Comparison

Fricatives vs AAT Plus

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

Head to head
About

Fricatives

Features
Read full description

Fricatives app, authored by Fred D. Minifie, Ph.D, provides valuable instructional/clinical tools for speech-language pathologists, otolaryngologists, speech scientists, linguists, teachers of singing and other professionals. The app includes four voiced and five voiceless fricative consonant dynamic animations with sound plus a key view for each of the tongue shape and placement for the structural movements involved in the production of the consonants of American English. • Anatomy ID: as each part is touched, the part highlights and the part name and description text changes. Description text shows or hides on demand .  ◊ Anatomy view - 26 parts, includes nose, mouth and throat structure ID. Zoom and pans. • Highlight View: key view of the tongue shape and placement for four voiced and five voiceless fricative consonants of American English.  ◊ Voiced: /v/ /ð/ /z/ /ǯ/ Voiceless: /f/ /Ө/ /s/ /∫/ /h/  ◊ Includes a word and sentence audio example to illustrate consonant articulation. • Animations: each consonant shows a lateral view of dynamic movements of the jaw, lips, tongue, velum (soft palate), and larynx needed for proper articulation of that consonant. Audio for each consonant sound is synchronized with the dynamic animations. Anatomy animation included. • Two finger pan of all animations and key view pages. • Drawing Whiteboard feature:  ◊ Drawing: freeform lines in red, blue, green or black hue.  ◊ Draw and place text directly on active animation and video.  ◊ Text: 36pt, auto wrap, non-movable in red, blue, green or black hue.  ◊ Eraser: touch and rub lines and text on whiteboard to erase.  ◊ Trash: one tap deletes all whiteboard lines and text.  ◊ Screenshot whiteboard direct to Photos App for easy email and printing. • iOS 6.0+ required, designed for iPad and iPhone. Fricatives app makes learning consonants easy. See example screen shots below. Get the app today!

About

AAT Plus

This tool offers a comprehensive suite of screeners and assessments for articulation, including quick screeners, full assessments, sentence-level tests, and stimulability tests. It is designed to aid in evaluating speech sound production.

Highlights
  • Quick screener
  • Full assessment
  • Sentence level assessment
  • R Screener
  • Stimulability tests
Features
Read full description

Elevate your speech therapy practice with the Articulation Assessment Toolkit Plus (AAT Plus)—the most comprehensive, dynamic, and intuitive criterion-referenced articulation assessment designed specifically for Speech-Language Pathologists. Whether you are determining baselines, monitoring progress, or writing highly targeted IEP goals, the AAT Plus transforms complex speech sound data into clear, actionable clinical insights. Moving far beyond simple raw scores, this tool provides a multi-dimensional analysis of your student's speech sound production, right from your iPad. KEY CLINICAL FEATURES Comprehensive Assessment Modules Quick Consonant Screener: Rapidly assess all English consonants in initial, medial, and final positions. Full Assessment: Evaluate all consonants plus a comprehensive Vowels Analysis (Singletons, Diphthongs, Tongue Advancement/Height, and Lip Rounding). Specialized R-Screener: Tackle the complex /r/ phoneme with a dedicated module targeting prevocalic /r/, vocalic /r/ (ar, er, ear, etc.), and R-blends. Features specialized visual badging for distortions ("dis") and gliding ("gl"). Sentence Screener: Evaluate connected speech to identify coarticulation errors and patterns that only appear in continuous dialogue. Advanced Analytics Dashboard Instantly view detailed color-coded breakdowns of your student's speech sound breakdown across six critical categories: Position in Word: Initial, Medial, and Final. Manner of Articulation: Fricatives, Plosives, Nasals, Glides, etc. Place of Articulation: Bilabial, Alveolar, Velar, Palatal, etc. Voicing Features: Differentiates voiced vs. voiceless consonant accuracy. Word-Level Breakdown: A complete phonetic transcript of target words, highlighted errors, and clinical notes. Error Types & Phonological Processes: Automatically identifies active error patterns (e.g., Final Consonant Deletion, Cluster Reduction) and provides built-in developmental suppression ages. Dynamic Stimulability Testing Automatically imports all missed targets from your assessment into an interactive stimulability dashboard. Test isolated sounds and specific word positions with built-in auditory/visual modeling prompts. Watch target statuses update in real-time (Untested, Stimulable, Not Stimulable) to effortlessly select your next therapy targets. Developmental Sound Profile Instantly overlay your student's assessment data onto standard developmental acquisition norms (adapted from Sander, 1972). Perfect for parent consultations to visually demonstrate whether an error is developmentally appropriate or requires intervention. Professional Reporting & Exporting Generate beautiful, multi-page PDF clinical reports with a single tap. Capture subjective Intelligibility Ratings (Single Word & Conversational) via intuitive sliders. Add custom clinical recommendations directly to the final report. Seamlessly share via Apple AirPrint, Email, or export directly to the Smarty Ears Therapy Report Center (TRC). Why SLPs Love AAT Plus: While standardized tests are required for initial eligibility, the AAT Plus is your essential companion for functional treatment planning. Because it is a criterion-referenced tool, you can use it continuously for progress monitoring, dynamic assessment, and baselining without the validity restrictions of standardized tests. Empower your clinical decision-making and streamline your report writing with the AAT Plus!

Screenshots

Fricatives4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AAT Plus at Free against Fricatives's $4.99. AAT Plus also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 37 months). Fricatives's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and device support (3 vs 1). On ads 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

AAT Plus is free to download; Fricatives costs $4.99 up front. AAT Plus sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Fricatives asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Fricatives ships an update every 37 months, AAT Plus monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Fricatives versus AAT Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFricativesAAT Plus
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 37 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS11.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB112 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue Tree Publishing, Inc.Smarty Ears

In-app purchases

None

Fricatives

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

AAT Plus

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Unlimited Testing$5.991 Month
  • Yearly Unlimited Tests$37.991 Year
One-time1
  • Purchase 5 tests$5.99

Questions

Is Fricatives free?
Fricatives costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AAT Plus free?
AAT Plus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Fricatives or AAT Plus have ads?
Neither Fricatives nor AAT Plus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Fricatives or AAT Plus?
Fricatives ships an update every 37 months, and AAT Plus monthly. Most recently, Fricatives was updated on October 8, 2026 and AAT Plus on October 7, 2026.

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