Comparison

Hear the Light vs ToBe SAID

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

Head to head
About

Hear the Light

This app transforms light into sound, enabling users to "hear" brightness and locate light sources. It's designed for individuals with vision loss, offering features like color recognition and vibration feedback.

Highlights
  • Light to sound conversion
  • Detects small indicator lights
  • Fast response time
  • Vibration feedback
  • Color recognition
  • Adjustable sensitivity
  • VoiceOver accessibility
Features
Read full description

Hear the Light turns light into sound, so you can "hear" where brightness is around you. It was designed from the ground up for people with vision loss. Point your device's back camera in any direction and listen to a tone that rises as the light gets stronger. This makes it easy to find a window, check whether a lamp is on, or tell if a device has an indicator light lit. What makes it stand out: It detects even very small device lights — such as the LED on a router, a TV on standby, or a charger. Of all the apps of this kind we have tested, it is the only one that reliably picks them up. For very faint lights, the room should be dark so they stand out from any other lighting. Extremely fast response: the tone changes instantly as you move the device, noticeably faster than other similar apps. Features: Vibration feedback with variable intensity, independent of sound: use sound, vibration, or both together. Ideal if you have trouble hearing. (Vibration requires an iPhone.) Colour recognition: hear the basic colour of a small light, for example red, green or blue. It is a helpful guide, with best results in a dark room, close to the light. Two sound modes: continuous tone or pulses. Three sensitivity levels, affecting both the sound and the vibration. Light intensity shown in lux (estimate), spoken aloud with a single tap. Built-in user guide. Fully accessible with VoiceOver. Two languages, Greek and English, adapting automatically to your device's language. Privacy first: It does not collect any personal data. No internet connection required. No advertising, no tracking. The camera is used only to measure light — it does not take or store photos. Note: the lux reading and the colour recognition are estimates based on the device's camera and may not always be exact.

About

ToBe SAID

This app provides a high-performance, offline AI voice generator and system-wide Text-to-Speech engine for enhanced privacy. It transforms documents and books into natural-sounding audiobooks, integrating seamlessly with your existing reading and productivity applications.

Highlights
  • Offline AI voice generation
  • System-wide Text-to-Speech engine
  • Convert EPUB/PDF to audiobooks
  • Seamless integration with other apps
  • Clone and create personal voices
  • 100% local processing for privacy
Features
Read full description

Your Voice. Your Device. Your Privacy. ToBe SAID gives your iPhone, iPad, and Mac natural AI voices that run on the device itself. It is a system-wide Text-to-Speech (TTS) engine: once installed, its voices appear in your system voice list, so VoiceOver, Spoken Content, and any app that can use system voices can speak with them. No servers. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. ToBe SAID is a voice provider, not a reading app. It works together with the apps you already use: your e-book reader, your PDF viewer, your AAC communication app, or the system's own Speak features. TRY IT IN SECONDS Open the app, type some text, and hear it instantly. The English voices are ready the moment you install. Other languages need a one-time voice download, and after that they work fully offline: on a plane, on a train, or anywhere without a signal. WHAT YOU GET, FREE • 4 natural English voices • 2 natural voices in each of 14 other languages • All voices work system-wide, in every app that lists system voices • Works offline after the one-time voice download • No ads and no in-app purchases HEAR YOUR OWN VOICE Voice cloning preview: import a short audio file (MP3, WAV, OGG, and other popular formats, any length: ToBe SAID trims it automatically; 15 seconds is all it needs) and hear your clone speak inside the app. In this free app, the clone is a preview and stays inside the app. WANT TO KEEP YOUR CLONES? ToBe SAID Pro is a separate app with the same voices, plus an unlimited voice library: save as many cloned voices as you like and use them in every app that uses system voices. 15 LANGUAGES English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Estonian, Korean, Hindi, Indonesian, Greek, Turkish. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything runs on your device. Your text and your audio files stay with you. Only clone your own voice or voices you have permission to use.

Screenshots

Hear the Light4 screens
ToBe SAID3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ToBe SAID at 5.0 against Hear the Light's 4.7. Hear the Light's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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

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

ToBe SAID holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Hear the Light versus ToBe SAID: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHear the LightToBe SAID
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB172 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStelios PlatsisBakhtiar Lukman

Customer experience

Hear the Light

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ToBe SAID

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Hear the Light

No in-app purchases

None

ToBe SAID

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hear the Light free?
Hear the Light is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ToBe SAID free?
ToBe SAID is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hear the Light or ToBe SAID?
ToBe SAID is rated higher. Hear the Light averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while ToBe SAID averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Hear the Light or ToBe SAID have ads?
Neither Hear the Light nor ToBe SAID shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hear the Light or ToBe SAID?
Hear the Light ships an update every 3 days, and ToBe SAID every 3 days. Most recently, Hear the Light was updated on October 25, 2026 and ToBe SAID on October 24, 2026.

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