Everything SignPrep can do

Overview

SignPrep is a free companion app for sign language interpreters. It brings assignment preparation, live timing, reflection, CPD, glossary building, and self-care into one private on-device workspace.

SignPrep is designed for iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and watchOS 26. It has no ads, subscriptions, or in-app purchases. AI features use Apple Intelligence on supported devices, and personal data stays on device.

• Works on: iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
• Requires: iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or watchOS 26 or later
• Price: Free — no ads, no subscriptions, no in-app purchases

Getting started

A short guided setup on first launch:

• A friendly welcome
• An overview of what SignPrep does
• Your name, for personalised greetings
• Your preferred sign language, auto-detected from your region, with a picker for any sign language plus an “Other” option
• CPD tracking defaults — automatic based on your sign language; you can turn CPD off entirely if it's not part of your practice
• Notification permission for reflection, pre-assignment, and CPD reminders
• Calendar access, then picking which calendars to sync

You can skip most steps and grant permissions later. You can also re-run onboarding at any time from Settings.

Assignments

Calendar sync

• Imports events from the calendars you choose (read-only — SignPrep never writes to your calendars)
• Sync range: the next 7, 14, or 30 days
• Optional past assignment sync: 2 weeks, 1 month, or 3 months back
• Past assignments are automatically marked complete on import
• AI automatically tags each event with a domain (Medical, Legal, Education, and more)
• Pull down on the list to force a fresh sync
• Deduplicates ongoing assignments that span past and future date ranges
• Your reflections, notes, checklists, CPD links, AI briefings, and topic summaries are preserved across every sync — only the calendar metadata refreshes

Add your own assignments

• Create jobs that aren't on your calendar, right from the Assignments tab
• Calendar-style editor with 5-minute increment pickers
• Start defaults to the next round five minutes; end defaults to two hours later
• When you change the start time, the end shifts by the same amount — your duration is preserved automatically
• Manual assignments live alongside imported ones but are never touched by a calendar re-sync
• Instantly sync to your Apple Watch on create, edit, or delete

Event title filter

• Include only events that contain certain words, or exclude events that do
• One or more comma-separated phrases
• Configurable in Settings › Event Filter

Assignment list

• Grouped into Today, Tomorrow, and Upcoming, plus a Completed section
• Each row shows the title, domain chip, full date, time range, and a live countdown pill
• Personalised greeting at the top with a smart subtitle that changes based on how soon your next assignment is
• Monthly Insights card under the greeting
• Swipe to ignore, or pick many at once and ignore in bulk
• Ignored events have their own view where you can un-ignore them any time
• Dedicated “All Assignments” view with sorting, filtering, and batch selection

AI pre-briefing

When an assignment is within two hours of starting — or is currently ongoing — a short, on-device AI briefing appears on your greeting card. Two sentences oriented around the subject and likely terminology, with no logistics or filler. Tap Regenerate for a fresh take. Briefings are saved per assignment and survive app updates, cold launches, and calendar re-syncs.

Assignment detail

• Live countdown pill with status colour
• Duration, date with day of the week, and source line (“Imported from <calendar>” or “Manually created”)
• Pre-briefing section when within 24 hours or ongoing
• Location with name, address, one-tap copy, estimated travel time, and directions in Apple Maps or Google Maps
• Domain picker — changing the domain offers to regenerate the prep checklist
• Preparation checklist generated automatically when you open the assignment, with AI-suggested items you can toggle, add to, or replace
• AI topic research: an on-device summary of topics, terminology, and preparation points — selectable, shareable, and one-tap add-to-notes
• Suggested glossary signs for the assignment domain
• Quick glossary lookup for any related sign in your library
• Anonymised web search: AI generates a privacy-safe query and opens it in your browser
• Notes field that grows with content, plus a clear-with-confirmation and share button
• “Write a Reflection” button after the assignment finishes
• Mark complete / incomplete / “I'm on my way” for directions
• Manual assignments have Edit and Delete in the toolbar

Notifications

• Pre-assignment reminder 15 minutes before the start
• Reflection reminder after the assignment ends — configurable to 15 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, or tonight at 8 pm
• CPD renewal reminders (quarterly if you're behind pace, plus inside 30 days of your deadline)
• Tapping a reminder deep-links to the right screen
• Each reminder type has its own toggle in Settings

CPD tracking

Log continuing professional development hours, see your progress, and export your record.

