Talking compass vs DeScribe
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Talking compass
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Know your direction without looking at your phone. Talking Compass is a simple, high-contrast compass that speaks your direction and guides you using sound and haptics. Perfect for hands-free use, outdoor adventures, and accessibility. FEATURES • Spoken Direction Hear your heading in real time with customisable speech modes. • North Finder Guided feedback helps you align perfectly with North. • Heading Lock Lock your direction and get alerts if you go off course. • Directional Haptics Feel your direction with unique vibration patterns for each direction. • Haptics Only Mode Use vibration-only feedback for silent navigation. • Adaptive Speech More guidance when moving, less when still. • High Contrast Design Clear, bold interface for visibility in bright conditions. • Built for Accessibility Large tap targets and full VoiceOver support. Simple!
DeScribe
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DeScribe turns your iPhone's camera into a set of talking tools for blind and low‑vision users. Point the camera at something and DeScribe tells you what it is — out loud, instantly, and entirely on your device. There's nothing to set up and nothing to sign into. Open the app and tap one of eight large, clearly‑labelled buttons: • SCAN — Point at a barcode or QR code. DeScribe finds it, then reads the product name, brand, size, and allergens aloud. QR codes (websites, Wi‑Fi, contacts, phone numbers) are recognised and spoken too. • COLOUR — Ask your camera what colour something is. Choose how much detail you want, from simple names like "blue" to precise ones like "burgundy — a dark red." It turns the torch on automatically in dim light and honestly says "too dark" rather than guessing. • COMPARE — Check whether two things match. Sample one colour, then another, and hear the verdict — a match, or which way they differ ("close, but the second is lighter"). • MONEY — Hold a banknote in view and hear its value and currency. Recognises British pounds, euros, and US dollars. It only speaks once it's sure, so it never calls out the wrong amount. • READ TEXT — Point at a letter, label, or menu and tap Capture. DeScribe reads the text aloud, with play, pause, and the current word highlighted for low‑vision reading. • DISPLAY — Read digital displays that ordinary text recognition struggles with: microwave clocks, oven timers, thermometers, bathroom scales. Hold the phone square on and hear the digits once the reading is steady. • LIGHT — A sound that rises in pitch as it gets brighter. Sweep your phone around a room to find a window, a lamp, or the light on a charger — no sight needed. • PHOTO — Choose a photo and drag a finger over it to hear the colour under your fingertip, or ask for a summary of the whole picture's colours. BUILT FOR THE WAY YOU USE YOUR PHONE DeScribe works beautifully with VoiceOver, and just as well without it — when VoiceOver is off, the app speaks everything itself. Big touch targets, full Dynamic Type support, and clear high‑contrast text throughout. HONEST BY DESIGN Telling you the wrong colour or the wrong banknote is worse than saying nothing. DeScribe is built to stay quiet when it isn't sure, and to tell you plainly when the light is too poor or a note can't be read. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything happens on your iPhone. There are no accounts, no adverts, and no analytics. The camera is never recorded or uploaded. The only time DeScribe uses the internet is to look up a scanned barcode's product details; nothing about you is sent. Requires iPhone running iOS 16 or later. Every feature works on any supported iPhone.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: DeScribe at 16.0 against Talking compass's 26.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | Talking compass | DeScribe |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Steven Johnson | Sensory App House Ltd |
In-app purchases
Talking compass
No in-app purchases
DeScribe
No in-app purchases









