VoiceVista

I'll check this out and give feedback.

i don't know about yu, but for me, "street preview" was the true game changing feature of the original soundscape. imagine as a blind person can effectively learn the street layout of a new place like reading a map, and know the place well, like one has been living there for a while. hell, one can even learn old places, because let's be honest...when you are blind, sometimes you really don't know what you've been missing even though the thing is right in front of your face.
this is a good start, and i trust the developer understands the value of "street preview", and we can see it in subsequent updates shortly.

I downloaded the app and faced some problems:
1. Although I can change the language of the app, neither the interface nor the voice changes: living in Italy but using the iPhone in English, the app reads me the names with the English voice and not the Italian one.
2. Despite having given consent to location and fitness tracking data, in every tab the words 'To browse nearby places, access to location is required' appear.
Finally a question: Which map services does the app rely on? Would it be possible to integrate it with Google Maps?
Thanks.

It's slow at the moment when it comes to finding places to go to and i'd like a catigory selection but I'm liking the app so far.

I've not walked with it yet but wouldn't be surprised if there's a podcast on the way about this app and hopefully someone will walk with it.

There are updates in the version 1.0.1 as follows:

- Remove unnecessary permission requirement text to avoid confusing
- Add sleeping and snoozing modes to conserve battery
- Implement a street preview feature to allow virtual exploration
- Introduce a search feature to facilitate exploration of distant places

Still try to catch up the original Soundscape's full feature set in the future versions.

I've not downloaded the update but that was quick and very impressive.

Does anyone know how to go about changing the voice used for announcements? Right now, it's using an Australian voice, and I'd like to change it, but I can't find anything in the app's settings for this.

Also, does anyone know if this is the same or a different app than OpenScape, an app I saw discussed a while ago on AppleVis which was supposed to be a SoundScape replacement? It was in beta the last time I heard about it.

Thanks,
Shersey

For google map annoncements, we go to siri voices and change. So check out that setting and see. Openscape is a different app. After the update, Voicevista is almost similar to Soundscape. Took it for a spin yesterday.

My Siri voice is the British female one, and VoiceVista isn't using that.

Thanks,
Shersey

Indeed, it does not seem to be possible to Change the voice at this time.
The other thing I’m not sure is there is the head tracking headphones feature. While it does of course have 3D audio with announcements coming from different directions, I don’t think it tracks the direction your head is facing, as SoundScape and OpenScape do with compatible headphones like AirPods. Or at least I don’t recall it asking me to enable this.
Whereas OpenScape is a direct clone of SoundScape, Voice Vista has designed their own user interface. Some features have been missing early on, but updates seem to be coming fast, and I guess it even has the potential to add things that the others don’t have.
Dave

1) Checking through Settings, I was expecting to see an option that would let me select the map -- Google or Apple -- in order to see which one of the two might work best for me. How and where do I set it?
2) Which navigation app does VoiceVista support?
3) Will there be a user guide to help better understand how best to operate this app? The FAQss are a right step in the right direction but I am still a little unsure.
Thanks for all the hard work you put into this.

Later versions may have it.

Everything works fine. A question. But how do you use for example google maps with VoiceVista? That is, among the updates you wrote that there is integration with Google Maps. How to use it?

The option to choose Google or Apple maps is so welcome.
On the other hand, the Portuguese translation could see some revisions, it's sounding kinda weird right now.
Other than that, fantastic app!
What do you folks think is the best, google or apple? I'm gonna try both the next days but wanted to see people's opinion.

I've looked everywhere I can think of but the option doesn't appear to be there.

When you tap the marker link shared from VoiceVista by your friends, the App will be started to ask you to import that mark.

p.s. A new version will allow to import markers from Soundscape. Please wait a few days. LoL

I was only ever an occasional user of SoundScape, but when I needed it I loved using it. I finally got to give Voice Vista a decent go and I get exactly the same feeling again. It is wonderful. And listening to the interview with the dev on here, I love it even more. I love the little improvements it has too - the interface makes a lot more sense now it behaves like a proper iOS app.

The only very small thing I noticed was that there didn't seem to be a category for shops and I couldn't really figure out where they lived. I think under Facilities I just had a lot of benches. They were probably under the App places list, I just didn't end up going there. I thought I would try OpenScape to compare but it doesn't really have any categories yet.

I wish Bose hadn't discontinued head tracking on their frames. Using my Bose frames with head tracking was a great feature of SoundScape, but probably not worth asking for support of a product that has been discontinued.

Anyway, I really just wanted to write this to express my gratitude to the author. Amazing what he is able to do in his spare time.

- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Callout of mobility related places in the surroundings
- Generation of reversed routes for backward walking

Hi,
I do look forward to more extensively exploring the surrounding with VoiceVista. However, I noticed that there is a discrepancy in the version number given on my iPhone SE 2022, running iOS 16.6. I updated to 1.0.9. After rebooting the iPhone I still see 1.0.8 when opening it among the ones recently updated whereas it shows as 1.0.9 among the "purchased" ones. What can or do I need to do to have both versions correspond and reflect 1.0.9? And most importantly, which version is currently running? I am stumped, for I have never seen such a discrepancy before.
--Cordelia

With this new feature, turn by turn navigation, which was the feature that was always missing in Soundscape, this app is really beautiful. Compliments!
A question. But where does the turn by turn information come from? Do they depend on the user's choice between Google Maps or Apple Maps?

as title

I really appreciate this feature ie turn by turn navigation in voicevista.

