Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP. Over 36 years experience in AAC. OMazing Kids AAC and app consulting. Creator of several AAC Feature Matching resources (https://omazingkidsllc.com/omazing-kids-aac-resource-links/). Includes info about unique features to support Gestalt Language Processors
Review & Comparison of Features in Digital PODD iPad apps in 2021 (simPODD, Grid for iPad, TD Snap and PODD with Compass)
I just updated my comprehensive blog post about PODD AAC to add Snap Core First with PODD to my in-depth review and comparison of features in all of the digital PODD iPad apps currently available in the USA App Store: simPODD, Grid for iPad, TD Snap and PODD with Compass. Rather than doing it in a separate post I decided to add it to that post to keep everything PODD related in one spot.
Updated info is highlighted throughout that post and I tested all links and updated those. Scroll down towards the bottom of the post until you see the same pic that is on this post to find the app reviews and comparisons of features:
. Want to suggest PODD resources or info to be added to that post? The best way to reach me is via Facebook messaging over on my OMazing Kids page. If you are an app developer and would like to have me review a new digital PODD app for the iPad or PODD that was added to an existing app via IAP, please send the link from the USA App Store so I can look at the info before you send a promo code. I want to make sure that one of my iPads is compatible in order to try it out.
Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC
Did you know that a “force-restart” (aka “hard reboot”) is different than the normal process of turning off an iPad? It’s similar to the difference between restarting vs powering off a computer. When an app is acting glitchy a “force-restart” will often resolve this issue. Just to be safe, be sure to backup any customized programming in an AAC app BEFORE doing a force-restart
A “Forced Restart” is the blue Windex of the iPad world. I’ve had a Forced Restart fix all sorts of things from sound problems, missing symbols, app crashes, etc… (in case you haven’t seen the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, blue Windex is her father’s solution for every ailment 😂).
How to use Apple iOS Voice Control to do a Forced Restart (Reboot Device) without having to use the Side Buttons
How to force-restart an iPad with Face ID
1.Press the Volume Up button for one second and release it.
2.Press the Volume Down button for one second and release it.
3.Press and hold the Power button for five seconds until the Apple logo appears.
How to force-restart any other kind of iPad
1.Press and hold the Home button.
2.At the same time, press and hold the Power button.
3.Continue to hold both buttons for about 10 seconds, until you see the Apple logo appear.
This simple process often resolves the issue.
If not, there are other things to try. It’s best to look on Apple’s website for that info since the process varies based on the model of iPad & the version of iOS it is running.
Looking for in-depth AAC feature matching resources? See this blog post: https://bit.ly/5aacFeatureMatchingResources. That post also includes videos comparing the best AAC apps on various devices on various platforms.
Why I prefer to save videos to the iPad vs. linking to YouTube when using the GoTalk Now app:
I had too many patients’ highly preferred videos disappear from YouTube. That typically triggered a meltdown or they lost interest as I attempted to find a different version of it on YouTube.
Saved videos play immediately (no delay = immediate reinforcement of that request). I had several patients who had been seen multiple times by various SLPs over the years at the facility where I worked and they never appeared to understand cause/effect or be motivated to communicate when in fact the issue was the reinforcement wasn’t immediate enough for them to form that connection.
See a side by side comparison in this video.
Also added the video to YouTube:
I used the Screen Recording feature in the iPhone Control Center to take a screencast video while I was playing the YouTube video to save it. Then I edited the video to crop off a little at the beginning and end. My iPad Pro running iOS 10.3.3 doesn’t have a Screen Recording option in the Control Center. My iPad Mini 2 running iOS 12.4.8 could record but didn’t have sound. I was able to do this via my iPhone 11 running iOS 13.5.1 and then used AirDrop to send it to my iPad Pro to use in the GoTalk Now Plus app. My guess is an iPad running at least iOS 13 would have sound in the screen recording but have no way to know for sure 🤷🏼♀️
Update 12/15/20: It is also possible to play saved and play linked YouTube videos within the TouchChat AAC app.
Here’s some differences between playing a “linked” YouTube video in GoTalk Now vs. playing a “linked” YouTube video in TouchChat:
In GoTalk Now, a button programmed to link to a YouTube video exits the app and takes you to YouTube on Safari (that would be blocked if using Guided Access or on a managed dedicated iOS based device). It would be difficult for most AAC users to get back to the GoTalk Now app (have to tap a tiny thing in top left corner of screen and if they play other videos that might disappear).
In TouchChat, a button programmed to link to a YouTube video opens it on a screen within the TouchChat app. It’s easy to tap “done” to return to the previous TouchChat screen. The linked YouTube video will play within TouchChat even when Guided Access is active. But you’d still have issues if YouTube is down or that linked video disappears from YouTube. I’ve used “linked” videos in both of those apps if it’s something I wanted to program on the fly in the middle of a session. If it turned out to be a highly preferred video then I went through the process of saving it to the camera roll and then programming to open it that way 😊
When using either app for this purpose I consider this to fall under the category of “Assistive Technology for Adapted Leisure”. So this is giving them an adapted means of accessing videos. I also use it as an adapted means of accessing music.
