Practising the Eye Test on Your Phone: The Best Apps
Practising the eye test on your phone: is it a good idea, which apps are worth using, and what can they really tell you about your vision? If your driving licence eye test is coming up, and you want to practise, the easiest way to do it is with your phone, because there are dozens of free apps that will test your visual acuity, your colour vision, and your visual field, and because you can use them anywhere, at home, on the train, or in the waiting room, without any special equipment. This guide explains the best kinds of apps for practising the eye test, what they can and cannot do, and how to use them in a sensible way before the real test.
It is worth being clear about the limits of phone apps from the start. An app cannot give you a driving licence eye test certificate, and it cannot replace the test at the optician or the ophthalmologist, because the official test is done at a fixed distance, in controlled lighting, with calibrated charts, and because the certificate has to be signed and stamped by a qualified person. A phone app can give you a good idea of how your eyes are doing, it can tell you whether you need new glasses, and it can calm your nerves before the real test, but that is all it can do. If an app tells you that your vision is fine, that does not mean you will pass the official test, and if an app tells you that your vision is not fine, that does not mean you will fail it, because the two tests are not the same.
That said, practising on your phone is a sensible thing to do, and it is better than practising nowhere at all. Many people are nervous before the eye test, not because their eyes are bad, but because they do not know what to expect, and a few minutes with an app can show them what the test looks like, how the letters are presented, and how small they get, and that can make the real test feel much less daunting. An app can also help you to check whether your glasses or contact lenses are up to date, because if you can read the small letters with them on, and you cannot read them without them, you know that your correction is working, and that is a useful thing to know. This article tells you how to choose an app, how to use it properly, and what to do with the result.
What the apps can do, and what they cannot
A good eye test app can do three useful things. First, it can check your visual acuity, by showing you letters or Landolt rings on the screen, in decreasing sizes, and asking you to read them, in the same way as the optician’s chart. Second, it can check your colour vision, by showing you Ishihara plates, which are circles of coloured dots with a number hidden in them, and asking you to read the number. And third, it can check your visual field, by flashing lights at the edges of the screen while you look at the centre, and asking you to tap when you see them. Those three checks cover the same ground as the driving licence eye test, and they can give you a useful indication of how your eyes are doing.
What an app cannot do is to give you a precise measurement of your visus, because the visus depends on the distance between you and the chart, and on the size of the letters on the screen, and those vary from phone to phone, and from person to person. A good app will ask you to hold your phone at a certain distance, often 40 centimetres for a near test, and it will calibrate the letters to the size of your screen, but that calibration is only approximate, and it is not as accurate as the optician’s chart, which is at a fixed distance of five or six metres. That means that the app’s result is a guide, not a measurement, and you should treat it as one.
The app also cannot check your eye health. It cannot see your retina, it cannot measure your eye pressure, it cannot detect a cataract, and it cannot tell whether you have glaucoma or macular degeneration. Those are medical checks, and they need an optician or an ophthalmologist, with proper equipment. An app can tell you that you need to see a doctor, if its result is much worse than you expected, but it cannot tell you why, and it cannot tell you what to do about it, other than to book an appointment. That is the limit of the app, and it is worth respecting it, because a phone is not a doctor, and it should not be treated as one. For a proper test, read our guide to how the driving licence eye test works.
The most useful kinds of app
Most eye test apps fall into one of three kinds, and it is worth knowing which kind you need, because it will help you to choose the right one. The first kind is the visual acuity app, which is the most common, and which shows you a chart of letters, numbers or Landolt rings, and asks you to read them. It is the best kind to use if you want to practise for the driving licence eye test, because that test is mostly a visual acuity test, and because the app will show you what it feels like to read down the chart, line by line, until the letters become too small to see. Look for an app that lets you choose the distance, and that tells you your approximate visus, and that saves your results, so that you can see whether they change over time.
The second kind is the colour vision app, which shows you Ishihara plates, and which is the best kind to use if you want to check whether you have a colour vision deficiency, or if you have failed the colour vision test and you want to practise. It is a simple app, and it is often free, and our own free colour vision test tool is a good place to start, because it works in your browser, and it does not need to be installed. A good colour vision app will show you several plates, it will tell you how many you got right, and it will explain what the result means, and it will tell you to see an ophthalmologist if the result is abnormal, which is the right advice.
The third kind is a general eye health app, which combines a visual acuity test, a colour vision test, a visual field test, and sometimes a test of contrast sensitivity, or of near vision, and which gives you an overall result. These apps are often more polished, and they are sometimes made by opticians or by health companies, and they are a good choice if you want a single app that does everything, rather than three separate apps. Look for an app that is made by a reputable company, that has good reviews, that does not make exaggerated claims, and that does not try to sell you glasses or contact lenses. For a full guide to practising, read our article on practising for the eye test online.
How to use an app properly
Using an eye test app properly is mostly a matter of setting up the conditions, so that the result is as accurate as it can be. Sit in a room with good, even lighting, and hold your phone still, at the distance the app tells you to, usually 40 centimetres for a near test, and further for a distance test, if the app supports one. Do not hold the phone too close, or the letters will look bigger than they should, and do not hold it in bright sunlight, or in the dark, because the contrast will be wrong. And sit still, and cover one eye at a time if the app asks you to, in the same way as the optician would, because that is how the app can test each eye separately, and that is how the official test works.
