User Guide

Messages

SymChat can send 3 different message’s formats, each with its advantages and shortcomings. You can choose the one that fits you the most in settings. Here is an explanation of each of them.

Note

Consider that the text of the message is composed in the exact same way in every different kind of message
SymChat Message

SymChat Message is sent by default. You can distinguish it because it has the SymChat Symbol on the top-left corner and there are 2 different formats: text+image and only text.
It is designed to be interactive, indeed by selecting it, you can visualise its content directly above the symbol grid. However, it has some limitations that you need to consider. There’s a limit in the number of words that can be displayed in the message (n of wds), which is not handled automatically since the message will still be fully readable by selecting it. Moreover, the image message can display a maximum of 9 symbols. Passed this threshold, a SymChat text message will be sent.

SMS

You can also send a simple text message. No image will be sent and no data will be passed through it, therefore it cannot be selected. It will be handled as if you sent a message without using the app. It has no word visualition limit and can be very useful if you are chatting with somebody that does not have iMessage.

Then, what should I use?

If you feel that selecting the message is a key feature, pick the SymChat message, otherwise go for an SMS. Be aware of your cellular plan: whereas SymChat messages will use data, SMS won’t. However you need to have SMS included on your plan, otherwise you will pay. Moreover, if you need to communicate with a non-iPhone user, you can’t send SymChat messages.

Grid

Flow
The board is arranged in sections, which are disposed in a column. Every section extends horizontally and represents a category but the first sectiom, which displays every category: click on the one you want to reach to move there. If you want to go back to the category page (first section), just tap the purple button in the navigation bar, which is in the centre-bottom of the screen. To move between categories and pages, you can also use the arrows in the navigation bar, or you can simply slide with your finger. Above the grid, the message is displayed, with a delete (red) and send (white) buttons.
Message
To add a word to the message, tap on the chosen symbol. To delete the lest symbol, tap on the delete button over the grid. To send the message tap the send button (white).
The board supports the plural for nouns: tap twice on a noun symbol, your word will become plural. Moreover, provided that the language is set to Italian or English, if put the subject symbol just before the verb, it will be automatically conjugated.

Keyboard

If you open the home page, you will notice that there is a grey button in the middle that leads to a keyboard. If you want to help the person your are chatting with, use this keyboard instead of the normal one. This will let the other person select and visualise your message over their symbol grid.

Chat

If you chat with somebody through the app’s messages you can tap on a message you sent or received: this gesture will open the symbol board, and the message selected will be displayed above your message as in the image below.

Settings

If you go back to the home page and tap on the grey button you will open the settings. Here you can customise almost every function to have the most bespoke experience. Below the detailed description of every preference.
Language

Choose between 5 different languages: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish

Easy Mode

Easy mode makes the app interface easier to use, displaying just one big button for the chat and a very small settings button on the down-left corner. You will need to restart the app after changing this setting in order to visualise the new layout.

Size (Grid)

Set the size of the symbols displayed in the board.

Size (Sentence)

Set the size of the symbols of the sentence that you are building or that you received.

Show Names (Grid)

Choose to see or not the descripting text of a symbol in the board.

Show Names (Sentence)

Choose to see or not the descripting text of a symbol in the sentence that you are building or that you received.

Up/Down Buttons

Show/Hide up/down navigation buttons of the board.

Symbol Color (…)

Decide the color of the background of symbols based on their role in the speech.

Enable Voice

General switch for symbols’ voice synth.

Speak Symbol On Tap (Grid)

Enable/Disable voice synth for board symbols tapped.

Speak Symbol On Tap (Sentence)

Enable/Disable voice synth for symbols tapped in the sentence that you are building or that you received.

Speech Rate/Pitch

Set the pace and tone of the voice synth.

Ask Confirm Before Sending

If enabled, before sending your message you will receive an alert that asks you to confirm.

Send Messages As Image

If switched on, your messages will be sent as images, otherwise just as text. That does not implicate that who taps on the message will be able to open it as a symbol sentence, in contrast it just affects the chat graphic. (Each message must be maximum nine symbols long to use this function. If this threshold is passed, the message will be sent as text)

Edit

What if you want to add/edit a symbol or a category? Open Settings, slide down, and tap on edit. You will see a table. In the first section of the table the categories are displayed, in the others, the symbols contained in each category are displayed. Keep in mind that every section of the table (except for the the first one) is a category and that symbols and categories are shown in the board with the same order of the tables. If you tap on one row of the first section, you will reach the selected category, instead, if you tap a row on any other section you will open another window, in which you can edit the symbol.
To change the order of symbols or sections, click Edit on the top left of the screen, then move the rows. To add a symbol or a category, use the +.

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