Country-aware defaults

Log hours

• Activity type (workshop, self-study, mentoring, community, assignment, and more), date, hours, title, and notes
• After saving a reflection, a one-tap Log CPD button preloads the assignment's hours
• Also log from the CPD Home Screen widget, Control Centre control, or Siri shortcut

Progress and renewal alerts

• Dashboard card with a renewal pill — amber inside 30 days, green once you hit your target
• iOS and watchOS widgets surface renewal countdown
• Quarterly reminder if you're behind pace, plus a 30-day deadline alert

Export your CPD record

• Polished PDF for submission to your certifying body
• CSV for your own tracker or spreadsheet
• Date range filtering so you can export a single renewal period

Turn CPD off entirely

If CPD isn't part of your practice, a single toggle in Settings hides the CPD tab row, dashboard card, every Log CPD button, both iOS and watchOS widgets, the Log CPD Siri shortcut, and the Control Centre control. Defaults on for ASL / BSL / Auslan; off for others.

Ongoing Assignment

Ongoing Assignment is the live-session page designed to stay open while you work. It keeps timing, active interpreter, and assignment progress together in one focused interface.

When an assignment is active, the page is shown as Ongoing Assignment. When used without an attached assignment, the same live-session tools are shown as Swap Timer.

Swap Timer

Swap Timer supports structured interpreter rotation. Set an interval and warning time, then let SignPrep cycle through Running, Swap Soon, and Swap Now states.

Swap Timer includes:

• A/B interpreter roles
• Large countdown ring
• Last and next swap information
• Haptic and optional audio cues
• Ambient view for live assignments
• Controls from the app, Lock Screen, Dynamic Island, Apple Watch, Siri, and shortcuts where available

Swap Clock

Swap Clock supports flexible turn-taking based on real clock time. It shows the current time, elapsed time since the last swap, and clock-based segments for Interpreter A and Interpreter B.

Use Swap Clock when a fixed interval does not fit the assignment, but you still want a clear record of who has been active and when the last swap happened.

Ambient Mode

Ambient Mode is made to be set down. Rest the phone nearby during an assignment and read the swap timer at a glance — large text keeps the timing legible from a distance, and the colours pulse when it is time to swap, so you never have to reach for the screen mid-assignment.

The full-screen view shows large timing information, A/B interpreter roles, and assignment progress. Controls are kept intentionally minimal: swap actions remain available, while setup and end controls stay in the standard Live Session view.

Widgets

Home Screen

• Upcoming Assignments (small, medium, large) — next assignments with countdown, greeting, and motivational message
• CPD Progress (small, medium) — ring showing hours vs. target with renewal countdown
• New Sign, Reflect, Log CPD (small) — one-tap shortcuts
• Every assignment row deep-links to its detail view

Lock Screen

• Next Assignment (circular gauge, rectangular, or inline)
• Quick Actions (rectangular or inline) — New Sign and Reflect side by side
• CPD Circular — gauge with hours logged and renewal countdown

Live Activity

During assignments

A Live Activity appears 15 minutes before an assignment and stays up throughout:

• Title, domain chip, and location
• Hours-and-minutes countdown in the top-right
• Circular progress ring filling from start to end time
• “Log Reflection” button when the assignment is marked complete
• Dynamic Island compact, expanded, and minimal views
• Dismisses cleanly when the assignment ends

During swap cycles

The Swap Timer has its own Live Activity:

• Large countdown, phase status, interpreter dots, and swap count
• Four interactive buttons — Swap, Restart, Pause, and Stop
• Phase colours shift as the swap approaches

Control Centre

• New Sign — opens the new glossary entry form
• Log Reflection — opens a new reflection
• Next Assignment — shows the title and countdown; tap to open
• Log CPD — opens the new CPD entry form (hidden when CPD is off)

Apple Watch

• Your full assignment list on your wrist, with tap-through detail
• Start, pause, resume, and stop the swap timer from either device — everything stays in sync
• Wheel pickers for swap interval and warning time, with a large always-visible Start button
• Pull down on the list to refresh from your iPhone
• Manual assignments push to the watch instantly
• Four complication families — circular, corner, rectangular, and inline — with a live countdown to your next assignment
• CPD complication shows hours logged and renewal countdown
• Smart Stack cards surface assignments an hour before they start, with time- and location-based relevance
• A dedicated Swap Timer Smart Stack card appears 15 minutes before an assignment through 30 minutes after

