Lost? Not Anymore! A Look at Indigo Nav!

Vision Forward's Tech Connect

Welcome back all you Tech Connectors! If you are looking for a reliable way to get where you're going then you've come to the right place! Whether its iOS or Android, the Indigo Nav app is the perfect tool to use when you're on the move!   Like its predecessor, Nearby Explorer, the new Indigo Nav App uses GPS to provide turn by turn instructions, but this time you'll receive additional information to provide a better understanding of your surroundings such as a description of upcoming intersections. And just like Nearby Explore, you can use the Look Around Wand feature to get a brief description of anything you point your phone at.   That's not all! The real value of Indigo Nav is the ease by which you can search, save and store various locations. Obviously you'll want to program in your home address to navigate back to, but you could just as easily save and name any spot you visit! Searching is easy too, either enter a street address, browse nearby locations or draw information directly from your Contacts and you'll be on your way in no time!   Join Cory and Luke as they give a brief rundown of all the main features of this exciting free app.  👍 Like & Subscribe for more tips on accessibility and assistive technology!  0:00 Start 0:20 Introduction and History via previous names 1:45 Home Screen, four main tabs are Location Routes POI and Settings 3:40 Routes: Go Home, Search by Street Address or draw from Contacts 6:45 Points of Interest, Search by Category or Browse Nearby, Call or Read a Menu, Uber 8:37 Creating your own Points of Interest, Name it and Store it by Category, defaults to User 10:20 Four elements that Indigo Nav does particularly well, how is it different than other GPS? 13:40 Wrap Up, Livestreams every other Thursday! Free ACVREP Credits on Demand! 15:00 Goofs and Bloopers  We at Vision Forward would be happy to answer any questions that you still have about the Indigo Nav App and GPS in general down in the comments!  Contact Vision Forward Association:  Call us: (414-615-0103)  Email us: infocus@vision-forward.org  Visit us online: https://www.vision-forward.org   Online Store: https://www.vision-forward.org/store  Vision Forward's Tech Connect continues to bring you the information you need to make the most out of your devices. Our experts know there are many factors to consider, so if you have any follow up questions please post them in the comments and we will help you find the assistive tech that's best for you.    Want more Tech Connect in your life? Try us Live! Be sure to join us for the upcoming YouTube Live! show on November 6th at 11am CST.   Looking for the full playlist? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdZ61dAGaL_k3I-_LcTPozan9upCqY8Yc   Catch-up with our most recent Tech Connect Livestreams!   Meta Ray-Ban Display Glasses! https://www.youtube.com/live/aftNVwt83NQ  weZoom Magnifying Glass Free App! https://www.youtube.com/live/-55phgffmps

Transcript

00:00Cory, I just had a memory, a really good memory.

00:03Do you remember that time that we took a look at the Indigo app?

00:06I do. It just happened.

00:09Memory, memory, memory, memory.

00:17Hello and welcome back to another TechConnect.

00:20And today we are looking at a brand new app that's right on the pulse of technology.

00:24As usual, we are Cory.

00:26I sounded a bit like Yoda though.

00:28Yeah, a little bit.

00:29Anyway, the point is, free app iOS or Android.

00:33And this is the Indigo app.

00:34This is a navigational app from APH.

00:37Cory, have you ever heard of this app before?

00:40Not in its new name, IndigoNav, but if anyone is familiar with the old nearby Explorer

00:49GPS app that was produced by APH, this is the successor to it.

00:54And in a lot of ways, it looks pretty similar.

00:56Although I will be honest, I haven't seen nearby Explorer in a number of years.

01:01But some of the things I remembered from it are now in this Indigo Nav.

01:06Like the magic wand?

01:07Yes.

01:08Like the location or navigation wand.

01:11Yeah.

01:12Yeah.

01:12So anyway, we thought we'd take a look at this.

01:14Now, full disclaimer, we haven't tried this out in a real life test, but we're just going to talk

01:20about the features today and take a quick look at how the app is laid out.

01:23If you would like us to go through this in detail and try it out, and if you want to send us outside

01:28into the cold, then please put it down in the comments.

01:31And if we get enough people who are interested, then we will make a full length video teaching

01:35people how to use this, Cory.

01:36But for now, let's just jump in and take a look at the features.

01:38Let's do it.

01:42All right, Cory.

01:43So Indigo, what's the first thing that we're going to find out?

01:46Well, first, we should open the app.