An alternative to using Screen Recording is to download free software onto your laptop that will allow you to download and save videos from YouTube and several other sources. I just tried out the YouTube ByClick software and it worked very well. The resulting video was a little larger on the screen than the one made via screen recording. But it involves having to use your laptop to download the video, e-mailing the video to your iPad and then saving that video to the Camera Roll. https://www.youtubebyclick.com.
Update 11/5/20: Here’s another option that worked directly on my iPhone: https://qdownloader.io
Update 11/4/21: Here’s an option that Lauren Enders shared: YT1s YouTube Downloader, https://yt1s.com/en65
[Note: Many of these websites or app disappear pretty quickly so that’s why I just use screen recording on my iPad instead. ]
I can see using YouTube ByClick when I want to save several videos ahead of time to prep for a session. But the Screen Recording method would be my “go to” for the convenience.
In a pinch you could even just use the iPad to video a YouTube video being played on a computer or TV. I’ve done that before. The quality isn’t nearly as good but the patient still enjoyed watching it.
Reminder: GoTalk Now & GoTalk Now Plus are both on sale through the end of October 2020. Extremely rare sale so if you’ve been wanting either of these apps NOW is the time to get it.
Update 9/30/21 – GoTalk Now Facebook Group – informal networking via the “GoTalk Now AAC App – Ideas and Sharing” group that I started on 9/29/21: https://bit.ly/GoTalkNowAACappGroup
Visual supports with voice output for the “win”! I attended a presentation by Kari Dunn Buron, coauthor of The Incredible 5 Point Scale, at the Oklahoma Autism Conference offered by the Oklahoma Autism Network in 2017 and was inspired to make this for a patient who had been having a particularly difficult time and exhibiting a significant increase in aggressive behaviors. I watched for very subtle signs of increased agitation and modeled use of this to both talk about emotional states and offered choices to help calm before he got beyond a “Level 3”. He showed understanding of it the very first day and smiled when I acknowledged that he was struggling. He chose “go for a walk outside” and “go back to the house and rest”. The next day he spontaneously tapped “go for a walk outside” before he got beyond a “Level 2” and a huge smile washed over his face as we exited the sensory overload inside the building into the brisk air and total peace outside. I was often totally overstimulated by all the “Christmassy” stuff at our facility too so we ended up taking lots of walks outside 😉.
A video showing several boards including this one:
Thanks again Attainment Company, Inc. for making such a versatile app and giving me access to the most full featured version as well as several extras within it to help the patients at the nonprofit facility where I worked for the last half of my career. I was able to show this to his mother and she was very impressed with how easy this app is to program and to use for AAC and visual supports.
This app is definitely in the top 5 most used apps on my iPad. I saved this to the Online Gallery. Those who have either the GoTalk Now or GoTalk Now Plus versions of the app should be able to find everything that I have uploaded to the public Online Gallery by searching by my last name (Moorad)or a word in the title. See page 23 in the in-app Users Guide for info on how to find it.
There are several versions of the app with varying levels of features:
Updated 4/3/22 to add: Encouraging Emotional Conversations in Children With Complex Communication Needs: An Observational Case Study (free access to the full research article & supplementary materials): https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.674755/full. The AAC app in the article is TD Snap but the concepts could be used when adding this type of vocabulary to any AAC system. If you have access to Grid for iPad / Grid 3, take a look at some nice preprogrammed content in the Voco Chat grid set.
Wow! AAC news flash….. Attainment Company, Inc. announced a GoTalk AAC app sale (10/16 – 10/31/20) 👏🏼 I just checked pricing history on the AppSliced website and this is the lowest price on GoTalk NOW since 2012 and the lowest price ever on GoTalk NOW PLUS. ✅ So if either of these have been on your wish list NOW is the time to get them. ✅ (Tip: It’s wise to get apps at least a day before a sale ends to insure you don’t miss it)
GoTalk NOW by Attainment Company, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gotalk-now/id454176457, iPad only, iOS 9.0 or later. They recently added Core Vocabulary Communication Pages and GoTalk NOW Curriculum Pages to the app. The Core Vocabulary pages are easy to find in Downloads – Core Words – options for 4, 9, 16, 25 and 36 locations. The Curriculum Pages are trickier to find. Those are free downloads from their Online Gallery (see page 23 in the in-app guide for details on how to find that). More info about the features: https://www.attainmentcompany.com/gotalk-now. Usually $99.99 -> on sale for $49.99
GoTalk NOW PLUS by Attainment Company, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gotalk-now-plus/id742150885, iPad only, iOS 9.0 or later. This is the version that I have. This version has everything in GoTalk Now and adds a SymbolStix symbol library, a premade Ready-Set-Communicate book, and Acapela text-to-speech English voices. Usually $169.99 -> on sale for $119.99
Here are posts that I have done showing examples of how you can use this app:
***** Those who have either of these versions of the app can find everything that I have uploaded to the public Online Gallery by searching by my last name (Moorad). See page 23 in the in-app guide for details on how to find that *****
PCS & PCS Thinline symbols are also available as IAPs
The GoVisual Scene Maker app is also on sale in case you missed it being on sale back in May. GoVisual Scene Maker by Attainment Company, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/govisual-scene-maker/id1324635847, iOS Universal, iOS 13.0 or later. More info: https://www.attainmentcompany.com/govisual
(I’m not affiliated with the company and am not being paid to do this post nor do I make anything off ads that may pop up. This is a free blog so I don’t have any control over ads)
Found another FREE hidden gem in the App Store! Names of Animal Sounds by Pioneer Logics, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/names-of-animal-sounds/id1351844864 (2 word phrase (animal name + verb of the sound they make, ex: Lion roars) while showing short video of it, 61 animals organized alphabetically and can swipe to choose specific one).
