Ordering coffee
The barista asks a question that isn’t on any saved board. Conversation Mode, running on-device, suggests three full replies. One tap, a quick edit, and the answer is spoken before the queue notices a pause.
Communication · text-based AAC
Type it. Tap it. Say it.
Meet Folio AAC.
Folio AAC is a talker for people who type to speak. Type a message or tap a saved phrase and Folio says it in a natural voice — including your own Personal Voice. Calm, private, and fast enough for real conversation.
Free to use. Any optional upgrade is shown in the App Store before purchase.
What it does
Folio speaks what you type or tap — saved phrases, topic boards, abbreviation expansion, and an emergency button that is never buried.
How it works
Type a message, or tap a phrase you saved, and Folio speaks it aloud. Turn on Conversation Mode and Folio listens to the person you’re talking with — entirely on your device — and suggests full replies before you type; tap one to place it, edit it, speak it. You stay in control of every word: Folio never speaks or inserts anything you didn’t choose.
Who it’s for
For literate people who type to speak — autistic teens and adults, people with ALS or MND, cerebral palsy, apraxia, or aphasia after a stroke — and anyone nonspeaking or minimally speaking who prefers text. Most AAC apps are built for children; Folio is adult-respecting by default.
Accessibility built in
Switch access is built in: row-by-row scanning with auto or step modes, adjustable speed, spoken highlights, and selection by external switch or a tap anywhere. Tap targets and text scale up; high-contrast and dark themes included.
Built for real conversation
Fast enough for the coffee counter. Yours enough to feel like a voice.
Conversation Mode
Folio listens to the person you’re talking with, entirely on your device, and suggests full replies you might want — before you type. Tap one to place it, edit it, speak it. You stay in control of every word: Folio never speaks or inserts anything you didn’t choose.
Your phrases, your pages
Save the phrases you actually use, organised in categories and your own topic boards — a “Doctor visit” page, a “Work” page. Colour-tag phrases for fast scanning; abbreviations expand as you type (“omw” becomes “I’m on my way”). Everything backs up to a file you own.
Always there in an emergency
A fixed emergency button opens urgent phrases — “I need help now”, “I am choking”, “I need my medication” — that speak instantly and can be shown full-screen. Never buried, never editable, never behind a paywall.
Your own voice
Folio speaks in a natural voice — including your own Personal Voice, Apple’s accessibility feature, if you’ve created one on your device.
Switch access, built in
Folio’s own auto and step scanning covers Talk and Emergency, with adjustable timing and optional spoken highlights. Management screens work with iOS Switch Control. VoiceOver, Dynamic Type, high contrast, dark appearance and large touch targets are supported.
Built to outlast us
Speaking is free forever — even if Folio’s servers disappeared, your voice keeps working.
The privacy boundary, stated exactly
Communication stays on the device.
Typing, speaking, learning and Conversation Mode happen on your device. Folio does not upload audio, transcripts, drafts, messages, phrase history or suggestions to KindAbilities or KeenShift.
No Folio account, advertising, analytics SDK or remote conversation-prediction service. A PIN can lock Settings, and local backup files go only where the user chooses to save them.
A day with Folio
Three moments Folio was built for.
A medical appointment
Living with ALS, she opens her “Doctor visit” board — the questions she prepared at home, colour-tagged, plus the emergency phrases fixed one tap away. Her words, at her speed, in her Personal Voice.
Fourth period
A student who types to speak answers a class question from a shared iPad. The teacher hears the answer. The draft, transcript and suggestions stay on that device.
In the classroom
A talker a school can actually say yes to.
The privacy construction is the feature IT will ask about first: Folio has no account or developer content service, and a PIN can lock Settings. The free tier includes starter phrases, 20 custom phrases, 2 topic boards and a daily allowance of Apple on-device model replies where supported — an honest trial scope for one student and one iPad.
Folio serves students who are nonspeaking or minimally speaking and who read and type. Boards start empty on purpose: a teacher or SLP will usually help build the first topic boards around the student’s actual day. It complements — never replaces — a clinical AAC evaluation.
Setting up a classroom? Start with the implementation guide for teachers and classrooms.
Deployment notes for school IT
- iOS 18 or later, iPhone and iPad.
- No accounts to provision — nothing to create, reset, or manage per student.
- Phrases and boards live on the device and back up to a file the user owns.
- App Privacy label: “Data Not Collected”.
- Communication content stays on the device; a PIN can lock Settings.
- Free to deploy in quantity through Apple School Manager Apps and Books (device-based assignment).
Procurement facts, each with an Apple citation: how schools get our apps.
Honest limits
What Folio AAC is not.
A communication tool for people who read and type. It is not a symbol-based AAC app for pre-literate children, not a clinical AAC evaluation, and not a replacement for a speech-language pathologist where a family wants one. It does not diagnose or treat.
Questions, answered honestly
Before you download Folio AAC
What is AAC?
AAC — augmentative and alternative communication — is any method that supplements or replaces spoken speech, from paper boards to apps that speak. Our plain-language guide: what is AAC?
Who is Folio for?
People who type to speak: autistic teens and adults, people with ALS or MND, cerebral palsy, apraxia, or aphasia after a stroke — anyone nonspeaking or minimally speaking and literate. It is not a symbol-based AAC app for pre-literate children.
Is Folio really free?
Yes. Free includes typing, text-to-speech, Conversation Mode, Emergency, built-in scanning, library suggestions, starter phrases, 20 custom phrases and 2 topic boards. On supported devices it also includes 20 Apple on-device model replies a day. Speaking is free forever.
Is Pro a subscription?
No. Folio Pro is a single one-time purchase — no subscription, ever — with unlimited custom phrases and boards and, on supported devices, no daily Apple-model suggestion limit. Family Sharing is supported. The price is shown in the App Store before purchase.
Can Folio speak in my own voice?
Yes — Folio can speak in your Personal Voice, Apple’s accessibility feature, if you’ve created one on your device, as well as in natural built-in voices.
Does Folio listen to my conversations?
Conversation Mode uses Apple’s on-device speech recognition. Folio does not upload audio, transcripts, drafts, messages, phrase history or suggestions to KindAbilities or KeenShift.
Will it ever say something I didn’t choose?
Never. Folio never speaks or inserts anything you didn’t choose. Suggestions are offers; you place, edit, or ignore them.
Does it support switch access?
Yes. Folio’s own auto and step scanning covers Talk and Emergency, with adjustable timing, optional spoken highlights and selection by screen tap. Settings and phrase editing work with iOS Switch Control.
What about emergencies?
A fixed emergency button opens urgent phrases that speak instantly and can be shown full-screen. It is never buried, never editable, and never behind a paywall.
Which devices does it run on?
iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later.
Will using AAC stop someone from speaking?
It’s one of the most common worries families bring to a speech-language pathologist — and exactly the right person to ask about your situation. What we can say plainly: Folio’s job is to make communication reliable now; it makes no clinical claims in either direction. See what is AAC? for the fuller picture.
Who owns my phrases?
You do. Phrases and boards live on your device and back up to a file you own — not to our servers.
Ready when you are.
Folio AAC is free to use; any optional upgrade is shown in the App Store before purchase.