01:48Usually helps, I admit.

01:50Open Indigo Nav.

01:52So we're going to Indigo.

01:57You know what sounds like eggs frying?

01:58It's recording.

01:59Did you hear that in the background here?

02:01It just hit me right now.

02:03It's a memory of eggs frying.

02:05Cory, if you were confused by our intro, Cory and I were discussing how the sound effect reminded us of

02:10on those old TV shows when somebody would have a memory and the screen would go all wavy.

02:14Yeah.

02:14But now we're also hearing eggs frying.

02:16Yeah, a little bit.

02:17Yeah.

02:18All right.

02:18So let's jump into this app and let's go over some of the cool features.

02:22When we launch the app, we are placed in the location tab.

02:27There's actually four tabs going across the bottom.

02:30Roots, location, POIs, and settings.

02:33We'll just touch probably on the first three for sure today.

02:38And so the first one we're in is our location tab.

02:42And basically on this screen at the top, it's going to just tell us what our current location is.

02:47So we got a quick little description of where we are, closest address.

03:00We're kind of inside of our building here.

03:02So it's saying we're near 912 North Holly Road, which is correct.

03:07And really the only other piece of information on the screen is a more button, which you can tap

03:12and get your longitude and latitude if you're that kind of dude.

03:16So very simple app layout.

03:19And we can also shake the phone at any point to get our current location if we want it set back to us.

03:26But you're going to see as we go through some of these tabs, this app really is made to be simple.

03:31And so that is it for our first location tab.

03:35Very nice.

03:35We are going to jump now to Roots.

03:40Oh, what was that?

03:41Well, that is a very good question.

03:43The app does tend to make some noises.

03:46And I have not yet read the entire user manual that covers all the different noises.

03:50Sometimes it's just like, hey, buddy, I'm still here.

03:53But let's take a look at the Roots tab here.

03:56Now I know I literally every time I say Roots and Routes, I don't know which one I want to say.

04:00But when we tap on the Roots tab down at the bottom, we get a few different options on the

04:06screen here.

04:07Let's just take a look at them really quickly and see if any of them jump out at us.

04:16First option home.

04:17What do you think that does?

04:18I'm guessing we can enter our home address and then wherever we are, if we select home,

04:23it will navigate us to our home.

04:24You got it.

04:25We can do it from the settings tab or if we've not set it up and we double tap here on home,

04:29it will prompt us to put in our home address.

04:32If home isn't a place you travel the most, remember,

04:35you could be a little creative and put a different address in if you want.

04:38Points of interest button.

04:39We also have points of interest.

04:40Tapping on here, we'll bring up a list of different points of interest that we can choose from

04:45and then create a route specifically to that point of interest.

04:48POIs?

04:48You put your POIs.

04:49Street address button.

04:51Street address.

04:51We can put in a street address and then get a route created to there.

04:55Contact address button.

04:56If we've got an address stored in one of our contacts, we can just tap right into our contacts.

05:01Once we give the IndigoNav permission, then we could just create a route to a specific contact.

05:07That's pretty smart.

05:08So it will open your phone's contact list and as long as you've got addresses in there,

05:11you'll be able to go there.

05:12Yep.

05:13Waypoint route button.

05:14This is one thing that I think sets IndigoNav apart is the waypoint route.

05:18So waypoint route is when you can create a route to a specific location that's not on a map.

05:26So one of the examples that the user manual gives is maybe you are parked in a parking lot

05:32and from the vehicle you're at or from a bus stop to the start of a hiking trail,

05:39that's obviously not on a map at all.

05:42But what you can do is if you tap on the waypoint route here, it's going to start recording your route.

05:50You walk it the first time.

05:52When you get there, you'll then tap the back button and that will automatically now save

05:57that waypoint route so that in the future you can get directions to that specific place.

06:04Again, that's more off the map.

06:06So another example could be maybe you've got a huge backyard

06:11and you want to go from your back door to a shed that's way in the back.

06:15You could record that route so that you can more easily get to your shed.

06:22And then the last one you have here is history.

06:24This would allow us to go back and just see some of the routes that we've created in the past

06:29and choose one, especially if it's something that you do quite often.

06:33All right, some good stuff there, but that's not all that the app has in store for us.

06:37Let's go ahead and jump in to the next feature, POI or Points of Interest.

06:46Okay, so Points of Interest.

06:47These are going to be interesting points, I'm guessing, that are around our location, Corey, correct?

