Aloud - Support
Questions, bugs, or ideas. Mail me and I read every one.
Aloud has no account, so there is nothing for me to look up on your behalf. What you type stays on your device. Whatever you can tell me in the mail is what I have to work with, and you never need to send me anything you wrote in the app.
Before you write
Tell me what you were doing. Which screen you were on, what you tapped, what you expected, what happened instead. A screenshot or a screen recording is worth a lot. Blur or crop anything private first.
Include your iPhone or iPad model and iOS version. Both are in Settings → General → About. Speech and voice bugs are often specific to one combination.
If it is about a voice, name it. The language, the voice name, and whether it is a system voice or Personal Voice.
Common questions
How do I get it to speak?
Type in the box on the home screen and tap Speak. Tap Big instead and your sentence fills the screen in large letters, for a loud room or a hard-of-hearing listener. Your saved phrases sit just above the keyboard, one tap each.
How do I change the voice?
Settings → Voice. Aloud uses the voices your iPhone already has, so to add more, download them in Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices, then pick one in Aloud. You can also set how fast it speaks.
Can I use my own voice?
Yes, if your device supports Personal Voice. Record it in Settings → Accessibility → Personal Voice, allow apps to request to use it, then choose it in Aloud’s voice settings. Personal Voice is part of the one-time unlock, and it is available only where Apple supports it for your device and language.
What is the card for?
For the moments when typing a whole sentence is not possible. The card shows one plain statement about why you cannot speak right now, and five answers you wrote in advance. The other person can type back on the same screen, and one answer can call the person you chose. Write it in Settings → Card before you need it, not during.
How do I open the card quickly?
Three ways, and it is worth setting up at least one:
- Lock Screen widget: press and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customise, then add Aloud’s widget under the clock
- Action Button: Settings → Action Button → Shortcut, then pick Aloud’s open card shortcut
- Shortcuts and automations: the same shortcut works in the Shortcuts app, so you can trigger it your own way
Does the card call emergency services?
No. That answer calls a contact you chose, and offers a prepared message if the call does not connect. It is not an emergency service. In an emergency, use your phone’s emergency call feature.
How do I stop someone leaving the card by accident?
Turn on Guided Access in Settings → Accessibility → Guided Access, then triple-click the side button while the card is open. That locks the phone to this one screen until you unlock it.
What is “other wording”?
When a sentence will not come out right, Aloud can suggest another way to say the same thing. It runs on your iPhone, only when you ask, and it needs a device that supports Apple’s on-device models. If your device cannot run it, the option does not appear. It never softens or rewrites what you meant on its own, and nothing is spoken until you choose to speak it.
Why can I only save three everyday phrases?
Three is the free limit for the everyday list on the home screen. The five answers on your card are free and not limited by that. The one-time unlock lifts the everyday limit entirely.
Is my writing backed up? Will it move to my new phone?
Only if you turn sync on, which is part of the one-time unlock. Aloud keeps everything on your device by default. With sync on, your card, phrases, history, and settings sync privately through your own iCloud account, so they appear on your iPad and come back on a new phone signed into the same Apple ID.
My phrases are not showing on my other device
Check that both devices are signed into the same Apple ID, that the app is unlocked and sync is on for both, and that they have a network connection. iCloud sync can take a few minutes to settle, especially on first launch.
Can I turn off history? Or analytics?
Yes, both, in Settings. History keeps recent messages on your device so you can speak them again, and switching it off stops that. Analytics is a content-free measure of which features get used, it never includes a word you typed, and switching it off stops it entirely.
I paid but Aloud still says I have not
Open Settings in the app and tap Restore Purchases. The purchase is tied to your Apple Account, so it restores on any device signed into the same one. If it still does not appear, mail me with the Apple Account email used for the purchase.
Which languages does Aloud speak?
The app is localized in English (US, UK, Australia, Canada), Spanish (Spain, Mexico), Italian, and Japanese. Speaking works in any language your device has a voice for.
Does it work with VoiceOver and larger text?
Yes. Aloud is built for VoiceOver, Voice Control, Dynamic Type at large sizes, and dark interfaces. If something is unreachable or unreadable with any of those turned on, that is a bug worth mailing me about, and I will fix it.
How do I delete everything?
Delete the phrases, answers, and history you want gone, then delete the app. If you turned sync on, also remove Aloud’s iCloud data in Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage. There is no server of mine holding a copy.