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SpeechStart includes exercises targeting over 20 speech sounds and phonological patterns. Exercise types include:

• Sound isolation drills (e.g. repeating the /s/ sound in isolation)
• Word-level practice with picture cues (e.g. "sun", "star", "sea")
• Sentence-level practice for contextual use
• Minimal pairs exercises to distinguish similar sounds
• Short story read-aloud prompts for older children

Daily plans mix exercise types to keep practice engaging and effective.

SpeechStart covers 20+ consonant sounds including /s/, /r/, /l/, /th/, /sh/, /ch/, /z/, /f/, /v/, /k/, /g/, /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /m/, /n/, and blends like /st/, /bl/, /gr/. You can select a specific target sound in your child's profile, and all exercises will focus on that sound. Multiple targets can be enabled for children working on more than one sound.

Research in speech therapy supports short, frequent sessions over long, infrequent ones. SpeechStart sessions are designed to be 5–10 minutes long. Daily practice, even for just 5 minutes, is significantly more effective than a single long session each week. The app will gently remind your child when it's time for their daily session.

Yes. In the Parent Area (PIN-protected), you can browse the full exercise library and enable or disable specific exercises. You can also set the difficulty level and choose whether the daily plan is auto-generated by the app or manually curated by you.

SpeechStart is designed for children aged approximately 3–12, though children outside this range may also benefit. The app adjusts exercise complexity based on the age range you set during profile setup. Exercises for younger children use more picture cues and simpler vocabulary, while older children receive more sentence-level and contextual tasks.

After each exercise, a parent or the child rates the attempt (e.g. "Great", "OK", "Needs Practice"). SpeechStart uses these ratings to plot progress over time for each sound and exercise type. The Progress tab shows weekly charts, accuracy trends per sound, and a practice streak calendar. This gives parents a clear picture of improvement without needing to record audio.

Yes. In the Parent Area → Reports, you can generate a PDF progress report covering any date range. The report includes session frequency, sounds targeted, accuracy ratings over time, and practice streaks. You can share this directly from your device via email, AirDrop, or any share sheet option. This is especially useful for regular check-ins with your child's speech-language pathologist.

All progress data is stored locally on your device. Deleting the app will permanently remove all stored progress. Before uninstalling, we recommend exporting a progress report from the Parent Area as a backup. We plan to add iCloud Backup support in a future update.

The Progress tab shows a weekly accuracy chart per sound. When the "Great" rating consistently rises and "Needs Practice" drops over 2–4 weeks, that indicates real improvement. The app also highlights when a sound has been consistently rated 90%+ as "mastered." We always recommend discussing progress with a qualified SLP who can assess real-world speech alongside in-app practice data.

On first launch, SpeechStart will guide you through setting up your child's profile. You'll enter a nickname (no real names required), age range, and select the target speech sound(s) you'd like to work on. This typically takes about 2 minutes. You can edit the profile at any time from the Parent Area.

The Parent Area is a PIN-protected section of the app designed for parents, not children. It contains progress reports, exercise settings, profile management, and notification controls. To access it, tap the 👨‍👩‍👧 icon in the top-right corner of the home screen and enter your 4-digit parent PIN. You set the PIN during initial setup and can change it anytime in Settings → Parent Area → Change PIN.

Absolutely — SpeechStart is designed to complement professional therapy, not replace it. Many SLPs encourage home practice between sessions. You can align SpeechStart's target sounds with what your therapist is working on, then share progress reports at appointments. Some therapists even use progress reports to adjust their session plans.

Yes. SpeechStart supports multiple child profiles. In the Parent Area, tap "Add Profile" to set up a second child with their own name, age range, target sounds, and separate progress tracking. Switching between profiles takes one tap from the home screen.

You can configure daily practice reminders in the Parent Area → Settings → Notifications. Set a preferred reminder time (e.g. "5:30 PM — after school") and the app will send a gentle nudge. You can also manage notifications in iPhone Settings → Notifications → SpeechStart. No notifications are ever sent to the child's device without your setup.

After completing a daily practice session, your child earns a star and a fun animated celebration. Stars accumulate on the Rewards screen where they can unlock themed sticker collections (animals, space, under-the-sea, and more). The reward system is purely motivational and does not affect exercise difficulty or content.

A streak is counted for each consecutive day that your child completes at least one practice session. The streak counter is displayed on the home screen and increments at midnight. Missing a day resets the streak to 0, but all previous progress data is retained. There's also a "streak freeze" available once per week — tap the shield icon on the home screen to use it if you need a rest day.

Yes. In Parent Area → Settings → Accessibility, you can reduce or disable motion effects including the celebration animations. This is also helpful for children with sensory sensitivities.

SpeechStart offers a free tier with access to a core set of exercises for the most common speech sounds. A premium subscription unlocks the full exercise library (100+ exercises), all speech sounds, PDF progress reports, and multiple child profiles. Premium is available as a monthly or annual subscription and can be purchased from within the app. There are no ads in either tier.

SpeechStart subscriptions are managed entirely through Apple. To cancel: open iPhone Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → SpeechStart → Cancel Subscription. Your premium access continues until the end of the current billing period. We do not process refunds directly — for billing disputes, contact Apple Support at apple.com/support.

No account or sign-up is required to use SpeechStart. Your child's profile and all progress data are stored locally on your device. Premium purchases are linked to your Apple ID through Apple's StoreKit system — no separate SpeechStart account is ever created.

Yes. Open SpeechStart on your new device and go to Settings → Restore Purchases. As long as you are signed in to the same Apple ID that made the original purchase, your premium access will be restored at no charge. Note that progress data does not transfer automatically — export a progress report on your old device first.

SpeechStart uses the microphone to let children hear themselves play back during exercises. If microphone access isn't working:

• Go to iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → ensure SpeechStart is toggled on
• Close SpeechStart completely and reopen it
• Restart your iPhone
• Check that the device isn't in Silent Mode

Note: SpeechStart does not score or analyse voice input automatically — the practice rating is entered manually by a parent or the child after each attempt.

First, ensure you are running the latest version of SpeechStart from the App Store. If crashes persist:

• Force-close the app (swipe up from the bottom and swipe the app away)
• Restart your iPhone
• Check that your device has sufficient free storage (Settings → General → iPhone Storage)
• Reinstall the app — note this will erase local progress data, so export a report first if needed

If the issue persists, email us with your device model and iOS version.

On the Parent Area PIN entry screen, tap "Forgot PIN?" and authenticate with Face ID or Touch ID (the same biometrics used to unlock your device). Once authenticated, you can set a new 4-digit PIN. If Face ID / Touch ID is not available, contact us at aleem.rz@gmail.com from your registered Apple ID email and we'll guide you through a reset.

Progress data is stored locally on your device. If data appears missing:

• Check that you're viewing the correct child's profile (tap the profile switcher on the home screen)
• Ensure the date range filter on the Progress tab is set to "All Time"
• If you recently updated iOS, check that SpeechStart has not been reset to default storage — go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone to verify no reset occurred

Data cannot be recovered once deleted. Going forward, we recommend exporting monthly reports as a backup.

Try these steps in order:

• iPhone Settings → Notifications → SpeechStart → ensure Allow Notifications is on and the Alert style is set to Banners or Alerts
• Check that Focus mode (Do Not Disturb) is not blocking notifications during the reminder time
• In SpeechStart → Parent Area → Notifications, toggle the reminder off and back on again
• Restart your iPhone