06:52Yes, that is correct.

06:53All right.

06:54So we can do a couple things with Point of Interest or POIs.

06:58POIs. First, if we just tap on the POI tab at the bottom, we're going to get the opportunity

07:06to either search for a specific POI or see a number of categories.

07:11So if we go to POI and double tap.

07:14We're placed in a search field, but if we swipe from here, we're going to see some categories.

07:18Popular PO Entertainment. Food. Lodging.

07:22And if we double tap on any of these categories, then we're going to see

07:27Points of Interest around us specific to that category.

07:30Yeah, makes sense.

07:30Now, one other thing we can do.

07:32GPS position on. Back button.

07:33Let's do back here.

07:34Locate POIs tab in Holy Road.

07:36Another thing we can do here is if we double tap and hold on the Points of POI tab down at the bottom,

07:44then it's going to automatically show us POIs at our current location.

07:49POIs tab.

07:50So we'll double tap and hold.

07:54In progress.

07:55Vision Forward Association.

07:56912 North Hollywood.

07:57And if I swipe through this screen now, I'm going to just see Points of Interest around me,

08:02and then I could double tap on one and from there can either call, create a route to it,

08:08a menu if it happens to be a restaurant, and there's an online menu.

08:11It can link to a menu for us to take a look at.

08:16There also is an Uber.

08:18So if you've got it connected with Uber, we can double tap and it will go right into the Uber app,

08:24placing that point of interest as your destination.

08:27That's handy.

08:28Yeah.

08:28One last thing that we can do here with our Points of Interest.

08:34One thing that's really cool about this app is that we can create our own Points of Interest.

08:39So we were talking a little bit in the last segment about the waypoint routes,

08:43but let's say there is a specific spot that you want to create a point of interest.

08:48Maybe on a college campus, it's a specific bench, or maybe you're going to a large

08:55apartment complex and you want to set a point of interest at a specific door.

09:00Did you have a favorite bench when you were at college?

09:03Yeah, sometimes when I'd have some time in between class, I'd go and sit.

09:06Yeah.

09:06Oh, so most of the day you were at them?

09:08Yeah, exactly.

09:09I actually never went to college.

09:11I just sat out and they're like, hey, buddy.

09:14And I go, yeah, I'm a college kid too.

09:17But what we can do is if we get ourselves to that point of interest at any point,

09:21if we double tap and hold anywhere on the screen.

09:24Name, text field is editing, insertion.

09:27It pops up a screen for us to name and create this point of interest,

09:32and it'll automatically drop it in the user category so that we can go and check that category

09:39out in the future if we wanted to.

09:41But we can name this point of interest anything that we want.

09:44And we can actually change the category as well if we want.

09:46So if we don't want it in the user category, we can put it into one of the preset categories,

09:50such as entertainment, food, or whatever it might be.

09:52You got it.

09:52Yeah, absolutely.

09:54All right.

09:54So that is points of interest, obviously an important part of any GPS app.

10:00And again, I like the ability to be able to create your own POI.

10:03I think that is one big thing that sets this apart from other GPS apps.

10:08It is, Corey.

10:09But there must be something else because we're not done yet.

10:11So let's dive in to the next segment.

10:14That actually isn't the last segment.

10:15That was right.

10:16I was worried you were going to say that.

10:17So, Corey, I believe that you have no less than four things that you would like to talk

10:25about that make this app unique.

10:27Yes.

10:27Good.

10:28Can we hear them?

10:30Four things.

10:30Can we hear them?

10:31Yeah.

10:31Okay.

10:32So for those that use GPS that are visually impaired, typically an app will be really good

10:38at turn-by-turn instructions, but won't do a good job about talking, giving you information

10:43about streets and intersections if you're not actually interacting with them.

10:47Or you'll get an app, something like BlindSquare, which is really a great app, but it focuses

10:53more on just telling you about streets as you approach them, but doesn't give you turn-by-turn.

10:58So what's cool about IndigoNav is that it is a combination of both.

11:03So you're going to get those turn-by-turn instructions that you need, but you're also

11:07going to get information about intersections as you approach them.

11:10Even if you're not turning on them, you're going to find out what streets you're approaching

11:14and get a quick explanation of what the intersection is.

11:19Right.

11:19So I think that's really cool.

11:20Yeah.

11:21Number two, what sets it apart is the look around wand.

11:25Now, I'd love for people to put it in the comments.

