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 individuals, both indoors and outdoors. It uses GPS and compass data, combined with location information, to verbally guide users to points of interest and street crossings. Users can also control the app via voice commands and integrate with popular navigation apps.

Highlights
  • Indoor and outdoor navigation
  • Verbal guidance to points of interest
  • Street crossing announcements
  • Voice command control
  • Integration with popular navigators
  • 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 ride in Japan into a large, easy-to-read transit display. The interface is available in English while railway, station, bus, and stop 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. It never presents an uncertain railway result as fact. BUSES Using Japan's National Land Numerical Information, the app can show nearby bus stops, operators, and services registered for each stop. It leaves out routes, directions, and stop order when the source data cannot verify them. MAKE THE BOARD YOURS Arrange board components and adjust the station count, kana, clock, and more. The one-time Customization Pack lets you preview and combine extra themes, train icons, and an accent color before buying. FOR THE RIDE • Live Activities on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island • Optional alerts when you approach or arrive at a station you registered • Portrait and landscape layouts 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 chart position (#146 vs unranked) and device support (4 vs 1). On update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlindSquare ships an update monthly, DokoDemo Transit Board every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
BlindSquare versus DokoDemo Transit Board: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlindSquareDokoDemo Transit Board
Price$39.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (60 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings60 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#146 — 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

None

DokoDemo Transit Board

No in-app purchases

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 no in-app purchases.
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 October 16, 2026 and DokoDemo Transit Board on September 30, 2026.

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