Tip of the Tongue

Word finding after stroke

A calm, private practice tool for reconnecting with words that have become hard to reach — place names, people's names, everyday things.

Coming soon to the App Store.

What it is

After a stroke, specific words — often names and places — can become hard to retrieve, even when you know them well. Tip of the Tongue is a simple, unhurried tool for practising exactly those words, using a technique from speech-language therapy called Spaced Retrieval Training: words you find hard come back sooner, words you know well come back less often.

How it works

  1. Build a personal word bank — the specific words you struggle with, each with your own description and an optional sound hint.
  2. In a practice session, the app shows the description. You say the word aloud, at your own pace.
  3. Need help? Ask for a clue about the meaning, then the category, then the sound of the word — read aloud, one gentle step at a time.
  4. You say whether you got it. If you like, the app can listen and confirm it for you — but it will never tell you that you were wrong. No scoring, no pressure.
  5. A reminder through the day gives a word its moment. You can add a new word straight from the reminder, or just ask Siri.

Clues written on your iPhone, not in the cloud

When a word will not come, the app can write you a clue from your own description of it — enough to help you find your way to the word, never the word itself. It is written on your iPhone by Apple Intelligence, and when you say a word aloud it is recognised on your iPhone too. Nothing is recorded, and nothing is sent anywhere. Clues need a recent iPhone; the rest of the app works on any of them.

One thing worth knowing: a clue is written by AI, and AI sometimes gets a detail wrong. Most clues are accurate, but if one sounds odd or simply untrue, ignore it and ask for another. A clue is only there to nudge your memory — the word is still yours to find, and finding it is the part that helps.

A note from the maker

After my stroke, I had a hard time finding my words or remembering the names of people. I could sense the words were there, on the tip of my tongue, but I could not find the path to them — often names and places I'd known my whole life. The tools I tried felt clinical or overwhelming, so I built the calm, private one I wished I'd had: a way to make step-by-step progress, practising the exact words you struggle with, at your own pace, with no scoring and no pressure. I hope it helps you find your words the way it's helped me find mine.

— JJ, founder and first user

Your privacy

Everything you enter stays on your device. There is no account, no login, no cloud, and no tracking of any kind — the app works entirely offline. Nothing you type ever leaves your phone.

Read the full privacy policy →

Support & contact

Questions, feedback, or trouble with the app? Email [email protected] and I'll get back to you.

Tip of the Tongue is a practice aid, not a medical device. It does not diagnose or treat any condition. For a personalised rehabilitation programme, please work with a qualified speech-language pathologist.