It is also important to do the test with your glasses or contact lenses on, and then without them, so that you can compare the two results, and so that you can see how much difference your correction makes. If you do the test with your glasses on, and you get a good result, and you do it without them, and you get a poor result, that is normal, and it means that your glasses are working. If you do the test with your glasses on, and you get a poor result, that is a sign that your prescription may be out of date, and that you should book a proper eye test at the optician. That is the most useful thing an app can tell you, and it is the thing that most people want to know.
Finally, do the test more than once, and do it on different days, because a single result can be affected by how tired you are, by how much time you have spent looking at a screen, and by the lighting, and because a result that is consistent over several days is more reliable than a result that you got once, on a bad day. If you get the same result three times, you can trust it. If you get a different result each time, do not worry about it, and do not make any decisions based on it, because it is not a reliable measurement, and because the app is not a doctor. For a free test that you can do in your browser, try our eye test simulator and our visual acuity converter.
The best places to start: our free tools, and what to look for
Before you download an app, it is worth trying the free tools on this website, because they are designed for exactly this purpose, and because they work in your browser, without any installation. Our eye test simulator shows you what the driving licence eye test looks like, and our colour vision test lets you check your colour vision with Ishihara plates, and our visual acuity converter helps you to understand what your visus value means. Those tools are free, they are in English, and they are a good way to practise, before you decide whether to download an app, or to book a real test.
If you do want an app, look for one that is made by a reputable company, that has good reviews, that is transparent about what it does, and that does not make exaggerated claims, such as saying that it can diagnose eye diseases, or that it can replace an eye doctor, because no app can do those things. Look for an app that lets you save your results, that lets you choose the distance, that tells you your approximate visus, and that warns you to see a doctor if the result is abnormal. Avoid apps that are full of advertisements, that ask for personal information, or that try to sell you glasses, because those are not the best apps, and because a good app should be focused on measuring your vision, not on selling you something.
Finally, remember that the best app is the one that you actually use, and that the most important thing is not the app, but the fact that you are taking your vision seriously, and that you are preparing for the official test. Whether you use our free tools, or an app from the app store, or a practice chart on paper, the result is the same: you will go into the real test knowing what to expect, and you will be calmer, and you will do better. That is the point of practising, and it is worth a few minutes of your time.
What to do with your result
What you do with your app result depends on what it is. If the result is good, and you can read the small letters with your glasses or contact lenses on, you can be reasonably confident for the real test, but you should still go to the optician, because the official test is the one that counts, and because an app result is not a certificate. If the result is poor, do not panic. It may be that the app was not calibrated, that the lighting was wrong, or that you were tired, and the best thing to do is to try again, on a better day, and then to book a proper eye test at the optician, so that you can find out what your real vision is. That is the sensible response: use the app as a prompt, not as a diagnosis.
If the app shows that you can read the letters without your glasses, but you cannot read them without your glasses, and you do not have glasses, you should book an eye test at the optician, because you may need glasses, and because the optician can tell you exactly what your prescription is. If the app shows that you cannot read the letters even with your glasses on, you should book an eye test as soon as you can, because your prescription may be out of date, or because there may be another reason for the poor result, and because a new pair of glasses, or a visit to the ophthalmologist, may be needed. In both cases, the app has done its job, by telling you that you need a proper test, and you should follow it up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I practise the eye test on my phone?
Yes. There are free apps and browser tools that test your visual acuity, your colour vision and your visual field, and they can help you to practise and to calm your nerves, although they cannot replace the official test or give you a certificate.
Are the apps accurate?
They are approximate. A phone app can give you a good idea of how your eyes are doing, but it cannot measure your visus precisely, because the distance and the screen size vary, and it cannot check your eye health.
What is the best app for practising the eye test?
The best place to start is our free tools, the eye test simulator and the colour vision test, which work in your browser. If you want an app, choose one from a reputable company, with good reviews, that saves your results and that warns you to see a doctor if the result is abnormal.
Can an app tell me if I need glasses?
It can give you a hint, if you can read the letters with glasses on and not without them, but it cannot give you a prescription. Only an optician or an ophthalmologist can do that.
Should I practise on my phone before the real eye test?
Yes. It is a good way to see what the test looks like, to check whether your correction is working, and to calm your nerves, and it is free, so there is no reason not to do it.
Conclusion
Practising the eye test on your phone is a sensible, free, and easy way to prepare for the official test. A good app can check your visual acuity, your colour vision and your visual field, it can tell you whether your glasses are working, and it can show you what the real test will feel like, which can calm your nerves and help you to do your best. It cannot give you a certificate, it cannot measure your visus precisely, and it cannot check your eye health, but it can do enough to be useful, and it is worth a few minutes of your time.
Start with the free tools on this website, the eye test simulator and the colour vision test, and if you want more, download a well-reviewed app from a reputable company, use it in good light, at the right distance, with and without your glasses, and do the test more than once. Then, whatever the result, go to the optician and take the official test, because that is the one that counts, and because it is the one that will give you the certificate you need for your licence.