Pictalk Buddy integrates AAC
Pictalk AAC has existed for five years. Nearly 10,000 people use it every month worldwide to communicate, express themselves, and be heard.
Five years is a long time in the world of apps. Phones have become more powerful, tablets more accessible, and AAC research has advanced considerably. What was difficult to implement in 2020 is now possible. What was acceptable as a user experience is no longer so.
Communication and autonomy are the two pillars of Pictalk’s mission. They are inseparable: one cannot be truly autonomous without being able to express oneself, and speech only makes sense if it is part of a structured and clear life. We have known this from the start. But our two applications existed separately.
It was time to change that, and to offer our users the best that AAC can provide today.
In testing phase
To activate the beta, go to Settings > Communication > Activate.
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This version is a beta phase. It may contain bugs, and some features are still being implemented.
Important point: the content is not yet synchronized on our servers. Remember to manually export your vocabulary so you don’t lose your work.
For existing Pictalk AAC users, a button allows you to download your content directly from the app to import it into the new module.
Your feedback is our compass. Write to us at alex@pictalk.org.
What’s changing concretely
Ready-to-use vocabularies
You will no longer have to build everything from scratch. Extensive and progressive default vocabularies are included, adaptable to each profile and age. Moreover, they are built around the most frequent everyday words, those that alone represent most of what we express during a day. A real time saver for families as well as professionals, who can focus on learning rather than configuration.
The vocabularies come from the Open AAC database.
Redesigned ergonomics
Reorganizing pictograms is now done by drag and drop. Grid mode facilitates muscle memory, essential for regular users. AAC boards are now printable directly from the app. Organizing vocabulary has never been easier.
A robust application
Sentence construction becomes smoother and more natural.
Labels automatically adapt to the subject and tense of the sentence. The app learns from your corrections and vocabulary to become increasingly personalized. Several levels of autocorrection and expansion are available, with real-time next-word suggestion, like on a keyboard. The goal: access a complete and complex language more easily.
Your sentence history
Constructing a sentence takes time. Rebuilding it every time is an energy expense no one should have to bear. The history allows you to instantly retrieve previously spoken sentences and mark them as favorites for recurring situations: at the doctor’s, at the table, at school.
Voices of unprecedented quality
Voice is not a detail. It is what the listener hears first. A robotic or inappropriate voice for the age creates distance where communication should build connection.
Thanks to ElevenLabs, the voices available in Pictalk reach an unprecedented level of naturalness. And because it is unacceptable to equip a little girl with a grandfather’s voice, or a teenager with a voice from beyond the grave, we are working to offer a choice of voices adapted to each profile: age, gender, accent.
Coming soon...
We are working on several features that will deeply transform the AAC experience in Pictalk Buddy.
AI will automatically generate context-adapted pictograms for the person by drawing from their schedule and life journal. No need to anticipate everything: the relevant vocabulary will be available at the right moment.
Autocorrection and suggestions will rely on this same context to become more precise and personalized.
A progress tracking feature will make it possible to visualize vocabulary development, completed tasks, and sentence complexity. Valuable data for families and professionals who support daily.
To facilitate the creation of AAC boards, a design assistant will be integrated directly into the app.
Finally, a feature will progressively suggest which words to reveal or hide in the grid, based on mastered vocabulary. The goal: preserve the efficiency of muscle memory while expanding language at the right pace without overload.
The question of funding
For families, access remains pay-what-you-want. Everyone can access speech, even for free.
Synchronizing the vocabulary of a supported person across multiple devices, between several educators, while allowing room for personalization: this is one of the most time-consuming daily challenges in institutions. Pictalk Buddy finally allows maintaining a common and evolving base, while permitting individual adjustments.
Content management is done remotely from an administrator account, without needing to intervene on each device. And, because communication and autonomy are inseparable, those supported benefit from the entire Pictalk suite in a single tool.
These features are included in the Pictalk Pro membership, which funds the development and sustainability of the association.
What about Pictalk AAC in all this?
Both applications will continue to coexist. Pictalk AAC version 1 remains available until the end of 2026, allowing a smooth transition.
After that, the old version will be gradually phased out and we will support users in migrating to the new version. For those who need a tool dedicated exclusively to communication, Pictalk AAC will remain available alongside Buddy.
Because Pablo deserves this. And all the people like him who deserve to be heard too