Free apps that work anywhere — no signal needed
Simple visual support apps that install straight to your phone's home screen and work completely offline — ready in the supermarket, the car park or the waiting room. Like everything on Helpset they're free, with no ads, no accounts and no tracking. Nothing you add ever leaves your device.
Now & Next
A visual Now/Next/Then board for children who cope best when they can see what's happening now and what comes next. Choose from nearly 80 built-in picture cards or add photos of real places and people — for many children, a photo of Grandma's actual front door communicates far better than any symbol. A child lock lets your child look and tap "Done" without rearranging the board.
Open Now & Next → nownext.helpset.uk · Prefer to print and laminate? Try the Now / Next Board web tool, or grab the ready-made printable pack (two boards + 100+ cut-out cards).Visual Timer
Time made visible: a coloured disc that shrinks as time passes, so children who can't yet read a clock can see exactly how long is left. The screen stays awake while it runs, the countdown locks so it can't be stopped mid-wait, numbers can be hidden for children who find digits stressful, and it ends with a gentle chime rather than a jarring alarm.
Open Visual Timer → timer.helpset.uk · For presets and work/break focus cycles, try the Visual Timer web tool.Choice Board
Offer two, three or four options as pictures and let your child tap to choose — "park or library?", "red cup or blue cup?". Choices reduce demand-anxiety, and making them visual makes them possible for children who struggle to hold spoken options in mind. The app can speak the choice out loud, works with photos of your child's real things, and locks so the options can't be changed mid-decision.
Open Choice Board → choice.helpset.ukCommunication Cards
Tap a card and the phone says it out loud — "I need help, please", "It is too loud for me", "I would like a drink." Over 100 cards organised into categories your child can browse themselves, from urgent needs and feelings to everyday activities, plus photo cards of their real things that speak their own names. A starter board of the twelve most-needed cards is ready the moment it's installed, and the child lock turns the whole phone into a safe tap-to-speak device.
Open Communication Cards → cards.helpset.uk · To build printable card sets with 20,000+ ARASAAC pictograms, try the Communication Cards web tool, or download the ready-made printable pack (100 PECS-style cards).Brain Battery
An energy check-in your child can show you. They set how full their battery is on a big tappable display, and one button says it out loud — "My battery is low. I need a break, please." Every check-in is logged with a time, so patterns like a drained battery at school pickup become visible evidence rather than a feeling. A second screen holds their own recharge cards — headphones, quiet time, or a photo of the thing that actually helps — each one a gentle suggestion the phone can speak: "Maybe headphones would help."
Open Brain Battery → battery.helpset.ukToken Board
A visual reward chart for the moments motivation needs a boost. Pick what your child is working for — from 78 picture cards, or better still a photo of the actual reward — then award tokens one tap at a time, with spoken encouragement along the way: "Four tokens! Only one more to go!" A full board earns a proper celebration. Choose 3, 5 or 10 tokens, pick the token your child loves (stars, hearts, rockets, dinosaurs…), and lock the board so progress can be seen but only you can award.
Open Token Board → token.helpset.uk · To make printable versions, try the Token Board web tool.How to install the apps
These are installable web apps — nothing to download from an app store, no account to create. On your phone:
- Open the app's address in your browser (for example timer.helpset.uk).
- Android (Chrome): tap the menu (⋮) and choose Install app or Add to Home screen.
- iPhone (Safari): tap the Share button and choose Add to Home Screen.
The app then opens from its own icon like any other app — full screen, instantly, and without needing the internet. Visit it once while online and it's yours offline from then on.
Why offline matters
The moments these tools are needed most — a transition wobble in a supermarket queue, "two more minutes" at the park, a choice that needs making in a car park — are exactly the moments you can't rely on signal or wait for a page to load. Each app opens instantly with flight mode on. Everything your child sees, including any photos you add, is stored only on your own phone.