We're open! Follow this link for Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates and bulletins

Experience Synapptic today » FREE trials, video demonstrations and more!

Home > Products > Synapptic Software

Synapptic Software

For information about order processing and delivery timescales please visit our Delivery Information page

Looking for information about Software Updates or Additional Licenses? Click the button below:

Updates & Additional Licenses

(The prices displayed below are the usual prices for someone who is eligible for VAT relief).

£249

(ex VAT)

Technology to make smartphones and tablets simple to use when you have sight loss - ideal for any level of sight loss.

Download and install yourself, or send in your device for installation. The installation service is free! A charge of £10 is payable to cover return postage Synapptic software can be installed on any existing Android device running Android version 6 or above.

In stock

You can try before you buy with our downloadable Trial Version. Alternatively, come for a demonstration of our products at an event or exhibition near you or by contacting one of our Trusted Partners.

Quick Overview

All-in-one package with a full range of accessible features for managing everyday tasks simply
In-built speech and magnification on every screen makes Synapptic suitable for any level of sight loss and can evolve with you if your sight changes
Clear, simple menus make navigation easy and intuitive. Ideal if you're a novice or have recently lost your sight
Can be installed onto any Android phone or tablet running Version 4 or above
Operation of certain features may be affected by the model of phone or tablet used

What's Included?

One hour of free telephone training

Free lifetime technical support

2-week money-back guarantee

Two years of free Software Updates

Free 'Getting Started' guide

Specifications

Requires a device running Android version 4 or greater

Key Benefits of Synapptic Software

All You Need, Anytime and Anywhere

Synapptic has been designed to work on Android smartphones and tablets, which are light and portable so you can carry them around easily in your pocket or bag.

Packed with useful features - such as a digital hand-held magnifier, speech on every screen, voice recognition, email, internet and a reading machine – so that you only need one device for all your everyday tasks.

In-built speech and magnification mean you can use Synapptic whatever your level of sight loss and, if your sight changes, it can evolve with you.

Getting Started With
Technology the Easy Way

Synapptic is so intuitive to use that even if you're new to technology or lack confidence, it's easy to get started with its clear and simple menus.

You can even change the colours, menu layouts, magnification levels and speech options to make navigation easier for you. Our unique Touch & Release® touchscreen control means you can move your finger up and down each menu option and it will be read out, until you stop on the option you want to use. It's as simple as that!

And in-built voice recognition means it's easy to complete tasks, even if you're not confident at using the keyboard. Simply say what you want typed into an email, a text or to search in the internet browser and it will appear and be read out on the screen.

In-Built Help & Support, So
You're Never on Your Own

A help button on every screen means you can access instant help documents and videos for that particular screen, ensuring you'll never get lost or be stuck for too long.

Our unique in-built Lifeline® support feature means you're only ever 3 taps away from accessing our remote support service.

This means that whatever screen you're on, we can access your phone remotely and provide technical support wherever you are.

The Freedom to Manage
Everyday Tasks for Yourself

Because the handheld video magnifier allows you to enlarge text or any object up to around 20 times, it's ideal for magnifying menus, timetables or food labels, even when you're out and about.

Our unique Tab & Jump® internet browser makes it easy to do your own online shopping, banking, or access information anytime, anywhere.

Using the reading machine makes it easy to translate any text into speech, including letters, post and instructions.

And our in-built Voice Control option makes it simple to control many of the features of your phone with just your voice. Select menus, dial numbers, write text messages and even compose emails, so that you can manage everyday tasks quickly and easily.

Staying Connected to the
Important People in Your Life

Keep in touch and share news with your friends and family through calls, emails, texts, voice messages and free Skype calls for friends and family living abroad. Our step-by-step menus mean you'll find communicating easier than ever before.

Easy access to social media services like Facebook and Twitter means that you can share all those special experiences with your closest friends and family.

Entertainment at Your
Fingertips, Wherever You Are

Don't miss out on your favourite TV programmes, with effortless access to a wide range of Freeview Digital TV Channels and also BBC iPlayer.

Catch up with all the latest news and features you've missed, with access to a massive range of local and national internet radio stations.

Or subscribe to Calibre's Talking Books and RNIB's Talking Newspapers to access a huge selection of the latest books and newspapers.

