Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cognitive Stories?
Cognitive Stories is a voice-first cognitive rehabilitation app that uses structured story recall exercises. You read a short story containing specific facts, then retell it aloud across 4 attempts — each attempt is scored for accuracy against the original facts. It is designed for people recovering from TBI or concussions, people managing age-related cognitive decline, and anyone who wants to practice memory skills through a measurable daily habit.
Do I need to create an account to use the app?
No. The app creates an anonymous session silently on first launch — you land directly on the Home tab and can start your first exercise immediately. You can create a real account later from the Profile tab using Google Sign-In, Apple Sign-In, or email. All your exercise history from the anonymous session is preserved when you upgrade.
How does the exercise work?
Each exercise has four phases:
- Read — a story appears on screen. Read it at your own pace and tap "I'm ready" when done.
- Retell — retell the story aloud (or type it if you prefer). The app transcribes your words in real time.
- Score — after each retelling, you see which facts you captured and which you missed.
- Repeat — repeat steps 2 and 3 for 4 rounds total. Your accuracy usually improves across rounds.
A session summary shows your accuracy percentage for each of the 4 attempts after you complete the exercise.
What is a "fact" in the context of scoring?
The stories contain a defined list of specific facts — names of people and places, dates, numbers, sequences, and descriptive details. The scoring engine compares your retelling transcript against this fact list. Paraphrasing is allowed — you do not need to use the exact words from the story. Facts are listed as either found (green) or missed (red) after each retelling.
Can I type instead of speaking?
Yes. On the retelling screen, a text fallback option lets you type your retelling instead of speaking aloud. The scoring engine treats typed input identically to voice input — the same facts are checked. This is useful on days when fatigue makes voice input difficult.
How is difficulty set?
Go to Profile > Settings and choose your difficulty level:
- Easy — 5–6 facts per story
- Medium — 8–10 facts per story (default)
- Hard — 12–15 facts per story
Your difficulty setting applies to the next exercise you start. You can change it at any time. Subscribers on the Basic or Premium tier have access to adaptive difficulty — the app may suggest increasing or decreasing difficulty based on your rolling 7-session average.
Will I see the same story twice?
No. The app tracks which stories you have used and ensures you never see the same story again. If you have exhausted all stories at your current difficulty level, the app cycles back to the oldest stories and notifies you. The story library has 90+ stories at launch (30 per difficulty level) and grows over time via server-side additions — no app update is needed for new stories to appear.
What does my streak show?
Your streak is the count of consecutive days you have completed at least one exercise. It appears prominently on the Home tab. The streak resets if you miss a day — it is based on simple consecutive day counting. Subscribers can configure a daily push notification reminder to help maintain their streak.
Can I review past exercises?
Yes. Go to the Progress tab and scroll down to the session history list. Tap any session to open a detail screen showing the story title, date, your accuracy for each of the 4 attempts, and which facts you found and missed per attempt.
Does the app work without internet?
The core exercise flow works offline. Stories are cached locally on your device when you first sync the library. Your session results are saved locally (Drift database). For Free and Ad-free (Tier A/B) users, data is local-only. Subscribers (Tier C/D) have their data synced to the server when a connection is available.
What is Advanced Analytics?
Advanced Analytics is a Tier C (Basic Subscription) feature accessible from the Progress tab. It shows:
- Accuracy breakdown by fact type (names, dates, locations, numbers, sequences, details)
- Accuracy by time of day (morning, afternoon, evening)
- Trend lines per fact type over time
- A "Strongest" and "Weakest" fact type summary
This is useful for identifying specific cognitive patterns — for example, finding that you consistently miss number facts while performing well on names.
What is Adaptive Difficulty?
Adaptive difficulty (Tier C) monitors your rolling 7-session accuracy average. If your average exceeds 80% at your current difficulty, the app suggests moving up. If it falls below 50%, it suggests moving down. You can accept or dismiss the suggestion — the difficulty only changes if you agree.
What subscriptions are available?
- Ad-free (Tier B): a one-time purchase to remove ads permanently. Requires creating an account.
- Basic Subscription (Tier C): monthly or annual subscription. Unlocks cross-device sync, advanced analytics, adaptive difficulty, and daily push notification reminders.
- Premium Subscription (Tier D): monthly or annual. All Tier C features plus future premium capabilities (to be announced).
To subscribe, go to Profile > Subscribe or tap any gated feature to see the upgrade prompt.
Can I restore my purchase on a new device?
Yes. Sign in with the same account used when you purchased, then go to Profile > Settings > Restore Purchases. The app checks your App Store or Google Play receipts via RevenueCat and restores your tier. Cloud sync (Tier C/D) then pulls your session history to the new device.
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