Communicate FAQ

Communicate is a text-to-speech app for people who cannot speak, but with a forgiving and enabling keyboard for those with diminished fine motor control. Compose a message and choose SPEAK to read it aloud. It is a communication tool, not a diagnosis or treatment service.

The web app provides its own message area. Communicate Keyboard brings the same style of input to text fields in other Android apps; that app owns the text. Their settings and saved phrases are separate unless you explicitly transfer them.

Neither Communicate version requires a DEJ Software account. Both are free and ad free. Optional support through Buy Me a Coffee does not unlock features or change access. Google Play testing can require an eligible Google account.

Use the web app in a compatible browser. On iPad, Safari offers Share → Add to Home Screen. Android browsers may offer Install app or Add to Home screen. The installed Communicate Keyboard is for Android, not an iPad or desktop system keyboard. Browser speech and installation support vary by device.

No. You can use it at its web address. Adding it to your home screen gives it a convenient icon and, on supported devices, its own app window. Open online first and check offline readiness before relying on it without a connection.

Welcome introduces the controls and explains updates. The Android keyboard shows it on the first activation after installation and after an update. The web app uses its saved version state to identify updates; clearing site data can also make it look like a first visit. You can reopen Welcome from Help / About.

Stay on the key you want until its balloon finishes filling. The adjustable delay gives you time to find the right key instead of accepting it as soon as you touch it. You can slide or poke around before settling.

Lift your finger or leave the key before its balloon finishes filling. No key is accepted until completion. In Tap mode, moving off the key before releasing cancels the tap.

A green checkmark confirms acceptance. A nearly full balloon is not acceptance. Optional Vibrate adds a short vibration on supported devices.

After acceptance, lift or leave the key before selecting it again. Cursor arrows and Backspace have repeat behavior; ordinary letter keys do not keep typing while held.

Move the Dwell time slider to your preferred pace, then hold until the balloon fills to save the choice. Releasing early keeps the previous setting. Changing dwell time always requires at least one second, helping prevent accidental changes.

Yes. Move Dwell time all the way left for Tap mode. Keys activate when you release them. The gear retains its protected hold, so an accidental tap does not open Settings.

Settings lets you choose whether the dwell slider appears on the main keyboard or inside Settings. Hold the gear for at least one second to find it.

Candidate names the key or action currently being considered while you dwell. It changes as you move to another key. It does not mean that the key has already been accepted.

The practice example deliberately uses a fixed three-second hold. It does not enter text or change your actual typing delay. Use the Dwell time slider to set your normal pace.

Scroll normally with your finger. Use the space beside settings labels when convenient; activation areas follow the controls rather than the full trailing row. Moving to scroll cancels an unfinished dwell.

In the web app, tap the message where you want the cursor, or use the left and right cursor arrows. Holding an arrow repeats movement. In another Android app, you can also use that app’s own cursor controls.

In the Communicate web app, CLEAR empties the whole message buffer. In Communicate Keyboard, CLEAR dismisses the current selection without deleting its text and leaves the cursor at the selection’s end. The keyboard’s CLEAR is disabled when nothing is selected.

Use Backspace. CLEAR only dismisses the selection. CUT on the symbols keyboard removes a selection through the current app’s clipboard action.

Return inserts a new line where the current field supports one. It does not serve as a general Send button. Communicate Keyboard keeps Send separate when the host app offers that action.

Choose 123 / @#$ to open symbols. More symbols switches between two symbol pages; ABC returns to letters. The web app offers COPY MESSAGE and PASTE. Android offers CUT, COPY, and PASTE through the current app; CUT and COPY need selected text.

Use COPY MESSAGE on the symbols keyboard, or dwell on the message without moving. After half a second the COPY balloon appears; keep holding until it fills. Releasing early cancels the copy.

The browser controls the wording of its permission request. Communicate copies when you ask and accepts text you explicitly paste; it does not automatically read the clipboard to collect messages.

Yes, if you enable it in Settings → Backspace. No repeat is the default. Steady repeat uses your full dwell interval. Gradual acceleration begins after four deletions and speeds up gently to a bounded rate. Lift or leave to stop. Tap mode deletes once per tap.

In the web app, Settings → Message area offers Compact, Standard, and Large. It preserves the text when you change size. In Communicate Keyboard, the app you are typing in controls the message area.

In the web app, SPEAK reads your composed message. In Communicate Keyboard, it reads selected text when there is a selection, otherwise the current field’s text. It does not send the message or replace text.

It needs readable text and a usable installed offline English voice. Speech is disabled in private fields. Some apps do not expose their whole field to a keyboard; selecting text can make that selection available to SPEAK.

Open Help / About → Speech and run TEST SPEECH. Check media volume, headphones, and Bluetooth routing. Try Device default or another voice. Communicate cannot inspect your volume or mute setting.

Open Help / About → Speech. Choose Device default or one of the available voices. Selecting a voice speaks its name; TEST SPEECH gives a longer preview. The available voices depend on your browser or Android speech engine and installed voice data.

An offline voice can speak without internet. The web app needs its initial online setup and an offline-capable voice. Communicate Keyboard uses locally installed offline English voices. Test with the network disconnected before depending on speech offline.

No. Under Settings → Typing feedback, ECHO: Letters and Words are independent. Letters speaks typed letters; Words speaks completed words when you enter a space or choose a completion. You can use either, both, or neither.

With ECHO: Words enabled, a space completes the word immediately before the cursor, even if you positioned the cursor beside text that was already there.

Vibration is optional acceptance feedback and depends on device and browser support. Its absence does not mean a key failed: use the green checkmark and resulting action as confirmation.

