Hey HN! After months of work and over 1000 hours of research, design & development, we just released BeAware, an open-source & free Deaf Assistant iPhone app!
- 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.
OMG Yes, thank you for your comment! You're right! That's exactly why we have added the ability to "Mark alert as critical" so that it will increase priority and provide notification even if your phone is in Do Not Disturb or Focus mode
> - 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!
In what way is this an improvement over the functionality that's built right into iOS 14+?
Thank you for your comment u/ThePowerOfFuet
Great question! Currently the sound recognition doesn't just measure "loud noises" or allow you to set a threshold above which to be alerted. You have to currently specify which sounds to select, and then the accuracy of those are also not that great. This app behaves like "alerting devices" that Deaf users currently pay to purchase, having to purchase and manage another gadget.
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!
> 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!
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!
Thank you so much for your comment! Yes, that functionality is meant for people who aren't comfortable speaking or just mute. It would work perfectly for your case too!
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
Oh yes you're right, thank you so much for your comment!
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.
Thank you for your enthusiastic and positive responses in this thread to constructive criticism. It's easy to get defensive about one's baby (software baby in this case), and it's refreshing to see someone so focused on getting it right, not on proving they're right.
Jade thank you! I feel like I have this amazing opportunity to learn from everyone, from all around the world, so I might as well encourage more people to comment so I can learn from everyone's knowledge and experience :)
Hey Davide thank you for your comment! Currently it just helps you BeAware of all noises that hit the noise threshold (60-90 decibels) that you set on your phone. We want to use ML in the next version to allow users to select what sounds they want to be alerted to "Baby Crying", "Fire Alarm", "Microwave beeping", etc.
> Apart from being free, the app is open source and available here, so we would like to continue being the best with community input and support.
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”
It’s been pre-sherlocked. The feature exists, only with different sounds (doorbell, barking, fire alarm etc.) I don’t know why this fact isn’t acknowledged (as far as I can see). For those users unaware of the native features, it’s a disservice. And for those that know, it leaves them wondering how the two interact, and if it isn’t maybe a little petty not to mention it.
Exactly, the app is a compliment to the native "Sound Recognition", they don't step on each other's toes. We don't 100% endorse that functionality because we don't want to be liable for inaccuracies or weaknesses in that functionality
> 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.
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.
Jade! Yo thank you so much for helping everyone here be more educated about using the right terminology. We all have a lot of learning to do, the other day I learnt to use "wheelchair user" instead of the commonly mistaken "wheelchair bound" terminology
GP here. This is a late reply, but I wanted to thank you for pointing that out. It was an inappropriate choice of word and I should’ve spent a little more time thinking before writing.
Thank you for your comment! Great question that I should have mentioned in my comment, 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 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! :)
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.
Thanks for doing this project and I hope it works out for you! I am frequency deaf and have always wanted an app that could alert me to a nearby rattlesnake when I am out hiking as I can’t hear them very well. From reading that would probably be a paid feature later down the road but one I would certainly pay for!
Holy moly thats a great idea, thanks for your comment! I will provide this functionality for free for you (and everyone else if its not too difficult) if you can help me test it, so I can figure out the science. I kinda have an idea, because I have studied the science behind sounds quite a bit. Can you reach out to me at hi@deafassistant.com ?
Hi. Just some feedback. When I click the icon for Android download it takes me to a feedback page with no way to download the app. Searching for the app in the Canadian Play Store there are dozens of apps called BeAware none of which appear to be yours.
Hey Jemm from Canada! The app is currently only available for iOS right now. We haven't built it for Android yet since the app is free. So the form is for us to see how many people would actually download it if we build it for Android.
So please fill out the form with your info, and share the form with anyone who would also want it for Android.
We are also looking to add more languages, but we need help from volunteers to verify those translations. So feel free to message us through the app or email us at hi@deafassistant.com !
Thank you for your comment! 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! So please share it with your friends so we can make the dream a reality! :)
I know!! I wish I had infinite time and money, so I could just build apps that would be useful for people! :)
Please fill out the form on the website so if I get at least 100 interested android users, I will go ahead and start building that as well
@_ink_ it is definitely possible to add that feature too. I think our focus is on the 90% of uses, but is that something that would be helpful for you?
@Vladimof thanks for your comment, it's an app for the deaf. Though a lidar object detection app for the blind would be awesome. Have you seen something like that already?
- 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.