Comparison

Category Therapy vs Between the Lines Advanced HD

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

Head to head
About

Category Therapy

This app helps individuals improve their mental organization and word-sorting skills through evidence-based exercises. It's designed for speech therapists and home users to aid in cognitive and language rehabilitation after stroke, brain injury, or for conditions like autism. Features include interactive activities, clear photos, and progress reporting.

Highlights
  • Evidence-based exercises
  • Word-finding and sorting practice
  • 4 engaging activities
  • Clear photos and simple interface
  • Customizable settings
  • Progress reports
Read full description

Improve mental organization skills. Practice categories in a versatile speech therapy app. When you struggle with categories due to stroke, brain injury, or autism, simple tasks can be impossible. But there’s a way to heal the broken networks of meaning. GET CATEGORY THERAPY, an app designed for both speech therapists and home users to help restructure the brain and let the ideas flow. - Take control with evidence-based exercises designed by experts - Improve word-finding and sorting skills with 4 engaging activities and unlimited practice - Get an app that works in both home and clinical settings - Interact with clear photos and a simple interface that's easy for everyone to use - Adjust settings to target your goals and suit your needs - Use reports and customization to seamlessly fit the app into your therapy program ** Download Category Therapy Lite for FREE to see how it can help! ** When you lose the ability to group items and identify what they have in common, it gets in the way of your ability to understand, learn, and communicate. But with the right kind of practice, it’s possible to strengthen the connections between words and concepts and navigate your world more easily. “It will be a LONG time before you run out of content to use with one patient, and the app’s fantastic settings options will allow you to use it with a variety of individuals, regardless of cognitive abilities.” - Aubrey Klingensmith, MS, CCC-SLP, Speechie Apps GET THE RIGHT ACTIVITY - FOR EVERY BRAIN. No two people are the same. With 4 activities ranging from simple to complex, there's something in Category Therapy to match your needs. Work through them gradually or focus on the activity that best suits your needs. 1) FIND: Start with the basics. You'll hear and see a photo of a category (let's say "Fruit"). Tap the item that matches (for example, a banana). 2) CLASSIFY: Switch it up. Now you start with an item and choose the category that matches. This tests your ability to apply categories to what you see. 3) ADD ONE: Train yourself to recognize common features of items – to categorize them – and then choose one item that fits the category you’ve identified. 4) EXCLUDE: Challenge yourself. By choosing an item that doesn't belong, you learn how to independently identify categories. As things get harder, you can always tap Hint for some help. ALL DONE? Share your progress. The app makes it easy to quickly view, share, or e-mail detailed reports to a therapist or loved one. GET EVERY FEATURE YOU NEED IN ONE EASY APP. • 70 categories and nearly 700 words in one package • 3 difficulty levels ranging from simple objects to more abstract concepts • Great for aphasia, brain injury, autism, and other cognitive & language impairments • Switch to Pictures Only to practice naming or Words Only to practice reading • Customize the number of trials, choices, and more – it’s yours to control • Designed with adults in mind but easy enough for children to use • No subscriptions, no monthly bills, no Wi-Fi needed THERE’S HOPE. With Category Therapy in your corner, you can build stronger connections between words – and learn to speak and think more easily. ** DOWNLOAD NOW to get started – or try it for FREE with Category Therapy Lite! ** Looking for something different in a speech therapy app? We offer a wide range to choose from. Find the right one for you at https://tactustherapy.com/find

About

Between the Lines Advanced HD

This app helps adolescents and adults improve their understanding of social cues. It uses real photos, videos, and audio clips to teach interpretation of vocal intonation, facial expressions, body language, and slang. Features include listening, body language, and expression-based tasks with progress tracking.

