DPT.Me

Getting Started

Once you have successfully installed and opened the app

First Time Setup

If you choose the default option to populate the library, the app will download the necessary files during the initial setup. This can take a couple of minutes, but status will be shown while the library is being prepared.

You can instead choose to start with an empty library and build it one item at a time. See the Library Setup section for details on how to add categories, subcategories, and items.

Important: grant text-to-speech permissions when prompted. If you choose to upload pictures or use the camera to build your library, you will also need to grant storage and camera permissions for those purposes. The app works completely offline after the initial setup. No account or login required.

To get the app onto your device

Download and Installation

Download the EliTalk apk file from this page (this bundle has everything the app will need to build on your device)
When you open the downloaded file, you will be prompted to allow your browser to install apps from unknown sources.
Grant this permission. It's a good idea to revoke this permission from your browser app after you have installed EliTalk. Alternatively you can open your downloads separately and install, in which case you will be prompted to allow your file manager to install apps from unknown sources. In either case you need to allow your device to install the app in order to proceed.

Google may prompt you to scan this app. The "more details" link allows you to open without scanning.

Navigation

Welcome to EliTalk

Home View

The home view has a top bar, the library (main content area), and a bottom bar. The top bar is where you'll manage phrases, speak the current phrase, and access the grammar bar.

The library is where you'll navigate your content library, from categories to subcategories and individual items.

The bottom bar is where you'll enter edit mode, make quick changes to the phrase or categories, search, and save or load saved phrases.

Speak or rearrange current phrase, tweak grammar

Top Bar

Tap the play icon or any open space in the top bar to speak the current phrase. Tap and drag the phrase to rearrange word order, or tap the X to remove a word.

The grammar bar toggled open/closed by tapping the chevron at the far right of the top bar. It allows you to add words that are not in the library but commonly used to tweak grammar, such as "a", "the", "is", "are", etc.

Main content area

Library

The library is where you'll find all your content organized into categories and subcategories. By default or after resetting all columns are closed and all you'll see are the category buttons. Tap any category to open its subcategories. As the main content area expands, it becomes horizontally scrollable.

Subcategories open as vertically scrollable columns. Long press in a column to drag the whole thing to a new position, or hit the X to close it (upon closing a subcategory column the top-level category button will reappear so you can open it again if you wish). As more subcategory columns appear, the category button secion will collapse into a vertically scrollable column of its own on the right. New columns will be highlighted briefly when they open to help you keep track of where you are.

Tap any word item to add it to the current phrase. If "allow duplicates" is enabled in global settings, you can tap the same item again to add it multiple times to the current phrase. Items repeat within their column on an infinite loop.

Quick actions and tools

Bottom Bar

The gear icon in the far left is used to enter edit mode. Next to that is the search icon which opens a prompt to search your library for items by name. When one or more items are found matching your search, a new Searches category will be created with a subcategory titled after your search term containing all matching items. This will behave like any other category/subcategory going forward and each new search will be added as a subcategory within Searches.

In the middle is a slow toggle: turn this on to reduce the speaking speed of every word. Next to that is the "clear phrase" button, which will empty out the current phrase. The reset button will close all open subcategories and return you to the main category view.

On the right is a "save phrase" button to save the current phrase for later use. It will be added to a list which you can open using the last button on the far right. Any saved phrase can be deleted or tapped to replace what's currently in the phrase builder.

Customization

Configuration changes including updating items in the library

Enter edit mode

Tap the cog icon in the bottom left. If you don't see a cog, you will see a toggle instead which means you are already in edit mode. Tap the toggle to exit edit mode.

A prompt opens to request the admin code. The default code is 1234. You can change this code in the global settings menu once you are in edit mode.

All lasting changes to the app are made while in edit mode. The phrase play icon becomes a gear while in edit mode, and in the bottom left you will see a toggle to exit edit mode. Tap the gear icon in the top left to open the global settings menu.

Customize app preferences

Global Settings

At the top of the global settings menu are toggles for category, subcategory, and individual word item labels. The next section is Phrase settings, where you can turn duplicate word items on/off, as well as enable/disable the grammar bar. You can edit the grammar words in the input box here; each word should be separated by a comma.

