Press Play & This Article!
US adults spend 3 hours and 35 minutes per day using mobile apps, according to the 2018 eMarketer study. Lets face it… Outside of social media, apps that help us wheelers navigate our WORLD is major!
Which apps are actually worth taking up that precious space on our phones? I searched the internet, as well as the iPhone App store, looking for Wheelchair Accessible/navigational apps that are set up just for us wheelers. Here is what I have found so far, plus the PROs and CONs of the apps.
Full disclaimer, I am an iPhone user… so this review is written from that perspective. Feel free to write me and tell me the Android experience differs.
Criteria:
Share:
User friendly:
Is it simple and easy to use?
Depth:
How much info is actually provided in the app? Maps, special features, detailed info…
Response:
Do they give the opportunity for feedback, customer service, or tech support?
Sharing:
Are you able to share a location that you have found with your friends via text, email, etc.?
High Performance:
How durable is the app, does it crash often or does it work flawlessly?
Compatible:
This has to be the easiest review ever… unfortunately. The look and sleekness is phenomenal. Looks to be extremely easy to get started. However…
Well it was easy navigating through the screens… of the 3 different ways to join.
Unsure.
Well, I did send a message via the APPLE APP store, nothing in response…
Do not know.
It never froze or blinked and crashed, no matter how many times during the month I opened it. It also never let me join —- “Server Error” or blank selection page.
What Was Your Experience?
Compatible:
Really simple and no confusion on how to get to the section your desire.
Rarely did I find pictures showing the entrance or even where parking and a ramp is located.
It does provide an estimated cost of the activity or restaurant, but doesn’t allow for a “price range”.
The “location button”, either is not a button or does not work at all. You still have to type in your location… Disappointed on that note. For me, its key that an app can find my exact location. While putting in a city is fine, in a big city that I am new to, this does not help. Atlanta is huge, too huge to intake the entire city. Other apps can locate me, when I allow, and show a tighter radius of places truly near me.
Love, love, love the “filter”! I must say it is one, if not the best filter in an app by far.
You can rate and write a review of the app via APPLE APP store.
The “Report To Admin” is to me a BLANK OPTION. I say this because it is a one click option and you can not state a reason for reporting something to the admin. Plus…I did not receive a follow up email or contact as of yet.
Does allow you to share : Text, Mail, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Etc.
No crashing issues, it loads and uploads posts fast too. I did however have a few issues with it freezing up, rare, but happen a few times.
What Was Your Experience?
Compatible:
Extremely user friendly, as if they took a page from Steve Jobs himself. I flew through this app adding and searching without any confusion.
Note: If reading distance in kilometers drives you crazy… Go to MORE -> MY SETTINGS -> UNITS -> click MILES
Real time locator button and refresh, makes this app just what you need on the go! Click the “show list” or zoom out with two fingers on the touch screen. Shows the distance and rating, even has a map of the area surrounding the place you have selected from the list.
Greatness in the simple rating system: Accessible, Partially Accessible, Patio Access Only, Not Accessible.
Would have liked an option to upload pictures, but the abundance of written instructions for accessibility… is far more then ample enough to paint a vivid picture.
Phone numbers and full addresses on a large majority of the places are a huge plus!
While they do not offer a “price range” option, you can place the range in the description. It would be a welcomed addition to the app, so you can see this info in the selection list.
They are very timely and are fully aware of issues or growth needs in their app.
Full range of sharing options, with-in the app even! Note: When sending a text message, make sure you have the person you want to send to open in your text app. It will automatically place the info in a message to the last person you texted.
Absolutely no issues on this front! In fact, it opens and runs flawlessly every time I used it.
I noticed at the start that most of the places were over 600 miles away from where I live. Even Canada made the list! However, I am adding "more n' more" and I see other wheelers with this app near me doing the same. With in a month, many new places started populating! They must be doing a good job pushing this crowd sourcing app.
I noticed that most of the places were over 600 miles away from where I live. Even Canada made the list. However, I am adding more and more and I see other wheelers with the app near me are doing the same. With in a month, many new places started populating! They must be doing a good job pushing this crowd sourcing app.
What Was Your Experience?
Compatible:
I was blown away on how easy and very simple it is to move through this app getting exactly what I want, exactly how I need to have it. Symbols, walk through actions, even tips right on the map. Change language, font size, and even the color theme!
No issues here… Mark the kind of access you need, find the place you want, and rate the place. Add new places, pictures, and full description. Since it is Google driven… All the places I have ventured had the full address and operating hours. Pics of accessible points galore and if that is not enough, 3D street view of the location for you to see yourself… courtesy of Google!
Never found anything in the app that directly allows you to contact them. I must say though, not sure if you would need it. Out side of it glitching, which it never did, I cant find a reason to contact them. You could always go to the app store and send something that way.
Sharing is weird, no one click button to social media or text…but if you click on the link located on each place, you can then share however you like. For iPhone users, use the normal share button.
Never ever did I have one issue with freezing or crashing and I pushed this app hard. Using it as much as I could to even look up places to go on an up and coming trip. Staying in the app for a solid 30+ mins and not once did it blink.
What Was Your Experience?
Google Maps
Even though this is an “app”, it is not made for just us wheelers. However it does have the option to search for wheelchair accessibility. We already reported on this, so click on the button below to quickly see how to utilize this feature.
Honorable Mentions
AccessibleGo
As much as there is a need for hotel booking sites to get better at actually and thoroughly showing accessible rooms, this “app”… is still off the mark. While I love that they have taken the time to find and present these hotels on a web based app, it just feels like a regular booking site. Vague descriptions and low to no picks showing accessibility. I would just think that someone in our position would be show loads of pics from each room or room design. I am happy someone is addressing this need though.
Mapp4All
My spanish is a bit rusty, but even if I could translate at 100%… It freezes up too often to use. It does give a healthy amount of written info, but no visual for majority of the places.
AccessAble
This app would be great! Love the style and it would seem to be very easy to use. Only issue is that this app – is or was made for the UK, apparently. No matter what I did, it kept telling me that it could not find a match or location on the map- near me -that I just clicked on. I do hope the company broadens this apps range to the US and the rest of the world!
