FAQ

For the full reasoning behind these answers, see PRODUCT.md and ROADMAP.md.

Why “SenseBridge”? It says what the project does (bridges senses) without overclaiming safety, and it doesn’t box the project into “blind” or “deaf” — which fits the long-term multi-sense vision described in PRODUCT.md.

Why offline-first instead of cloud AI, like Be My AI? Cloud scene-description apps are excellent but send your camera images to a third party (Be My AI routes through OpenAI). For sensitive material — mail, medical letters, financial documents — on-device processing is both an ethical stance and a real product wedge no closed competitor can match. See PRIVACY.md and AI-MODELS.md.

Why free, with no subscription? Affordability is a real constraint for the people this app serves — only about a third of working-age blind and low-vision US adults are employed (AFB/Cornell). The MVP has no backend and no cloud API costs, so there is nothing to charge for to begin with. See the funding section of PRODUCT.md for how the project sustains itself without a subscription.

Why native Swift instead of React Native or a cross-platform framework? The hardest and most valuable code here — Vision, ARKit/LiDAR, Foundation Models, Sound Analysis — is native Apple-framework code regardless of UI layer. React Native would add a layer without buying back any of the cross-platform reach an iPhone-only, on-device MVP doesn’t need. See ARCHITECTURE.md.

How is this different from Apple’s built-in accessibility features (VoiceOver, Magnifier, Live Recognition)? Apple’s own features are good but closed and capped, and Apple explicitly disclaims them as not for navigation. SenseBridge is open-source (auditable, self-hostable, cannot silently change terms) and aims to unify multiple accessibility needs behind one consistent, on-device architecture rather than a set of separate closed features.

Does this replace a cane, guide dog, or orientation-and-mobility training? No, and it says so repeatedly in the app itself. See SAFETY-FRAMING.md for why “awareness, not safety” is a hard rule, not a guideline.

Will there be an Android version? Not in the MVP or the near-term roadmap. See ROADMAP.md Phase 5 — a shared core enabling Android is a long-term, conditional goal, reachable only after the iPhone MVP and later phases land.

Need help? See SUPPORT.md.