The AAC Apps table has been moved to a new, permanent home on our website and is regularly updated there. Click here to be taken to the new home.
Since pulling together information on AAC Apps for the iPod touch, iPhone and Ipad in July, there have been a number of changes to existing Apps – as well as new Apps in the iTunes store designed specifically for AAC. So it is time for an update!
Just recently, AbleNet has entered the App market with SoundingBoard. This is an easy to use App for building a series of single communication boards. Unfortunately the boards can’t be linked to build an multi-level communication book – but it’s nice to have a App for building situation specific boards and aided language displays with a range of button options, from 1 button to 9 buttons.
And one important change to an existing App is that TapSpeakSequence now has an in-App purchase of the Picture Communication Symbols from Boardmaker available.
Please read the table below to see other changes – and please add your comments. I really appreciate all the comments and contributions that everyone made to the previous version.
| App | Price $AUD | iPhone/ iPod touch | iPad* | Symbol System | Pre-programmed pages and customisation | Voice Output/ Speech | My Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps with Symbols/Pictures only | ||||||||
Grace
|
$45.99 | Y | Y | Small range of custom symbols. Can import your own photos. | Designed to replicate PECS. Has a limited number of sentence starters, which cannot be added to. Vocabulary is organized in categories, and the pre-existing categories cannot be added to or modified. A strip allows you to construct some limited sentences Text cannot be added to your custom vocabulary items. |
No speech. | ★ | |
iAssist Communicator
|
$36.99 | Y | Small number of pre-installed images and photos. Import your own photos. | Vocabulary is stored under categories such as “Art” or “Good Manners”. There is very little structure to facilitate a conversation, with some categories containing mostly nouns, and many buttons have full phrases. There is no message window for sentence construction. Categories can be added and existing content can be edited. | Recorded speech – either use the pre-existing speech or record your own. | ★ | ||
iComm
|
Free without speech; $9.99 for upgrade to audio | Y | Import your own. Small number of clip art and symbols included. | Organised in categories such as basic needs, activities with a few items pre-programmed under some categories. Can customize the categories and there are a few blank to add your own. 4 or 2 cells on each screen. No message window for sentence construction. | Record your own speech in upgraded version | ★★ | ||
iCommunicate
|
$23.99 | Y | Photos. User can add their own photos. | Vocabulary is displayed in list view. You can add or delete items and type in your own text for added items. Vocabulary can also be displayed in a sequence and used as a storyboard or visual schedule. No message window for sentence construction. | Recorded speech. | ★★ | ||
| iCommunicate for iPad
|
$36.99 | Y | Photos. User can add their own photos | Vocabulary is displayed in list view. You can add or delete items and type in your own text for added items. Vocabulary can also be displayed in a sequence and used as a storyboard or visual schedule. No message window for sentence construction. | Recorded speechiconverselook2 | ★★ | ||
iConverse – Assisted Communication
|
$12.99 | Y | Clip Art. Can import your own | Home page with 6 buttons “I need the bathroom”, “I need a break”, “I feel sick” etc and then you can create your own buttons. No message window for sentence construction. | Synthesised speech in male and female voices | ★ | ||
Look2Learn – AAC
|
$29.99 | Y | Photos. Can add your own. | An “I want” symbol (boy or girl) is followed by a number of photographs or categories for requesting items. You can add your own items to be requested and delete pre-existing items. No message window or way to construct sentences except by starting with “I want”. | Recorded speech, boy, girl, male or female. Record your own speech for new items or record over existing items. | ★ | ||
MyTalk Tools Mobile
|
$47.99 (Lite version is free but the number of cells is limited) |
Y | Y | Clip Art and some photos. Can import your own photos in MyTalk Workspace. | Comes with limited pages. MyTalk Workspace can be purchased for USD$75 annually to allow you to design your own pages, including access to an Image Library, Web Authoring and Collaboration tools. No message window for sentence construction. | Recorded speech. | ★★ | |
SmallTalk Aphasia
|
Free | Y | Clip art and some photos. | A list of basic phrases and some nouns. Cannot be customized for the end user. Includes some videos for end user to practice speech. No message window for sentence construction. | Recorded speech. | ★ | ||
