# Whisper - talk without voice — A voice for non-verbal people

> Real-time text-to-speech communication aid for non-verbal individuals. (iPhone/iPad app by Software in the Public Interest, Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisper-talk-without-voice/id6446479064 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Software in the Public Interest, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1549447912)
- Category: Health & Fitness
- Price: Free
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 5 App Store ratings · 3 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 23 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2024-04-19
- Data updated: 2026-06-01
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisper-talk-without-voice/id6446479064/reviews.md

## What is Whisper?

Whisper is a communication aid for the non-verbal community. It allows someone who doesn't speak to participate in a conversation with others who do.  The non-verbal participant (called the Whisperer) uses their device to type their part of the conversation: the letters they type appear instantly on the devices used by the verbal participants (called Listeners).  Listeners speak their responses to the Whisperer and to each other.

Conversations assisted by Whisper are real-time, spoken conversations where all the participants can hear each other. In the same way that verbal participants are careful not to speak when someone else has begun speaking, they are careful not to speak when the Whisperer has started typing. This allows normal turn-taking in the conversation, even when the Whisperer types slowly, because the first letter the Whisperer types appears immediately on Listener screens.

Whisper works well both for in-person conversations and for remote conversations over an audio/video call. For conversations where the Whisperer and the Listeners are in person, no cellular data or wifi connection is required.  For remote conversations, a cellular data or wifi connection is required.  Listeners without Apple devices or who don't have the app can use a web browser to listen via cellular data or wifi.

Each Whisper-assisted conversation has an associated URL that the Whisperer can send to Listeners to invite them to join. Whisperers can create different conversations for different situations; for example, they may use a separate conversation for each recurring conference call they participate in. Listener devices remember prior conversations, so sending a URL is only needed the first time a Listener wants to join a particular conversation. After that the Listener can rejoin simply by selecting the conversation on their device.

Whisper facilitates spoken conversations between users who know each other, and who have other means of communication (messaging, email, etc.) by which a Whisperer can send a conversation URL to a Listener. As with other spoken conversations, a Listener who joins a Whisper-assisted conversation has no access to what the Whisperer may have typed before they joined. Whispered content cannot be copied by Listeners, and when the Whisperer leaves a conversation everything they "said" is immediately erased from all Listener devices.

Whisper takes the privacy of its users very seriously. The app keeps no personally identifiable information about any user, and the memory of which conversations a Whisperer has created or a Listener has participated in is kept in app-secure storage on their device. (For users with more than one device, Whisper allows this "conversational profile" to be securely shared among their devices.)

Whisper is a free, open-source app, provided as a service to the non-verbal community.  It is being made available everywhere because there are non-verbal people everywhere.  Whisper is currently localized only in US English. If it proves popular in non-English geographies, the hope is to localize it via user community efforts.

More information may be found at https://whisper-project.github.io/client.swift .  The source code is at https://github.com/whisper-project/client.swift .

## Key features

- Real-time text display
- Facilitates spoken conversations
- Supports in-person and remote calls
- Web browser access for listeners
- Secure conversation sharing
- Privacy-focused design

## Recent user reviews (3 of 3)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/whisper-talk-without-voice/id6446479064/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Best app for real-time conversations for those with impaired speech

*2025-01-14*

I have ALS - and this app has made it possible for me to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues much more effectively than other apps or systems out there. It works locally and remotely, so I can converse with people in the same room or across the world. It allows people to see what I’m typing in real time as I type it - so they know I’m “talking” and are less inclined to fill the “silence” and talk over me. It can also generate audible speech (using my Eleven Labs cloned voice, or one of the Apple-provided voices) - which is useful when other people can’t watch a screen.

### 5/5 — Great for Listeners

*2025-01-03*

Super easy to use as a Listener! And can’t imagine life without it, allows me to communicate with friend with ALS who can no longer speak. Typing sound allows me to know when my friend is speaking, even when not looking at my device

### 5/5 — Best text-to-speech app out there

*2024-10-12*

As a person living with ALS, I rely on apps like this to communicate. Whisper integrates with iOS really nicely to offer the best quality speech with Eleven Labs voice clones. 
I never Whisper with a dedicated Listener—I just use it to speak. My only suggestion is to move the ‘add a listener’ button to the top of the screen so it doesn’t get triggered by my eye-gaze system when I’m typing out text.

**Developer response:** Thanks for the positive review, and the great suggestion! I am readying a release that allows you to move that button to the top - look for a new Whisperer setting called "Status Bar on top".

## Frequently asked questions about Whisper

### What is Whisper used for?

Whisper is a communication aid designed to help non-verbal individuals participate in spoken conversations. It allows users to type messages that are instantly displayed to verbal participants, facilitating real-time dialogue.

### How does Whisper handle privacy?

Whisper takes user privacy very seriously. The app does not store personally identifiable information. Conversation history is kept in app-secure storage on the user's device and can be securely shared across their devices.

### Can listeners join a Whisper conversation without the app?

Yes, listeners who do not have an Apple device or the Whisper app can join a conversation using a web browser. This requires a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection.

### Does Whisper require an internet connection?

For in-person conversations, Whisper does not require a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection. However, for remote conversations over audio/video calls, a cellular data or Wi-Fi connection is necessary.