Glossary

Record and organise your signs

• Record video with your camera, or import from Photo Library (audio is stripped automatically for privacy)
• Save glossary videos back to your Photo Library
• Each entry has a label, description, word type, domain tag, language tag, source, and draft/confirmed status
• Replace videos on existing entries, or delete a video without deleting the entry
• Mark favourites for quick access

Find what you need

• Full-text search across labels, descriptions, and sources
• Spotlight integration — find your signs from your device's search
• Filter by domain or sign language; sort alphabetically, newest first, or most viewed
• Favourites, Most Reviewed, and Recently Added sections at the top
• Dedicated “All Entries” view with full filtering, sorting, and batch selection

Review and share

• Video player with slow-motion playback
• Share any entry as a visual card
• Export your entire glossary as a .signprep file to AirDrop, email, or save to Files
• Import .signprep or .zip files from anywhere; duplicates are skipped automatically

AI help

• Look Up Definitions — enter a label and tap a suggested definition to auto-fill description and word type
• Suggest Related Words — discover vocabulary you hadn't thought to record
• Topic Suggestions — enter a topic to get a list of relevant signs to add
• Domain Auto-Suggestion — SignPrep classifies entries as you fill them in

Regional resources

• Singapore Sign Language (SgSL) Sign Bank link appears in Glossary and Resources when SgSL is your default
• Region-specific organisation and support links surface automatically

Reflections

Write a DC-S reflection

Reflections follow the Demand-Control Schema by Dean & Pollard:

• Single scrollable page, guided step by step
• Optional link to a past or upcoming assignment
• Assignment Type domain dropdown (hidden when you've linked a reflection to an assignment — the domain comes from there)
• Free-text fields for environmental, interpersonal, paralinguistic, and intrapersonal demands
• Controls, consequences, and “what to keep / what to change next time”
• Flag for mentor discussion, with a helper tip about exporting as PDF
• Self-care check-in with three load levels — physical, emotional, and cognitive — displayed as colour-coded pills
• AI “Suggest” button on every demand and control field for context-aware phrases

Practice identifying demands

An interactive DC-S quiz tests your ability to categorise demands in real interpreting scenarios.

Browse your reflections

• Chronological list with colour-coded load level dots
• Stats card with totals, this-month count, and flagged entries
• Weekly reflection streak with current and longest streak
• Weekly mood strip showing daily average load
• Personalised insights that surface patterns across mood, reflections, and assignments
• Prompt to reflect on your most recent un-reflected assignment
• DC-S quick reference card
• Batch selection and swipe actions

After you save

• Personalised encouragement message
• High-load alert if your last three reflections show sustained load
• One-tap Log CPD to capture the assignment's hours
• Quick links to breathing exercises, stretches, or the Self-Care tab

Export

• Single reflection as PDF
• All reflections as PDF or CSV, with a date range picker for both

Self-Care

Daily mood check-in

Five-level mood logging (Great, Good, Okay, Low, Tough) with haptic feedback and a context-sensitive self-care tip after each log.

AI “For You” suggestions

A personalised self-care suggestion based on your recent reflection history — load levels, patterns, and self-care actions. Tap Regenerate for a fresh take. Hidden on devices without Apple Intelligence, and replaced with a friendly enable prompt if you've turned AI off.

Trends

• Month-over-month mood trend indicator
• Average mood score compared with the previous month
• Interactive mood-over-time chart for spotting patterns

Guided exercises

• 4-4-6 Breathing — an animated breathing exercise with four cycles, pause/restart controls, and a countdown
• Interpreter Stretches — six guided stretches targeting common tension areas: neck rolls, shoulder shrugs, wrist circles, finger spreads, side stretch, and forward fold

Resources for interpreters

• Self-care articles and guides covering supervision, debriefing, vicarious trauma, boundary-setting, physical wellness, and more
• Curated external links to wellness resources from the interpreting community
• Region-specific support links based on your sign language

Resources

Code of Professional Conduct

Interactive reference for the interpreter's Code of Professional Conduct. Seven tenets, each with a summary, a detailed explanation, and five real-world examples relevant to sign language interpreting.

