iOS / AndroidA communication app that lets a child who finds it hard to speak say what they feel, with picture cards and a voice.
For iPhone and iPad. An Android version is coming soon.
Every day
Some children point, or reach for a picture card, instead of using words. Choosing that one card is communication too.
But making paper cards, sorting them and carrying the ones you need is hard work. CardTalk gathers that daily effort into a single device.
How it works
A child who cannot read can still choose by picture.
Find the picture you want inside a category.
The card fills the screen, and a voice plays.
Show the screen to the person you are talking to.
Main features
Shaped around the person using it, so there is less to puzzle over.
Build a card from a photograph or from the illustrations in the app. The audio can be generated for you, and you can record a family member’s voice instead.
The text shown on the card and the text read aloud are set separately, so names and other awkward words can be corrected.
Press a card and it opens full screen. As well as the voice, you can show it to someone standing away from you.
260 picture cards are ready from the moment you install. Hide the ones you do not need, and put the ones you use most first.
Cards you make yourself sort the same way.
Words used often — yes, no thanks, give me — sit along the bottom of every screen. You choose which cards are pinned there.
Designed to be relied on
Once a card is made, it works when you are out, and where there is no signal.
Designed so that “I pressed it and nothing happened” does not happen when it matters.
Photographs and the content of cards are never sent out. No account is needed.
Settings and deletion sit behind a simple arithmetic question, which guards against mistaken taps.
The buttons are bigger than in most apps, so they are easier to press.
No dazzling movement, so the screen stays calm to look at.
Why it was made
I am the parent of a child who finds it hard to speak. Making paper cards, and trying the apps that already existed, I kept coming back to two things: the cards I made myself should have a voice too, and I wanted only the cards we needed, laid out so they were easy to find. CardTalk came out of our days together.
The developer of CardTalk
Pricing
Try every card that comes with the app.
Free
Free
Unlock
One-time purchase
Common questions
Showing and speaking cards works offline. Only generating audio automatically needs a connection.
iPhone and iPad. Android phones and tablets are coming soon.
The settings screen is protected by a parental gate that asks a simple arithmetic question.
No. It is not a medical device; it is an app that supports communication.
Yes. It is designed to speak even when the device is on silent. Do keep an eye on the volume.
The iOS version is out now, and it is free to try.
