A communication tool for autistic adults · not another app trying to fix you

What did they actually mean?

Neurotypical messages arrive with an invisible layer — the “no rush” that means rush, the “fine” that means anything. Subtext reads it with you, shows every plausible meaning with its odds, and drafts replies that still sound like you.

Download on the App Store or try it in your browser →

free · no account · iPhone, iOS 16+ · nothing you type is kept

Subtext ∞Your voice, your armor

What you want to say — raw is fine

“report isn't done, need 2 more days, stop chasing me”

Armor level

DirectNeutralPolished

Your draft — sounds like you

Hi Dana — the report needs two more days to be right. I'll send it Thursday by noon. If that's a problem, tell me and I'll re-plan.

Kept your refusal to rush; turned “stop chasing me” into a clear date.

◻︎Today

🔍Decode

✍️Draft

🧭Tasks

🔋Energy

Subtext ∞What did they actually mean?

The message you received

“Hey, just circling back on the report — no huge rush, but it'd be great to have it soon-ish. Whenever works!”

Decode this message

Plain meaning

This IS a deadline reminder. “Soon-ish” from a manager usually means: within 1–2 days.

3 possible readings — never just one

72%Polite pressure

21%Genuine no-rush

7%Masked frustration

✍️ Draft a reply to this

◻︎Today

🔍Decode

✍️Draft

🧭Tasks

🔋Energy

Never just one answerYour “no” stays a noDecode straight from MessagesA tool, not a therapy

Under the microscope · how a decode thinks

Four ordinary words. Four margin notes. One honest answer.

This is a real output, shown the way an editor would mark up a manuscript — because that's what decoding is.

Exhibit A — message received, 4:51 pmfrom: your manager

“Hey, just circling back^a on the report — no huge rush^b, but it'd be great to have it soon-ish^c. Whenever works!^d”

^ait's being tracked. This is on a list somewhere.

^bthere is a rush. Softened, not absent.

^c1–2 days, in manager.

^dwhenever does not work. See b.

72%Polite pressure — they need it soon and are softening the ask

21%Genuine no-rush — plausible if they usually say exactly what they mean

7%Masked frustration — unlikely with the friendly opener, unless this is a repeat follow-up

They likely expect a concrete date — not an apology.output shown verbatim · subtext.im/try

Contentswhat's inside

01Decode

Read the invisible layer.

Paste a message — or send it straight from Messages, Mail, or any app via the share sheet, two taps. You get the plain meaning, every plausible reading with its likelihood, the tone, and what the sender probably expects back.

Certainty is never faked. The percentages are the honesty.

02Draft

Your voice, your armor.

Type what you actually mean, as blunt as you like. Choose how much armor the reply wears — the content survives, only the padding changes:

Specimen — one refusal, three armor levels

You type: “can't take this on, my plate is full, stop asking”

DirectNo. My plate is full — adding this would break something already promised.

NeutralI can't take this on right now; my current work would slip. If priorities changed, tell me which item moves.

PolishedI'd want to do this properly, and this week I can't — my plate is genuinely full. Happy to revisit if something else comes off it.

Note the constant: the “no” survives all three. It never becomes a “maybe.”

03Rehearse

Practice the hard conversation first.

The landlord call, the boundary with family, the raise. An AI plays the other side, shows the ways it might branch, and afterwards recaps only what you did well — no scores, no grades, nothing to fail.

04Days

Tasks and energy, without the shame machinery.

Overwhelming tasks broken into steps sized to the energy you actually have, with a quiet body-double mode. A spoons tracker that notices low weeks and pre-drafts the “I need to reschedule” before burnout writes it for you. No streaks. No red alerts. Nothing counts your failures.

Private like a thought.

The ledger, in full. Shorter than most cookie banners.

message historynone exists. Decodes and drafts are processed, returned, gone.

your words as AI training datanever. The switch doesn't exist — there is nothing to opt out of.

account requiredno. We don't know who you are.

ads · trackers · analyticszero, including on this page. View source if you like.

what stays on your phonePeople notes, tasks, energy logs. Yours, local, deletable in one tap.

full policy: subtext.im/privacy · subtext is a tool, not a therapist or medical device · adults 18+

∞Why

I'm not autistic. My seven-year-old son is. Somewhere between the research papers at 2 a.m. and listening to autistic adults describe spending forty minutes drafting one email, it stopped being a parenting question and became an engineering one: the translation work autistic people do every day is real, constant, and unpaid — so it should at least come with tools.

Subtext is that tool. Autistic adults advise it, get paid for it, and hold veto power over every feature. If it ever drifts into therapy-speak, streaks, or puzzle pieces, they pull the brake.

— David, Alpha Seed Inc.

autistic and want the veto? → thai@subtext.im

Plain answersno fine print

Is this therapy?

No. It's a practical tool, like glasses or a calculator. No diagnoses, no treatment, no companionship simulation, no “wellness journey.” For adults 18+.

Is my data really not stored?

Really. There is no history on our side to leak, sell, or subpoena. The privacy policy is short because there's little to disclose.

What does it cost?

Free while we launch, with a generous daily limit. A premium tier comes later; the free core stays.

What platforms?

iPhone — free on the App Store now. On Android or desktop? The web version works today; an Android app is planned.

Stop re-reading that message for the ninth time.

Download on the App Store or decode one in your browser →