Helpful Apps After Having a Stroke

According to the National Institutes of Health, roughly 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year. Stroke is also one of the leading causes of disability, including serious challenges with movement and speech. Luckily, there are many tools available that can make life easier for people facing these challenges, including some that you can download on your smartphone or tablet. This article will highlight a few of the best apps for stroke survivors. The apps on this list cover a range of functions from helping to restore brain function to communication assistance.

Our Picks for Most Useful Apps After Having a Stroke

Spoken - Tap to talk AAC

An older woman talks to her husband using the Spoken AAC app for aphasia.

Spoken is a useful app for stroke survivors experiencing aphasia, or difficulty with speech and language. Spoken is an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) app — basically a communication aid — that lets users easily create and speak sentences aloud. Unlike similar apps, it does not limit the user's vocabulary to preset terms but instead adapts to the way they like to talk and provides word suggestions based on that, making it perfect for anyone who wants greater flexibility in their communication. Users can also type, draw, or handwrite to enter text and convert it to speech.

Price: Free (offers an optional monthly ($12.99), yearly ($99), or lifetime ($249) Premium subscription)

Available for: Android, iOS, and Mac

Calm

Calm is a popular meditation and relaxation app. While this app is not specifically designed for stroke survivors, many of the features could be helpful after having a stroke. Stroke survivors often suffer from depression, anxiety, or depression — all of which could be helped by meditation and relaxation. Calm can also help improve sleep quality, which can be critical for stroke recovery. In addition to meditation and relaxation tools, Calm also offers an emotional and mental health tracker that helps track progress while using the app.

Price: Free (offers in-app purchases and an optional monthly subscription for $14.99)

Available for: iOS and Android

Elevate - Brain Training Games

Elevate is a brain trainer that uses fun games and brain teasers to improve vocabulary, speaking ability, processing speed, memory, and more. The app can be personalized for each user according to their skill level and will adjust over time. Over 40 brain training games are available, along with performance tracking, personalized workouts, and workout achievements. This app is a great choice for people looking to improve cognitive function after a stroke.

Price: Free (offers in-app purchases and and an optional monthly subscription for $4.99)

Available for: iOS and Android

Lumosity

Lumosity is another brain training app that uses games and puzzles to exercise memory, speed, flexibility, and problem-solving. One thing that sets Lumosity apart from other brain training apps is its free 10-minute Fit Test that helps determine a baseline score and compares users to others of the same age. This test could be particularly helpful to gauge an accurate skill level after a stroke.

Price: Free (offers in-app purchases and an optional monthly subscription for $11.99)

Available for: iOS and Android

Wordscapes

Wordscapes is another brain training app, but focuses on word puzzles like searches, anagrams, and crosswords. Each puzzle is supplemented by relaxing background music and colorful designs. Users can choose from over 6,000 puzzles that get increasingly more difficult over time. We especially like this app because it offers a quality experience for no cost.

Price: Free (offers in-app purchases)

Available for: iOS and Android

Clock Yourself

Clock Yourself is an app that exercises the brain and body at the same time. The core of the app is an imaginary clock face that is visualized beneath the feet of the user. The clock face design makes it easy to intuitively respond to commands from the app to move in a certain direction (for example, 12 o’clock move forward, 6 o’clock move backward). Over time, the speed of the commands can be increased to provide a more challenging experience. The app is available in several languages.

Price: $2.99

Available for: iOS and Android

Constant Therapy: Brain Rehab

Constant Therapy: Brain Rehab is a science-backed cognitive, language, and speech therapy app designed to help people recovering from a wide range of neurological conditions. Constant Therapy is different from other brain strengthening apps in that it focuses mainly on improving speech. We like Constant Therapy because it is backed by a significant number of peer-reviewed research studies that support the efficacy of the app. Users can choose from over 500,000 activities tailored to each individual’s unique situation. This app is one of the more expensive ones on the list, but the evidence-backed exercises and easy-to-use interface make it worth the price.

Price: $29.99/month

Available for: iOS and Android

Language Therapy 4-in-1

Language Therapy 4-in-1 or Language Therapy: Aphasia by Tactus Therapy is another research-backed brain training app that focuses on rehabilitating language skills after a stroke. The app is unique because it is actually four apps for a single price — each focusing on a different skill to improve: comprehension, naming, reading, and writing. These apps can all be purchased separately. Tactus Therapy also offers an eight-app bundle for aphasia on iOS devices called Tactus Aphasia Essentials, which includes these four apps, plus four "advanced" versions.

Price: $74.99

Available for: iOS and Android

TalkPath News

An article about the Bird Flu from TalkPath News. One sentence is highlighted in yellow. On the right, there is an easy quiz question about the reading to test comprehension. There are buttons to highlight the next sentence, to replay the audio, and to give a hint for the quiz.

Staying updated on current events can be challenging for individuals whose stroke affected reading or auditory comprehension. Lingraphica’s TalkPath News provides five news stories a week, summarized in simple language and slowly read out loud. This makes the news more accessible for and even provides comprehension exercises, making it a dual-purpose app that helps you stay informed while also aiding in rehabilitation.

Price: Free

Available for: iOS

Final Thoughts

Having a stroke can be a life-changing experience that may require significant rehabilitation to recover from. Luckily, there are many apps available that help with that process. This list outlines some of the best ones we’ve found. Check them out to see which ones might work for you or a loved one.