### How does Whisper ensure turn-taking in conversations?

Whisper enables normal turn-taking by displaying typed letters instantly on listener devices. This allows verbal participants to be mindful of when the non-verbal user is typing, similar to how they would wait for someone to finish speaking.

### Is Whisper available on multiple platforms?

Whisper is available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, making it accessible to a wide range of users.

### How often is Whisper updated?

The latest version of Whisper is 2.8, and it was last updated on January 19, 2026. This indicates a commitment to ongoing development and improvements.

### What is the age rating for Whisper?

Whisper has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a broad audience of users who can benefit from its communication assistance.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.8 — 2026-01-19

The app is now fully multi-window capable on OS 26: it remembers the state of every conversation in every window, and will automatically rejoin a conversation if the window was closed accidentally or while the app was in the background.

### 2.7 — 2025-02-24

This version introduces one new feature and one cosmetic change.

New feature: There is a new Whisperer setting called "Status Bar on top". When you turn this on, it removes the "Share Listener Link" (and all touch sensitivity) from the mid-screen status bar, so that assistive keyboards do not accidentally trigger these controls. Instead, a "Status" button (showing a person with a question mark) appears at the left of the top bar of controls: clicking this status button will pop up the detailed status view (which now contains the Share Listener Link and other buttons that would be on the status bar).

Cosmetic change: Because this app is now published by the non-profit Whisper Project (a project of Software in the Public Interest), rather than by ClickOneTwo Consulting LLC, the web pages for instructional and support content have changed locations.

### 2.6 — 2024-12-15

This release has two new features:

- You can now have the app play a typing sound while the whisperer is typing. This sound has proved very helpful in getting Listeners to pay attention to their screen rather than talking while the Whisperer is typing.

- There is now a Clear button in the Whisperer controls, for clearing the live text area.

There are also two cosmetic changes:

- The "Stop" button when whispering and listening is now a stop-sign icon rather than a word.

- When you open the app instructions, they open in a separate browser app so you can go back and forth between the instructions and the app easily.

There are some bug fixes as well: 

- The pop-up status detail view now scrolls if needed.

- Profile Sharing is disabled until you enter your name.

Finally, the instructions have been expanded and updated to cover all app functionality. Many thanks to guest editor Lucy M.

### 2.5 — 2024-09-06

This is a bug fix release: the "How To Use" button led to a broken link. In addition, the online instructions have been updated to cover all the functionality available in the app.

### 2.4 — 2024-08-28

This release introduces quite a few long-requested features for both Whisperers and Listeners.

- Whisperers can now create named favorites with pre-saved text that can be inserted into a conversation just by tapping on the name of the favorite. If you use a shared profile, all your devices will have the same favorites.

- There is a Favorites button on the home screen which brings up an Edit Favorites window that allows creating and editing favorites and groups and putting favorites into groups.

- Press the Favorites (star) button in the Whisperer's controls to bring up a Use Favorites window with buttons for each named favorite. Pressing one of the buttons inserts the favorite into the conversation just as if you had typed it, without disturbing any text you are already typing.

- Long press the Favorites button to see a menu that allows choosing which group of favorites you want shown in the Favorites list. There is also an Edit Favorites item on that menu which brings up the Edit Favorites window.

- Whisperers now see buttons next to each of their (non-empty) past lines that allow them to quickly repeat, interject, or make a favorite out of that line's content. If you don't want all three buttons, you can choose the ones you want in your Settings.

- If you use ElevenLabs to generate your speech, each favorite now remembers the generated speech so inserting the favorite starts speaking immediately.

- Listeners can now hear an old-fashioned typing-on-a-typewriter sound whenever the Whisperer starts to type, notifying them to look at what's being typed (and filling the silence so they're not tempted to talk over the Whisperer). The button to turn these sounds on and off is at the left end of the Listener controls. Long pressing on that button allows you to adjust the volume of the typing sound.

- Listeners can now share conversation links with other listeners.

- Listeners can now copy/paste conversation links into the Whisper app. In the list of past conversations, there is now a + button to add a new link.  If there is a conversation link on the clipboard when the plus button is pressed, the app will try to join that conversation. Otherwise, it will open a window where the user can type in (or paste in) the desired conversation link.

- Whisperers who use transcripts can now share those transcripts with Listeners directly from within a conversation session. Once one or more Listeners have joined a conversation, the Whisperer is shown an eyeglass button on the status line as well as an eyeglass button on each listed Listener in the detailed status view.  Pressing the eyeglass button on the status line sends a transcript link to every currently connected listener.  Pressing the eyeglass button on a specific Listener line sends a transcript link just to that specific listener.

- When a Listener is sent a transcript link by the Whisperer, a show-transcript button appears in the status line (and again at the end of the conversation).  Pressing that button opens the transcript in a web browser.

- There is now a "Large Type" control that affects the home screen and the various profile views. This setting is independent of the font size choice when Whispering or Listening.

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## More apps by Software in the Public Interest, Inc.

- [In My Voice](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/in-my-voice/id6742593911)

All apps by Software in the Public Interest, Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/1549447912

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*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 2026-06-01.*