Available Features

General

Intuitive, Simple Menus

Find your way around with clear menus and bright, bold icons.
Our unique Touch & Release® touchscreen control means you can move your finger up and down each menu option and it will be read out, until you stop on the option you want to use. It's as simple as that!
All screens have the same look and feel, so learning how to use them is simple.
Once you've learnt how to use one screen, you'll know everything you need to use every other screen.

Easy Navigation

Customise the Main Menu to display as a grid on one screen to make finding your way around Synapptic even easier
Never get lost and always find your way back to the Main Menu with the red cross. Each screen has a red cross in the top left corner, which speaks out the words 'cancel and go back' when touched. Use this on any screen to go back to the previous screen.
Change the magnification levels, colour schemes, speech, voice speed and voice volume, beeps and other sounds, screen brightness, menu items, ringer and other volumes, menu operation, auto start, and lots more, to make navigation even easier for you.

SPEECH AND MAGNIFICATION AS STANDARD

All products have in-built natural-sounding speech on every screen. Choose from the latest high quality male and female voices.
Hand-held video magnifier can magnify text or any object up to around 70 times (dependant on hardware). Ideal for magnifying menus, timetables or food labels when you're out and about.
Use our Gold and Silver phones and tablets for best results, as these devices have high quality cameras. Use with the Synapptic stand for hands-free operation.
Change zoom levels to make the text you are reading or typing get bigger or smaller on every screen. Increase or decrease the zoom level to change the number of options on the screen.
Use the arrow at the bottom of the screen to move to the next page of menu options, if there are more options than can fit on a single screen.

Voice Control & Voice Recognition

Control Synapptic with just your voice. Select menus, dial numbers, write text messages, compose emails and lots more! All with just voice commands - hands-free!
Type messages faster by dictating them! Voice Recognition is amazingly accurate and words are automatically spell-checked.
Dictate text messages, emails or any other text. Whenever the keyboard is displayed on-screen, the microphone icon in the top right corner enables Voice Recognition to be switched on and off; so you can dictate instead of typing.

Reading Machine

The Reading Machine uses a process known as OCR (Optical Character Recognition), which is used to convert text to speech.
Photograph a document and have it spoken out! Operates by just tapping the screen. Simple to do, fast and accurate.
Use our Gold and Silver phones and tablest for best results, as these devices have high quality cameras.
Utilise the Synapptic stand for hands-free operation.

Making and Receiving Phone Calls
(phones and SIM-enabled tablets only)

DIAL A TELEPHONE NUMBER/MAKE AND RECEIVE CALLS

Press the numbers on the large high-contrast number pad directly, or explore the number pad with your finger, lifting your finger off the screen on each number required.
As the number builds up, it's shown at the top of the screen. From here the number can be checked or spoken out before it's dialled.

CALL SOMEONE FROM YOUR ADDRESS BOOK

Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate each page of contacts in your Address Book. Select a particular contact to have their number dialled.
If there are several people in the address book, it can be filtered to show just a few names at a time.

Answer Calls

As well as the phone ringing, the name and number of the caller are displayed in large print on the screen and optionally spoken out.
Answer or reject the call using the large buttons at the bottom of the screen.
An active call can be played through the earpiece or loud speaker.

Make Free Calls with Skype

All phones and tablets (except the Bronze Basic phone) can make and receive free Skype voice and video calls.
Skype turns your phone or tablet into a video phone. It works through the Internet and there are no additional charges - talk for as long as you want.
Use a video call to see friends and family, or let them see you.

Sending and Receiving Text Messages
(phones and SIM-enabled tablets only)

Type Text Messages

Even if you've never sent a text message before, sending one with Synapptic is simple! By using magnification and spoken feedback, the keyboard lets you find each letter before you type it. If you've never used a keyboard before, you can dictate your message instead.
When typing a message, touch the top half of the screen to have the typed text spoken back to you. Use the arrow keys either side of this text to move about the text and make any corrections.

Read, reply, delete

A list of your received text messages are displayed on screen in large print and also spoken out. A separate menu gives options for replying to, or deleting a message.

Sending and Receiving Emails

send and receive emails

Use your phone or tablet to send and receive emails from anywhere (where there is an Internet connection!).
Compose new messages, read messages, reply to messages, forward messages and delete messages.
Use your tablet or phone to effortlessly send and receive photos, documents, voice recordings and other attachments.

email message menu

Select any message in your Inbox to read it, reply to it, delete it, save it or forward it.

read emails

Any emails you receive are displayed on screen in large print and also spoken out, making reading them easy.

write a new email

Even if you've never sent an email before, sending an email with Synapptic is simple. With magnification and spoken feedback, the keyboard lets you find each letter before you type it. If you've never used a keyboard before, you can dictate your message instead.

