New to Version 1.8.9: Helpful Features and Quality-of-Life Improvements

We are excited to announce that a new version of Spoken is now available on Google Play and the Apple App Store! If your device hasn’t automatically updated the app, we highly encourage you to do so manually to take advantage of the latest improvements.

This update introduces several exciting features, adds more customization options, and even improves how Spoken interacts with other apps. Let’s explore what’s new in 1.8.9!

New Features in 1.8.9

Share Audio

You’ve been able to share messages composed in Spoken as text for a while, but now you can send them as audio too! This allows recipients to hear messages in your chosen voice. After entering your text, just long-press the speak button and select “Share Audio” from the menu. From there, you’ll be able to select any compatible app or messaging platform on your device to send it to. Most platforms will embed the file as an audio player for convenient listening.

An example of an audio message being sent through Slack.

Add Vocabulary to Spoken

Spoken has always been able to learn new words over time, but now you can expand its vocabulary instantly! With the new Add Vocabulary feature, you can directly add any words you want Spoken to recognize.

Once you add a word with this feature, it will immediately start appearing as an autocomplete suggestion when you type. As you use the term more, Spoken will learn how you typically include it in your sentences and start suggesting it as part of its next-word predictions​.

To use the new feature, head to the settings and select “Add Vocabulary,” where you will be greeted with a field to type in any word you want. You can also enter entire lists of words, or even paste in passages — Spoken will identify all the unique words present in what you’ve entered and add them to its vocabulary.

Although Spoken could already predict over 60,000 words, this feature gives you the power to directly add fringe words so it’s easier to discuss niche topics. Try pasting text from a wiki article or a book on a topic that interests you! Below you’ll see we used a paragraph from the Star Wars wiki to add words related to Wookiees like Chewbacca, which are outside the scope of Spoken’s typical predictions. With these additions, Spoken will now know to predict fictional terms like “Kashyyyk” or “Shyriiwook” — perfect if you’re a Star Wars fanatic.

Alert & Speak

In response to user feedback about the difficulty of accessing the attention button after starting a phrase, we have introduced a brand new “Alert & Speak” option. You can find it by holding down the speak button and selecting it from the menu that appears. This feature lets you grab attention and speak in a single action.

You can also set Alert & Speak as the default behavior of the speak button by enabling “Get Attention When I Speak” in Spoken’s settings. This way, you won’t need to hold down the button and choose “Alert & Speak” from the menu every time. If you prefer not to use the alert for a particular message while this setting is enabled, just enter the speak menu and tap “Speak” to play your message without triggering the alert.

Scroll Buttons

We’ve added scroll arrows to the predictions, making it easier for users with limited dexterity to navigate up and down the list. Now you can browse predictions just by tapping.

Automatic Adjustments to Background Audio

Listening to something else while using Spoken? The volume of any music playing on your device will now automatically reduce when you’re ready to speak, ensuring that your words come through clearly for others to hear. For content like podcasts or audiobooks, Spoken will temporarily pause them so you don’t miss anything. Once you’re finished speaking, they’ll resume right where you left off!

Our hope is that this adjustment will allow Spoken to better integrate with your daily routine. Whether you’re relaxing with a podcast or listening to music, you can now communicate clearly without having to juggle between apps.

Other Improvements in 1.8.9

More Icons

In the previous update, we thought we added a lot of icons, but we greatly exceeded that number in 1.8.9! Our ever-growing symbol library now covers thousands of additional words, making it easier to locate or recognize terms quickly. The update adds icons for terms related to gender identity, religion, transportation, and many other important topics.

Capitalized Proper Nouns

We’ve also capitalized over 11,000 proper nouns so you can more easily distinguish the names of specific people, places, and things when they appear as predictions.

Better Compatibility with iOS 18 Eye Tracking

Version 1.8.9 also brings improved compatibility with iOS 18’s new eye tracking features, making Spoken accessible to more users!

We’ve also added a small, hidden feature that allows eye tracking users to scroll one full page by looking at the bottom edge of the screen. A blue bar will appear to confirm your action. This feature is a temporary fix until we can resolve a known incompatibility between Spoken and Apple’s AssistiveTouch scrolling. The scroll arrows added in this update are another alternative, but they may be difficult to select with eye tracking. We appreciate your patience while we resolve this issue!

Bug Fixes

As always, we have addressed several bugs to ensure that the app runs as smoothly as possible. If you find any that we’ve missed, please email us or send a message through the contact form in-app. Your feedback is invaluable to us.

Final Thoughts

We hope you’re as excited as we are about 1.8.9! From the new audio sharing option to the ability to directly add vocabulary, this update is all about making communication easier, faster, and more intuitive.

As always, we value your feedback and would love to hear your thoughts on these changes. Have you noticed improvements in how Spoken supports your communication needs? Are there additional features you’d like to see in future updates? Let us know!

By the way, if you’re a fan of Spoken, don’t miss our 50% off sale on Premium during the month of October.

Thank you for your continued support, and happy communicating!