BrailleTouch: the AppleVis Editorial Pick of the Month for January

At the end of each month the AppleVis Editorial Team take a look at all the apps that have been posted to the site during that month - either for the first time or where there has been a significant update - and decide which of these we think is the most noteworthy.

Considering how much its release has been anticipated, it should come as no surprise that BrailleTouch is our choice for January.

Although it currently lacks support for Grade 2 Braille, the app has already shown that it has the potential to become a powerful and popular tool for Braille users who are looking for a faster and easier way to type on their iOS devices.

Another significant new app was TapTapSee - Blind & Visually Impaired Camera, an iOS app similar to VizWiz and oMoby.

TapTapSee is a lightweight application designed to help the vision-impaired to identify objects that they encounter in their daily lives. You simply take a picture of what is in front of you, and within a few moments the app should tell you what it is. The app also features instant recognition on all US paper currency.

Just to show that we weren't only enjoying blind-specific apps in January, some of our Team have admitted that they have spent more time than they should in trying to avoid their iDevice going "oink!" at them. What are we talking about? Well, it's a free game called Pig Dice. It's not likely to be the most challenging game that you will ever play, but it can certainly be a good way to kill a few minutes of your time.

As always, we would love to hear of any apps that you think we have overlooked, so do please post a comment below to share your own personal picks.