Hello as the subject says
SoundScape with asteroids but becoming in BlindSquare but sometimes is annoy to much talk without given options to turn off.
for example every cross st that pass keep saying the city where you are
frequently announcing the street address.
but not all is bud one thing I really like is the turn by turn navigation in routes

1. Go to settings tab, there is a switch for "Abbreviated Name of Address", turn off to disable street name automatically callout.

2. Or change the slider under this switch to adjust the callout rate.

Hello nothing to do street callout with city and street address.
I am referring at when cross any street intersection callout the city name and also when you are walking in a street frequently announcing only the number for example 1000 then seconds later 954 and so on
the switch that you are talking is to Abbreviated Name streets
for example for long name streets
100%
North Las Vegas Blvd
80%
North Las Vegas
and so on.

Thank you, Dr. Wu, for making VoiceVista better and better! I truly enjoy using it.

I use mapping apps occasionally, but I mostly go to work, go home, go to familiar places on the weekends with family and friends where I am often driven.
When I was younger, I could have used mapping apps more frequently, but iDevices, and the internet did not exist then.
Anyway, this week I went to a convention which was in a huge hotel that encompassed a golf course. All the buildings were in a huge circle, facing the golf course, with parking lots in the back. The whole setup was over one hundred acres.
I am used to hotels with maybe two buildings. But this one, in addition to all the places where your room might be, had a conference center on the other side of the parking lots. There were no sidewalks. Additionally, sighted people said the signage was poor so they had trouble finding anything as well. Attendees described it as a country club, and it reminded me of a business park.
I was at a convention for professionals who serve disabled students in hire education with only a few other blind people, and nearly every attendee had a car.
My guide dog and I were so, so lost. For the first two days I had someone guide and/or drive me everywhere. And even they had to drive around and around to locate a place we needed to go. Then I remembered a friend had recommended VoiceVista.
What a game changer. I marked the places where I relieved my dog, my room, friend's buildings, the hotel lobby and of course the conference center. Now, guided by the beacon, I could cut across the golf course on foot to get places almost faster than those stuck in their cars!
My sighted husband had always said that a true GPS lets hikers and sailors easily navigate terrain or ocean with no geo-coding, but I found if I wasn't at a place where I could navigate to a specific address, I couldn't use navigation apps. Now, that's no longer true. I can mark where my tent is at the campsite, or my chair at a picnic, or my husband's car. And I can go hiking around and easily return. This is so awesome.

Is that there's a VoiceChat group, but the link in settings just opens What's App. Don't have any idea how to find the particular group.

What is the difference between these, and how do I invoke them for what purpose? Thanks.

- Importing BlindSquare Backup
- Customize shake motion response
- Customize auto-mute distance for beacons
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

- Merge features of Assistant tab to Surroundings tab
- Call out city of street when in vehicle
- Call out street name in What's My Location
- Allow to turn on/off Intersections and Transportation info separately
- Translation updates in German, Russian, and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Danil Kostenkov, and Enrique Varela

Hi,

First off, I can't thank the developer enough for this incredible revamp of the Microsoft Soundscape app! This is without doubt the best navigation app I have used so far.

I'm a bit confused by the new options for calculating the path. For example, if I start navigating somewhere and select the transit option rather than walking, what difference does this make to the directions I will receive? It doesn't seem like the app has public transit information available i.e. "take this bus number to this location", at least not in my area. I'm also not sure of the difference between using the last waypoint only" or each waypoint separately when starting a route. Could anyone shed any light on what these options actually mean?

Thanks for any help.

It based on Apple Maps data and algorithm.

If using the last waypoint, the path calculation will just use the destination to find path for this whole route.

If using each waypoint separately, the path calculation will split to multiple steps, each step just use the next waypoint as the destination. Switch to next waypoint to find path after you arrived the current waypoint.

- Places offline searching and markers filtering
- Wizard style UI for navigation parameters
- Translation updates in German, Italian, Russian and Spanish by Sandra Pilz, Simone Dal Maso, Danil Kostenkov and Enrique Varela

Hi,

Thanks for the response regarding the path calculation.

I'm still not entirely clear on the transit mode option. If I were to select public transit rather than walking, for example, what difference would this make to the beacon and the directions I would receive? s far as I'm aware VoiceVista doesn't have any local public transit data.

Also, I have noticed that the monitoring function (an amazing feature by the way!) seems to require VoiceVista to be in the foreground in order for it to kick in and start monitoring. It doesn't seem to work if the app is running in the background and the phone is locked, unlike the wakeup when I leave feature. Is this a bug with monitoring, or is it intentional behaviour?