AAC questions, answered

Is SayThrough really free?

Yes, completely, with no paid tier and no plan to add one. There is no trial, no per-seat licence, no separate professional edition, and no feature held back. The whole app is free for everyone, forever.

What's the catch?

There isn't a commercial one — but there is an honest trade-off. SayThrough has no company behind it, which means no phone support, no funding department, and a vocabulary that is still a candidate set awaiting formal clinical review. Paid apps like TD Snap and Proloquo2Go buy you a support contract and years of clinical validation. The comparison pages set that out in full.

Is it free for speech therapists and schools too?

Yes. Several paid apps charge professionals separately or per client; SayThrough does not distinguish. An SLP can run it on every device in a caseload and a school can install it on every device it owns, with nothing to buy, assign or renew.

Will using AAC stop my child from talking?

No. The research has been consistent for over twenty years: AAC does not prevent or delay speech, and most studies that measure it find speech gains rather than losses. The studies and what they found.

What age can someone start AAC?

There is no minimum age and no prerequisite skills. If a person is old enough to want something, they are old enough to have a way to ask for it. AAC is also introduced successfully to teenagers and adults, including people who had speech and lost it.

Do we need an assessment or an SLP before we start?

Not to explore it. You do not need anyone's permission to open a free app and let someone experience communicating. Involve a speech-language pathologist when you can — they are worth a great deal for goals, access methods and vocabulary — but waiting for an appointment before offering any communication at all has a real cost.

How do I choose between AAC apps?

Three things matter more than features: that the person can physically operate it, that the core words never move, and that the people around them will actually use it every day. Price matters last — but it decides whether many families start at all, which is the gap SayThrough exists to fill.

What devices does it work on?

Anything with a modern browser: iPad, iPhone, Android phones and tablets, Chromebooks, Windows and Mac laptops. Install it to the home screen and it opens full-screen like any other app.

Does it work without internet?

Yes. Once installed and opened once, the app, the boards and the symbols in use are cached on the device and it runs with no connection at all. There is an optional pack in Settings that downloads the entire symbol library for full offline use.

Can it be used with a switch, or without touching the screen?

Yes — switch scanning and dwell (hover-to-select) are both built in, free, on every device. Any switch that presents as a key press works. Choosing and tuning an access method.

Can I print the board onto paper?

Yes, free, and it prints your board — your buttons, symbols, photos and colours, in the same positions, so the layout someone already knows carries over. It's in Settings → Print. There are also ready-made sheets if you haven't customised anything yet.

What languages does it support?

English, Spanish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese. Each has its own board authored for that language rather than translated — with gender agreement in Spanish and Portuguese and all seven cases in Polish. The app's own interface, the voice and the word prediction follow the same choice.

Is anything we type or say sent anywhere?

No. Profiles, boards, settings and message history stay on the device. Nothing anyone types or says is ever transmitted. The app does report that it was opened, so we can count how many people use it — a random code that is thrown away when you close it, never a name or an account, and you can turn it off in Settings.

Can I bring boards over from another app, or take mine elsewhere?

Both. SayThrough reads and writes Open Board Format (.obf / .obz), the open interchange standard. Proprietary symbol sets such as PCS and SymbolStix cannot travel with the file because their licences forbid it, so imported buttons keep their words and are matched to the nearest ARASAAC symbol.

What happens to us if the project stops?

Your boards export to an open format, so they move to another app. The code is public, so anyone can keep it running or fork it. That is the practical argument for open source in a category where people depend on the tool every day — no vendor can switch it off.