Show HN: Thanks to BeAware, Deaf iPhone users have a free alerting device (OSS)
deafassistant.com
deafassistant.com
- BeAware uses the in-built hardware to alert Deaf users of knocks on doors, baby crying for a deaf moms, sirens blaring for deaf delivery drivers. Earlier deaf users would have to purchase a separate "alerting devices" which would vibrate or flash LED's, something that they can do with this app now, even while it's running in the background in low power mode!
- The app also performs highly performant Speech To Text in ~15 languages, even without an internet connection, designed to work great in the time of the pandemic. (Includes Arabic, Ukrainian, Chinese Simplified & Traditional, Spanish, French, ...)
- The notepad feature allows users to type, or use pre-written phrases to display text to others who don't know ASL. It's super unique to where it allows the Deaf user to dictate the text through active audio and video calls!
The app was designed to make their everyday lives easier and more inclusive. We'd love to get your feedback, and for your to share it with your friends :) Just tap the download button on the website. We plan to add AR and ML to the app if we get some traction & interest to enhance the deaf experience.
It might sound counterintuitive, but some HoH (hard of hearing) users might actually be listening to media in the foreground when a noise triggers a background alert. They might have headphones or might have audio piped to aids over BT. So, it might make sense to pause foreground media, if that's possible, in order to let the user shift focus to the alerting noise, ideally isolating and amplifying the noise a little and sending it to the phone's audio output. Aids do this to some extent but maybe not when media is playing.
In what way is this an improvement over the functionality that's built right into iOS 14+?
https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/sound-recognition-iph...
How are you paying for the development and maintenance given that the app is free and claims not to gather personal information of any sort?
Great question, if the app is open-source and free, we don't have ads, we collect no information, how do we make money? We are hoping to hit >10k active monthly users and a organically growing user base to justify putting in more time and personal money to create an AR module and an "Experience" module that uses Machine Learning. We hope to provide those as freemium features because those will require significantly more time to add, but will be an absolute game changer to Deaf Tech!
> baby crying for a deaf moms
Or a deaf dad. Nowadays it's not just women handling babies. "a deaf parent" would get you covered :-)
(could also target babysitters)
Sorry it was past midnight & did this post really quick because I didn't think this post would pick up at all! Lol but yes, parents, baby sitters, deaf grand parents, etc.
I'm really interested in this feature - I have no hearing impairment, but with most colds, I get extremely long-lasting & severe laryngitis to the point where I'm effectively mute for a month at a time afterwards (though this hasn't been an issue since the pandemic started because I've been in isolation and not gotten sick). Prior to the pandemic I was actually considering learning some ASL to be able to communicate when I have laryngitis but this seems like a much easier solution. For phone calls, I could have a brief preset message explaining the situation and that I will be typing my responses and using TTS, and then I'm able to use the phone again. This looks fantastic!
Are you planning to release an android version?
We want to release an android version asap, we just need more early access/Beta sign ups to the form on our website. Since this is all open-source voluntary for now, it's a huge investment of time and effort
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/iphone/iphf2dc33312/io...
This is great. As a non-deaf person (as of today), I will be checking this out because such apps and features could be helpful for ordinary people too. How do you plan to keep this free though? Is it going to become freemium in the future?
Apple has done a lot for accessibility in its operating systems, but improvements are always welcome. Some of the features in this app may be Sherlocked [1] by Apple in the near future.
Edit: I found a typo in the info screen that’s shown when the app is launched (or when the info page is visited from the menu). I don’t have a GitHub account, hence mentioning it here. There’s a “you” (“into you your live phone calls”) that shouldn’t be there in this section:
> “Text - BeAware is the only app that can read text loud into you your live phone calls, assisted by customizable preset phrases”
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_(software)#Sherlock...
Settings > Accessibility > Sound Recognition
It appears this app does have alerting based on decibel thresholds, which iOS lacks.
We are hoping to hit >10k active monthly users and an organically growing user base to justify putting in more time and personal money to create an AR module and an "Experience" module that uses Machine Learning. We hope to provide those as freemium features because those will require significantly more time to add, but will be an absolute game changer to Deaf Tech! So please share it with your friends so we can make the dream a reality! :)
Ah Sherlocking! That's a great question. There's no guarantee obviously, you got to take risks. The biggest one is if you put in so much work but no uses the app at all. If I got sherlocked, I would take it as a compliment, that I made something worth being sherlocked! :D
Dude thank you for catching that bug, I will push out an update today! :)
While the intention behind the post is clearly good, and I like your emphasis—in the spirit of "accessibility helps everyone", a message that always bears repeating—I would encourage you to stick with "non-deaf" (as you did at first) instead of "ordinary" as the opposite of deaf.
I am always glad to see more accessibility in software.
For regular (non-disabled user base) apps, it’s quite possible to make apps accessible, but it’s something that should be planned from the beginning (same with localization).
I do it with almost all my apps. Pretty simple, if you integrate it from the start.
One tool that I always suggest, is Sim Daltonism[0]. It’s a great way to ensure that we don’t rely on color alone, as a UI feedback axis.
I use it all the time, though.
I was just using it this morning.
Until then, I didn't realize how life-changing video calling can be for some people.
So please fill out the form with your info, and share the form with anyone who would also want it for Android.
We are hoping to hit >10k active monthly users and a organically growing user base to justify putting in more time and personal money to create an AR module and an "Experience" module that uses Machine Learning. We hope to provide those as freemium features because those will require significantly more time to add, but will be an absolute game changer to Deaf Tech! So please share it with your friends so we can make the dream a reality! :)