The speech support control prepares an email draft with speech and device diagnostics for you to review and send manually. It excludes message text, selections, and Favorites. Preparing the draft does not send it.

Settings → Letter case → Enable mixed-case typing controls Shift and lowercase. When it is off, letters are uppercase and Shift is removed. This starts off in the web app and on in the Android keyboard.

Shift changes the next letter. Activating Shift again selects Caps Lock, keeping capitals on. Lowercase returns to lowercase typing. Mixed-case typing also supports capitals at sentence starts.

No. It controls new input. Uppercase-only mode and Caps Lock uppercase inserted saved phrases and completions; one-letter Shift preserves a phrase’s capitalization. Existing messages and saved originals stay unchanged.

The web app converts pasted text to uppercase in uppercase-only mode or Caps Lock. In Communicate Keyboard, Paste is performed by the host app and follows that app’s behavior; the keyboard does not promise to convert it.

Yes. Settings → Word suggestions offers Everyday words, General dictionary, Medical terms, and Medications. Every group starts enabled. Turn off groups you do not want; disabling all groups hides suggestions.

Some medical subcategories are enabled and others are disabled. The six categories are Conditions, Symptoms, Anatomy, Lab tests, Procedures, and Abbreviations. Activating the parent enables all unless they are already all on, in which case it disables all.

A word can belong to more than one vocabulary group. It remains available when any enabled group contains it.

No. Word suggestions come from bundled vocabulary, not a general typing log. Ordinary typing and sending do not create spoken History or teach Favorites.

No. Medical and medication vocabulary helps spell names. Inclusion is not a recommendation, proof of current availability, or treatment or dosing guidance. Multiword names can be completed a word at a time.

Check that word groups are enabled and that the cursor is next to a word to complete. Private fields suppress suggestions. Numeric fields and apps that request no suggestions or provide their own completion can also suppress them.

Only messages whose speech starts through SPEAK or a saved phrase’s speaker control. It keeps the most recent 25 distinct spoken messages; repeating one moves it to the top. Ordinary typing, sending, echoes, previews, speech tests, and private fields do not enter History.

Speak the message, open Favorites / History, and save it from History as a Favorite. On Android you can also explicitly share text from another app to Add to Favorites or Pin Favorite.

Use the small speaker beside the phrase. It reads the phrase without inserting it, closing the list, or changing your current message. Successful speech also enters History.

It inserts at the cursor rather than automatically clearing your message. In the web app, use CLEAR first if you want an empty message. In another Android app, insertion and replacement of selected text follow that field’s editing behavior.

Pinned entries stay at the top in your manual order. Other Favorites rank by use and recency: older use gradually loses influence, with a 30-day half-life. Inserting or speaking a Favorite counts as use; merely saving it does not.

Enter Reorder Pins mode from the icon on the Favorites heading and use the up/down controls. New pins go to the top. Normal use does not reorder the pinned section.

No. History and Favorites have separate delete controls. Clear History belongs to the History tab. Delete and clear actions offer Undo, but clearing browser site data or Android app data is different and can remove the saved lists themselves.

Use the Undo offered after a History or Favorite deletion. Do it before another relevant action replaces that undo state. It is not a cloud backup or recovery option after uninstalling or clearing app data.

Open it online and wait for “Ready for offline use on this browser” in Help / About → Speech. Test reopening it offline and test the chosen voice separately. Typing, bundled suggestions, saved phrases, and copying can work offline; website and support links need internet.

No. Its typing tools, vocabulary, settings, History, and Favorites are installed locally. Speech still requires offline English voice data installed on Android. Obtaining that voice data may require a connection.

The web app uses local browser site storage. The Android keyboard uses its own local app storage. They do not automatically synchronize. Browser profiles, devices, hostnames, and the production/preprod environments can have separate data.

Check that you opened the same device, browser profile, hostname, and production or preprod version. Production and preprod deliberately keep separate settings, Favorites, and History. Clearing browser data, Android app data, or uninstalling can remove local saves. Avoid clearing data while investigating.

On the same Android device, choose Settings → Move to Communicate Keyboard in the web app. Select typing settings and Favorites/pins, with spoken History optional. The keyboard shows a preview and changes nothing until Import. Your web originals remain. No account, server upload, or user-managed file is required.

No. Existing entries stay and matching phrases merge without adding uses. Imported pins come first in their saved order. Repeating the same import does not duplicate phrases or inflate scores. Voice, message-area size, and dwell-slider location stay separate.

The core tools store preferences and saved phrases locally and do not collect general typing history. Clipboard and transfer actions are explicit. A support ticket, email, or share action sends what you choose through that service; website visits also involve your browser and hosting provider. See the published privacy policies for the full details.

On a fresh online load it checks once for a public test-version status marker. A candidate can reveal a Welcome link. It sends no message text, preferences, or Favorites. It does not poll, check on returning to an open app, or check during a cached offline load. A running preprod version links back to production.

Enabling makes a keyboard available; choosing makes it active. Open the Communicate Keyboard setup app, choose Enable keyboard, then Choose keyboard and select Communicate Keyboard. Test in an ordinary text field.

Not in place: the development APK and Play build use different signing identities. Later development builds signed for the same development channel can update that installation. Do not uninstall your existing keyboard before considering its locally saved data. The download page labels development builds as experimental.

Private fields intentionally disable speech, suggestions, and Favorites access. Passwords are not saved to History. Try an ordinary text field to check normal behavior.

Include the product, build/version, device, operating system, and browser if relevant. Describe what you did, what you expected, and what happened, including Tap/dwell mode and online/offline status. A screenshot can help, but remove private messages and credentials. Use a Zoho support ticket or the support email.