11:28If you're using IndigoNav or you use the old school nearby Explorer, did you ever use the look

11:34around a wand?

11:35The ability to turn that on and kind of face your phone in specific directions to hear what

11:41points of interest are around you.

11:43I find it to be not super helpful, but I'm wondering if I'm just not using it correctly.

11:49Why is it not helpful to you?

11:52I just don't get a lot of great information.

11:54And I mean, I guess it's nice to see what side of the street maybe a point of interest is.

12:00If I point to the right and it says, you know, there's a gas station over there, I guess that

12:04would be helpful.

12:05But I'd be curious, throw it in the comments if you're using the look around wand, how you're

12:10using it.

12:10I mean, you do have to go to gas stations regularly.

12:13So very often, all the time.

12:14Always filling up the old gas.

12:20Number three, something that I really like is the Aira integration.

12:26So it will let you know if you're entering into a free Aira zone.

12:31I thought you were going to say, I will let you know if you're entering into a war zone.

12:34I don't know why that was in my head.

12:35Or a war zone too.

12:37But you can tap on the connect to Aira and it will go right into the Aira app if you have

12:43it loaded and logged in and it actually starts to make the call as I learned just a moment ago

12:47when I started to connect with an Aira agent.

12:52So pretty cool there too.

12:53And the last thing is the ability to use virtual position.

12:57This is kind of common.

12:58We've seen this in other navigation apps for the blind and visually impaired, but

13:02still think it's worth noting here.

13:04So the ability to choose a, basically move virtually to either an address or a point of

13:11interest and look around it without being there.

13:13So this could be pretty cool if you know you're traveling to a specific city, staying at a hotel,

13:19you can virtually move your position to that hotel and then look around and see

13:23what restaurants or gas stations, if you've got to fill up.

13:26Oh yeah, always.

13:27Yeah.

13:28All those kinds of things.

13:28So that ability to use virtual position is also pretty cool and sets this app.

13:34Well, it doesn't really set it apart, but it's nice to have.

13:37Exactly.

13:37Yeah, exactly.

13:38All right.

13:38Well, we're not going to give our full opinions because we haven't got enough experience with

13:42the app, but we will wrap it up there.

13:44That is the Indigo Nav app.

13:45You can download it on iPhone and or Android and it's free.

13:50So why not give it a try for yourselves?

13:51And again, if you would like to see a full video where we put this to its paces and go outside and

13:56do all of the stuff that you would want to do, then put it down in the comments.

13:59And you can also put down in the comments there what your favorite sandwiches, what your favorite

14:03type of chips are, and also any other navigation apps that you are using.

14:07Yeah.

14:07And how often are you filling your gas tank?

14:09That's a great question.

14:10I would really like to know that.

14:11Yeah.

14:11I fill mine a lot because I go a lot of driving.

14:13We've got a lot going on here.

14:15Please head over to our learning management platform.

14:18You can find a bunch more information there and get some ACVREP credits on demand.

14:26That's techconnect.vision-forward.org.

14:29And don't forget, we also have a live show that goes out every other Thursday at 11 a.m.

14:36That's central.

14:37And you can watch that through our YouTube channel.

14:39But with that being said, let's get that nav app going.

14:42Corey, we're going to navigate our way out of here.

14:44I'm stuck in a box.

14:46Give me directions.

14:48I'm in my cardboard bag.

14:49I'm scared.

14:50Goodbye.

14:51I'm paper bag.

14:53Stuck in it.

14:55Hello?

14:57Any opening out of here?

14:58You know what?

14:59I do remember making that video.

15:01And you know what?

15:02Those were the good days.

15:03If only we'd known then what we know now about how things were going to change.

15:11I sure would do stuff different.

15:13I told Corey.

15:16Wait, hold on.

15:16I just want to try something.

15:19I just felt really offended and hurt.

15:21Oh, good.

15:21Well, let's get it in video form.

15:25When I believe you said something about roots or do you call them routes?

15:29I call them routes.

15:32Roo-outs?

15:33Roo-outs.

15:33Roo-outs, yeah.

15:35Throughout my routes.

15:36Oh, impressive.

15:37Yeah.

15:38Okay.

15:38This is the Do You Remember?

15:42Do you remember the time?

15:45Ha, ha, ha, ha.

15:47Okay.

15:47wiel

15:51What?

15:52You know what?

15:52But then it doesn't stop power

16:02to do guy or he doesn't seem to be the one who doesn't die.

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