App comparison · Updated October 2026
GlassesOff Alternatives: What Happened to the App, and What's Still Available
Updated October 21, 2026 · Written by the team behind Visionary, one of the options below
GlassesOff was the best-known phone app built on Gabor patches, the striped patterns vision scientists use to study how the brain handles contrast. If you used it, or read about it years ago and went looking for it, you'll have found it gone. Here is what happened, and what you can use instead.
The short version: GlassesOff is no longer available anywhere. Google Play removed it in December 2022, and users were told installed copies would stop working in January 2023. The closest options today are Visionary (an iPhone and iPad app with Gabor-patch, letter, and word exercises), RevitalVision (a clinical program used through an eye-care provider), and free Gabor patches you can try in a browser or print. None of them, and nothing GlassesOff published, shows that an app can replace reading glasses.
Who wrote this: we make Visionary, so we are not neutral. We've stuck to what can be checked: store listings, published papers, and our own app's limits. Visionary has no connection to GlassesOff, Ucansi, or their successors. GlassesOff is a trademark of its owner.
What happened to GlassesOff
GlassesOff grew out of perceptual-learning research by vision scientist Uri Polat and colleagues. The iPhone app was in the App Store by late 2013, an Android version followed, and it drew wide press coverage. It was sold as a subscription after a free trial, with short daily sessions of Gabor-patch tasks.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2012 | Polat and colleagues publish a Gabor-training study of 30 adults with presbyopia in Scientific Reports, the research the app drew on. |
| Late 2013 | GlassesOff for iPhone is in the App Store; an Android version follows. |
| Mid-2010s | The company publishes studies of its own app, run by people with a financial interest in it. |
| December 2022 | The app is removed from Google Play, and App Store users report they can no longer find it. |
| January 2023 | App Store reviewers quote an email from the developer saying installed copies will stop working on January 27, 2023, because its servers could not be moved off a retiring Amazon Web Services platform. |
| October 2026 | No GlassesOff listing on the App Store or Google Play, and glassesoff.com does not load. |
The company never published a shutdown notice we could find; the email above comes from users' reviews, and we could not verify it independently. The practical upshot is the same either way: there is no official way to download or run GlassesOff today.
The alternatives, side by side
If you search the App Store for GlassesOff today, most results are eye-exercise apps. Those work differently: they're built around eye-muscle routines like focusing near and far, not around Gabor-patch perceptual learning. The table separates the two.
| Option | What it is | Where | Cost | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visionary (ours) | Guided app with adaptive exercises: Gabor patches, letters, words and sentences, visual search, and eye-movement tasks | iPhone, iPad | One free session every day; Premium subscription with a 7-day free trial on the annual plan | Inspired by perceptual-learning research; the app itself has not been tested in a study |
| RevitalVision | Clinical Gabor-patch program using lateral masking, supervised by an eye-care provider | Computer, through a provider | Set by the provider | FDA-cleared for amblyopia (ages 9 and up); its presbyopia program is not FDA-cleared |
| Free Gabor patch games | Small free apps, many from Japanese developers, that turn Gabor patches into a matching game (for example GaborPatchGame and Eye Recovery Training) | iPhone | Free to start | We found no published study of these apps |
| Free browser demos | Our orientation, contrast, and spatial-frequency demos and the Gabor patch generator | Any browser | Free | Demos to try the tasks, not a training program |
| Printable Gabor sheets | Free PDF of contrast, orientation, and spacing sheets | Paper | Free | Not a training program |
| Eye-exercise apps | Focus-shifting, tracking, and relaxation routines (palming, near-far focusing) | iPhone, Android | Free to low cost | Different approach; a review of eye exercises found no evidence they change refractive error or presbyopia |
For a wider comparison that also covers amblyopia programs like CureSee and AmblyoPlay, see the best eye training apps compared.
How Visionary compares with GlassesOff
What's similar
- Gabor patches at the core: tilted stripes, faint contrast, and fine versus coarse spacing.
- Short sessions on your phone, a few minutes a day.
- Difficulty that adapts to your answers, so practice stays challenging but doable.
