What is Soundscape?
Soundscape is a free, open-source app that uses 3D spatial audio to help people with visual impairments build awareness of their surroundings and navigate more confidently.
Rather than giving turn-by-turn directions, Soundscape acts like a lighthouse for the ears. Through stereo headphones, users hear sounds coming from the direction of real-world places, building a richer mental map of their environment.
- Automatic callouts - As you walk, the app announces nearby intersections, shops, bus stops, parks, and other points of interest.
- Audio beacon - Set a destination and hear a continuous spatial sound pulling you toward it. The tone changes when you’re pointing the right way.
- Location awareness - Tap a button to hear what’s around you in each direction, what road you’re on, or what’s coming up ahead.
- Markers and routes - Save favourite locations and create walking routes between them. The app guides you along the route, automatically moving to the next waypoint as you arrive.
- Street preview - Explore an unfamiliar area virtually before visiting, to build confidence and familiarity.
The app carries on working in the background when the phone is in a pocket or bag - no need to hold or look at a screen. It is completely free and has no ads, and it can work offline using downloaded map regions. The app does send usage statistics and crash reports so that we can find and fix problems - the privacy policy explains exactly what is collected.
Soundscape was originally developed on iOS by Microsoft Research and was widely used before being open sourced in 2022. The Scottish Tech Army has kept it available on iOS and also rewritten it as an open-source Android app.
Soundscape support
The email address soundscapeAndroid@scottishtecharmy.support links straight into our help desk system. Please send in any feedback you have, whether it’s a feature request or a bug report. You’ll receive an automated email in response and we’ll get pinged that there’s a new ticket to look at and we’ll try and answer it as quickly as possible.
How to use Soundscape
Soundscape in your language
Soundscape is available in 46 languages, but most of the translations have not yet been checked by a native speaker. If you speak one of them, we’d love your help: the quickest way is to answer the short questionnaire for your language, which takes about ten minutes. You can also suggest improvements directly on Weblate, where the translations are managed (how Weblate works).