Need A Eye Test? There Are Apps For That

Sitting in the eye doctor’s office yesterday, I was trying to ready my iPhone and wondering if my prescription had gotten worse. As I get older, I have picked up the need for reading glasses if I’m wearing my contact lenses. It dawned on me while sitting there that eye charts would be a perfect self exam on an iPad or iPhone.

Once I got home, I did a search for apps, and of course found out I’m not the first to have this idea. There are a few different apps out there for self-testing eyes, although they all warn they are not meant to be a substitute for eye care from a professional. They also have other aids, such an app to see how different-shaped frames look on you, and to remind you when it’s time to change your disposable lenses.

EyeXam

EyeXam does a lot, but it suffers from being a newer app without all the promised info. It allows you to sign up and create a profile, then take an eye test with your iOS mobile device. It features the letter C pointed in different directions, and you have to identify which way it’s facing. It also checks for Astigmatism, Color Vision, and Macula. It gives you a recognized value for your eyesight, such as 20/20. It will also search for eye doctors near you and give you their contact info plotted on a map. Additionally, it promises to keep track of your insurance benefits, but that part of the app doesn’t work. There is only one insurance plan included, and my guess is the app can’t find any others that are agreeable.

LooC

LooC does the most for actually checking the visual acuity, and seems to be the most thorough of any of the apps. However, it only checks for the visual acuity, and not for other things such as Color, Astigmatism, and Macula. It gives you several choices of measuring with letters, numbers, the letter C, or the letter E, and also gives you the option of having one letter and choosing the correct one from a list, or highlighting one letter in a line of several, and having you choose the correct one in a list. It gives you a percentage when you’re done and even plots your results on a chart from one test to the next.

These apps are all either free, or only cost a few dollars. They will definitely fill that gap in between appointments when you’re wondering about your sight, about purchasing new frames, or when you need to replace your lenses. There is one unreviewed app that promised an eye test that cost $9.99, but it was hard to justify that price to try it out. For that price, it’s almost better to set up an additional appointment with your eye doctor if you’re concerned.