We all know the importance of reading the fine print. Unfortunately, as we get older, that is sometimes easier said than done. Have you ever found yourself straining to read small, fine print on a page, on a prescription bottle, a menu, a receipt, etc.? Your iPhone can now help you if you have the $3 app from Freeverse called Eye Glasses
The app does one thing but does it well: it acts as a magnifying glass. You can choose 2x, 4x, 6x or 8x magnification. Just hold your iPhone's camera lens over the small print, and it will appear much larger on the screen.
For example, last week I was trying to use an iTunes Gift Card. You use a coin to scratch the back of the card to reveal a number, but the number was so tiny that even with a bright light, I was having a lot of trouble reading it. Thus, I fired up Eye Glasses, selected 4x magnification, and suddenly I could read the code with no trouble at all:
Here is an example of using the app to read the legal fine print in a software manual. The text is about 5 point type, which is barely legible but very small. Using the Eye Glasses app, even with just the 2x magnification, the text becomes very easy to read.
Although this app will run on any iPhone, you'll likely be disappointed if you are not using an iPhone 3GS. The 3GS has a better camera and has the ability to auto focus in a macro mode, and that combination is really what lets the Eye Glasses app do its magic on small text.
If you ever have difficulty reading small text, I think you will really like this app. David Pogue of the New York Times raved about this app last week, noting, "As an over-40-year-old, I’ve become addicted to this app. ...[T]he 2X and 4X views have saved me more than once." Me too. It was definitely worth $3.
[UPDATE 12/13/09: Wouldn't you know that the same day I review this app, it receives its first update. You can read the details here, but in short, the update includes a "new, sleeker frame with capability to rotate between landscape and portrait modes." Thus, the app now looks slightly different than the pictures I posted above, but it still works great.]