BlindSq Event vs Seeing Eye GPS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Seeing Eye GPS
This navigation app offers turn-by-turn directions with unique features for blind users. It announces intersections, nearby points of interest, and provides customizable route configurations for pedestrians and vehicles. The app also includes a 'LookAround Wand' feature to discover what's in a specific direction.
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Intersection announcements with orientation
- Nearby points of interest announcements
- LookAround Wand feature
- Configurable pedestrian and vehicle routes
- Automatic route recalculation
- Background operation with screen locked
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The Seeing Eye GPS, is a fully accessible turn-by-turn GPS iPhone app with all the normal navigation features plus features unique to blind users. Unique to The Seeing Eye GPS™: • Instead of multiple layers of menus, the three important navigation elements are on the lower portion of every screen: Route, POIs and Location. • At intersections, the cross street and its orientation are announced • Intersections are described (e.g. four-way) with the clock face orientation of the streets. • There are three choices for POI data (Apple, Foursquare, and OSM). • Directions are configured appropriately for Pedestrian and Vehicle routes, including heads-up announcements for approaching turns, turn now, continue straight and upcoming turns. • If one wanders off the route, it's automatically recalculated and updated turn information is announced. • Point your phone in a given direction to hear what is nearby with the LookAround Wand. • Nearby Points of interest, intersections, and heading changes are automatically announced. • Ability to run in the background or with the screen locked for iOS 7. If you are running an older version of iOS 6 only the sound effects will play and the phone will vibrate at turns and at your destination but no speech output. Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Requires: Compatible with iPhone 5, iPad Wi-Fi + 3G, iPad 2 WiFi + 3G, iPad Wi-Fi + 4G, iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular. iOS 9.0 or later. Seeing Eye GPS uses VoiceOver feature for audio voice output and does not contain its own voice synthesizer. Supported Maps: U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Ger-many, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Lithuania, Argentina. Not all countries have full intersection descriptions. Join us on Twitter, https://twitter.com/airaio
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BlindSq Event at none against Seeing Eye GPS's 1. BlindSq Event also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). Seeing Eye GPS's advantage is review sentiment (48% vs 38%) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 15.0). On price, rating, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Seeing Eye GPS sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. BlindSq Event asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.7 for BlindSq Event against 3.6 for Seeing Eye GPS. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 17 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 38% of BlindSq Event's written reviews are positive against 48% of Seeing Eye GPS's.
BlindSq Event ships an update monthly, Seeing Eye GPS every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | BlindSq Event | Seeing Eye GPS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (6 ratings) — better | 3.6 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 37.5% of reviews | 47.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 17 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MIPsoft Oy | GoodMaps Inc |
Customer experience
BlindSq Event
Seeing Eye GPS
In-app purchases
BlindSq Event
No in-app purchases
Seeing Eye GPS
- Thirty Day Subscription$5.99
Questions
Is BlindSq Event free?
Is Seeing Eye GPS free?
Which has better reviews, BlindSq Event or Seeing Eye GPS?
Do BlindSq Event or Seeing Eye GPS have ads?
Which is updated more often, BlindSq Event or Seeing Eye GPS?
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