Comparison

GoTalk® NOW vs First Then Visual Schedule HD

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

GoTalk® NOW

This powerful app provides flexible and easy-to-use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools for individuals with speech difficulties. It offers customizable page layouts, various communication styles, and rich media integration to support diverse communication needs.

Highlights
  • Adjustable page layouts
  • Customizable navigation
  • Recorded and text-to-speech capabilities
  • Standard, Express, and Scene communication pages
  • Visual Scene Displays
  • In-app image search and import
  • Video and music integration
Features
Read full description

Attainment has been making augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools for 25 years. Our experience is front and center in GoTalk NOW, a flexible, easy-to-use, yet powerful app for people who have difficulty speaking. NOW combines the simplicity of GoTalks (Attainment’s popular original AAC device) with the dynamic capabilities of an iPad. GoTalk NOW has all the essentials of an effective AAC app, like adjustable page layouts, customizable navigation, recorded and text-to-speech capabilities, and an included symbol set. But we sweated the details to create unique and compelling features that clearly separate NOW from other AAC apps. The new NOW offers three styles of communication pages: Standard, Express, and Scenes. In Standard pages, the action occurs when the location is pressed. In Express pages, recorded or text-to-speech messages build in a speech bar and play in sequence when the bar is pressed. Scene pages are built around a single photo or image. When you arrange invisible hotspots over people or objects in the photo, the hotspots play speech, music, or videos! Feel free to mix and match pages within a communication book. Create as many communication books as you need, each with unique settings and unlimited pages. Then share these books with other users via WiFi, and back them up for safekeeping via Dropbox or any Mac/PC. Envision the impact of blending video, music, and jump to actions among your pages. How cool is it to have your own private online galley to store and save your templates (up to five communication pages) for free, and to email these templates to parents and colleagues! Plus, GoTalk NOW is a full-feature scanning app! Features: • Choose 1, 2, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, or 49 locations per page. • Use Visual Scene Displays to communicate using familiar images & contexts. • Hybrid Scene Pages combine the best of both button & VSD pages. • Import images from your iPad camera, photo library, or the included Imagine Symbol set. • Search the Internet in-app for the perfect image or icon. • Purchase SymbolStix, PCS, or Widgit Symbols libraries in-app. • Crop, scale, or rotate an image using your fingers. • Combine multiple images in a single communication location. • Color pages, borders, and text with any hue. • Move and size text with your fingers so it feels just right. • Record your voice or use free, built-in text-to-speech voices. • Buy higher quality voices starting at 99 cents each, available in over 20 languages. • Add spoken labels (auditory cues) to any button. Great for scanning, guiding visually impaired users, and identifying any new or difficult vocabulary. • Trim videos in-app, and play them from any communication location. • Select our alternate video interface to pause or exit the video easily. • Link songs from your playlist to any communication location and control them with Pause/Play, Next, and Previous. • Include a core vocabulary button for extra quick access to important messages. • Create multimedia social stories and step-by-step instruction layouts by linking pages with an after action. • Share complete communication books via WiFi with any iPad user who has NOW. • Back up communication books via Dropbox or to any Mac or PC for safekeeping. • Store and share interactive templates (each including speech, video, text, and jump to links) on our online gallery for free. • Download and edit premade templates from Attainment’s collection on the public gallery, also free. • Email links to your templates to parents and colleagues, who can open the template on their iPad by tapping on the link. • Print and save communication book layouts via PDFs. • Access Now with single or two-switch scanning. GoTalk NOW participates in Apple's Volume Purchasing Program for Education in the United States. Attainment is well known for top-notch customer service. Email us with questions or comments and check our website for free webinars. And yes, we're happy to talk to you on the telephone!

About

First Then Visual Schedule HD

Create and use a variety of visual supports, including schedules, task analyses, and social stories, all within a single application. This tool offers multiple ways to add images and customize viewing options to suit individual needs.