What's different
- More than Gabor patches. Visionary has more than 20 exercises, including letters, words, and sentences at small sizes and low contrast, visual search, eye-movement practice, and pattern tasks.
- No promise in the name. GlassesOff's name was its pitch. Visionary is practice for visual skills, not a replacement for glasses or an eye exam, and it doesn't promise a result.
- Honest about the evidence. The studies behind this field didn't test Visionary, and doing better in an exercise isn't the same as better eyesight. Each exercise in the app says what is and isn't known about it.
- A free way in. One free session every day, a 7-day free trial on the annual plan, and training works without an account. And through the Vision Access Pledge, if cost is a barrier, you can ask us for a free year.
Which one fits you
| If you want… | Look at |
|---|---|
| Daily Gabor-patch practice on an iPhone or iPad, like GlassesOff's routine | Visionary: try the free daily session and see whether the routine fits you |
| Supervised training for amblyopia (lazy eye) | RevitalVision through an eye-care provider, or the amblyopia programs in our wider comparison |
| Just to see what Gabor patches are like | The free Gabor patch generator, browser demos, or printable sheets |
| To read up close without reading glasses | No app does that. The options that change near focus are optical or medical: readers, multifocal contacts, monovision, presbyopia eye drops, or surgery. Start with an eye exam and our presbyopia guide. |
| Something on Android | The browser demos and printable sheets work on any device; Visionary is iPhone and iPad only |
If you were still paying for GlassesOff
Subscriptions from an app that disappears usually end with it, but it's worth a two-minute check:
- iPhone or iPad: Settings › your name › Subscriptions. Anything listed there is still active.
- Android: Google Play › your profile › Payments & subscriptions › Subscriptions.
- Refunds for App Store purchases: request them at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides each request.
Frequently asked questions
Is GlassesOff still available?
No. GlassesOff was removed from Google Play in December 2022, it is no longer in the App Store, and users were told that installed copies would stop working on January 27, 2023. As of October 2026 there is no official listing on either store, and glassesoff.com does not load.
Why did GlassesOff shut down?
The company did not publish a reason. App Store reviewers quoted an email from the developer saying the app's servers ran on an Amazon Web Services platform that was being retired in January 2023, and that the company could not fund a move. We could not verify that email independently.
Can I still use GlassesOff if it is already on my phone?
According to the developer's email, installed copies stopped working on January 27, 2023, because the app depended on the company's servers. Old Android installers on third-party download sites are not official, and we would avoid them.
What is the closest app to GlassesOff?
The closest in approach are programs built on Gabor-patch exercises: Visionary on iPhone and iPad (our app) and RevitalVision, a clinical program used through an eye-care provider. Neither is GlassesOff or runs its protocol, and Visionary itself has not been tested in a study. Free Gabor patch games and printable sheets also exist.
Did GlassesOff work?
The research it drew on, Polat et al. (2012), trained 30 adults with presbyopia for about three months; they did better on several near-vision measures while the eye's optics did not change. The study was small and not randomized, and one author had financial ties to the company. The company's later studies tested its own app and were run by people with a financial interest in it. No study has shown that an app removes the need for reading glasses. Our research review goes through the papers and their limits.
Is Visionary the same as GlassesOff?
No. Visionary is a different app from a different company, with its own exercises, and it has no connection to GlassesOff or its makers. It uses Gabor patches too, alongside letters, words, and other visual tasks, and it has not been tested in a study.
Will Visionary let me stop wearing reading glasses?
No. Visionary is a wellness app for practicing visual skills. It does not change the eye's lens or your prescription, and it is not a replacement for glasses or an eye exam.
Is there a GlassesOff alternative for Android?
Visionary is iPhone and iPad only. The free Gabor patch demos and printable sheets on this site work on any device, and RevitalVision runs on a computer through a provider.
Keep reading
Best eye training apps compared
Visionary, RevitalVision, CureSee, AmblyoPlay, and eye-exercise apps.
What are Gabor patches?
The striped patterns behind GlassesOff, explained.
Gabor patches and presbyopia: the research
What the studies tested, and their limits.
Printable Gabor patches
Free PDF sheets for contrast, orientation, and spacing.