For clinicians
Ryan's Voice for speech pathologists
Everything you need to decide whether this belongs on a client's shortlist — including where it doesn't. Written for clinicians, not marketing.
What it is: an AAC app for iPhone and iPad with phrase, symbol and text routes. The optional Smart Voice feature transcribes nearby speech on the device and presents context-aware phrase choices; the person decides what, if anything, is spoken. The core app can be trialled without purchase.
Questions for feature matching
Ryan's Voice may belong on a shortlist when its current language and access routes match the person. A real-world trial should be led by the person and should not require removing an existing communication system.
It may be worth trialling when the person…
- Wants prepared phrases alongside symbol and text routes
- Can use a touch interface and prefers a small number of large choices
- Finds building familiar messages word by word effortful
- Wants favourites, personal phrases and a Quick SOS route
- Wants to explore context-aware choices while retaining final control
- Needs core communication tools that work without internet
- Wants to explore the core app before making a purchase
The current release may not fit when the person…
- Requires switch scanning, head pointing or eye-gaze access
- Relies on a particular established symbol vocabulary or motor plan
- Needs deep board, vocabulary or grammar customisation
- Requires Android, Windows or a dedicated device
- Needs a fully generative morphology and syntax system
- Cannot use the current touch interface comfortably and consistently
Vocabulary provenance
The current App Store description uses the defensible lower count of more than 1,000 ready-to-use phrases across everyday topics. The library was informed by years of Ryan's real communication and therapy work, and includes complete utterances at conversational and emotional depth.
An internal audit found 100% coverage of the Universal Core 36 (Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, UNC Chapel Hill) and of the Beukelman, Jones & Rowan (1989) preschool frequency list. Two of the 74 words in the combined set are covered by Australian-English equivalents rather than the US form, so the raw figure is 97.3% and 100% dialect-adjusted. That audit is an internal document, not peer-reviewed, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise.
Built for clinical review
- Optional session log. When enabled for a flagged session, supported phrase selections can be recorded locally for review. Logging coverage varies by route, so it should be checked before being used as a complete session record. The person or supporter can view, clear or disable it in Settings → Privacy.
- Source indicators on supported routes. Some phrase routes identify whether content comes from the included library or the person's own content. Not every route exposes the same metadata, and the indicator should not be treated as proof of authorship or intent.
- Privacy boundaries are explicit. Core communication and Smart Voice processing are designed to occur on the device, and no Rockshore account is required. The privacy policy describes local storage, Apple services and optional sharing so services can assess the actual data pathway.
Access and design
The current interface uses a small number of large touch choices, horizontal category navigation, and a symbol route that pairs text with the open-licensed Mulberry symbol set. These design choices may reduce selection demands for some people, but individual motor, visual, language and fatigue needs still require direct testing.
Current limitation worth stating plainly: the public release is touch-based and does not currently claim switch scanning, head pointing or eye-gaze access. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 18.0 or later.
Clinician evaluation
The core app is free to download and trial now. To evaluate Smart Voice, contact us below and we will confirm what evaluation access is currently available.
Download the free appRequest access, or tell us what's missing
We are actively looking for clinical feedback — particularly on symbol mode, which is deliberately basic and which we want to improve with SLP input. Blunt criticism is more useful to us than encouragement.