Role and communication cards

Pre-loaded cards for explaining your role to hearing clients, organised by domain. Favourite the cards you use often, create your own, and display them full-screen during assignments.

External links

• Learn more about DC-S
• WASLI Code of Ethics
• RID Code of Professional Conduct
• Region-specific national interpreter association and Deaf community organisations (for example, SADeaf for SgSL users)

Dashboard

• Monthly totals: assignments, hours, and reflections
• CPD progress card with renewal pill
• Domain breakdown chart across all your assignments
• AI-generated monthly narrative with patterns and suggestions

Settings

• Your name, for personalised greetings and insights
• Calendar selection, sync range, and past assignment range; Reset Calendar Sync button
• Event filter mode and phrases
• Default domain and sign language
• CPD tracking: master toggle, target hours, period, renewal start date, and reminders toggle
• Glossary export and import
• Reflection export (PDF or CSV with date range picker)
• Notification toggles: reflections, pre-assignment, Live Activity, and CPD renewal
• Widgets & Controls — step-by-step instructions for adding Home Screen widgets, Lock Screen widgets, and Control Centre controls
• Apple Intelligence master toggle (with device-support status)
• Siri & Shortcuts list
• Appearance: System, Light, or Dark
• About: app icon, version, feedback, privacy policy, acknowledgements
• Reset: calendar sync, mood log, or onboarding

Siri & Shortcuts

Ten featured shortcuts, plus voice control across the app:

• What's my next assignment?
• What's my day like?
• Assignment Countdown
• Get Directions
• Sync My Calendar
• What's my swap timer status?
• Start, pause, resume, or stop the Swap Timer
• Add a New Sign
• Log a Reflection
• Log CPD

Every shortcut also appears in the Shortcuts app, so you can wire them into your own automations.

AI, powered by Apple Intelligence

Every AI feature runs on your device. Nothing is ever uploaded. A device that supports Apple Intelligence is required; without one, AI sections are hidden and the rest of the app works normally.

• Pre-briefing on the greeting card
• Topic research, vocabulary, and prep checklists tailored to each assignment
• Anonymised web-search query generation
• Domain auto-detection for imported events
• Glossary definitions, related words, and topic suggestions
• DC-S field suggestions in reflections
• Post-reflection encouragement messages
• Personalised monthly narrative and self-care suggestions
• Personalised greetings and motivational messages

Accessibility

• Full VoiceOver on every screen, widget, Live Activity, Watch view, complication, and Smart Stack card
• Meaningful labels, hints, and grouped elements on each card and list row
• VoiceOver actions (Select, Edit, Ignore, Delete) on the Actions rotor
• Dynamic Type support, with layouts that re-stack at accessibility text sizes
• System, Light, and Dark appearance with instant switching
• High-contrast colours meeting WCAG AA (4.5:1 or higher)
• Reduced Motion honoured throughout
• Bold Text support
• Large, comfortable touch targets
• Haptic feedback throughout, including on widget and Control Centre taps

Privacy

• Every reflection, glossary entry, CPD entry, mood log, AI-generated briefing, and preference is stored on your device
• No cloud sync, no external servers, no analytics, no advertising, no third-party SDKs
• AI runs on-device with Apple Intelligence
• Calendar access is read-only; imported videos have audio stripped automatically
• Notifications are local only
• Deleting the app permanently removes all data

Read the full privacy policy.

Domain tags

SignPrep organises assignments, reflections, and glossary entries across 13 domains:

Conference · Medical · Legal · Education · Mental Health · Community · Religious · Government · Corporate · VRS · VRI · Platform/Stage · Police · Other

Sign language support

SignPrep works for interpreters of any sign language, with automatic detection based on your region and an “Other” free-text option. Examples include:

• Singapore Sign Language (SgSL)
• American Sign Language (ASL)
• British Sign Language (BSL)
• Australian Sign Language (Auslan)
• New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
• Irish Sign Language (ISL)
• International Sign (IS)

Change your selection at any time in Settings. Your choice drives regional links (SgSL Sign Bank, SADeaf Website, and other organisations), CPD body defaults (RID, NRCPD, or NAATI), default target hours and renewal period, and whether CPD tracking is on by default.