Perceptius is an accessibility app for communication, reading, notes, and alerts, built for people who are blind, have low vision, are deaf or hard-of-hearing, or are DeafBlind, and useful for anyone who wants big readable text, high contrast, live translation, or alerts they can feel. It has an Apple Watch companion and works on iPhone and iPad.
Getting started
- Install and open Perceptius. No account is required, so you can use it right away. (Signing in is optional and only enables syncing notes across devices.)
- Grant permissions when asked. Perceptius only asks for what a feature needs (listed below).
- Move between tools using the tabs at the bottom: Communicate, Notes, Magnify, Alerts, Settings.
The permissions Perceptius may request:
- Microphone and Speech Recognition to turn talking into text (speech-to-text runs on your device).
- Camera for the Magnifier and AI Describe.
- Notifications so haptic alerts can reach you, even with the screen locked.
- Local Network only if you host or join an in-person Multi-Person room.
- Calendars and Reminders only if you connect them to Haptic Alerts.
You can change any of these later in the iOS Settings app, under Perceptius. The core (speech-to-text, text-to-speech, on-device translation, notes, magnifier, and haptic alerts) is free; Perceptius+ adds premium AI voices, cloud translation, AI Describe, and 1,000 AI credits a month, with a 14-day free trial.
Communicate: two-way speech and translation, face to face
The Communicate tab has two panels: a top "Text to Speak" panel (what you type or translate for the other person) and a bottom "Speech to Text" panel (your own transcribed speech).
- Start and stop talking: tap the large microphone button to transcribe your speech into the bottom panel. Tap it again to stop.
- Translate: the globe button translates a panel into the other person's language. Supported languages run on your device, free and offline; others use cloud translation (Perceptius+).
- Read aloud: the speaker button reads the top "Text to Speak" panel out loud for the other person.
- Choose the voice: the voice menu switches between the free on-device voice and the premium AI voice (Perceptius+).
- Full-screen your speech: tap your bottom panel to blow it up full-screen for easy reading; tap again to exit.
- History: the clock button opens the full conversation transcript. You can save any single line, or the whole conversation, to Notes.
- Languages and options: the gear button picks the two languages, swaps them, and toggles auto-speak. Add more languages under Settings, then Languages.
Multi-Person rooms (talk with several people at once)
Tap the people button in the control row to open a shared room where everyone's speech appears labeled ("User 1," "User 2," and so on) in real time, and each person can read the conversation translated into their own language.
- Host In Person: connects nearby devices directly over the local network. No internet needed.
- Host Online: lets people join from anywhere with internet.
- Join a Room: scan the host's QR code, or type the 6-character room code and choose In person or Online to match how the room was created.
- Each person picks their own language, so a message spoken in one language is shown to each participant in theirs.
- You will see quiet notices like "User 2 joined the room." and "User 2 left the room."
- The room stays connected if you switch tabs. The people icon turns green while a room is active; tap it to reopen. Choose Leave to exit; the app also leaves automatically if you quit it.
Notes and Cards: save phrases and quick-reference cards
Use Notes for longer text and Cards for at-a-glance phrases (for example, "I have a severe peanut allergy" to show someone quickly).
- Notes vs Cards: the switch at the top toggles between long Notes and at-a-glance Cards.
- Add: the plus button creates a new note or card, with a title, content, category, and optional tags.
- Filter and Sort: the funnel filters by category; the arrows menu sorts (Manual, Newest, Oldest, Title). Pinned notes stay on top.
- Pin, Lock, Delete: swipe right-to-left for Delete and Lock; swipe left-to-right to Pin or Unpin.
- Read a note aloud: each row has a speaker button. Tap to read in your default language; press and hold to pick a language just for that reading.
- Share: press and hold a note or card to Share it.
- Select several: Edit (top-left) lets you multi-select to pin or delete several at once.
- Card look: Settings, then Appearance switches cards between Clean (high-contrast) and Rich (category colors).
- On iPad: turn on Notes split view in Settings to see the note list and the open note side-by-side.
Everything is stored on your device. If you sign in (Settings, then Account), your notes back up and sync across your devices (Perceptius+).
Magnify and Describe: low-vision magnifier and AI scene description
The switch at the top toggles between the Magnifier and AI Describe.
Magnifier
- Zoom and focus: use the zoom slider to magnify; tap anywhere on the image to focus there.
- Color filters: the row of circles applies high-contrast color filters (for example, yellow-on-black) to make text easier to read.
- Flashlight and brightness: Flash turns the light on; while it is on, a brightness slider appears.
- Freeze and save: Freeze pauses the image so you can read it; Save stores the frozen image (with any recognized text) to Photos.
- Read text: tap Read to hear the text in view. Press and hold Read to open a window that shows the recognized text and highlights each word as it is read.
