Pill bottles, newspapers and instructions with products often have small text that can be a strain on the eyes to read. Senior caregivers or their senior clients who have difficulty seeing small print clearly will benefit from the Magnifying Glass With Light app, which uses your smartphone’s camera as a magnifying glass to make small print bigger and shine a light if needed.
While the magnifying app doesn’t have the ability to blow up text displayed on the phone itself in other apps or when reading in safari, it does work for any text that the phone camera can be pointed at. The free version of the app features a five time zoom and the ability to turn on or off the phone’s flash and adjust the level of brightness to see the text better. Users have a choice between auto settings, which allows the phone to adjust to the optimal way to view the text, or to adjust the settings themselves.
The paid version of the app boasts extra features such as a “Crystal Clear Mode” that sharpens the text and could come in handy particularly if users are reading a newspaper or another item that may not have sharply printed words or smudged ink. The high contrast mode in the paid version inverts the viewing experience so that if an original document is black text on white paper, the user then sees it as white text on black paper. The paid version also features an image stabilizer so users who inadvertently move around while trying to read don’t have to manually focus the camera over and over again.
The Magnifying Glass With Light app is available for Apple and Andriod platforms.
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discover additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
-Paige Krzysko
