Actiview - Movie Access

Hello,
I just installed the app (as a side note: This is yet another of those apps which are not available worldwide. I found it in the U.S. App Store only. Bad luck to us Europeans I'd say...)
As of now, the app offers one movie: "Cars3", but promises to deliver more soon.
I'm not sure if the app works reliably with "Cars3".

As for the other question: No, I don't think that anyone from Holywood actually tracks how many times this app es downloaded. But the developer will probably (hopefully) have an easier time requesting permission to host, possibly even to produce, Audio Description tracks for more movies if they can claim that their product has been downloaded by thousands of eagerly awaiting customers.

I'd like to know more about this app as well. I tried "movie reading" a long time ago, but it only ever had one "movie" on it. The idea is a fantastic one: sync your watched movie with an app and have it describe. Such a thing should definetly not only be restricted to theatres mind you. So far there doesn't seem to be a service like this that houses a variety of content though, unless I'm wrong? I'd love to be wrong.

It's suppose to sync up with the movie playing at the cinema, like movie reading and greta do.

The problem with those apps is there's not much of a choice.

This one isn't available in australia so I can't test it, but it sounds like it's promising big things, which is what the others also did.

I gave up on the other 2.

I do agree with the post a couple posts back, why not work together and come up with something decent, instead of an app for this, an app for that, eventually people will just say, enough's enough.

There is also the disney anywhere app, but I think that one is also US only.

I don't know if that one is any good.

Does anyone have experience with that one?

I find myself not caring when I see apps like this cause they all appear to end up like the others that came before it.

I added a post in the forum, and below is my initial review that will hopefully post in the Washington Counsel of the Blind Newsline publication shortly. I would like Alex to answer when he thinks this may be able to go world wide, and what plans he has for the future. He can also correct all my mistakes. In my defense I can only say that my intentions are good. I want to see his app widely adopted. It was a great experience watching a movie with this app.

Take control of audio description in and out of the theater with ActiView.

App Store Link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/actiview...

This app appeared on the US app store to great fanfare last summer with a big splash and almost no content.
Several updates later we have a working app that takes control out of the hands of the theater owners and puts it back where it belongs in the hands of the movie goer. It allows you to view current movies in or out of the theater with just your iPhone and a set of wired headphones.

I chose to see the movie the Man Who Invented Christmas, an excellent movie about Charles Dickens as he endeavored to write A Christmas Carol. I collected my box with their headphones from the counter and left my ID as usual, and they incorrectly programmed the box for hearing impaired amplified audio as usual. After waiting and receiving a correctly programmed box I sat patiently through the previews, then opened ActiveView, chose the movie I had previously downloaded audio for from the list, and using Voiceover, I double tapped on Audio Description and Amplified Audio in English. I wanted to make sure that there would not be too much delay on the audio, and that this system would work as well or better than what the theater offered.

Let’s backtrack a little. When you first open the app you are asked to create an account. This is a simple process where you are only asked for yourname, email address, and then to create and confirm a password. No proof of disability is required.
This is a 1 page app with all controls showing, and it’s totally accessible as you would expect. The first two buttons on the screen control how movies are sorted, newest to oldest or alphabetically. An info button provides access to basic help and a place to leave feedback.
The two headings on the screen are my downloads and available content. At the bottom is a buton to redeem a code, but this is not necessary.
When you open a movie download page from the list of currently available movies, Each movie may have up to four services. Not all of them will be available for every movie. These include audio description, amplified audio, audio description and amplified audio together (in the language of your choice), and close captioning.
The service you choose downloads a file quite quickly to your phone.
Syncing with a movie took less than 5 seconds the first time. It uses an acoustic sound print, and sync can take up to 30 seconds if no dialog is happening or music playing when you start the track.
The player window consists of 5 controls. Flicking from left to right they are the back button, a mute button, a sync adjustment slider which is incredibly helpful, a volume slider, and a resync button just in case things get drastically out of sync. The app may be run in the background or with the screen lokcked.

When starting the movie the audio description track was maybe a quarter second behind the one coming out of the theaters box. This is not enough to notice if you are only using audio description, however I wanted to hear it with the amplified audio in the headset as well since this is usually not a choice in the theater. When choosing this option the delay is slightly more noticeable, but 9 or 10 flicks up with one finger on the sync adjustment slider allowed me to bring the audio into exact sync with the theater’s speakers.

Things of which to take note:
The amplified audio track is mono only.
There are no descriptions for the movies within the app so you want that information before you choose your movie.
ActiveView won’t allow you to start the movie unless wired headphones are plugged into your iPhone. I was however able to make it work with Bluetooth headphones by turning them on after starting the movie with the wired headphones plugged in, then using the sync adjustment slider to move the audio track forward until it lined up with the sound from the theater’s speakers.
Also it should be fairly easy with a Y adapter and digital recorder to record a movie with the audio description track. Though this is likely not legal.
Movies available in the ap as of this writing include:
Just getting Started
Wunderstruck
Dealt
Coco
Breathe
And the Man Who Invented Christmas
However any of these could disappear from the app at any time.
To my knowledge ActiveView is only available in the US app store at this time, and only for iDevices.
This app and others like it can provide us with the control of our movie viewing experience that we deserve. Now nothing needs to be said to the ticket taker. Your disability need not be disclosed. You simply bring your own technology and enjoy your movie experience as everyone else would.
Any questions feel free to write me at reggeorge@gmail.com.

Hi all. I just downloaded this app but have not registered yet. The download only took seconds. Here's my question though. Will I be able to let others hear the AD track too if they want? I live in a high-rise and we often have movie nights downstairs in our community room. Tia for anybody's assistance, and I'm so looking forward to trying out this app! The developers' website is very accessible with VoiceOver.

Hi all. I just got a notification this afternoon from the app that said the new Nutcracker thing is out with AD. I'm going with my neighbor from across the hall hopefully very soon, but I've got another question. Not about the app itself though. But have any of you by chance run into issues bringing your i-devices into the theaters? For instance, has anybody told you that these things aren't permitted or anything like that? I just want to be prepared in case something like this does happen when we go. I registered an account in the app, and it only took a minute or so. At first I was a bit confused, but now I think I understand how to use it. Now the only question is finding my bleu-tooth earbuds. I have 2 pairs of earbuds: one from a downstairs neighbor and I don't think those are bleu-tooth but will ask him. The other pair came with my iPhone, and I'm pretty sure they're still in the box.