Aloe
Video calls you can read.
An iPhone growing out of a flowerpot like the aloe in Aloe’s icon. On its screen, Ana is on a video call with her mom, and her words, “Hi Mom! Can you read me okay?”, appear as a caption in a dark band above the call buttons.
Aloe puts live captions on your video calls, so you can read what the other person says as they say it. It’s made first for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Coming soon to the App Store
Try itFree, for iPhone. No ads, no trackers, no account.
Try it.
Pick something for Ana to say, or write your own, and watch it arrive the way captions do in Aloe: word by word, lighter while it’s still being worked out.
In Aloe, these words would come from Ana’s voice, turned into text on her own iPhone. Here they come from you, and stay on this page.
For the people you actually talk to.
Aloe isn’t a social network. There’s no feed and no strangers, just the few people you call, and the words they say, right there on the screen.
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A parent who’s hard of hearing
Maria reads along on video calls with her grandkids, instead of nodding and guessing.
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A friend who follows better by reading
On a noisy street or a busy train, Rafa reads the plan instead of straining to hear it.
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A family with two languages
Grandpa speaks Portuguese, the kids answer in English, and everyone’s captions follow the language they’re speaking.
Captions are made on their phone.
Aloe never sends anyone’s voice off to be transcribed. The person talking does the work on their own iPhone, and only the words travel to you.
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They talk.
Ana’s iPhone listens to her own microphone, with echo removed, so your voice coming out of her speaker stays out of her captions.
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Their phone writes it down.
Speech recognition built into iOS turns her words into text right on the phone. Nothing is recorded.
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You read along.
The words arrive over the call’s encrypted connection as she speaks. A small label on her screen lets her know captions are on.
Free and private
- Free.Aloe is free to download and use.
- No ads.Nothing in Aloe is trying to sell you something.
- No trackers.No analytics and no tracking. Aloe collects nothing about you.
- No account.No phone number, email or password. Your Aloe key lives in your iCloud Keychain.
Private, all the way down.
- Straight between phones.Calls go directly from one iPhone to the other, encrypted end to end. When a network won’t allow that, a relay passes along data it can’t read.
- Words, not recordings.Speech becomes text on the speaker’s phone. Audio is never sent anywhere to be transcribed, and nothing is recorded.
- Gone when you hang up.Captions are kept in memory during the call so you can scroll back, and they disappear when it ends.
Aloe’s server never learns
A small server helps two phones find each other, then steps aside. It never learns:
- your name
- your phone number
- your email
- your Apple Account
- who you call
- what anyone says
Made first for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
And for anyone who follows better by reading: on a noisy street, in a second language, or with an auditory processing difference.
Good for sign language
On a weak connection, video keeps motion smooth rather than the picture sharp. The camera is never cropped, so hands stay in frame.
Never sound alone
Ringing, talking and muting each come with something to see, and a gentle tap you can feel.
Silence, explained
When someone mutes, “Ana is muted” appears where the captions go, so a quiet screen is never a mystery.
Your caption style
Captions follow the look you chose in iOS Settings, under Accessibility, Subtitles & Captioning. Pinch to make them bigger.
Catch up
Swipe up to see everything said so far. It’s kept only for the call, and gone when you hang up.
VoiceOver and braille
Every control has a label, call events are announced, and each finished caption can be read on a braille display.
No signup. Just send a link.
Open Aloe, add your name, and you’re ready. There’s no phone number, email or password to give.
- Invite your people with a link in Messages, WhatsApp or AirDrop, or with a QR code. They don’t need an account either.
- Only people you’ve invited can call you. Block someone, and they can never ring you again.
- Your list of people is kept in your own iCloud.
Questions.
Does the other person need Aloe too?
Yes. Captions are made on the phone of the person speaking, so you both need Aloe. They don’t need an account, just the invite link you send them.
What do I need?
An iPhone with iOS 26 or later.
Which languages can it caption?
Aloe uses the speech recognition built into iOS, which runs on the phone and covers many languages, including English, Portuguese and Spanish. Choose the languages you speak in Aloe’s settings, and captions follow whichever one you’re using.
Are calls recorded?
No. Nothing is recorded, on your phone or anywhere else. Captions stay in memory during the call so you can scroll back, and they’re gone when you hang up.
Does it work for sign language?
Yes. On a weak connection, Aloe keeps the video’s motion smooth rather than its picture sharp, and it never crops the camera, so hands stay in frame.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Aloe is free, with no ads and no trackers.
Is there an Android version?
Not yet. Aloe is for iPhone for now.
Call your people.
Read along.
Coming soon to the App Store
Free, for iPhone with iOS 26 or later.