DokoDemo Transit Board turns your train ride in Japan into a large, easy-to-read railway display. The interface is available in English while railway and station names remain in Japanese as provided by the source data. TRAINS The app uses your current location to identify the railway line and show the current or next station on your device. When a line or station cannot be confirmed, it shows only the information it can verify. MAKE THE BOARD YOURS Arrange board components and adjust the station count, kana, clock, and more. The one-time Customization Pack adds extra themes, train icons, and accent and train body colors. Preview its designs before buying. FOR THE RIDE • Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Live Activities in the Smart Stack on a compatible Apple Watch • Optional arrival notifications when a station you registered is approaching • Portrait and landscape layouts Start a ride from Settings to keep Live Activities and arrival notifications running when you close the app. With background arrival notifications enabled, opening the app starts a ride automatically and sets its end time to one hour later. Confirmed train movement renews that time. Rides end automatically after an hour without renewal, and you can end them manually. Location and motion processing stays on your device. The app does not upload or store your location history on a server. It does not provide timetables, route planning, transfer guidance, or real-time vehicle positions.

Screenshots

BlindSquare4 screens
DokoDemo Transit Board4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: DokoDemo Transit Board at Free against BlindSquare's $39.99. BlindSquare's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#186 vs unranked). On update cadence and ads 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

DokoDemo Transit Board is free to download; BlindSquare costs $39.99 up front. DokoDemo Transit Board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. BlindSquare asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlindSquare ships an update monthly, DokoDemo Transit Board every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
BlindSquare versus DokoDemo Transit Board: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlindSquareDokoDemo Transit Board
Price$39.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (61 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings61 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#186 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMIPsoft OyShigeki Karouji

Bugs and requests

BlindSquare

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashing issues
  • Incorrect address/street announcements
  • Simulation mode problems
  • Bluetooth connectivity failures

Requested features

5 requests
  • Turn-by-turn navigation
  • Intersection details (left/right side)
  • Public transit integration
  • Voice control/commands
  • Multi-language support

DokoDemo Transit Board

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

BlindSquare

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

DokoDemo Transit Board

One-time1
  • Customization Pack$0.49

Questions

Is BlindSquare free?
BlindSquare costs $39.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is DokoDemo Transit Board free?
DokoDemo Transit Board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do BlindSquare or DokoDemo Transit Board have ads?
Neither BlindSquare nor DokoDemo Transit Board shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlindSquare or DokoDemo Transit Board?
BlindSquare ships an update monthly, and DokoDemo Transit Board every 3 weeks. Most recently, BlindSquare was updated on November 1, 2026 and DokoDemo Transit Board on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons