# Sounds of Speech

> Education

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/id780656219](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id780656219)

## Overview

- **ID:** `id780656219`
- **Platform:** Apple
- **Type:** Apple app
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** The University of Iowa Research Foundation
- **Category:** Education
- **Rating:** 2.30 / 5 (46 ratings)
- **Version:** 4.0.0
- **Last updated:** 2024-08-06
- **First published:** 2014-01-02
- **Size:** 104 MB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-24
- **Store listing:** [Apple App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sounds-of-speech/id780656219)
- **Website:** [https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu](https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://uiowa.edu/privacy](https://uiowa.edu/privacy)

## Description

Notice: This Contains English Only Content.  Spanish and German not included.

This application was originally designed at the University of Iowa to help students learning how the sounds of different languages are produced. Since its production, it has become a milestone for phonetics teaching tools around the globe.

Sounds of Speech™ provides a comprehensive understanding of how, physiologically, each of the speech sounds of American English is formed. It includes animations, videos, and audio samples that describe the essential features of each of the consonants and vowels of American English. Sounds of Speech™ is especially useful for students studying English as a second language. Features include:

## Rankings

- #235,221 — Overall

## Review summary

Users praise the app's clear visuals and real-life videos for teaching phonetics, plus its user-friendly design and multilingual scope. However, recurring issues include degraded video quality, inaccurate articulation modeling, content not matching the website, navigation confusion, and incomplete language coverage, leading some to question value for money and overall reliability.

### Pros

- Clear, engaging visuals: animations plus real-life video examples help learners see both internal articulator movements and external pronunciation.
- User-friendly and straightforward for students and professionals in speech-language pathology and linguistics.
- Supports multiple languages and a broad range of sounds beyond English.
- Useful for teaching and verifying place, manner, and voicing in phonetics; widely used by students and professionals.
- Visualizes invisible speech processes, making articulation concepts easier to understand.

### Cons

- Video quality has degraded compared to the original website, with pixelation and sometimes distracting video controls.
- Animation accuracy concerns: tongue placement and phoneme details are sometimes incorrect or misleading (e.g., /s/, final stops, allophones).
- Content not equivalent to the website: missing tools, features, or languages; some promises not fulfilled.
- Navigation and UI can be confusing or non-intuitive (definitions page first, jumping between pages to reach content).
- Language coverage is inconsistent or incomplete (German/Spanish not fully supported or accurate).

## Similar extensions and apps

- [Speech Sounds Visualized](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1300151606) — 4.30 / 5
- [Spanish Articulation](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id916896155) — 2.00 / 5
- [Speech Sounds for Kids - Aus](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id822516884) — 5.00 / 5
- [Speech Sounds on Cue (US Eng)](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id478653632) — 4.40 / 5
- [Bigmouth Sounds](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id493910782) — 5.00 / 5
- [Lite Spanish Articulation](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id916925734) — 5.00 / 5
- [AV Phonetics](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1022721561) — 4.50 / 5
- [Sounds to Speak](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id6667119497)
- [Phonics Sense](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id6759855492) — 3.90 / 5
- [Speech Sounds on Cue (Aus Eng)](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id472926927)
- [Sound of words](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id1631344839)
- [Speech Sounds on Cue Lite US](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id478653473) — 2.80 / 5

---

Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/id780656219)