Now and Next vs Jam Up!
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Now and Next
This app provides a visual communication tool to articulate current and upcoming activities. It helps build cognitive skills and encourages speech and language development through engaging visuals and custom activity creation.
- Visual activity sequencing
- Custom activity creation with own images
- Over 60 pre-loaded activities
- Timeline feature with automatic card progression
- Optional sound notifications for activity changes
- Supports early years and special education needs
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Show a child what is happening now, and what is happening next. Now and Next takes the part of the day that is hardest to explain and makes it something a child can see. Put the current activity on one side of a card and the one that comes after it on the other, and “we're leaving the playground after this” stops being an argument and becomes a picture to point at. Teachers and therapists usually call it a first-then board. It is the same idea, and the app does both. It was built by parents, and it is used at home, in preschool and elementary classrooms, and in therapy sessions: with autistic children, with children who have ADHD, with children whose speech and language is still developing, and with any young child whose day goes better when they can see it laid out. NOW AND NEXT CARDS Pick two activities and the card is made. Tap a picture to hear the activity read aloud. If your family or your classroom says something other than “Now” and “Next,” change the wording to the words you already use. CHOICE CARDS, WITH TWO OR THREE PICTURES Ask with pictures instead of words. A choice card is a visual choice board: a question and two or three activities to choose from — milk or water, playground or backyard, which book at bedtime — so a child can pick one by pointing. TIME LINE Put your cards in order and the Time Line runs the routine for you: a morning, the hour after school, a whole school day. Each card stays up for as long as you set, then moves on by itself, with an optional friendly sound as it changes. 60+ ACTIVITIES, AND ROOM FOR YOUR OWN More than 60 illustrated activities come with the app, covering home and school from breakfast and brushing teeth to school, nap time and the dentist. Your own are just as easy to add: take a photo, choose one from your library, or create a picture with Image Playground on supported devices. Name them in your own words, and organize them into categories that match your day. ACTIVITIES THAT SPEAK Activities and questions can be read aloud when they are tapped, in the voice you pick, so a card works for listening as well as looking. IN YOUR LANGUAGE The app follows your device language in English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, including the names of the built-in activities. Anything you typed yourself stays exactly as you wrote it. BACKUP AND RESTORE Export everything you have built — activities, cards, choice cards, categories and the Time Line — and restore it on another iPhone or iPad, or on a new device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no sign-in and no ads. Your photos, activities and cards are kept on your device; nothing about them is collected or shared. A backup goes only where you choose to send it. ONE PURCHASE Now and Next is bought once. There is no subscription and nothing else to unlock, it works on both iPhone and iPad, and Family Sharing lets up to six family members use it.
Jam Up!
This app is a digital play support tool designed to help autistic children aged 5-14 accomplish everyday tasks independently. It offers customizable tasks and provides educational resources for parents and carers to foster independence and improve well-being.
- Empowers autistic children with daily tasks
- Customizable task support
- Digital play-based learning
- Educational videos for parents
- Daily tips for independence
- Improved child and family well-being
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We know how challenging every day tasks such as getting dressed can be for autistic children and we understand the impact that this has on family life. Jam Up! is an engaging digital play support tool that parents can use to empower autistic children to accomplish everyday tasks, taking the pressure off and making family life just that little bit easier. Created and developed by Rachael, a health care professional and parent of an autistic son in collaboration with other autistic children and their carers, Jam Up! has already seen amazing results. Benefits of using Jam Up! - Increased independence for autistic children with everyday tasks. - Improved health and well-being outcomes for both children and parents/carers. - Reduced time spent on task completion. - Enhanced school attendance for children and work/study attendance for parents/carers. What does Jam Up! do? - Assists autistic children aged 5-14 in completing everyday tasks using digital play. - Offers customisable tasks to ensure children can be supported whilst keeping to their usual routine. - Provides educational videos and daily tips enabling parents / carers to promote their child's independence This app uses the standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) (https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Jam Up! at Free against Now and Next's $6.99. Now and Next's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Jam Up! is free to download; Now and Next costs $6.99 up front. Jam Up! sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Now and Next asks for nothing beyond the download.
Now and Next ships an update every 2 months, Jam Up! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Now and Next | Jam Up! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 200 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Peter Stanley | Spectrum Tailored Technologies Ltd |
Customer experience
Now and Next
Jam Up!
In-app purchases
Now and Next
No in-app purchases
Jam Up!
- £2.99 Monthly subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- £29.99 Yearly subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Now and Next free?
Is Jam Up! free?
Do Now and Next or Jam Up! have ads?
Which is updated more often, Now and Next or Jam Up!?
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