SoundingBoard
|
$59.99 | Y | Has built-in AbleNet symbol library with hundreds of symbols. Can also import photos. | Provides 1 cell, 2 cell, 3 cell, 4 cell, 6 cell and 9 cell templates which can be used to create “boards”. Boards cannot be linked to each other. Very easy to use. | Recorded speech. | ★★★ | ||
Speaking Images
|
$1.19 | Y | Clip art. | Vocabulary arranged in categories and then in list view. Cannot be customized by the end user. No message window for sentence construction. | Synthesised speech | ★ | ||
Tap to Talk
|
Free; Tap to Talk Designer $99.95 USD per annum | Y | Y | 2000 custom symbols. Can import your own. | Comes with a starter album with categories “go, play, hungry, drink, emotion, bathroom”. Can make your own albums online with Tap to Talk Designer. Version for Nintendo DS is also available. No message window for sentence construction. | Pre-recorded speech in starter album. Record your own speech in Tap to Talk Designer. | ★★ | |
TapSpeak Button
|
$12.99 | Y | None. Can change switch colour. | Turns your iPhone/iPod Touch into a single message communication device/switch. Allows the user to record a number of messages and store them – which can then be pulled up again later. Has an option of tap feedback when the “switch” is pressed. | Recorded speech | ★★★ | ||
| TapSpeak Button for iPad
|
$12.99 | Y | None. Can change switch colour. | Turns your iPad into a single message communication device/switch. Allows the user to record a number of messages and store them – which can then be pulled up again later. Has an option of tap feedback when the “switch” is pressed | Recorded speech | ★★★ | ||
TapSpeak Sequence for iPad
|
$36.99 | Y | Can set different switch colours and shapes or import photos for each item in a sequence. PCS symbols from Boardmaker now also available as an in-App purchase for an additional cost. | Turns your iPad into a sequenced single message communication device/switch. Allows the user to record a number of sequences and store them – which can then be pulled up again later. Can change how long the “switch” needs to be pressed before it activates. | Recorded speech. | ★★★with a bullet! | ||
Voice4U
|
$36.99 | Y | 130 custom symbols. User can import their own photos. | Vocabulary is organized in a list view. Vocabulary can be organized in categories, alphabetically, in recency or in “popular” order. User can add an unlimited number of vocabulary items using their own photos and recording their own speech. No message window for sentence construction. | Recorded speech. | ★ | ||
| Apps with Symbols and Text-to-Speech | ||||||||
AutoVerbal GirlTalk
|
$5.99 | Y | Y | A range of clip art and words as buttons. | Can customize what some buttons “say” but cannot add your own buttons. Word/phrases do not go into the message window. Has a message window with a pop up keyboard for typing your own text to be converted to speech. | Female synthesized speech | ★★ | |
AutoVerbal GuyTalk
|
$5.99 | Y | Y | Can customize what some buttons “say” but cannot add your own buttons. Word/phrases do not go into the message window. Has a message window with a pop up keyboard for typing your own text to be converted to speech. | Male synthesized speech | ★★ | ||
Autoverbal Talking Soundboard PRO
|
$12.99 | Y | Y | A range of clip art and words as buttons. | Can customize what some buttons “say” but cannot add your own buttons. Word/phrases do not go into the message window. Has a message window with a pop up keyboard for typing your own text to be converted to speech. | Male or female synthesized speech | ★★ | |
I Can Speak
|
$36.99 | Y | Clip art and some photos. | Has a very interesting layout based around core vocabulary. Unfortunately, with the very limited range of symbols and lack of customization, let down what could be a really fabulous option. It’s still worth investigating though for clients with good literacy – and as well as selecting whole words the user can type into the message window directly with the keyboard. | Male synthesized voice only. | ★★ | ||
Proloquo2Go
|
$239.99 | Y | Y | SymbolStix. Can import your own photos. | Has a default vocabulary of over 7000 items, with some language arranged pragmatically. There is a core vocabulary system, a basics section and a large number of categories. Every cell can be customized and the user has access to SymbolStix picture symbols as well as the option of importing their own photos. A message window allows the user to construct sentences by stringing words together. A keyboard can be used to type for text-to-speech and typing can be inserted into the message window and added to a sentence. Blank User Spaces can be easily made to construct your own page sets. | Male, female and child synthesized speech. US and UK accents available. | ★★★ | |
