Read anyone, live.
Captions for everyone around you, each person in their own colour.
Imagine the world talking… and none of it reaching you.
Made in the UAE · Arabic and English
Read the world. Be heard.
The iPhone app for Deaf, hard-of-hearing and non-speaking people. One app instead of five: live captions, a voice that speaks for you, sign to speech, sound alerts and captioned calls.An iPhone app for Deaf people and people who can’t speak. It writes down what people say. It speaks for you. It reads sign language. It tells you about important sounds.
Free during the beta · iPhone with iOS 26 or later
Working beta · iPhone
Say something. Watch it appear.
Tap Start captions and talk. Your words appear as you say them, the way SAWA+ shows every voice around you: live, and each person in their own colour.Press Start captions. Talk. Your words show up as text.
Example: a real test conversation from the app
Speaker AListening…
Your browser’s speech service turns your voice into text. Some browsers send audio to their provider to do this. We don’t record or store anything. In the SAWA+ app, captions are processed on your iPhone.
The world is loud. Not everyone can hear it, or answer it.
More than 1 in 20 people live with disabling hearing loss. Each dot is one million people.
- Today: 430 million with disabling hearing loss
- By 2050: nearly 2.5 billion with some hearing loss
- 430 million
people live with disabling hearing loss. That is over 5% of the world.
Source: WHO(opens in a new tab)- ~2.5 billion
people will have some hearing loss by 2050.
Source: WHO(opens in a new tab)- ~70 million
Deaf people use more than 300 sign languages.
Source: World Federation of the Deaf(opens in a new tab)- العربيةArabic
Arabic is spoken by hundreds of millions, yet accessibility tools rarely speak it well.
Behind every number is someone waiting for the world to include them.
It’s the small moments.
Illustrative stories
The clinic
Without SAWA+: The doctor wears a mask. Mariam can’t read her lips.
With SAWA+: Every word appears, in the doctor’s own colour.
The doorbell
Without SAWA+: The doorbell rings. Nobody hears it.
With SAWA+: His phone flashes: someone’s at the door.
The call
Without SAWA+: An unknown number. Again, he lets it ring.
With SAWA+: He reads the caller live, and types his answer.
The majlis
Without SAWA+: Everyone laughs. She missed the joke.
With SAWA+: She catches it as it’s told, and laughs with them.
Together. سوا.
One app. Six superpowers.
“Sawa” is Gulf Arabic for together. The + is everything that brings people together.
Your voice. Your tone.
Type or tap, and SAWA+ says it, happy, calm or urgent.
One tap, said.
Nearly 60 ready phrases in Emirati Arabic and English, plus your own.
Sign it. SAWA+ says it.
Your iPhone reads your signs and speaks them.
Never miss a sound.
Doorbell, baby, alarms, your name: your phone flashes and buzzes.
Every call, read live.
Read callers as they speak, answer by typing.
Every call, read live.
Read callers as they speak. Reply by typing or tapping: they hear you in your voice. Set up in two minutes; your number stays the same.Someone calls you. You read what they say. You type back. They hear your answer.
- Screening before you answer
- Live captions
- Replies in 10 tones
- Sales-call detector with one-tap “remove my number”
- Call history and summaries
+971 4 555 0100Incoming · SAWA+ is screeningDemo0:00
This sounds like a sales or promotional call
The caller hears
“”
Read what they say below, then accept or decline.
Summary
Your replies are spoken aloud here, as the caller would hear them.
This demo runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored. SAWA+ is not an emergency service: in an emergency call 999, 998 or 997.
Set up in two minutes.
Sign in with your mobile number and a text code.
Get your own SAWA+ number.
Copy one code into your Phone app. Calls you miss go to SAWA+.
Take a test call. Done.
Don’t take our word for it. Try it.
These demos run in your browser. Nothing you say or show is stored.
Tap a phrase and SAWA+ says it out loud.
Speak in
Tone
Saying
Tap a phrase. You’ll see it here as it’s spoken.
For counters, taxis and noisy places: your sentence, in giant letters.
Pick a sound. See what SAWA+ shows you.
Sounds to try
Sound alerts
Listening for sounds
SAWA+ will flash, vibrate and show you when it hears something important, even with the screen locked.
Quiet
20 sounds, plus your own
- Smoke or fire alarm
- Siren
- Glass breaking
- Screaming or shouting
- Gunshot or explosion
- Doorbell
- Knocking
- Baby crying
- Car horn
- Phone ringing
- Alarm clock or timer
- Vehicle reversing
- Dog barking
- Water left running
- Kettle or boiling
- Appliance beeping
- Cat meowing
- Thunder
- Someone saying your name
- Someone talking to you
Same words. Ten ways to mean them.
Tones
Preview voices. In the app you choose the voice, and in English it can be your own, with Apple’s Personal Voice.
Neutral
I’m on my way
Sign it. SAWA+ says it.
