Sono AAC
Sono is a free AAC app for Android. AAC stands for augmentative and alternative communication: ways of communicating that add to speech or replace it. In Sono, a person who doesn’t use speech as their main way to communicate taps picture symbols to build a message, and the phone or tablet reads it aloud.
This first post is an honest look at where the project stands: what works, what doesn’t yet, and where we need help.
Who is behind Sono
Sono is a small, independent project. Right now one developer builds it, with feedback from the people who try it. Being small means things take time, and one person can’t check everything: not every language, not every situation a family runs into. That’s the main reason for this post.
What works today
- A symbol board with more than 800 symbols in 13 categories, including people, feelings, actions, food, places, animals, time, numbers and the alphabet, with subcategories and search.
- Three board layouts (Menu, Simple and Advanced), so the board can start simple and grow.
- Your own photos and recordings. Any symbol can show a photo from your camera or gallery, and you can record a familiar voice for it.
- Speech through the device’s text-to-speech, or through optional offline voices that you download once and then use without internet. So far every language except Croatian has one, and download size varies by language.
- 11 languages for the interface, the symbol names and the voices: English, German, Italian, French, Spanish, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Finnish, Slovak and Danish.
- Games, a drawing board and more than 100 illustrated, narrated lessons. Lessons download on demand and then play offline.
- A caretaker lock: a quick maths question keeps the settings away from accidental taps.
- Privacy: no account, no advertising and no in-app analytics. Messages and custom photos are stored on the device. Optional downloads (voices and lessons), the legal pages and your device’s own text-to-speech service can involve external services; the Privacy Policy explains exactly what that means.
- Free to download, with no subscription.
What doesn’t work yet
- Android only. An iPhone and iPad version is planned, but it doesn’t exist yet.
- No switch scanning or eye-gaze yet. Sono works with touch, an external keyboard and TalkBack, but not with switches or eye-gaze, so it isn’t suitable for people who can only use those.
- TalkBack hasn’t been tested by the people who use it. Every button now has a spoken name, but nobody who relies on TalkBack every day has tried Sono yet.
- No syncing between devices. Each phone or tablet keeps its own symbols and settings.
- Translations need checking. Many translations were prepared with the help of translation tools and haven’t been reviewed by native speakers yet. You will find awkward words and phrases.
- It’s still in testing. Sono is in open testing on Google Play. Expect bugs, and please tell us when you find one.
What Sono is not
Sono is a communication tool, not a healthcare service. It hasn’t been clinically evaluated or certified for clinical use, and it doesn’t replace an assessment by a speech and language therapist or another AAC specialist. If your child already uses an AAC system recommended by a professional, talk to them before changing anything.
Please don’t rely on Sono, or on any app, as the only way to call for help in an emergency.
The other posts on this blog share general information and everyday ideas for families. None of it is medical advice, and it will stay that way.
We’re looking for volunteers
One person can build an app. Making it good in 11 languages, for very different people, takes many more. If you can give an hour or two, this is where help would make the biggest difference:
- Native speakers of German, Italian, French, Spanish, Croatian, Czech, Polish, Finnish, Slovak or Danish who can check the words in the app, the symbol names and this website. You don’t need translation experience; noticing what sounds wrong is enough.
- Parents, caretakers and teachers who are willing to use Sono in everyday life and tell us honestly what works and what gets in the way.
- Speech and language therapists and AAC specialists who can review the vocabulary, the board layouts and the usage guide, and tell us what we’ve got wrong.
- People with accessibility experience, for example people who use TalkBack, a keyboard or switch access, who can test Sono and help us plan switch access.
- Autistic adults and people who use AAC themselves. Your view of what a communication app should and shouldn’t do matters more than anyone’s.
There’s no minimum commitment. Volunteering is unpaid, and you decide what you help with and how much.
To get in touch, email lj.matan@gmail.com with the subject “Volunteer” and tell us which language or skill you can offer. Please don’t send medical information about your child or anyone else; it isn’t needed to work together.
Try it
Sono is free to download on Google Play. If something doesn’t work, confuses you or is missing, write to the same address. Feedback shapes what gets built next more than anything else.
Thank you for reading, and for anything you’re able to give.