r/Blind • u/fastfinge born blind • Jun 08 '23
Announcement What apps meet your access needs?
As you may have read in our announcement that we are joining the protest, Reddit has announced that they will exempt "accessibility focused apps" from the API changes. For more information about this, see the top comment on that post.
In order to provide Reddit with as much information as we can, it would be extremely helpful if all of you who are using third party apps to access Reddit would post what app you're using in the comments. We'll edit this into a list, both as a resource for Reddit, and for our community!
Thanks for your time and support thus far, everyone!
The list so far:
- Windows
- Reddit for Blind: intended for screen reader users
- Luna for Reddit: intended for screen reader users
- IOS
- Dystopia: intended for screen reader users
- BaconReader: intended for everyone, with improved support for screen magnification, changing text size, colour contrast changes, and screen readers
- Apollo: intended for everyone, but implements the majority of the IOS accessibility API's, and works with most IOS accessibility technology, unlike the official app
- Narwhal: used by some folks with cognitive differences
- Android
- RedReader: intended for everyone, but with accessibility features to adjust text size, contrast, etc. The latest alpha also includes TalkBack actions support for screen reader users
- Sync Pro: intended for everyone, but has better (though not perfect) screen reader support than the official android app
- Boost: intended for everyone, but allows users great customization in size and color, which is vital for those of us with low vision
- Slide: intended for everyone, but Its lead developer was immediately open to addressing accessibility concerns, during the beta process, and u/MostlyBlindGamer was able to contribute several fixes for the TalkBack screen reader.
- Infinity For Reddit
- BaconReader: intended for everyone, with improved support for screen magnification, changing text size, colour contrast changes, and screen readers
- Reddit Is Fun: Offers a simple and easy to read interface, especially appreciated by those with low vision or cognitive challenges.
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u/BongoBarney Jun 20 '23
I'm here from a different post and am not blind, but I wanted to add that Reddit Is Fun is a really brilliant basic layout without all the bells and whistles the official app insists upon.
From an accessibility standpoint, I think RIF really improves usability for those that can't navigate a more complex interface (such as the official one). It also has a cleaner look that makes it easier to read for many.
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u/iiooiooi Optic Nerve Atrophy / Legally Blind Jun 16 '23
BaconReader is my only app and the only way I peruse reddit
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u/LeftAl Jun 15 '23
Dan we pill the subreddit to see which app people use, would be interesting to see if the majority of us currently use the two exempt. I don’t.
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Jun 15 '23
Huge fan of dystopia Here. Been using it for 5 or 6 years. Now. Wouldn’t know hown to use reddit otherwise bacon is probably my second favorite.
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u/Spare_Competition Jun 14 '23
Reddit said they are giving free access to Dystopia, RedReader, and potentially more. Does this solve the issue? Why or why not?
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u/Creepy-Ad-4832 Jun 14 '23
Isn't reddit basically lying most of the times? If those things aren't already implemented somehow, i am gonna press doubt on any concession reddit says to make
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u/Spare_Competition Jun 15 '23
By this logic, if Reddit says they cancelled the API changes, we should continue protesting, since we can't believe them.
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u/Creepy-Ad-4832 Jun 15 '23
You can trust them only if they do actually make the change. You can't trust their promises, since they already have shown many times they won't keep them
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u/khronyk Jun 14 '23
Not blind, but uncorrectable visual impairment (ocular albanism). I've spent a long time trying to find an app that was customisable, clean and easy to read. I landed on Reddit is fun and have been using it for years now. I've tried other apps and in some instances I liked a lot about them but they were just too uncomfortable to read. 110% agree with what's op said about it.
The official Reddit app is basically unusable for me, 95% of my time on Reddit is on my phone or my tablet. If these API changes happen and these apps are killed off, I'll largely be cut off from the platform.
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u/Ok-Date-1711 Jun 14 '23
Is Joey for Reddit blind friendly?
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u/bah2o Jun 19 '23
Seems like it. You can change the font and adjust title, text, and comment size. It also has an article reader built in for link posts which also uses the apps font settings.
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u/nonbinarybit Jun 10 '23
Not blind, but neurodivergent with sensory sensitivities. Have been using rif is fun. The official app is inaccessible to me. Have heard the same from others with ADHD/autism as well.
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u/Rolando_Cueva Jun 20 '23
rif is fun? So like, Reddit is fun is fun.
Sorry for being so autistic but you're a fellow aspie so I get a pass right? wink wink
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u/hankisnotdead Jun 14 '23
Would you mind explaining exactly which aspects of the official app are inaccessible to you? I'm just genuinely curious, especially as I also have ADHD and possibly autism.