Continue to scroll down in the global settings menu to find the exaggeration feature which allows you to specify word endings to exaggerate when speaking. This can help emphasize certain words and make speech more expressive. Below that you can change the admin code used to access edit mode.

At the bottom are buttons to manage the library, including adding categories, word items, sync the library database, or update the app.

Managing Phrases

Create or edit a phrase to hear it spoken

Phrase Building

EliTalk is designed to make it fun to build phrases. First tap any category to open its subcategories, then tap any word item within a subcategory to add that word to the phrase builder at the top. You can tap the play button or any open space in the top bar to speak the current phrase.

Remove a word from the phrase by tapping the X on any word item, or hold to drag any word if you want to rearrange the phrase. The EliTalk library is always growing, so if you don't see a word you want, you can use the search button in the bottom bar to find it or add it (see customization section).

Often you'll end up with a phrase that isn't grammatically sound, like "first go school Dad." To help with this, tap the chevron in the top right corner to open the grammar bar, where you'll find a collection of core grammar words to help you tweak your phrase like "first go to school with Dad." You can customize these words in global settings (see customization section). Words in the grammar bar are reusable and don't disappear when added to the phrase. They also ignore the "allow duplicates" setting in global settings.

Save custom phrases and recall them quickly

Save / Recall Phrases

Sometimes you might want to reuse a common phrase like "it's time for bath time." At any time you can tap the "Save phrase" button in the bottom right to save whatever is in the phrase bar (if this phrase already exists you will see a notification saying so, otherwise you will see that your phrase has been saved). To recall a saved phrase, tap the list icon in the bottom right (next to the save phrase button) to open the saved phrases list. Tap any phrase to replace what's currently in the phrase bar, or tap the trash can icon to delete a saved phrase.

Search for words and build subcategories out of the results

Search Library

Searching for a word can not only help you find it more quickly, it can also help you build phrases more easily by making the results of a search available as a new subcategory of the Searches category.

An unsuccessful search will notify you that no results were found. A successful search on the other hand will create a new Searches category if one does not already exist, and add a new subcategory titled after your search term containing all matching items. You can then open this subcategory and tap any item to add it to the current phrase. Each new search will be added as a subcategory within Searches.

Library Setup

Sync your library with the default content

Remote Sync

There are a couple of sync options. The default sync option is to add new content to your library from the remote source. Choose this to add newly available items without changing any existing content. With this option selected, there is a "Smart Merge" toggle which, when enabled, will update category & subcategory paths for existing word item entries.

If you previously chose to start from scratch but changed your mind, or want to reset to the default library, you can choose the "Replace with Factory Defaults" option. This will replace all your existing library including any custom content with the default content. Note: this option cannot be undone.

Sometimes your internet connection might cut out or an item might fail to download for some reason. If you find missing images in your library after a sync, the third option is to "Download Missing Images." This will only look for records where there is no image and attempt to download the missing image files to udpate your library.

To be able to sync any option you must first enter edit mode, open global settings, scroll to the bottom and tap "Sync Database." This will open the sync prompt where you can make your selections (all options require an internet connection).

If you chose to start with an empty library

Build From Scratch

To begin adding items to your library you must first enter edit mode, open global settings, scroll to the bottom and tap "Add New Category." A prompt will open where you first enter the category name and optionally select an image that will be shown for the category's button.

Next you will add at least one subcategory (which will become a vertically scrollable column of word items). Tap "Update Category" to create the new category and its first subcategory. Return to the global settings menu and scroll baack down to the bottom, so you can tap "Add Item" to add word items to the subcategory you just created.

First select the category you created, then the subcategory within that category, then enter the word item name and optionally select an image for the item. By default the phonetic spelling will be generated from the word item name. Tap "Save" to add the new item to your library. Repeat this process to add more items, subcategories, and categories as needed.

Edit existing categories, subcategories, and word items

Edit or Delete Records

While in edit mode, notice all category buttons and word items have a gear icon in their top right corner. Tap this icon to open the edit prompt for that record. Here you can change the name and image for categories and subcategories. For word items you can change the name, image, phonetic spelling, category, and subcategory.

Categories can be deleted from their edit prompt by tapping the red trash can icon. Word items can also be deleted from the edit prompt by checking the box, where "Save" will become "Delete." Note: deleting a word item cannot be undone. Changes to your library are saved automatically and persist between sessions.