Janet Ingber
"ally" is a free, updated app from Envision Technologies B.V. It works across all platforms and automatically syncs with all devices.
In the iOS App Store, several apps begin with the word "ally." This one is labeled as "the accessible ai assistant" [sic].
The "ally" app does not use capital letters. Almost nothing is capitalized, including names and first words in sentences. For this review, I will frequently use capitalized first letters for clarity.
For this evaluation, I am using an iPhone 16 with iOS 18.5 and Ally version 1.2.0.
From the App Store
"ally is an ai assistant built for accessibility—designed to empower people who need a smarter, personal & more intuitive way to interact with the world.
unlike mainstream ai tools that assume users can see a screen or type, ally is fully voice-first, context-aware, and designed to support how you interact with the world.
it’s not just a one-off answer. ally remembers context, learns your preferences, and responds in a way that fits your needs—whether it’s reading, navigating, recognizing objects, or managing daily tasks."
Ally is available in English, Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish.
Getting Started
The first time Ally is opened, there is a "Let’s Start" button. Below that is an option to sign in if you already have an account, and an option to create an account. If you want to use Ally on more than one device, an account is necessary.
If you activate the "Let’s Start" button, the app will give you information about each Ally assistant. It will also walk you through the setup process. If you choose not to create an account, the first screen is where you will choose an Ally. There is a list of voices, each with a different personality. It is easy to change or update your Ally. The app will ask for access to the microphone and camera.
Should you decide to make changes to your existing Ally or select a different Ally, you can do that through the Preferences menu on the home screen.
Creating an Account
When creating your account, you have the option of signing in with Apple, signing in with Google, or using an email address and password. No matter which method you choose, a phone number is required.
The first box you encounter is a read-only field containing the country code and area code based on where the app thinks you live. Note that this can be incorrect, especially if you are near the border of an area code. For example, the app defaulted to a New Jersey area code instead of one for my actual location.
Fortunately, this can be changed. Next to the area code is a button. When selected, the button opens a new screen with a list of countries, as well as an edit box where you can enter your country. I entered "United States" and a list of area codes for the U.S. was presented. The area codes were in numerical order, and I selected the one I wanted.
Once the correct country and area codes were in place, I was able to enter the rest of the phone number and request a verification code. The final step is to enter the code.
Making Changes
The app’s home screen has three options: Preferences, Talk to your Ally, and Chat with your Ally. It will use your Ally’s name.
The first option in Preferences is Personalization. There are two sections: About You and About Your Ally. If you have already set up your Ally, information will be in those two sections. Information can easily be edited. When you are finished editing, Ally will ask if you want to save the changes.
After a conversation is concluded, you will be asked whether the conversation was helpful.
Ally Inside
Ally correctly identified my \$1, \$5, \$10, and \$20 bills.
I purposely dropped my keys and was given directions to find them. I placed a soda can on a kitchen counter and was told where to look.
I asked for key lime pie recipes and Ally gave me two of them. Unfortunately, instead of getting one recipe and then the next, I was given the first part of each recipe, which made it harder to follow. I then asked for them in order, which presented the recipes in the proper format.
The app did very well with clothing. It read garment tags and gave detailed descriptions of the clothing, including color. The app had no difficulty reading information on t-shirts.
Ally read a variety of products, including canned goods, over-the-counter medicine bottles, frozen food cooking directions, spice jars, and cosmetics. If there was additional information available for any product, the app asked if I wanted to hear it.
Ally did an excellent job reading printed text. In one case, I had it read a document that contained several different languages, which it did with no difficulty.
Ally Outdoors
In my testing, Ally's GPS capabilities were inaccurate and could not find my specific location. While using its image recognition features, the app was able to identify general surroundings—for example, telling me I was on a sidewalk with houses on the left and grass and parked cars on the right.
However, attempts to determine my exact location or nearby points of interest by reading signs or analyzing the environment did not work. The app was unable to provide useful or accurate guidance outdoors.
Conclusion
Ally can definitely serve as a useful part of your accessibility toolkit. The app is easy to navigate and works very well indoors for a wide range of tasks.
In my testing, the GPS features were unreliable so I would hesitate to recommend using the app for tasks related to navigation. That being said, the indoor capabilities are strong and can be depended upon.
