Picture-based communication for kids still finding their words.
Every child has something to say. SpeakPad is a free AAC app for iPhone and iPad that gives them a way to say it: a tap on a picture is spoken out loud, and single words grow into whole sentences. Because the words never move, being understood gets a little easier every day.
Always free. No subscription, no account, no ads. We're not in the data business. Your child's data stays on your device unless you choose iCloud backup.
Tap to Speak
Tap a symbol, hear the word. String a few together and the device speaks the whole sentence in its own built-in voice.
Fully Customisable
Add your own words, drop in real photos, and fix how a tricky name is said. The Core Zone keeps the words your child uses most on every board, never more than a tap away.
Same Boards on Every Device
Build a board on iPhone and it's ready on iPad too. Switch on Sync between devices and everything travels through your own private iCloud. No sign-ups, nothing to rebuild.
100% Private & Offline
There's no account and no subscription. Whatever your child creates stays on the device, and the only way any of it leaves is if you switch on iCloud backup yourself.
Kid Safe
Built to Apple's Kids Category rules. A child can't tap their way to anything they shouldn't: no ads, no purchases, no links leading out of the app.
How It Works
There are two sides to SpeakPad. Your child sees a calm, locked-down board they talk with. You get a separate settings area, behind a parental gate, to set it all up.
1
For the Communicator
A locked-down board where your child taps symbols to speak. The grid never rearranges itself, so a word stays exactly where they last found it. That's how muscle memory builds, and why finding a word stops being a hunt.
2
For the Caregiver
Behind a parental gate sits everything you control: adding words, changing the layout, switching voices. All the features below live in here, out of reach of small fingers.
Designed for Caregivers
Add real photos: Grandad, the dog, the exact brand of yoghurt they'll actually eat. Make separate boards for different activities, and give each child their own profile. Back the lot up to iCloud, or hand one board to a teacher as a .speakpad file they can open on any device.
The Core Zone pins the words your child reaches for constantly, “I”, “want”, “more”, “help”, to the top of every board, so they're always one tap away. Smaller things help too: Word Finder to locate any word fast, a Recent Words bar, Saved Messages for the phrases you repeat all day, and a five-second undo for when a sleeve wipes the whole sentence.
What is AAC?
AAC, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, is any tool that helps someone communicate when speech is hard.
SpeakPad is one kind of AAC: a grid of picture symbols a child taps to build a sentence, which the device then says out loud. Because the grid never shifts, a child learns where each word lives and reaches for it without thinking, the same way you find a light switch in the dark.
Who is SpeakPad for?
SpeakPad is for children, and honestly anyone, who finds speech hard and gets further with pictures and a steady, predictable voice.
Autism Spectrum
Predictable, and low on noise and clutter, which tends to matter for autistic children. Buttons don't move, so reaching for a word becomes automatic instead of effortful.
Apraxia of Speech
When a child knows the word but their mouth won't reliably shape it, tapping a symbol gets it out, faster and far less exhausting than forcing speech.
Down Syndrome
Useful early on, while there's a gap between how much your child takes in and how much they can say out loud.
Cerebral Palsy
Between adjustable grid sizes, touch-and-hold tolerances, and full Switch Control support, SpeakPad bends to fit the child rather than the other way round.
See SpeakPad in Action
At a Glance
Words are colour-coded by type with the Fitzgerald Key, nouns one colour, verbs another. Once a child clocks the pattern, they spot the word they want faster.
Sentence Building
Each tap drops a word into the message bar at the top. Over time, single words become "I want more" becomes a whole sentence.
Caregiver Controls
Everything you'd want to change sits behind the parental gate: grid size, vocabulary, folders, profiles. The child never stumbles into it mid-sentence.
High-Quality Symbols
SpeakPad ships with over 16,900 symbols from the Mulberry Symbol Set and ARASAAC, open collections (CC BY-SA 4.0 and CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) drawn specifically for AAC, so they read clearly at a glance rather than just looking nice.
A True Universal App
Buy nothing, and it's yours on both iPhone and iPad. Switch on Sync between devices and whatever you set up on one comes through to the other over your own iCloud, so your child's words come along whether they're at the kitchen table or the back seat of the car.
Getting Started with SpeakPad
New to all this? Three steps, and no training course required.
1
Download and create a profile
Install it, pick your child's language and a starting layout, and you'll land on a ready-to-use Starter board. Want a different focus later? There are 13 packs waiting in caregiver settings.
2
Model, don't test
Use it yourself, out loud, during the ordinary bits of the day. Tap “more” as you say it, “all done” as you clear the plates. Children pick up AAC the way they pick up any language: by watching someone else use it first.
3
Grow the board as they grow
As they grow into it, open the caregiver area and make it theirs, real photos of the dog, Nana, the snacks they actually ask for, and reshape the layout as they progress. Stuck on something? Email [email protected] and a real person will reply.
Picture-based communication for kids still finding their words.
Language doesn't stand still, and plenty of homes don't run in a single language either. These tools are here for both.