Using the Internet Browser to Search the Internet

Web Browser

Surf the web easily with the Web Browser, using our unique Tab & Jump® feature. This allows you to move through a page easily, either between blocks of text, headings or links to other pages. Navigate around the page using magnification and touch, or by using the Next and Previous buttons at the bottom of the screen. As you move about the text on the page with the Next and Previous buttons, or touch an item on the page, a description for it is spoken out.
The Web Browser Menu has options for searching the web, typing a web address, going to a homepage, keeping a list of favourite web sites and allowing easy navigation back to recently visited sites.

Entertainment and News

Watch freeview digital tv

There are many Freeview Digital TV Channels you can watch through your phone or tablet. Some of these include BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV, More 4, 5 Star, Cbeebies, CBBC, Quest, BBC News, Travel Channel, Music Channels and much more!
Watch TV on the go, outside or curled up in bed!

Listen to internet radio

There are thousands of Internet radio stations broadcast through the Internet. We've picked 300 of the best UK stations (including all national and local BBC stations), along with other key stations from around the world, for you to choose from.
Listen to a local station, national station or the latest from around the world!

Catch-up with bbc iplayer

Watch BBC TV or listen to BBC Radio programs that have been broadcast over the last 7 days. It's easy to catch-up with a program you have missed. Synapptic provides simple menus to select the Channel, day and program.
The list includes both audio-described and non audio-described programmes.

Play music, books or other MP3 recordings

Playing a music MP3, a book or other MP3 recording couldn't be easier. Large buttons on the screen make it easy to play and pause, rewind or skip forwards, move to the next or previous track or read out the name and duration of the current track.
As with all Synapptic screens, the MP3 player is intuitive to use, high contrast, large print and speaks everything out.

Listen to Talking Books and Talking Newspapers

Play Talking Books from the RNIB and Calibre, or read local new from your local Talking Newspaper. Books and newspapers are delivered on handy memory sticks. Plug in and play directly, or import into your own audio library - great for holidays or when travelling!
RNIB and Calibre Audio offer thousands of up-to-date audio books for a small membership fee. Books are sent on small thumb-sized memory sticks that plug into a Synapptic smartphone or tablet computer. Books can be requested through their websites or by telephone. For further information, please contact the RNIB on 0303 123 9999 or Calibre on 01296 432 339.

Watch, listen, discover, learn and laugh with YouTube!

YouTube is an amazing resource for watching films and film clips, listening to music, discovering and learning new skills or just watching the latest funny animal videos! The best thing of all - it's all free and can be easily accessed through your Synapptic smartphone or tablet!

Catch-up with news and other stories quickly and easily

• The RSS News Reader makes it easy to catch up with the latest news from a variety of sources on the Internet. RSS feeds bring the news headlines directly to you, avoiding the need to search the web or search around an individual web page. Follow an area of interest and related news and articles will be sent directly to your device. News and other articles are displayed in plain text, but images and links can be viewed as well, if you select this view.

Using the Camera

Take photos

Take photos with our fully speaking and large print camera! Using our step-by-step menus, zoom in or out, turn the flash on or off then touch the screen to take the photo.
Photos can be attached to an email quickly and easily, so you can share them with friends and family.

View photos

View and magnify photos on-screen. Move between photos using the up and down arrow keys at the top and bottom of the screen. The date and time for each photo is spoken out.
Touching the screen will expand the photo to cover the full screen, where it can be magnified further if needed up to around 100 times!
Sending a photo by email is as simple as pressing a button!

Handheld Digital Magnifier

Easy navigation

Control the magnifier using bright, bold icons on-screen. Or hide the control icons, to maximise your screen viewing experience.

Customise viewing options

A range of colour contrasts available so you can choose the colour combination that's most comfortable for you

Manipulate text and images

Magnify text and images whether you're in live-mode or frozen-mode, with smooth and continuous magnification
Zoom in and out with pinch-and-zoom, pan around or rotate any image or text you've captured

Convert text to speech

Capture any text with the camera and Synapptic will convert the text to speech, with clarity and accuracy

Save text and images

Save hundreds of captured images, for viewing later
Name or rename images for easy storage and retrieval

Use in low light conditions

Includes an in-built light, so you can still use the magnifier even in low light conditions.

