Skybrary User Reviews

Reading Is Fundamental, Inc.

Top reviews

Most RecentHighest RatedLowest Rated

No Reading Rainbow

I was hoping, when we got this app, that it would contain all the classic bits like Toothpaste Millionaire from Reading Rainbow - where most of us know Levar Burton from. Sadly, due to legal disputes, he can no longer post that content and Reading Rainbow itself has no content to speak of. I would have loved to share with our kids some of these stories from my childhood. That said, the app has loads of books and videos. Kids can read or have stories read to them. I originally tried to access the Skybrary from my PC through my browser with my daughter and just about nothing worked properly- hence the missing star. The books would not open and it crashed repeatedly. Everything so far works as it should on the iPads.

Show less

sukubi-kaia

7 years ago

Response from developer

Thank you for the feedback. Skybrary works on the Web on the latest versions of Chrome, Safari (on Mac), Firefox, IE 11 and IE11+ as well as on iPhone/iPad and requires iOS 6.0 or later. If you have any further questions, please email us at skybrary@rif.org.

Crashing

I've had this app for years now. My daughter and I love it. The last update hasn't fixed the crashing once you select an island. I tried clicking on app support and it takes me to a page that states "no longer exists". Please fix, we truly miss using this app.

Kimmarie78

7 years ago

Response from developer

We are sorry this was your experience. This issue is now fixed. If you have any further feedback, please email us at skybrary@rif.org.

Background noise

The background noise of the island won’t shut off and it’s incredibly annoying.

code_3_

7 years ago

Best Educational App

Me and my kids love 💗 this App. Way to go!

Godwillsetyoufree

7 years ago

Impressed

For 4.99 a month I am incredibly impressed with the book selection. As a preschool teacher I also appreciate the variety of fiction, nonfiction. Since much of early reading is about interest and developing a love for reading asking for the child’s interest is right on track.

HappyUserAutumm

7 years ago

Response from developer

Thank you! It's great to hear that you are loving the experience. We welcome hearing from our customers, so if there is anything in particular you would love to see (and is not there yet), please email us at skybrary@rif.org.

Not usable without Wifi

My family was very excited for Skybrary, but it has fallen short. The actual practical use of a educational distraction in the shopping cart, car, or on airplane travel is unavailable.

Overall the price tag is not worth the time I spend downloading and returning the 5 books you can check out. (My kid devoured those in two seconds. )

Show less

No Airplane Mode

7 years ago

Response from developer

We are sorry this was your experience. If you have any further feedback or questions, please email us at skybrary@rif.org.

The best

This is the best book app out there. My kids and I love it!

JEBS9747095618

7 years ago

Learning to read is a journey.

When you are looking back and your memories of reading are the worlds that were brought to life in your imagination, that's your reading journey. Now you're a guide to that journey with a beginning reader, I bet you want to guide this new journey to magical memories for your new young reader. This is THE cutting edge of creating that train depot that leads...anywhere.

Show less

kerrymosser

7 years ago

Response from developer

Could be so much better

I've backed this since the Kickstarter campaign and subscribed since the app was released. I really, really, really want to use this more, but I don't find my son and I using it all that much. Why?

Finding books is clunky. There is no listing of books by authors. Often how we find a new book is by reading a book by an author and liking it, then going and finding more of their books. Absolutely no way to do that here.

No search. There's a search button, but it tells you search is coming soon. It's been three years...

Only five books at a time. The backpack idea is cool, but come on. I should be able to add books to an endless list, like shows/movies in Netflix. Since you can only download five at a time, if my son rejects those five (or we read them all and want another), we have to find another book and wait for it to load, etc.

The sticker thing is still 'coming soon'. What's with putting buttons in your app that don't work?

Finally, and perhaps biggest to me, although admittedly my son probably doesn't care, the books are low quality images. Children's books that I buy on iBooks look gorgeous on the big iPad Pro. But in Skybrary they don't take up the whole screen and are all pixelated.

Offline reading. It's back now, but why was it ever gone?

I really wish this app was easier to use and more functional. I really support the mission behind it and want it to succeed. Unfortunately, as it is it doesn't feel like a cutting edge app and service.

Show less

rcniman

8 years ago

Fabulous program - issues with every version

Our kids love this program and use it at least 3 times a week. Our only issue is that each time there is an upgrade, we lose access to the program for a time until bugs are fixed. This round of upgrades means we cannot access any islands or read any books.

Charbleby

8 years ago

Response from developer

Hi Charbleby. We would love to help you with your issue. If you email us at support@rrkidz.com and send us your username/email, we can look into your issue. Thank you, The Skybrary team.