Bilingual Support
If your home runs in two languages, so can SpeakPad. Show both labels on every symbol, and choose whether one or both get spoken aloud.
Grammar & Popups
Press and hold a word to reach its other forms: 'go' opens up 'going', 'went', 'gone'. Hundreds of words carry their forms with them, including full verb conjugations in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
13 Ready-Made Board Packs
Pick a starting pack, from first words to boards built around independence, then change anything you like. That's 1,293 words across 93 boards to begin with, in all seven languages, and none of it is fixed.
Word Prediction
For children who are starting to read, likely next words light up right on the grid. There's also a full keyboard in the message bar, with prediction that runs on the device and never phones home.
Recent Words
A row that quietly holds the last seven words your child tapped, ready to reuse.
Works with Other AAC Apps
Already built boards in CoughDrop or CBoard? Bring them across. SpeakPad reads and writes Open Board archives (.obz), so a therapist or school can open your boards in whatever tool they already use.
Personal Voice
If you've recorded a Personal Voice on your iPhone or iPad, SpeakPad can speak with it. A child can be heard in a parent's voice, or their own, and it never leaves the device.
Vocabulary Stages
Start with just first words, then open up the rest as your child grows: three stages, from requests and people to the full board. Buttons never move between stages, so nothing they've learned is lost.
Common Questions
Answers for families new to AAC.
Is SpeakPad really free?
Yes, and permanently. Every feature is unlocked from the start, with no subscription, no paywall, no ads, and nothing a child could accidentally buy. There's an optional tip jar if you'd like to chip in, but nothing is ever hidden behind it.
My child doesn't speak at all. Will AAC delay their speech even further?
A large body of research, summarised by ASHA, finds the opposite: AAC supports the development of spoken language rather than replacing it. Giving your child a reliable way to communicate reduces frustration and often leads to more speech attempts over time, not fewer.
What age is SpeakPad for?
There's no official minimum. SpeakPad has been used with toddlers from around 18 months, right up to teens and adult AAC users. Starter packs range from single-word Visual Scenes for beginners to full phrase-building boards for literate users.
What if I don't know anything about AAC?
That's the most common starting point. SpeakPad is ready after a quick setup: create a profile, choose a language and starting layout, then begin with the Starter board. The “How It Works” and “Getting Started” sections above cover the basics, and our blog has longer parent guides.
Is my child's data private?
Completely. SpeakPad has no accounts, no analytics, no tracking, and no SpeakPad servers. Boards, photos, and usage data stay on your device. Optional backups go to your own iCloud, which only you can see.
Can a speech therapist or teacher use SpeakPad with my child?
Yes. SpeakPad supports multiple profiles on one device, sharing a single board as a .speakpad file, and PDF export of usage reports for IEP or therapy meetings. Many SLTs use it as a take-home tool between sessions.
For Speech Therapists & Clinical UsersShow advanced tools and clinical features
Advanced Clinical Toolkit
The basics cover most days. But SpeakPad also includes the heavier accessibility tools usually locked inside AAC apps that cost a small fortune.
Visual Scene Displays
Use a real photo, your kitchen or the park or their bedroom, and draw invisible tap zones over the things in it. Touch the kettle, hear 'tea'. A gentle first step for children not ready for a grid.
In-App Switch Scanning
For children who use a switch rather than touch, SpeakPad scans the board itself, row by row, column by column, or in groups, at whatever speed suits them. Got a Bluetooth switch already? It works through iOS Switch Control too.
Usage Analytics & Reports
SpeakPad quietly tracks what's used and how often, all on the device and nowhere else. When an IEP meeting or therapy review comes round, export it as a PDF, CSV, or JSON.
Sentence History
Look back over what's been said, tap an old message to speak it again, and see which phrases come up day after day.
Profile Management
One iPad, several children, a separate profile for each, which is why plenty of therapists and schools run SpeakPad on shared devices.
Word Finder
Lost a word somewhere in the boards? Search for it and jump straight there.
Mistake Recovery
Cleared the message by accident? One tap brings it back.
Printable Boards
Turn any board into a clean PDF, with crisp symbols, the same Fitzgerald Key colours, and your choice of layout. Handy for the car, the bath, or anywhere a screen won't go.
For Professionals & Therapists
SLTs and pathologists build on evidence, and so did we. Three principles shaped SpeakPad's design, and we wouldn't compromise on any of them:
Strict Motor Planning: Buttons never reflow or shift when grids are resized. A word stays exactly where a child learned it.
Vocabulary Masking: Hide advanced vocabulary without altering the board layout. A three-stage setting (First Words, Growing, Everything) reveals starter vocabulary progressively, and any individual button can still be masked by hand.
Fitzgerald Key Compliance: Core vocabulary color-coding is built-in by default to aid in rapid visual scanning.
It's a sturdy thing to send home with parents for daily practice between sessions.
Full accessibility is built in: VoiceOver labels on every element, in-app switch scanning (row-column, linear, and group), Dynamic Type support, and configurable touch accommodations (hold duration, repeat filtering). Compatible with iOS head tracking and AssistiveTouch. Requires iOS / iPadOS 17+.