| Apps with Text-to Speech only | ||||||||
Assistive Chat
|
$29.99 | Y | Y | Text-to-speech App with word prediction, and the ability to save phrases you have typed as favourites. Also has the ability to pull up a recents list – and speak phrases from a recent conversation again. Has the option of speaking as each word is inserted into the message window – or waiting until the end when the user can choose to speak to whole phrase/sentence. Can alter speech rate as well as volume. | US English male and female synthesized speech. | ★★★ | ||
iMean
|
$5.99 | Y | Text-to-speech App with custom keyboards, available in QWERTY or ABC. The only App with word prediction – but the word prediction was custom created for the developer’s son and is not always functional for others and contains some non-words such as “whaddymacallit”. There is no shift key to produce capitals. | None. | ★ | |||
iSayIt
|
$1.19 | Y | Simple text-to-speech App which allows the user to type and talk using the pop up keyboards built into the iPod touch or iPhone. Phrases/words can be saved and spoken again – allowing the user to create a list of appropriate phrases or questions in advance or to be used repeatedly. | One voice, which sounds best as male but can alter pitch to sound more like a female. | ★ | |||
Locabulary Lite
|
Free | Y (location features won’t work on iPod touch) | An interesting twist on the other AAC Apps available – Locabulary Lite uses the GPS feature in your iPhone to track your location to suggest appropriate vocabulary for you e.g. In McDonald’s . Vocabulary is offered in list view, with text only. A keyboard is also available to type into for text-to-speech. This is still in development. | Male or female synthesized speech | ★★ | |||
SpeakIt!
|
$2.49 | Y | Y | Simple text-to-speech App which allows the user to type and talk using the pop up keyboards built into the iPod touch, iPhone or iPad. Phrases/words can be saved and spoken again – allowing the user to create a list of appropriate phrases or questions in advance or to be used repeatedly. Audio files can also be created and saved or emailed to someone else. The iPad version offers a nice big keyboard. | Male and female synthesized speech. US and UK accents available. Additional voices can be purchased in some other languages. | ★★ | ||
Talk Assist!
|
Free | Y | Simple text-to-speech App which also lets you pull up your history of recent phrases/sentences and speak them again. | Male synthesized speech | ★★ | |||
*Many of the iPhone/iPod touch emails will run on the iPad but run at iPhone size on the larger screen. Most of these can be expanded to double size to fill the whole iPad screen but the program may be distorted when run at double size.
Another great list Jane! Cheers Barbara
Great work, Jane … thanks for putting this together
This is a really great list- does any one have any idea whether its possible to get an ipod touch/i phone/i pad trial from any of the above distributors? We live in the UK btw. Thanks!
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Hi Beth,
Glad the list is helpful.
Not many of the AAC Apps have a lite version – which is the iTunes equivalent to a demo. I guess they are concerned that if they cut out some features to make it lite that those features might just be what someone wants.
I also don’t know of any UK places that have the iPod touch/iPad/iPhone for trial – but on the Proloquo2Go website they do have a list of places that you can go to to see Proloquo2Go. You can see this list at http://www.proloquo2go.com/resources/article/european-resource-centers
I hope that’s helpful
Jane
Awesome list Jane!
A really useful list!
To help people keep up with the updates, how about making the list a page by itself and then editing that page for updates. You could link to the page in all your blog posts – that way you only have one copy an everybody knows where it is.
Cheers,
r
HI Ricky,
Thanks for the feedback – and that’s a very good suggestion! So we’ve done it – and it is now on our web at http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/iphoneipad-apps-for-aac.
I’ll be updating it shortly again as there are another couple of AAC Apps I’ve found recently.
Cheers
Jane
Fantastic work Jane. Please add me to your distribution list.
with thanks
Jen
New one: TouchChat, including something called iEssence and WordPower as *part* of it. Not yet available but YouTube intro here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfDYHq65NrU
Also, there’s http://aacspeech.com/
(had to search to find a spot to leave comments – no comments on the page where the new grid is!)