Your iPhone’s camera reads your hands, arms and face, right on the device, and speaks your words in your voice. Your facial expression sets the tone.You sign to your iPhone. The app says your words out loud.
Loading the hand model…
See what SAWA+ sees
Camera not available. Here is a hand, drawn the way SAWA+ sees it: 21 points.
SAWA+ says
This is what SAWA+ sees. In the app, it turns these movements into words.
Try an open hand, or a thumbs up. Simple shapes only, to show the idea. In the app, SAWA+ learns real signs from you.
Emirati Sign Language first.
We found no public Emirati Sign Language dataset anywhere in the world. So SAWA+ learns from you: show a sign three times and it’s yours. Share your library with your family, school or Deaf club. With the Deaf community, we plan to build the first Emirati Sign Language model.Show SAWA+ a sign three times. Now it knows your sign. You can share your signs with family and friends.
Show it three times
Sign libraries
- Emirati Sign LanguageLearns from youAvailable in beta
- American Sign Language (ASL)Learns from youAvailable in beta
- British Sign Language (BSL)Learns from youAvailable in beta
- Your ownCreate, import, shareAvailable in beta
- Ready-made ASL250 signs that work out of the boxComing soon
- Emirati Sign Language model, with the Deaf communityOn our roadmap
Help build Emirati Sign Language AI
For Deaf signers, families, schools and associations. Paid, consented recording sessions: [details to confirm].
SAWA+ supports everyday conversations. It is not a replacement for a qualified sign-language interpreter.
Arabic first. Emirati at heart.
Most accessibility apps treat Arabic as an afterthought. SAWA+ was built in Arabic from day one: a full right-to-left interface, phrases in Emirati Arabic, Arabic captions and voices, and Emirati Sign Language first.SAWA+ speaks Arabic from the start. The screens read right to left. The phrases are in Emirati Arabic.
817/817interface texts, every one translated into Arabic
Same app. Mirrored, not translated as an afterthought.
أصحاب الهمم
In 2017 the UAE chose a new name: People of Determination. We build for that determination.
What happens on your iPhone stays on your iPhone.
Captions, sign recognition and sound alerts are processed on the device. Your camera video is never recorded or uploaded. You choose if and when anything uses the cloud.SAWA+ works inside your phone. Your camera video is never saved. You decide when the internet is used.
- On-deviceCaptions in supported languages, phrases, sign recognition and alerts work without internet.
- No recordingsConversations stay on your iPhone, and you can delete them any time.
- You’re in controlOnly calls and optional cloud voices use a server.
Make it yours.
Huge buttons or small ones. Desert tones or high contrast. Left-handed layout. Your tab order. SAWA+ bends to you, not the other way round.You choose the colours. You choose the button size. SAWA+ fits you.
Theme
Button shape
Button size
6 themes · 5 button shapes · 4 sizes
Fully usable with VoiceOver, Dynamic Type and large buttons. Every button tested automatically in English and Arabic.
Where we’re going.
Now
Available in beta- Beta with testers on iPhone
- Talk, Phrases, Show, Sign (teach), Alerts
- Calls demo and captioned calls beta
Next
Coming soon- App Store launch, UAE first
- Built-in ASL signs
- Captioned calls ring when the app is closed
- Arabic finger-spelling
Then
On our roadmap- Emirati Sign Language model with the Deaf community
- Local +971 numbers and outbound captioned calls with a UAE carrier partner
- SAWA+ for Business (service counters)
Later
On our roadmap- Android
- GCC and MENA languages and sign languages
- Global launch
Accessibility is not a niche. It’s the next billion users.
A working product, an Arabic-first moat and a UAE launchpad. See the opportunity.
Request the deck[investors@domain]
True as of November 2026
- 6capabilities in one working iPhone beta, tested on real devices with users
- 817/817interface texts translated into Arabic, full right-to-left
- 0seconds of audio or video leave the phone for captions, sign recognition and sound alerts
- 2languages, every button tested automatically in both
Why SAWA+ wins
- Arabic and Emirati first
- The first Emirati Sign Language AI, planned with the Deaf community
- All-in-one, daily use
- Privacy by architecture
- Built to plug into UAE carriers
Be one of the first.
Join the SAWA+ beta, or share it with someone who’s been waiting for it.
Before you join
Can I download it now?
Not yet. SAWA+ is a working beta, tested with users on iPhone, and not on the App Store yet. Join the beta and we’ll invite you.
Is SAWA+ free?
The beta is free. [Pricing to be announced.]
Which phones?
iPhone with iOS 26 or later. Android is on our roadmap.
Does it work without internet?
Captions in supported languages, phrases, sign recognition and alerts work offline. Calls and cloud voices need internet.
Does it replace interpreters?
No. SAWA+ is for everyday moments. For medical, legal or official settings, you have the right to a qualified interpreter.