Comparison

BlindSq Event vs Clew

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

Head to head
About

BlindSq Event

This app helps blind and visually impaired individuals navigate their surroundings by providing spoken information about nearby points of interest and street crossings. It uses GPS and compass data, combined with Foursquare information, to offer relevant details and can integrate with navigation apps for turn-by-turn directions.

Highlights
  • Spoken information about surroundings
  • GPS and compass integration
  • Foursquare venue data
  • Turn-by-turn navigation support
  • Customizable search radius
  • Save private places to iCloud
  • Foursquare check-in functionality
Features
Read full description

This is the free Event Edition of BlindSquare, provided by MIPsoft and Acapela. BlindSquare Event Edition will only work at the time and location of different events of special interest to the blind community. If you select the demo mode, the app will simulate a location for you. It will behave as if you were at the simulated location and you will be able to try many of its features. -- BlindSquare makes you sense what's around you. The only thing you need to do is listen. 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?” 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, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Czech, Estonian and Hungarian. VoiceOver usage is supported but it also includes higher quality additional speech synthesis by Acapela Text-To-Speech from Acapela Group. Instructions in English: http://help.blindsquare.com and http://blindsquare.com/faq Application includes high quality speech synthesis thus size of the app is 90 MB. You need a wifi to download. Please notice: This app get's data in realtime from FourSquare and Open Street Map database. Flat rate data plan is highly recommended. 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 Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

About

Clew

This app uses augmented reality to help visually impaired individuals navigate indoor spaces. Users can record custom routes and share them with others, making unfamiliar environments more accessible.

Highlights
  • AR indoor navigation
  • Record custom routes
  • Share routes with others
  • Accessible for visually impaired users
Read full description

Clew is an AR indoor navigation app that allows visually impaired or blind users to record, share, and navigate routes in indoor environments.

Screenshots

BlindSq Event3 screens
Clew4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Clew at 67% against BlindSq Event's 38%. Clew also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (27 vs 6). BlindSq Event's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.2). On price, 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Clew holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 27 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of BlindSq Event's written reviews are positive against 67% of Clew's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BlindSq Event ships an update monthly, Clew every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 19, 2026 and July 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
BlindSq Event versus Clew: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBlindSq EventClew
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (6 ratings)4.0 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.5% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings627 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.2
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMIPsoft OyPaul Ruvolo

Customer experience

BlindSq Event

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral25.0%
Negative37.5%

Clew

All ratings27 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral22.2%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral19.0%
Negative14.3%

In-app purchases

None

BlindSq Event

No in-app purchases

None

Clew

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BlindSq Event free?
BlindSq Event is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Clew free?
Clew is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BlindSq Event or Clew?
Clew is rated higher. BlindSq Event averages 3.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Clew averages 4.0 from 27 ratings.
Do BlindSq Event or Clew have ads?
Neither BlindSq Event nor Clew shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BlindSq Event or Clew?
BlindSq Event ships an update monthly, and Clew every 3 weeks. Most recently, BlindSq Event was updated on August 19, 2026 and Clew on July 7, 2026.

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