Highlights
  • Interpreting vocal intonation
  • Understanding facial expressions
  • Analyzing body language
  • Learning idiomatic/slang expressions
  • Progress tracking
  • Multimedia learning tools
Features
Read full description

Hamaguchi Apps for Speech, Language & Auditory Development's groundbreaking app for the iPad is designed for adolescents and adults who would benefit from practice interpreting vocal intonation, facial expressions, body language, and idiomatic or slang expressions. Using real photographs, voices and short mini-video clips of a variety of social situations and expressions, this app provides a dynamic way to help learn and understand the messages that are “between the lines” and simply can’t be replicated with worksheets and static flashcards. American language and body language is used. For more information, watch a demo of this app on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7uV5kMSjko&feature=plcp For easier tasks, geared towards a slightly younger audience, check out Between the Lines Level 1 and Level 2 apps, also in the App store! This app includes 65-75 tasks within each of the three activities. There are three distinct activities in this app: 1. Listening: The user hears a voice speak a sentence, e.g., “What did you DO?!” (Often the same phrase is heard spoken in several different ways throughout the activity, but with different emotion and inflection) The narrator asks, “Who said it?” The user is shown a series of photographs. The user touches the correct facial expression that matches the voice. 2. Body Language: A very short video-clip is shown that depicts an interaction or situation. For example, one teacher makes small talk then asks her colleague, “How is your day going so far?” The other teacher responds with body language only, suggesting “Eh…not bad, not good, just so-so.” The camera closes in this actor and says, “What is she thinking?” The user’s task is to look at the choices of responses and select the one that matches the facial expression/body language. 3. Expressions: A very short video-clip is shown that depicts an actor speaking a sentence that contains an idiomatic or slang expression, e.g., “I want to convince my dad to let me go, but I think I have my word ‘cut out for me’.” The user is then asked, “What does that mean?”A list of slightly cruder slang terms (e.g., "This is BS", "He's not the sharpest tool in the shed") are no longer in the default settings but can be specifically added within the Activity setting. The game can be played by up to 75 users or as a group. The percentage correct is reported for each user’s performance on each of the three activities. Individual users can select their own settings; the group must have the same setting selections for the entire group. Options included: Tracking progress (can be displayed or not) automatic advance or manual advance, choices can be automatically shown or manually displayed. Reward animations are provided at selected intervals for a welcome fun and break including Dunk Tank, Bull’s Eye (darts), and Shoot the Basket.These are not games of skill-just a fun diversion. *Please contact our tech support if you are experiencing any technical issues with our apps at info@hamaguchiapps.com PRIVACY POLICY: We do NOT collect personal data from our users and have no ads. Personal data regarding user performance on the tasks on this app are self-contained and not transmitted in any way, unless the user chooses to email them to someone else. There are no in-app purchases in this app. A demo link will allow a user with internet access to view a video on YouTube to learn about the features of this app, as well as a link to our other apps in the iTunes store. ***Please check out the extension activities at the end of the Information Page, which is on the home page. It is also available on our website. Developed by licensed speech-language pathologist and author, Patti Hamaguchi, M.A., CCC-SLP. Visit our website: www.hamaguchiapps.com

Screenshots

Category Therapy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Between the Lines Advanced HD at $19.99 against Category Therapy's $29.99. Category Therapy's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (500 vs 9). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Category Therapy costs $29.99 and Between the Lines Advanced HD $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Category Therapy holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Category Therapy has 500 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Category Therapy ships an update every 8 months, Between the Lines Advanced HD every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Category Therapy versus Between the Lines Advanced HD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCategory TherapyBetween the Lines Advanced HD
Price$29.99$19.99 — better
Rating4.8 (500 ratings) — better4.4 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings500 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB340 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTactus Therapy Solutions Ltd.Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC

Customer experience

Category Therapy

All ratings500 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Between the Lines Advanced HD

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Category Therapy

Requested features

3 requests
  • More category options
  • A 'harder than hard' level
  • More categories

Between the Lines Advanced HD

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Category Therapy

No in-app purchases

None

Between the Lines Advanced HD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Category Therapy free?
Category Therapy costs $29.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Between the Lines Advanced HD free?
Between the Lines Advanced HD costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Category Therapy or Between the Lines Advanced HD?
Category Therapy is rated higher. Category Therapy averages 4.8 out of 5 from 500 ratings, while Between the Lines Advanced HD averages 4.4 from 9 ratings.
Do Category Therapy or Between the Lines Advanced HD have ads?
Neither Category Therapy nor Between the Lines Advanced HD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Category Therapy or Between the Lines Advanced HD?
Category Therapy ships an update every 8 months, and Between the Lines Advanced HD every 4 months. Most recently, Category Therapy was updated on September 26, 2026 and Between the Lines Advanced HD on September 9, 2026.

Other comparisons