LookTel Money Reader

If you are blind or have very low vision here in the U.S., you've had to deal with the problem of U.S. paper currency (and I don't mean the lack of it--not yet anyway).  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, unlike coins, bills are identical in size and weight and differ only in what is printed on them.  You have a couple of options:

1) Have everyone who hands you a bill tell you it's denomination and fold it in a specific manner for later identification.  The downside is that you need to trust the person handing you the bill, and these days, honesty is not necessarily a given.  Then you need to remember the different folds for every denomination.  This might not be a problem for most of us, but the elderly may find it a challenge.

2) Plunk down $300 for a money reader.  These little machines are very finicky about how you hold the bill and it's just one more thing to stuff in your purse or backpack. 

And if you don't want the people next to you to hear what you've got, you might have a problem. 

OK, say it with me folks, "THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT"!

Check out the Looktel Money Reader app for iOS!  I was skeptical at first but I actually had to *work* to fool this thing!  It scans the bill using the camera on your iOS device and reads the denomination as soon as it's recognized, which is usually super quick.  In most cases, the software read the bill before I'd finished unfolding it.  Front, back, left, right, center; the app reads it all.  The LED (if your device has one) will turn on automatically if needed.  They thought of everything!

But wait, there's more!  If you don't want your neighbor to hear what you've got, just plug in your ear buds.  Drop one or both in your ears and you're set.  I also just now realized if you have the iPhone ringer on mute, it will sound a different tone for each denomination. Cool!

There is one suggestion I have, though; a way to turn the LED on manually and/or voice notification when it shuts off. The only issue I had was that in a few situations, it was light enough to register as not needing the flash but too dark for a quick reading. It's a easy fix, though--just cover the camera with the bill for a second and the LED will turn back on. It's not a deal-breaker by any means whatsoever; it's just a suggestion for improvement if the developers are reading.

I was really impressed with the quality and simplicity of this software.  Open the app and it just works.  And for $1.99, this app is a big help for those of us on a really tight budget. Awesome job, LookTel.  Keep up the good work!

Check it out:



-- Stephanie Bargenquast