Sound ID · Baro vs CatKey
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sound ID · Baro
This app uses your phone's microphone to identify and display sounds around you in real-time. It prioritizes privacy by processing all audio on-device, ensuring no data is ever recorded or uploaded. Designed for accessibility and safety, it can alert you to important sounds like alarms, doorbells, and crying babies.
- Real-time sound identification
- On-device audio processing
- No internet or account required
- Customizable sound alerts
- Accessible design with large text
- Offline functionality
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What you hear never leaves your phone. Sound ID turns your phone into a private ear. It listens through the microphone and names the sounds around you — a doorbell, a knock, a smoke alarm, a crying baby — entirely on your device. No internet. No account. No tracking. You can prove it: switch on airplane mode and it keeps naming sounds. Nothing is ever recorded or uploaded. Built first for Deaf and hard-of-hearing users, and genuinely useful for anyone who wants to feel safer at home. A mic that listens to your whole home should answer to you alone — so it does. PRIVATE BY DESIGN (THE WHOLE POINT) • Audio is processed in memory and discarded frame by frame — never saved, never sent. • Sound recognition runs 100% on your phone. Nothing goes to Google, to any cloud, to anyone. • Zero analytics, zero telemetry, zero third-party SDKs. No account, no login. • Privacy label: Data Not Collected. Verifiable in airplane mode. THE PAYOFF • Names the sound, big and clear — the top sound shows in huge letters with a confidence percentage, so you know at a glance what just happened and how sure the app is. • A rolling list of recent sounds with timestamps. Share it as plain text in one tap — handy for letting family know what's been going on. • A focused, high-value sound set: alarm, doorbell, knock, baby crying, dog, running water, smoke / CO alarm, phone, siren, speech, vehicle, music, applause, shouting, breaking glass. The sounds that matter for safety, not noise. YOU'RE IN CONTROL • One large sensitivity slider: turn it up to catch faint sounds, down to avoid false alerts. Your setting is remembered. • Teach your own sounds: record your doorbell or your microwave, test that it is really recognized, name it, and it sits alongside the built-in set. The audio is discarded as always — only a numeric fingerprint stays on this phone. • Watch only what matters: a switch for every sound, plus "Essentials only" and "All sounds" in one tap. The fewer sounds you keep, the harder they are to miss. • Keep listening with the screen locked. A doorbell or alarm posts a lock-screen notification and a vibration — audio still never leaves this phone. • Honest about its limits — if the on-device model isn't installed, Sound ID says so plainly and never invents a detection. What it shows, it actually heard. BUILT TO BE ACCESSIBLE • Every button is at least 64 x 64 pt. AAA contrast on an AMOLED-friendly black background that sips battery. Minimum 24 pt text. No double-taps, no swipes, no hidden gestures — just tap. GREAT FOR Deaf and hard-of-hearing people who want a visual cue for important sounds; parents listening for a baby in another room; anyone who wants to know if the smoke alarm, doorbell or phone is going off; people who refuse to put an always-on mic in the cloud. NO SUBSCRIPTIONS, NO ADS No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, no account. That's the whole deal. Part of the Baro family — The tools you reach for first.
CatKey
This keyboard app provides dedicated Catalan language support, including spell checking and autocorrect, which were removed from iOS. It offers a seamless bilingual experience with Spanish and includes customizable features for a better typing experience.
- Catalan spell checking
- Autocorrect for Catalan
- Word prediction
- Bilingual switching
- Customizable keyboard height
- Offline functionality
- Theme customization
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CatKey is the only iOS keyboard dedicated to Catalan language support. When Apple removed Catalan spell checking in iOS 17.4, millions of Catalan speakers lost a basic tool. CatKey brings it back - and makes it better. BUILT FOR CATALAN SPEAKERS CatKey (teclat catala) was created because no existing keyboard treats Catalan as a first-class language. Gboard and SwiftKey support 75+ languages but none offer dedicated Catalan spell checking. CatKey is Catalan-first, not an afterthought. CORE FEATURES (FREE FOREVER) - Catalan spell checking (corrector ortografic) with a dedicated dictionary - Autocorrect that understands Catalan word structure - Word prediction with smart suggestions - Seamless Catalan-Spanish bilingual switching with automatic language detection - Full QWERTY layout with all Catalan characters via long-press (accents on a, e, i, o, u, cedilla c, interpunct) - Number and symbol keyboards - Haptic feedback with adjustable intensity - Sound feedback on key presses - Adjustable keyboard height: compact, standard, or tall - Space bar shows detected language (Catala, Espanol, English) - Step-by-step onboarding guide for first-time setup CATALAN PRO - ONE-TIME PURCHASE Upgrade once, own it forever. No subscriptions. - Enhanced word prediction with 5 candidates - Advanced autocorrect with deeper error detection - Dialect selection: Balearic and Valencian - Custom dictionary: add your own words - Theme customization with Catalan-inspired designs (Modernisme, Mediterranean, Trencadis) - Professional dictionaries (legal, medical, education) - Priority support PRIVACY FIRST CatKey works entirely offline. No data is collected, transmitted, or stored on any server. Your words stay on your device. Full Access is required only for the keyboard to function - it never sends your typing anywhere. IN-APP PURCHASE CatKey Pro is a one-time purchase of $3.99. No recurring charges. Restore purchases is supported for reinstallations. Download CatKey today and type confidently in Catalan.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: CatKey at Free against Sound ID · Baro's $0.99. Sound ID · Baro's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 1.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, ads and device support 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
CatKey is free to download; Sound ID · Baro costs $0.99 up front. CatKey sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sound ID · Baro asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sound ID · Baro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Sound ID · Baro ships an update every 2 days, CatKey every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sound ID · Baro | CatKey |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Euiseok Kim | 贺 周 |
In-app purchases
Sound ID · Baro
No in-app purchases
CatKey
- CatKey Pro$3.99









