Updated: 59 Free or Lite Versions of AAC Apps

The content of this post has been updated. Click HERE for the most current version that includes Android apps and a link to our AAC app rubric.

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Thanks to all who’ve given us great feedback and suggestions on our list of free and lite AAC apps. If you’ve been following our blog, you know that we have mixed feelings about the AAC app revolution. More specifically, we’ve had concerns about the decision-making process around app selection, and have advocated for that to occur within the context of a feature match process that gives appropriate attention to the full range of AAC options.

In our digital curation sites, we link to tools we use for this process, such as the feature match forms developed by Jessica Gosnell at Boston Children’s and the ones created by Scott Marfilius and Kelly Fonner. In our own teaching and clinical work, when AAC apps are being considered, we’re beginning to use a supplemental rubric that focuses more specifically on the language aspects of the app using this working draft. That is still in the preliminary stages, but we are happy to share the initial draft.

Because this list sometimes gets circulated without the context in which it was originally developed, we decided to include some previous posts, resources, and comments related to this topic.

1. Our post on 5 Things to Do Before you Choose an AAC App
2. Comprehensive AAC app list for iPhone and iPad by Jane Farrall
3. Scoop.It collection and Pinterest boards with AAC app sites and videos
4. OCALI’s listing of apps for individuals with ASD
5. Tech Connect’s Apps Assistant
6. The App Academy’s site for app training videos

And, finally, some excerpts from our original post:

Graduate student SLPs are a fairly diverse group, but one thing that is common to almost all of them is that they are on a very limited budget. Although many of the AAC apps are reasonably priced, even that can be a lot for a struggling student. We wanted to put together a list of the free or lite versions of AAC apps for them to explore on their own iDevices.

First, a few caveats:
1. Selection of AAC tools is always made after a thorough assessment. This is as true for apps as it is for SGDs.
2. This list isn’t intended in any way to endorse these apps or suggest that the free/lite version is sufficient. Hopefully, it will give future professionals a taste of what these  apps can do and allow them to begin to think about how to make decisions about this in the context of a feature match assessment. Review sites like the one at Spectronics and OCALI can be very useful when you are trying to see some of the features that apps contain.
3. This list isn’t comprehensive. If you have links to other AAC apps that are free or have lite versions, please send them along and we will update our list.
4. Students, remember what we’ve taught you about AAC. This doesn’t supersede what you’ve learned about AAC and language assessment, symbol selection, multimodal communication, etc.

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59 Free and Lite Versions of AAC Apps

1. AlexiCom AAC
2. Answers: Yes/No Free
3. Augie Free (Free version not currently available in US)
4. Autism 5-Point Scale EP (Autism Help)
5. Com App
6. Comunicador Personal Adaptable(Spanish)
7. Communicate Mate Female: NEW
8. Communicate Mate Male: NEW
9. Connect Cards:NEW
10. DIME Lite
11. FreeSpeech: NEW
12. Functional Communication System Lite: NEW
13. Gabby Tabs Lite: NEW
14. Grid Player
15. iBlissymbols Lite
16. iComm Education
17. iPhonic Lite
18. iPicto Lite
19. Locabulary Lite
20. MetaTalk Lite
21. My Choice Pad Lite: NEW
22. My Talking Phone
23. MyTalk Tools
24. Neo Julie (also Kate and Paul)
25. Noni Lite
26. OneVoice-AAC
27. Phrase Board
28. Pic A Word
29. Pics Aloud Lite
30. Picture Card Maker
31. Picture Board
32. PocketAAC-Lite
33. Say Hi AAC
34. See and Say Lite: NEW
35. Scene & Heard Lite
36. Small Talk Aphasia (Male & Female)
37. Small Talk Conversational Phrases
38. Small Talk Daily Activities
39. Small Talk Intensive Care
40. Small Talk Pain Scale
41. Sounding Board: NEW
42. SFY_Speak4Youself Lite: NEW
43. Speech Button: NEW
44. Speech Buttons Free
45. Sono Flex Lite
46. Speak All
47. Speak for Yourself LAT Kids
48. Spubble Lite
49. Talk Assist
50. Talking Cards Lite: NEW
51. Talking Text
52. Talk Tommy
53. Talk to Me 100 (free version has 9 locations)
54. Talk 4 Me
55. Tap to Talk
56. Touch Chat Lite
57. Verbally
58. VocaBeans EN
59. VoiceSymbol AAC

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