My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control.
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@gary_bbgames Are you in the US? Are you familiar with National Library Services (NLS) program? It is a FREE program setup to provide players, specially designed for people who cannot otherwise read a book and has the most extensive Library of materials. It is available through agencies in every state. I used to work at one of their branches. https://www.loc.gov/nls
@ov_dragonman I’m in the UK. We have a similar service but nothing that ticks every single box for him. Along with not being able to see, he has a very short attention span now, or they can’t be administered remotely. I only see him once a month, so being able to do the technical side as well as putting on book for him remotely is a must.
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@T2R that’s not good. What app is it?
@gary_bbgames it’s for a robot vacuum.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames Oh! wow! that's cool what you have done to help your dad with his book player.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@jonathan859 @gary_bbgames awesome, i find that the apps that were made to help one person and then releaced are the best
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames I'm not partially sighted, and I have good motor control, and I think I want this anyway. Accessible design is good for *everyone*.
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@gary_bbgames I'm not partially sighted, and I have good motor control, and I think I want this anyway. Accessible design is good for *everyone*.
@DrHyde thank you. I did skip implementing chapters so it might not be useful for everyone. My dad will only manage 10 minutes at a time and would accidentally press chapters if they were on screen.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames Fabulous.
Well done indeed. -
@ov_dragonman I’m in the UK. We have a similar service but nothing that ticks every single box for him. Along with not being able to see, he has a very short attention span now, or they can’t be administered remotely. I only see him once a month, so being able to do the technical side as well as putting on book for him remotely is a must.
@gary_bbgames Given what you said, I am very glad you are there to help. Although I do no need the service myself, I am very worried that our despot who would be king will shut down the NLS program as what he considers a waste of money. He will try to use that money to continue to try and capture all the world's oil. I only hope all those "hemberders" and diet coke take their toll on him . . . SOON!
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@Greg_Ray that did us for a bit but he’s started to struggle talking with it now. He’s too slow and it interprets his pause as him finishing, and then he gets annoyed with it and it all just falls apart. I’m not sure how long this will carry on working, but it’s the only thing he gets any enjoyment from now.
@gary_bbgames My Mum is the same boat. Her eyesight is almost gone and she misses reading so much. But she has come to appreciate audio books. If only Alexa wasn't such an airhead . . .
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@gary_bbgames My Mum is the same boat. Her eyesight is almost gone and she misses reading so much. But she has come to appreciate audio books. If only Alexa wasn't such an airhead . . .
@Greg_Ray have you tried using Voice Over with an iPad? It’s pretty good, but there is a small learning curve.
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@Greg_Ray have you tried using Voice Over with an iPad? It’s pretty good, but there is a small learning curve.
@gary_bbgames We had a bit of a try, but it all got too hard.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames For people wanting similar functionality on Android I highly recommend Simple Audiobook Player.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
There's a related project on f-droid for android devices:
> Homer turns any Android tablet into a dedicated, easy-to-use audio player for seniors. Caregivers configure the app and manage content, while loved ones enjoy audiobooks and podcasts independently - without confusion or mistakes.
Has a big ui for the visually inpaired. The caregiver has to be present to configure the app though. I like the idea in your app of controlling things via texting.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
Thank you so much! This is exactly the sort of tool I’d been hoping for when our late friend lost his sight. He had the Bookplayer, which worked quite well, but your app is simply brilliant.
I’ll be more than happy to use it and recommend it to others. -
My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames I love that you are sending your dad "At the Mountains of Madness".
Very cool project!
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames This is amazing.
By any chance does your dad have an Apple Watch and is a Watch version on your road map?
(I bought my kid a Watch last year thinking it would be perfect for carrying audiobooks and pairing to headphones but the few available apps just work as a remote control for an iPhone)
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames awesome. Also FYI. if he is in the US he can get a blind audio reader from the Library of congress. BARD program. Including free audio books! They have a special copyright agreement for audio books for the blind.
Plus, you can make your own audiobooks for it too. Get cartridges from Perkins school for the blind. For my FIL’s 90th we created him a book of all the weekly family letters he had sent from India.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames I just wanna say that’s super awesome and cool and such a sweet thing for you to do for your dad. It warms my icy blue heart.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
thank you for publishing.
i would love to see more tech that takes sight/dexterity issues into account.
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My dad is partially sighted with poor motor control. He likes audiobooks but every player I tried had tiny buttons and too many screens.
I’ve now made this one. Two screens, big controls, high contrast.
When I want to send him a new book, I just text him a link — he taps it and the book appears in his library.
It always comes back to the last book he was playing, ready to play again.
The settings are configurable via a link too.
This is very much made for my exact specific needs with him, but it’s open source and free if it helps anyone else.
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/easy-audiobook/id6761441597
@gary_bbgames I am waiting that a manufacturer of TV sets integrates a "plain old TV " mode, offline and starting without any menue but just the last programme. And a remote access so that other persons can steer the TV set while the elderly person says via telephone what she wants. My mother is quite clear in her head but not for enough to understand a menue that is simply alien to her.