Also, http://conleysolutions.com/wordpress/?page_id=282 – TapSpeak Choice.
Hi Ricky – thanks for that. I knew two of these were coming but hadn’t heard about the third. I really appreciate you passing your tips on!
I’ve also sent an email to one of our web developers to see if we can do something to add comments to the current list location.
Word Power is a page set already available for lots of other platforms – it’s a really well designed core vocabulary page set by Nancy Inman. I’m looking forward to seeing it on this platform too!
Cheers
Jane
… aaaaaand another one, iPACS at http://www.adastrasoft.com/iPACS.html
I’m getting these from the iTeach and Assistive Technology and some other Facebook groups. If you use Facebook and aren’t on these groups give me a hoy and I can invite you – if you’d like, of course. I’m happy to keep posting them here or in the long term I have another idea I’ll chat to you about when I get my real keyboard back.
r
Hi Jane
Thanks for the updated list. Another new app is Auslan Tutor’ Key Sign’ with 150 signs for people just starting out using key word signs. Very very well made by North Rocks Deaf & Blind Assoc, and each sign is done in a small video clip – not animation. Auslan (Australian). Some of the signs (only 20) are different to those done by those using Key Word Signing and people can check out the list on my Face Book page if they want. The best part is the App is FREE.
Jane,
Thank you so much for putting this list together and maintaining it with updates. I’ve added it to my favorites!
with appreciation,
Laura
HI all, I’ve just done a big new update to the list at its new permanent home – http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/article/iphoneipad-apps-for-aac
Jane
God Bless You for helping all of us
Please keep in touch that you have updates
I am adding this to my fav
List
Again thank you
D
do you have a list od apps for the HP slate or a droid?
HI D – we don’t have a list of AAC Apps for Android – but we are considering doing one. Cheers Jane
We have the proloquo2go app and that is great. We also use the read and write gold software on a Mac and we are looking for an app or program that will read emails and Internet, etc. On the iPad…any suggestions, don’t want to have to cut and paste into a text box. Thanks for any suggestions.
Hi Brenda, We don’t know of anything yet that does what you want – at this stage all Apps we know of require copying and pasting. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t coming – and we’ll be sure to blog about them as soon as we find them!
I, too, am interested in a list of AAC apps for Android. We just got an ACER A500 Tablet and I’m trying to find things for my non-verbal, non-precise touching daughter to use — games, AAC apps, whatever.
thanks!
I work as a computer specialist at the Champion Centre in Christchurch NZ. [ an Early Intervention programme for children with two or more areas of difficulty]. An increasing number of parents are asking about iPads for educational purposes. Some of their children will need AAC. While the iPad is clearly not ideal for this, some apps may serve as a “taster” to motivate and encourage the use of both low and high tech devices- I hope! At any rate your list is a great guide for those of us floundering in a sea of requests for advice! Thank you for a sensational job. Hilary Stock
Thanks Hilary! Glad the list has been useful.
I just stumbled on your list Jane: I googled Proloquo2Go to see what price (it was mentioned at US$190 in David Sparks,iPad at work, Wiley, 2011 978-1-118-10056-1).
My autistic young adult daughter uses P2G on an iPad at her Day Training Service, and has had experience with Boardmaker/WritingWithSymbols in the adolescent levels of Special Developmental Schools, so I’m favorably disposed. Having spent several years tutoring hispanohablante adult refugees and used the Oxford-Duden Picture Dictionaries >20 years ago, I was already convinced about bridging the language gap with picture symbols. If I ever get back into 2nd language work, I might adapt BM and P2G for facilitating language exchange. Bilingual crossover add-ons would be useful to have, for example for Castellano de América Central, Português de Brasil, Cymraeg (of course!), et al.
I think BM and P2G have materially helped my daughter’s progress with fluent conversation for a lot of everyday living, that plus the active friendly encouragement all her teachers and Instructors generously give her and her fellow Clients.
I might also look for apps for Makaton (several acquaintances have autistic children) and Auslan (in case I get much deafer.)
Cheers! David.