Storage and Organisation

One Address Book for all contacts

Store all your telephone numbers, email addresses, Skype addresses and postal addresses in the Address Book: one place for all your contacts.
The Address Book can be searched and all Address Book details are both spoken aloud and displayed in large print on the screen.

Calendar, Reminders and Alarm

Never forget or miss another appointment! Set calendar reminders, or use the alarm clock to get up on time!

Organise MP3s into folders

Organise your MP3s into folders, which can be easily set up and named. Store your favourite music or books and newspapers in quick-to-find folders.

SD Cards and Memory Sticks

Play music stored on your smartphone or tablet, or play it from an SD card or memory stick plugged into the smartphone or tablet.

Toolbox and Added Extras

Two keyboards in one!

Rotate the phone or tablet by 90 degrees and the keyboard changes to fill the whole width of the screen, giving you a portrait or landscape view.

Note Pad

Write notes, lists and other information. Either type the text or dictate with Voice Recognition.
Notes can be saved and recalled later, or even emailed!

Record and play voice memos

Recording a spoken voice memo is a quick and simple way of noting down some important information, without having to write it down. Recordings are listed with the latest one at the top, and have the recording date and time automatically included within them.
Each recording can be played back, emailed or deleted.

Letter Writing & Printing

Easily compose, edit, save and print letters with our straight-forward letter writing features.
Also print notes, emails and photos!
Print from your phone or tablet, without wires, to just about any Wifi or network connected printer.

Find your current location (Internet connection required)

Use the inbuilt GPS feature to find your current location along with a list of pubs, hotels, shops and churches etc. around you. The full address and street name is displayed and spoken out, along with names, addresses and telephone numbers of the places nearby.

Colour identifier

Place any object a few inches in front of the phone or tablet's camera and this tool will show on screen and speak out the colour of the object. As well as giving an overall colour (green, blue, red, etc) a more detailed description is also given (dark green, sky blue etc.).

Calculator

Add, subtract, multiply and divide easily with the Synapptic large print, high contrast and talking calculator.

Compass

The compass is automatically updated every few seconds and both speaks out and displays the compass direction the top of the phone is pointing towards.

Spirit level

Place the phone or tablet flat on a surface and our colourful bubble-blowing fish tells you the angle of the surface. Ideal for putting up shelves - or just let the colourful smiling fish cheer you up!

Phone and tablet information (Internet connection required)

This option gives a quick overview of useful information for the phone or tablet, and includes phone signal strength, Wi-fi signal strength, battery level, missed calls, current ringer mode, ringer volume, date/time and software version.

In-Built Help and Support

Easy to access help

Help is available throughout Synapptic. Just about every screen has a Help icon in the top right hand corner, which displays help documents and videos for that particular screen.
In addition to the Help on every screen, the Help option on the Main Menu allows all the Help documents and videos to be searched.
Our unique in-built Lifeline® support feature means you're only ever 3 taps away from accessing our Remote Support service. Whatever screen you're on, we can access your phone remotely and provide technical support wherever you are.

All prices exclude VAT and assume the user qualifies for VAT Relief. We will send a form with the order for you to sign, confirming you are eligible for VAT Relief.

I was not a mobile phone user previously but now use it for calls, sending e-mails and texts. Also, I frequently use YouTube, Internet radio and talking books! Although I have a little sight, I feel I could use it without any sight.

John, Sight Cymru, Pontypool, Wales

Your Synapptic devices are the best things I have used in the ten years I have been blind. Thanks to the above, I was awarded a Blind Veterans UK Founder's Day Award for I T training earlier this year.

Gary, Blind Veteran, Bedale

I have been using my Synapptic phone for a couple of months now and I love it. Synapptic software has opened up a whole new world to me. I am now even exploring taking photos with the camera. Just think - 6 months ago I could not even do text messages let alone think about attaching photos! I hope everyone else is getting as much pleasure from their Synapptic phone as I am.

Sandra, Chester

If I did not have my Synapptic tablet, I would be lost without it. I can keep in touch with all my friends on email and Facebook. The speech recognition is the icing on the cake – wonderful!

Joseph, Somerset

Synapptic gives the user the very best opportunity to feel part of - and contribute to - the modern world, despite any level of sight loss.

Wanda, Leicestershire CareOnLine Training Officer