AI Describe (Perceptius+)
- Aim the camera and tap "Describe Scene." Perceptius speaks a short description of what the camera sees; a text button shows it in writing, highlighted as it is read. Uses 1 AI credit per description.
- On iPad, AI Describe can show your Notes beside the live camera, so you can save a description without leaving the camera.
Haptic Alerts and Apple Watch: vibrations you will not miss
- Add a timer: the plus button starts a haptic timer.
- Connect Reminders and Calendar: connect them so your reminders and events arrive as strong haptic alerts (and sync to Apple Watch).
- Preview a pattern: the tap button next to an alert plays its haptic so you can feel it before you rely on it.
- Customize a single alert: tap any alert to change its haptic pattern, the sound that plays with it, and how many times it repeats.
- Choose where it fires: for each alert, pick Phone, Apple Watch, or Both, and use Test on Phone or Test on Watch to feel it there.
- Sounds with haptics: turn on "Play sounds with haptics" to add an optional tone.
- Time-sensitive: alerts are delivered as time-sensitive notifications so they can break through Focus and Do Not Disturb.
- Feel the Time: a haptic clock. Tap Hours, Tens of Minutes, or Minutes to feel the time. A long buzz is 5, a short tap is 1.
Apple Watch companion
The Apple Watch app is optional; everything works on iPhone alone. With a paired watch you can:
- Feel your haptic alerts and Feel the Time on your wrist.
- Dictate a quick note from the watch.
- Configure the watch from your iPhone (Settings, then Apple Watch): connection status, Strong Haptics, auto-play the full time, upcoming alerts, and a test button for every haptic. Easier than the small watch screen, and it works with VoiceOver and braille.
Settings: account, appearance, languages, and Perceptius+
- Perceptius+ and credits: see your plan and remaining AI credits, upgrade, add credits, restore purchases, or manage your subscription.
- Display: choose a Theme (System, Light, Dark, or High Contrast), a Text Color, and a Text Weight (Normal or Strong). These apply app-wide.
- Appearance: switch cards between Clean (high-contrast) and Rich (more color).
- Languages: choose which languages appear in the Communicate pickers, and set the defaults for AI Describe and reading notes aloud.
- Audio output: route speech to AirPods, a Bluetooth headset, hearing aids, or the speaker.
- Apple Watch: configure the paired watch (see above).
- iPad options: Communicate and Notes side-by-side, Notes split view, and text width.
- Account and sync: sign in with Apple (keeps your email private) or Google to back up and sync your notes.
- Keyboard shortcuts: with a Magic Keyboard, Bluetooth keyboard, or braille display, Command-1 to Command-4 switch tabs, Command-comma opens Settings, and Command-N starts a new note.
- Help: "How to Use Perceptius" (this guide) and a Keyboard Shortcuts reference.
- Support: support development with a one-time contribution.
Plans, credits, and billing
Free vs Perceptius+
14-day free trial
| Feature | Free | Perceptius+ |
|---|---|---|
| Speech-to-text | On-device | On-device |
| Text-to-speech | System voices | Premium AI voices |
| Translation | On-device | On-device and cloud |
| AI Describe (camera) | Included | |
| Magnifier, color filters, torch | Included | Included |
| Haptic alerts and Feel the Time | Included | Included |
| Notes | On device | Sync across devices |
| Monthly AI credits | 1,000 | |
| Price | Free forever | Subscription |
- Perceptius+ plans: Monthly or Annual, and a Family plan shareable with up to 6 people via Family Sharing.
- Novara Suite: one plan that unlocks Perceptius+ and Waymere (accessible navigation) together, Individual or Family.
- Top-Up Credits: one-time credit packs (100, 500, 1,000). Free on-device features keep working even at zero credits.
- Cancel anytime: manage or cancel in your Apple Account, under Subscriptions. Access continues until the period ends.
Privacy
- Speech-to-text runs on your device using Apple's speech recognition, so your audio is not sent to us.
- Only text is sent to cloud translation and premium voices, and only when you use those Perceptius+ features.
- No ads, no tracking. Sign-in is optional; the app works fully as a guest.
- Full details are in the Privacy Policy (linked in Settings and on this site).
Built for everyone
Perceptius follows universal-design principles, so it is comfortable to use however you interact with your device, and it works seamlessly with the tools you already rely on:
- VoiceOver throughout, with spoken announcements for key updates.
- Dynamic Type (large text), a High-Contrast theme, and adjustable text color and weight.
- Haptic feedback for confirmations and alerts.
- Braille displays and Full Keyboard Access supported; hearing aids and AirPods can be the audio output.
Getting help
- In the app: Settings, then Give Feedback.
- Email: support@novaracg.com.