Walkie Talkie AAC

Turn an iPhone into an outward-facing communication display. Create colourful badges, show words in large type and speak messages aloud — without an account or adverts.

Show words. Speak them aloud. Make everyday conversations a little easier.

Walkie Talkie AAC turns the iPhone or iPad you already carry into a clear, outward-facing communication display. Wear it on a lanyard or strap, choose a message and show it in large type to the person opposite. Tap to speak the message aloud.

Designed with people with aphasia and other communication needs, Walkie Talkie AAC can complement speech, gesture, writing, eye contact and other ways of communicating.

CREATE YOUR OWN BADGES • Write and arrange short messages for everyday situations • Choose each badge’s wording, colour, symbol, text size and spoken language • Turn the display around when you want to read it yourself • Use the built-in aphasia explainer and practical phrases

FIND AND EXPRESS WORDS • Listen to speech and display a picture for the latest word • Photograph an object to receive word suggestions • Browse more than 500 Mulberry picture symbols • Search pictures, maps, dictionary definitions, Wikipedia, videos or the web • Speak any entered word or message aloud

PRIVATE AND ACCESSIBLE • No account, advertising or analytics • Badges are stored locally on your device • No developer-operated service receives your messages • Supports Dynamic Type, Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast and Reduce Transparency • Large controls designed for one-handed use

OPTIONAL AI-ASSISTED BADGE WRITING Walkie Talkie AAC can create a prompt for an AI assistant of your choice. The app does not connect to an AI service or store an API key, and you review every proposed badge before saving it.

RESEARCH-LED AND OPEN SOURCE Walkie Talkie AAC grew from participatory design workshops with people with aphasia, in partnership with Aphasia Re-Connect. The research was published at the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in 2024.

The app is open source. No account, no ads, no tracking. Nothing you write leaves your phone.