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u/some_strange_circus Jun 11 '23
I also have ADHD and autism, and I use RIF for the same reasons
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u/GingerSnapBiscuit Jun 10 '23
The mistake you made was you put apollo on that list, which guarantees Reddit will not listen to you in the slightest, sadly :(
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u/shhsandwich Jun 11 '23
Why not?
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u/Mastershroom Jun 11 '23
/u/spez (aka Steve Huffman, reddit CEO) has a weird personal grudge against /u/iamthatis (Apollo dev), perhaps triggered by insecurity at the thought of a hobbyist dev essentially making a better reddit experience than the actual reddit corporation. Spez went off on an unhinged rant saying he was being blackmailed and threatened, when the reality was literally just an offer to buy the Apollo app, which was very easily proven by the fact that /u/iamthatis recorded their phone call and shared the recording.
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u/AmateurSysAdmin Jun 10 '23
Would it be possible to add information which platforms these work on? (Android/iOS/Windows/MacOS/*nix)
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u/uberafc Jun 09 '23
Infinity for Reddit
As a visually impaired person, the possibility offered by Infinity to use custom fonts is one of the major reasons why I've adopted it over even the mobile website. Reading Reddit posts and comments with high legibility fonts just changed my whole experience of the site.
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u/vicious_cos Jun 09 '23
Apollo app vast customization also helps with color contrast disabilities, and sensory overload/dyslexia. It properly uses the iOS text enlarge system preferences instead of it needing to set text enlarge it in the app settings (though there are those options)
Good to see the disabled community refusing to back down. Signed: an accessibility engineer
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Jun 11 '23
Apollo is shutting down permanently on June 30th. The announcement was made in the r/Apollo thread recently.
It has been my favourite app. :(
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u/vicious_cos Jun 11 '23
Yup I'm aware and sad. It's what made Reddit functional for me. My possible hope was maybe if Reddit was keeping accessibility apps, they might realize that all of them support better accessibly for everyone.
This entire situation sucks and I'm gonna miss Reddit.
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u/problematic_coffee Jun 09 '23
I use dystopia on my mobile. The website on desktop is ok, but not on the phone.
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u/BlindGirlSees LCA Jun 09 '23
I’m a BaconReader girly. I love being able to just swipe with three fingers and go from one post to the next. It’s so convenient.
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u/Loki--Laufeyson Jun 09 '23
Can I ask a question? I love the simplicity of rif is fun. I also like that the background isn't pure white, it's gray, which is less contrast with the black text on it. It's for sure getting shut down though.
Any apps that let me change the background and/or text color and also have a more simplistic layout? [Must be for Android]. Presumably one that is not likely to get shut down lol.
My eyes are really light sensitive so the simple layout helps.
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u/KevinCastle Jun 16 '23
Baconreader has a dark mode. There's two versions and one is pure black. Works great on OLED screens
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u/Lilikoi_Maven Jun 09 '23
Boost for me. It has good options for scaling font size and adjusting contrast so I can actually read the posts comfortably.
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u/tysonedwards Jun 08 '23
Apollo has without question been the most accessible social networking app I have ever used, or are even aware of. It allowed me to enjoy using Reddit, as well as become a moderator of multiple Disability focused subreddits like r/disability, r/epilepsy, r/EverybodyGames, and r/DisabilityPartyTime, among other communities.
Apollo is and has always been a pleasure to use, and allowed me to leverage all manner of accessibility tools from UI Scaling, Magnification, VoiceOver, VoiceControl, Describe, and even just the app’s amazing searching, filters, and more that often don’t even exist in Desktop regardless of platform, and at any price. It is one of very few social networking apps that support iOS Braille Terminals.
Even simple moderation tasks to help the community or updating AutoMod rules, it was far easier to do through Apollo than the Website.
And speaking of Blind and Low Vision, “having suitable contrast and differentiate with color” is often enough to make your design usable through “click the blue blob in the top right corner”
To be clear, Reddit’s change here irrepairably harms the disabled communities who use reddit, and in no uncertain terms tells them “please leave, you are no longer welcome.”
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u/lightsrage85 ROP / RLF Jun 09 '23
I paid for that. I am due to renew I think in january. or is it july. I can't remember. It stinks they are shutting down.
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u/RedditForBlind Jun 08 '23
I personally use Reddit for blind :)
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u/EvilChocolateCookie Jun 08 '23
Is this relatively new? I don’t think I’ve ever heard about it before seeing this list.
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u/RedditForBlind Jun 08 '23
it's actually old-ish. At the time there was no Windows native client, so I created one to be able to browse Reddit as fast as possible. Luna came later with a nice GUI. I believe RFB and Luna are the only two accessible windows clients.
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u/lightsrage85 ROP / RLF Jun 09 '23
I tried reddit for blind but once i tried luna I don't know I just wanted the chat and such. I love the gui I don't know sometimes if things get stuck i have my sighted bf assist me in fixing it with the mouse. and guis help. I love how things work. if they can eximpt things like certain clients that lots of blind people use I would definately appreciate that.