Highlights
  • Create visual schedules
  • Task analyses
  • Social stories
  • Choice boards
  • Video models
  • Multiple image import options
  • Customizable viewing formats
Features
Read full description

The visual supports you can create and use with First Then Visual Schedule (FTVS) HD have proven to be especially beneficial for the following populations: Typically developing children Those learning English as a second language People with developmental disabilities like Autism and Down Syndrome Individuals with learning disabilities like dyslexia People affected by anxiety or attention deficits Anyone with language, hearing or auditory processing deficits Individuals affected by aphasia after a stroke And many more... So, as a parent, teacher, therapist or adult who could benefit from visual supports you want to try them but may be frustrated by how many different apps you seem to need in order to do so? FTVS HD lets you easily and quickly create and use ALL these visual supports in just one app: First Then boards Visual schedules Task analyses Social stories Choice boards Video models FTVS HD is designed to be used anywhere and everywhere with everything you need easily accessible from within the app: It's universal so it will work on any iDevice FTVS HD gives you FIVE different options for adding images: take a picture using your device's camera or grab one from the camera roll, use the Internet search feature to look for an image, use one of the stock images in the app or access one of 10,000 Smarty Ears symbols. All the stock images and Smarty Ears symbols are searchable by name. Set a timer for either an entire schedule or for individual steps within it. Attach a choice board or video to any step. There are FIVE different viewing options: Look at one single image at a time (great for the visually impaired), view two images in a First Then board format, scroll through a checklist, drag and drop an image to another column once a step is complete or drag and drop an image from a strip and put it in an envelope. FTVS HD makes it easy to create, customize and share schedules. You can copy the templates that come with the app or create your own from scratch. Easily edit, move, delete or hide steps within schedules. You can print your schedules and share them with other users via email. Due to size constraints you can currently only email one choice board and cannot email videos. Good Karma Applications are dedicated to providing apps that are powerful, easy to use and affordable. If you have any feedback or questions in relation to any of our apps, please contact us at support@goodkarmaapplications.com

Screenshots

First Then Visual Schedule HD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: First Then Visual Schedule HD at $14.99 against GoTalk® NOW's $59.99. First Then Visual Schedule HD also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ratings volume (26 vs 2). GoTalk® NOW's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.1) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On ads and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

GoTalk® NOW costs $59.99 and First Then Visual Schedule HD $14.99 up front. GoTalk® NOW sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. First Then Visual Schedule HD asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

GoTalk® NOW holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Then Visual Schedule HD has 26 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 61% of GoTalk® NOW's written reviews are positive against 53% of First Then Visual Schedule HD's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GoTalk® NOW ships an update every 5 weeks, First Then Visual Schedule HD every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
GoTalk® NOW versus First Then Visual Schedule HD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoTalk® NOWFirst Then Visual Schedule HD
Price$59.99$14.99 — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.1 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews60.9% of reviews — better52.8% of reviews
Number of ratings226 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.69.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size235 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAttainment CompanyGood Karma Applications, Inc

Customer experience

GoTalk® NOW

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews23 reviews
Positive60.9%
Neutral4.3%
Negative34.8%

First Then Visual Schedule HD

All ratings25 ratings
Positive52.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative44.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive52.8%
Neutral2.8%
Negative44.4%

In-app purchases

10 purchases

GoTalk® NOW

One-time10
  • Kenny$0.99
  • Nelly$0.99
  • Ryan$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Tracy$0.99
  • Will$0.99
  • Ella$11.99
  • Josh$11.99
  • Ready-Set-Communicate$19.99
  • SymbolStix$49.99
  • English (US) Keywords$59.99
None

First Then Visual Schedule HD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GoTalk® NOW free?
GoTalk® NOW costs $59.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is First Then Visual Schedule HD free?
First Then Visual Schedule HD costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, GoTalk® NOW or First Then Visual Schedule HD?
GoTalk® NOW is rated higher. GoTalk® NOW averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while First Then Visual Schedule HD averages 3.1 from 26 ratings.
Do GoTalk® NOW or First Then Visual Schedule HD have ads?
Neither GoTalk® NOW nor First Then Visual Schedule HD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GoTalk® NOW or First Then Visual Schedule HD?
GoTalk® NOW ships an update every 5 weeks, and First Then Visual Schedule HD every 3 months. Most recently, GoTalk® NOW was updated on October 20, 2026 and First Then Visual Schedule HD on October 23, 2026.

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