Using Apps

Photograph of black headphones lying flat on a wooden surface, close to a smartphone.
CC image by Paul Hudson

This page provides a list of audio description apps.

Please let us know if you recommend any we don’t already list here!

Movies Anywhere (previously Disney Movies Anywhere)

Not Available in Australia. To access you must be 13 years of age or older and a resident of the United States, all U.S. territories, or the U.S. associated states of the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.

This app is a cloud locker for Disney Pixar movies, with AD as a feature. The app itself is available on a range of platforms, but the AD feature is only available on iOS.

It can be used with headphones in any setting, including the cinema, syncing with the ambient film audio.

MovieReading

Limited content available in Australia.

Originally designed for subtitles and captions, this app also features AD. It is available on Android and iOS, so is compatible with most tablets and smartphones, provided the device has a microphone.

MovieReading auto-syncs AD and captions with the ambient film audio. It can be used in any setting, including a cinema, requiring only a smart device and headphones.

The AD file is downloaded ahead of time, and the smart device can be used in Airplane mode to avoid disrupting others.

Actiview

Not Available in Australia.

This app offers features including AD, amplified audio, combined AD and amplified audio, and closed captioning.

The access feature file is downloaded ahead of time.

It requires wired headphones before it will play an audio file.

It uses auto-syncing technology, using the ambient film audio via the device microphone.

Big Access Media

Available in Australia!

This app provides audio with AD for a range of children’s television programs airing on Foxtel including Discovery Kids and Nickelodeon children’s programs.

It is available on iOS, though an Android version is expected soon. It can also be used through a web browser, with Google Chrome currently the best option.

The audio syncs with the ambient audio from the program and, whilst advertisement breaks are usually included where scheduled, users can also re-sync the AD if unexpected breaks occur. BAM services can be played through the device speakers, so it is not necessary to use headphones.