Oko - Cross streets and Maps

This app was recommended to me in August 2024 by my white cane trainer from the Virginia Department for the blind and visually impaired. It seemed to provide a decent functionality for crosswalk walk/don’t walk signals. I never got to test it in the challenging lighting conditions that gave me problems. When I went to experiment with it to see if it could handle Austrian signals, I find that it has moved from being free to a SUBSCRIPTION model. If the developer needed to make moat for development. they could have done a flat purchase price. Instead they want to continually pick the pockets of blind and visually impaired people who already face much additional cost and inconvenience in life. Perhaps if the developers had stuck to the crosswalk capability, they wouldn’t be facing development costs for the additional bloat. The awards this app garner and many positive reviews came before their switch to SUBSCRIPTION and would not have been received with this model. Doubtless, based on other negative reviews, the developer will spend time and money on making a response, further increasing their “need” for a SUBSCRIPTION model.

This app is convenient, but not essential. In Jan ‘25 it just recently changed to a subscription model. However I can’t find any information about pricing on their website or in their app description. In any event, the app was good, But certainly not worth a subscription model. You guys have to realize it’s the kiss of death to offer subscriptions in this community. If you can’t find grants or other ways to fund your app, give up and put it up on GitHub as open source and move on to something else. Hope you are ready to be roasted on all the podcasts out there. And I don’t buy your model needs to be updated frequently. Traffic signals don’t change in the United States regularly because of the expense, the AI model is good enough for now. Sorry you don’t understand that having an app like this is not essential it’s a convenience and your subscription is simply not worth it. Before you run out of funds and turn off the lights for the last time, I hope you do make it open sore so others can contribute to the work you started.

I wanted something like this for a long time. Since I can’t see the crossing signals, I would typically use my Magnifier app to locate and magnify the signal so I can see it and then when it’s safe to cross now, this app picks up the signal well before I reach the curb and let me know what the current state of the crossing signal is when a single changes to walk, I am immediately notified and can proceed across the street as long as the camera can focus on the signal the application quickly communicates changes in the crossing signal. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER FOR TGE SAFETY OF BLIND AND LOW VISION USERE EVERY WHERE!!!!!!! Thank you for defending this app.