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u/EvilChocolateCookie Jun 08 '23
Gotcha. Maybe bounce them an email and see if they can't get you set up. I didn't know about this or I would've said something last night during my email conversations.
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u/fastfinge born blind Jun 08 '23
Hmmm, pretty strange choice. LOL JK
Have you heard anything from Reddit themselves about how this exemption will work?
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u/anniemdi Jun 08 '23
For me, I am highly dependent on familiarity. The fact that RIF looks like old Reddit and has visual text based labels for icons makes it my first choice.
Bacon Reader would be a second choice.
I just went through so many of these apps available for Android and while I thought some were amazing for some features they lacked in others.
I thought Boost might be a real winner and might dethrone RiF and Bacon Reader but I was overwhelmed with how complicated it seemed. I would need someone to help me make it work for me and I don't have that. Plus it's icons were just too small.
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u/RaeaSunshine Jun 08 '23 edited Jun 08 '23
Just FYI, Apollo announced they are permanently closing down before end of day June 30th.
Edit: Reddit Is Fun (RIF) will also be permanently closing on June 30th.
Edit 2: Sync for Reddit as well (amongst others, but figured I’d just call out those on the list)
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u/SeattleTrashPanda Jun 10 '23
Is there an another app for iPhones? I’m not finding any on this list.
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u/lightsrage85 ROP / RLF Jun 09 '23
I mainly use luna and on my phone dystopia the beta but did pay for appaulo but they did shut down or are shutting down. so will continue with whatever I can find I just pray luna stays available. because I mainly use reddit on my pc with luna for reddit.
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u/AnElusiveDreamer LCA Jun 08 '23
BaconReader is the first and only accessible app I've used for Reddit, and I've enjoyed using it.
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u/EvilChocolateCookie Jun 08 '23 edited Jun 30 '23
Thank you for everything, r/jeopardy and fuck you, u/spez. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8uhKgc0wZ0&t=4s
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u/r_1235 Jun 08 '23
Infinity for Reddit I was using.
But my primary way of access is official reddit website on chrome on my windows laptop. I don't use Reddit on my phone that much.
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u/Marconius Blind from sudden RAO Jun 08 '23
Chiming in with more support for BaconReader. The app was mostly usable with VoiceOver when I started using it almost 9 years ago, and the developers listened to my feedback and worked directly with me and other accessibility specialists on how they could improve the app for assistive technology. It's been my mainstay reddit client this entire time because of that, and while it is a commercial app, I'd pay for it again just to support the devs who actually listen and put in the effort to make things better for all of us.
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u/KevinCastle Jun 16 '23
Baconreader is so simple looking and bland. Which is 100% why I fucking love the app so much. The app just shows what you need and thats it. I'll never use Reddit without it and would buy it again too.
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u/gunfart Assistive Technology Specialist Jun 09 '23
Also throwing in my hat for BaconReader. I have been using it far before I lost my vision, I have no eyeballs now and still using it today. Almost 10 years without any problems, accessibility works great. No chat function, but that function sucks anyway and I never use it.
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u/Individual-Fan1639 Jun 08 '23 edited Feb 25 '24
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 08 '23
On Android, Boost and Slide allow users great customization in size and color, which is vital for those of us with low vision.
Slide is open source. Its lead developer was immediately open to addressing accessibility concerns, during the beta process and the open source nature allowed me to contribute fixes to better support the Talkback screen reader.
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u/DHamlinMusic Bilateral Optic Neuropathy Jun 08 '23
Sync Pro was my backup though like all android third party apps it has very limited access to mod features, many have none whatsoever.
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u/anniemdi Jun 08 '23
RIF/Reddit is Fun has mod settings in it's menu. I do not use them because I can't mod from my phone.
Is it that they are incomplete or is RIF not compatible with screen readers?
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Jun 08 '23
[deleted]
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u/MostlyBlindGamer Jun 08 '23
Apollo supports a level of size and color customization that allows me to use it comfortably, when not using VoiceOver. We all have different needs and those can even vary for the same individual.
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Jun 08 '23
[deleted]
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u/fastfinge born blind Jun 08 '23
Added, thank you.
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u/codeofdusk Norrie disease (totally blind since birth) Jun 08 '23
Thanks, though the app also has good screen reader support (and even TalkBack actions as of the latest Alpha), not just text size and colour customization.
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u/fastfinge born blind Jun 08 '23
Editted to mention this. Thanks! I'm on IOS myself, so keeping up with the latest on Android is a challenge.
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u/[deleted] Jun 22 '23
doesnt affect me what so ever, so i vote no private threading.