Augmentative and alternative communication app (AAC) Spoken – Tap to Talk AAC has released a new update based on user feedback.

At its core, Spoken is designed to help people express their thoughts and ideas through their phone or tablet. The user taps on the screen to build sentences quickly, and the app speaks them automatically with a wide range of natural-sounding voices.

The app designed for people unable to use their voice due to nonverbal autism, aphasia, stroke, or other speech and language impairments. It uses AI to learn from how the user talks and predicts the words they want next.

The new version of Spoken introduces several features designed to address real-world communication challenges identified by its users.

Evan Lauer, Designer at Spoken, explained: “User feedback is at the heart of our development process. The contact form built into our app isn’t just for show. People reach out to us all the time, and we do what we can to address their challenges or incorporate their suggestions. Our new update is an example — it’s almost entirely built around user feedback.”

One of the features that Spoken’s development team think will have the greatest impact is the ability to share audio clips via text, email, or any other messaging app.

Evan said: “This feature became a priority when we received a particular piece of feedback: one of our users, who is autistic, told us they couldn’t effectively communicate with their sibling using Spoken because they both wear noise-cancelling headphones. They needed a way to hear each other without taking those off, so we set to work right away.

“First off, I just want to point out how cool it is that we’re able to help two siblings communicate and bond. Their situation is relatively unique, though, so we brainstormed ways to resolve their issue that could benefit all of our users. We think the ability to share audio clips from Spoken will do just that. It’s like sending a voice memo over text, just accessible to nonspeaking people.”

Another quality-of-life improvement in the update was inspired by a user who found it difficult to hear Spoken over background music. To address this, the app’s development team took inspiration from Google Maps, which lowers the volume of music or temporarily pauses speech-based media like podcasts before giving directions. In Spoken’s case, these changes ensure the user’s message comes through clearly without needing to switch between apps to pause something.

“We try to look for inspiration everywhere,” continued Evan. “In this case, GPS quickly sprang to mind for us — a lot of people play music while driving, but you can’t afford to miss the directions. Dampening the music is a simple but elegant solution to the problem.

“If we hadn’t found this inspiration, we might’ve just paused the music, but it feels a lot more seamless this way.

“Plus, it also showed us that we can differentiate between music and something like a podcast or audiobook, which is helpful, because two voices over top of one another could be confusing or cause you to miss something.”

Another feature that has been added to the Spoken AAC app is the “Add Words” option on the settings page. This allows users to add new terms to Spoken’s vocabulary so that they appear in the app’s word predictions.

In addition, the app now has a new “Alert & Speak” option. A user pointed out that the attention button, which lets users signal they are about to speak, was not accessible if they had already started typing a message. In response, Spoken has added a function that allows users to perform both as one action. This can also be made the default action in Spoken’s settings.

Other enhancements include an expansion of the app’s symbol library, which now covers thousands of additional words, making it easier for users to recognise and select terms quickly. Additionally, the app has been optimised for iOS 18’s new eye tracking feature, improving the experience for anyone using it alongside Spoken.

Spoken is available to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android devices.

This most recent update builds on a previous upgrade to the app earlier this year, which involved the pairing of icons with over 600 additional terms, making it easier for users to articulate their thoughts using the app.