Text Talker Subtitles Reader vs Ear Sonar

Do you have trouble reading the subtitles of movies, TV shows or Internet videos, perhaps due to low vision / blindness or a reading disability? Or perhaps you'd like to focus on the on-screen action instead of racing to read every subtitle before it disappears. This app uses OCR (optical character recognition) and TTS (text to speech) to look for subtitles and read them out loud through the iPhone speaker or headphones. How to use: Just run the app! It starts looking for text right away, and will read out loud anything it finds. If the app starts reading a bunch of random text, you can shake the phone to make it shut up. Put your hand over the camera to temporarily keep it from talking, or switch to another app. For best results, use it in an area that doesn't have extra visual distractions like digital clocks or AV equipment with lots of numbers and letters. If watching a video on a computer or laptop, maximize the video to full screen and let the status indicator fade away. Some scenes may have other text on screen that the app might try to also read; heavily stylized text might not be recognized. The app attempts to deduplicate the recognized text to reduce text being read more than once, though you may still get some duplication. For longer videos, you might want to use a tripod or phone holder. Use the gear icon to change options and view help text. You can also use this to read closed captions. Perhaps you're watching a show with the volume off and only closed captioning turned on. You can use your iPhone and AirPods to have captions read just to you privately, so as to not disturb other people nearby. The In-App purchase items are only for the totally optional Tip Jar. For Support please visit http://ideaeng.com/texttalker This app does NOT record any user data, nor photos, nor video nor sound. This TextTalker should not be confused by the similarly named Text Talker by Smartbox Assistive; despite the names, they two programs are extremely different in use and should hopefully not confuse the intended audience.. Screenshots in the App store description use Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 content originating from UniverseToday.com

Ear Sonar is an accessibility app that helps people who are blind or have low vision sense nearby space. It uses the iPhone’s rear LiDAR to scan what’s ahead, then turns that depth into spatial audio—or haptics—so you can “hear” the environment. What you can hear • Distance: nearer sounds arrive sooner, denser, or higher in pitch; farther sounds are sparser and lower • Direction: binaural spatial audio places objects to your left or right • Shape cues: flat walls, slopes, and gaps create distinct sonic rhythms Four sensing modes • Echolocation: row-by-row pings outline space like sonar returns • Pitch sonar: a rising scan line encodes distance as pitch in real time • Continuous sonar: a fixed center line for a live depth profile while you walk • Haptic sonar: vibration timing encodes distance—no headphones required Semantic markers Optionally detect people, vehicles, dogs, chairs, tables, doors, and more, then announce them in stereo from their real-world direction. All processing stays on device; nothing is uploaded. Tips • Stereo headphones are recommended (Apple headphones with head tracking and spatial audio work best); haptic mode can be used without headphones • Full VoiceOver support, including gestures and the rotor • Requires an iPhone with LiDAR (iPhone 12 Pro and later Pro models) • This is an assistive tool—not a replacement for a cane, guide dog, or your own judgment when traveling Open the app and start hearing space. Camera preview is on by default so sighted helpers can see what’s being scanned. To keep the experience focused, the app intentionally avoids UI that isn’t essential to core sensing. Questions or suggestions: ninerwong@outlook.com