List of what’s included… a few of the names of the sounds seem a little off but when I researched names of animal sounds some had several listed or varied between sources:
Antelope snotes (snorts?)
Bear growls
Bison grunts
Cat meows
Cheetah chirrups
Cockatoo squawks
Cow moos
Crocodile bleats (bellows?)
Crow caws
Cuckoo clocks (coos or cuckoos?)
Deer bleats
Dog barks
Dolphin clicks
Donkey brays
Duck quacks
Eagle screeches
Elephant trumpets
Flamingo squawks
Frog croaks
Giraffe bleats
Goat bleats
Gorilla growls
Hen clucks
Hippo growls
Horse neighs
Hyena laughs
Ibis chirrups
Kangaroo grunts (chortles?)
Koala wails
Koel clocks (?)
Lemur gibbers (?)
Leopard snarls
Lion roars
Mockingbird chirrups
Monkey gibbers
Moose bellows
Mouse squeaks
Owl hoots
Panda bleats
Parrot squawks
Peacock screams
Pelican chirrups
Penguin honks
Pig grunts
Pigeon coos
Polar bear growls
Raven croaks
Robin chirrups
Rooster crows
Seagull squawks
Seal barks
Snake hisses
Sparrow twitters
Swan cries
Tiger growls
Toucan squawks
Turtle grunts
Wolf howls
Woodpecker chirps
Yak grunts
Zebra clicks (neigh or whinny?)
I had a couple of patients with Autism who had a high interest in animals that would have LOVED this app!
In particular I remember one who had a very driven passion for animals so we got to see a peek into his amazing skills when we tapped into that high interest. I used the I Read – Animals (Reading Comprehension for Kids) app by Nerea Sanchez Dominguez (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/i-read-animals-reading-comprehension-for-kids/id940688959) & the First Nouns app by KIS Publishing LLC (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/first-nouns/id930990828, before it switched to only being accessible to their online school) and was blown away by his ability to type and spell animal names. Ended up taking video to prove it to the rest of the team and immediately went through the process to get him an iPad with a robust AAC app. Speak For Yourself ended up being a great match for him since it has only 1-2 hits to get to any word and uses the native iOS keyboard. I think about him often and wonder how he’s doing 😊
⚠️ Important Warning: iOS 14 was released today. It is NEVER a good idea to install a new iOS when it first comes out. 🛑 There are always glitches…. sometimes big ones that cause devices to “brick” or ones that cause glitches in apps where they either crash or don’t work as expected. The developers of AAC and therapy apps need time to release updates.
Please wait until the developers of those apps announce that it’s safe to download iOS 14. Depending on how complex an app is that may take a few weeks to a few months.
I always keep automatic installation of iOS updates and automatic installation of app updates both toggled OFF.
Make sure your devices are backing up to iCloud and for AAC apps to make sure you back up any programming before installing any updates to those apps or to the iOS.
Be sure to toggle off the setting that automatically offloads apps to free up space. There is a trend in app developers switching to a subscription model and removing older apps.
I know most of us have to rotate apps on/off our devices due to storage issues. Before deciding to delete an app, it’s wise to check to make sure it is still available in the App Store and to read through the descriptions on recent updates to make sure nothing significant has changed (like it switching to a subscription based app). If an app hasn’t been updated in quite awhile that’s a red flag that it may no longer work when a new iOS is rolled out and if you have several apps like that you may want to consider purposefully keeping a device running an older iOS in order not to lose apps. I’m very glad I did that several years ago and still have an iPad running iOS 10.3.3.
Also posted this on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter to spread the word. Please share with anyone you know using an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch for AAC, therapy or learning.
OMazing Kids AAC Consulting 