DAF Stammer & Fluency Practice

A daily speaking practice for people who stammer: read a passage aloud at a steady pace while you hear your own voice a fraction of a second late. Many people find that small delay makes speech easier to control.

Something to read, a pace to hold, the right feedback for each situation and a record of every session.

GUIDED READING
24 passages written for the app, in three levels: short sentences, paragraphs and a two-minute talk. A teleprompter scrolls at your target pace, from 80 to 180 words per minute, with the feedback running underneath. Turn on Measure my pace to see your live speaking rate against the target, worked out by speech recognition on the phone; where that is not available for your language, the app estimates it and labels it approximate. At the end you get your time, your average pace and a quick "How did that feel?" rating. You can also practise without a passage.

DELAY AND PITCH SHIFT
Delayed auditory feedback (DAF) from 0 to 250 ms; most people start around 50 to 100 ms. Frequency-altered feedback (FAF) shifts the pitch of the voice you hear by up to 12 semitones, on its own or together with the delay. Save named presets for each situation, such as Reading aloud, Phone call or Presentation, each with its own delay and shift, and start one from Shortcuts or Siri.

A ROUTINE YOU CAN KEEP
Set a daily goal, 10 minutes to begin with. The home screen shows today's minutes and how many days you practised this week, with no streaks to feel guilty about. Progress shows minutes per week, your pace over time and your own ratings. Export a practice summary as PDF or CSV to share with your speech and language therapist.

HEADPHONES
The app shows where the sound is going and will not start on the loudspeaker, where the microphone would pick up the playback and howl. Wired headphones give the shortest delay; Bluetooth adds some of its own.

PRIVATE
Your voice passes through memory to reach your headphones. It is never recorded, saved or uploaded, and pace is measured on the phone. The log keeps minutes, settings and ratings, never audio. Practice works offline; the only part that goes online is the feedback form, when you choose to send a message. No account.

WHAT IT IS NOT
It is a practice tool, not a treatment. It does not diagnose, treat or cure anything, and results vary a great deal from person to person. If speech is affecting your life, work with a qualified speech and language therapist: DAF is most useful alongside professional guidance, not instead of it. Headphones required.