Support
How can we help?
Questions before launch, or after it, come straight to the people who make Kol Aliyah.
Common questions
When will Kol Aliyah be available?
We’re getting ready to launch on the App Store for iPhone. Ask to be told and we’ll write to you once, when it’s out.
Which phones does it work on?
iPhone.
Which tunes does it chant?
Two: Sephardic and Ashkenazi, both with Israeli pronunciation, chanted by real readers. There is also a plain reading, Spoken, for learning the words first. Pick your community’s tune and change it any time. Other traditions are not included yet.
How does it know what my son will read?
Enter the Bar Mitzvah date and where it will be. The weekly readings in Israel and abroad can differ, so the place matters. Kol Aliyah finds the portion and its Haftarah for that day; you choose his aliyah and see its exact verses.
Do we still need a tutor?
Kol Aliyah plays recordings of real readers reading and chanting the portion. It is a practice partner; your rabbi or tutor decides how your community reads and when he is ready.
Whose voices are these?
The Torah readings are recordings of real readers. The Haftarah is read by real readers wherever a recording exists. Where no recording exists, a synthesised voice reads it: the blessings, and some Haftarah readings. The app says so. Who the readers are, and the licences, are on the sources page.
Is the Haftarah included?
Yes, the Haftarah of the weekly portion, with its blessings, is in the app. Holiday and Rosh Chodesh readings, and the Haftarot of the special Shabbatot, are not in this version.
Does the test grade his chanting?
It checks the words: he reads a verse alone and the app marks each word it heard right. It does not grade the melody or every vowel yet.
What does it cost?
Kol Aliyah is free to download, with the whole setup, the blessings and the opening verses free. A subscription for one student opens the rest of the verses and the Haftarah, with the test and the parents’ report: $24.99 a month or $89.99 every 6 months (US prices; the app shows yours before you subscribe). It renews automatically until you cancel in Settings, your name, Subscriptions. There is no free trial.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Yes. Once his portion is on the phone, practice works offline.
What happens to my son’s recordings?
They stay on the phone. The app doesn’t upload them, and the test listens on the phone itself. See the privacy policy for the full picture.
A word sounds wrong. What should I do?
Email us the portion, the verse and the word. We check the text, the timing and the cut, and fix those in an update. The recordings are the readers’ own, so we do not change how they read.