# AEIOU: AAC Keyboard — Type, blink, or tap to speak > Type, blink, or tap to speak (iPhone/iPad app by Christopher Hardy.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/aeiou-aac-keyboard/id6766075999 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Christopher Hardy](https://appshunter.io/developer/960832102) - Category: Medical, Education - Price: Free - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 134 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-08-12 - Data updated: 2026-10-08 ## What is AEIOU? AEIOU is a free, intelligent communication keyboard for people who can't speak, or can't speak as easily as they'd like to. Built for iPhone and iPad and designed to understand the moment you're in, so what you want to say is often one selection away. Everything runs on your device. Select with a tap, a blink, or any external switch. AEIOU learns how you communicate and gets faster the more you use it. WHAT'S DIFFERENT ▸ PREDICTIONS THAT UNDERSTAND THE MOMENT AEIOU combines a built-in language model, Apple's on-device intelligence, your own history, the time of day and what was just said to you. Switch on the optional extras below and it also knows where you are, what's coming up, what you can hear and what's in front of you. ▸ A SMARTER WORD PREDICTOR A language model inside the app reads the sentence as you spell it and offers the likeliest next words. Fewer letters to find. Fully offline. ▸ GUIDED SETUP A short questionnaire explains each feature and sets everything up for you. Permissions are only requested when you choose a feature that needs one. ▸ OPTIONAL AWARENESS, ALL ON YOUR DEVICE (every one off until you switch it on) • Listen: hears what the other person says and suggests replies you can pick instead of spelling them out • Notice sounds: a doorbell, a ringing phone or an alarm becomes a suggestion • What's around me: the back camera notices everyday items brought to the table ("which one do you want?") and offers replies to them • Places: save Home or the GP surgery and suggestions fit where you are • Calendar and Reminders: "I have something on today", "Is it time for my medication?" (event and reminder titles are never read out or stored) • Contacts: recognises the names of people in your life • Movement and phone state: still or travelling, charging overnight • Apple Watch: optionally uses your heart rate as one more hint for suggestions. It isn't a medical feature, never diagnoses anything and must never be relied on for safety ▸ LEARNS WHAT YOU SAY, WHEN It remembers the answers you usually give and offers them first. A carer can teach it replies too. Reset everything it has learned at any time. ▸ SELECT YOUR WAY Rows scan automatically and any tap, blink, switch or key press selects. Prefer to point? Switch on "Tap letters directly". Blink detection ignores reflex blinks. ▸ PERSONAL VOICE READY On iOS 17+, AEIOU can speak in your own voice, recorded once in iOS Settings. ▸ KIND TO YOUR BATTERY When the phone is warm, the battery is low or the app is idle, AEIOU eases off the optional camera and sound features. Typing and speaking keep working. ▸ PRIVATE BY DESIGN No accounts, no analytics, no tracking, no ads. Audio and camera frames are processed in memory and never recorded or sent anywhere. Optional iCloud sync carries only pinned phrases, recent sentences and settings between your own devices. WHO IT'S FOR People with ALS/MND, cerebral palsy, stroke or aphasia, autism with limited verbal speech, post-laryngectomy or intubation recovery, selective mutism, or any condition that makes speaking difficult. Also carers, family members and conversation partners. It's free. There are no in-app purchases, no ads and no subscription. Anyone who needs it can have it. REQUIREMENTS • iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or later • TrueDepth front camera for blink detection (optional: every other input method works without it) • Apple Intelligence on supported devices for extra generated suggestions (optional) • Every sensor feature is optional and asks permission only when you switch it on • No internet connection needed Made with care. Designed to give you back the words. ## Is AEIOU safe? Not enough ratings yet to assess AEIOU. ## Is AEIOU legit? AEIOU: AAC Keyboard appears legitimate, with a few gaps. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for AEIOU is 75 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.0 — 2026-10-05 NEW IN 3.0, OUR BIGGEST UPDATE YET • Smarter word prediction: a language model built into the app now reads the sentence as you spell it and offers better next words. It works fully offline. • Guided setup: a short questionnaire explains each feature and sets AEIOU up for you. Permissions are only asked for when you choose a feature that needs one. • Understands the moment (all optional, all on your device): Places, Calendar, Reminders, Contacts, Movement, Noticing sounds, and a "What's around me" camera that offers replies to items brought to the table. Optionally, an Apple Watch heart-rate hint can inform suggestions (not a medical feature). • Learns what you say and when, and remembers the answers you usually give. Reset it any time in Settings. • New "Tap letters directly" mode for people who can touch the screen. Scanning remains the default. • Many more words and phrases built in. • Kinder to your battery: the app eases off optional camera and sound features when the phone is warm, the battery is low or it's idle. • Updated privacy policy covering the new optional features. ### 2.1 — 2026-09-29 NEW IN 2.1 • Listen gives more accurate, specific replies: it now double-checks the speech recognizer's alternate readings when the top guess doesn't match anything, and can be taught the names of people close to you so they're recognised correctly. • Choose topics AEIOU should never suggest (for example, food and drink) during onboarding or any time in Settings — useful when a suggestion wouldn't be appropriate for your situation. • Blink selection responds faster. A recent change had quietly slowed it down; that's fixed. • The pause after selecting something now holds a little longer by default, giving more time to reach Speak next. • Fixed a rare crash that could happen right as Listen was starting. • The screen no longer dims or locks itself while you're using the app without touching it. ### 2.0 — 2026-09-23 NEW IN 2.0 • Listen: AEIOU can now listen to what the other person is saying (using on-device speech recognition) and suggest replies you pick with a blink, instead of spelling every word out. • Smarter predictions that learn from what you actually choose, and quietly fade out carer-entered facts that go stale over time. • More accurate blink detection. • A broader library of ready-made phrases for faster replies. • Updated privacy policy with full detail on how Listen works entirely on-device. ### 1.1 — 2026-09-07 Speaking is now one press away. A large SPEAK button appears the moment you start writing, and it is the first thing the scanner reaches — so you no longer have to scan through the whole keyboard to say what you have written. Selecting it takes a single press rather than two, because there is nothing else on that row to choose between. Also in this update: • Predictions are bigger and clearer, with more room on screen. Long phrases wrap onto a second line at full size instead of being shrunk or cut off. • Predictions now follow the sentence you are building, not just the last word, using Apple's on-device intelligence. Nothing you write leaves your device. • A mistimed selection no longer ruins the word. If a letter lands wrong, suggestions still appear for what you probably meant. • The options bar has moved below the letters, so the keys come round sooner on every pass. Everything still runs entirely on your device. No accounts, no tracking, no uploads. ### 1.0 — 2026-08-12 No release notes. ## More apps by Christopher Hardy - [Blood Test](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blood-test/id960832103) - [Sentient Studio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sentient-studio/id6747010631) - [Kampanion](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kampanion/id6759507179) - [Wordalo: Word Puzzle Games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/wordalo-word-puzzle-games/id6762897210) - [Boardalo: Chess & Board Games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/boardalo-chess-and-board-games/id6768061103) All apps by Christopher Hardy: https://appshunter.io/developer/960832102 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-08.*