# Lively Letters - Phonics — Phonemic Awareness & Skills > Multisensory phonics and phonemic awareness training for reading and spelling. (iPhone/iPad app by Telian-Cas Learning Concepts Inc.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lively-letters-phonics/id1217971701 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Telian-Cas Learning Concepts Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1217971700) - Category: Education, Games - Price: $34.99 - Rating: 4.30/5 from 115 App Store ratings · 44 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 10.0 · 284 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2017-05-10 - Data updated: 2026-09-02 - Monetization: paid - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lively-letters-phonics/id1217971701/reviews.md ## What is Lively Letters? See why this app immediately hit the #1 spot for Paid Educational Apps on the App Store! Filled with valuable program content, it was originally designed to sell for $59.99. Due to the overwhelming response, the authors have kept it at its low introductory price. As powerful as it is fun, this uniquely engaging teaching tool is changing lives one letter at a time! Lively Letters – Phonemic Awareness and Phonics simultaneously trains critical skills for reading, spelling, and pronunciation of English language sounds. Unlike most phonics apps, this one is actually teaching, as opposed to just drilling. With proven strategies such as memory tricks, mouth and hand cues, humorous stories (English and Spanish), colorful pictures of characters embedded into letters, and songs, this multisensory, structured approach has been shown to help students of all ages and abilities, including the most resistant learners and those learning English as a second language. Targeting phonemic (sound) awareness, phonics, and speech production, the three unique teaching activities are based on the key techniques of the world-renowned, research-based program, Lively Letters, created by speech language pathologist, Nancy Telian, MS, CCC-SLP, and published by Reading with TLC. Used by over 15 million students and 75 thousand teachers globally since 1990, the Lively Letters program has been shown to quickly boost skills. This long-awaited app, created by Penny Castagnozzi and Nancy Telian, can be used successfully on its own or as a supplement to the Lively Letters program materials. It can also be implemented by those with no Lively Letters experience. Although many aspects of this app can be performed independently by students, best gains will be made with some instructor/parent involvement. Some adults and older students can use it independently. The app includes progress monitoring and three activities: Flashing, Tracking, and Matching. Choose which letters and what types of letters to use (i.e., Lively Letters pictures versus plain letters and lowercase versus uppercase letters). Record and play back the students’ voices. Flashing: This activity introduces, drills, and tests the letter sound associations for the 44 English speech sounds, using the multisensory cueing methods that Lively Letters is so famous for. As the chosen letters flash in, students can hear the associated sound, the song, and the story (narrated in English by Marianne Nice, MS, CCC-SLP, or in Spanish by Angela Livingston, MS,CCC-SLP, TSSLD, BE). They can also see photos of the hand and mouth cues can practice printing. Tracking: In this activity, students engage in the powerful Lively Letters manipulative word play, (tracking) activities. Here you simultaneously train phonemic awareness and phonics, while further practicing letter sounds and speech production. Students have fun building the critical phonemic awareness skills of sound blending, segmenting, and manipulation while learning how to sound out words of increasing length and difficulty for reading and spelling. In response to prompts from the instructor or parent, the student reads and spells new words, based on letter or sound changes made by the instructor. Students can enjoy the Lively Letters “Human - Alien” game where they choose whether each word was a real or nonsense word. Some alternate uses of the Tracking Activity include receptive drilling, printing of the letters, spelling to dictation, marking letter patterns, and dividing multisyllable words. Matching: Here’s a playful way to practice letter sound associations and speech production skills. This activity also offers opportunities to associate uppercase to lowercase letters and to transition from Lively Letters pictures to plain letters. Students have fun playing the classic Match Game, now using the letters and letter types chosen. Let the fun begin! Learn more about Lively Letters by visiting www.readingwithtlc.com. ## Key features - Multisensory learning techniques - Phonemic awareness training - Phonics instruction - Reading and spelling skill development - Speech sound pronunciation - Progress monitoring ## Chart rankings - #101 in Top Paid · Education (US App Store) ## What do users think of Lively Letters? Overall sentiment: mixed **Pros** - 👍 Great for learning letter sounds - 👍 Engaging for children - 👍 Useful for SLPs and teachers - 👍 Effective for phonological awareness - 👍 Evidence-based program - 👍 Good for remote learning - 👍 Easy to use with Zoom - 👍 Supports English Language Learners - 👍 Fun for kids - 👍 Helps with decoding/encoding - 👍 Portable and accessible - 👍 Tracks student progress - 👍 Multi-sensory approach - 👍 Well-organized content - 👍 Visually pleasing activities - 👍 Highly motivating for students **Cons** - 👎 Overpriced - 👎 Outdated interface - 👎 Not interactive enough - 👎 Too many choices/transitions - 👎 Takes too long to use - 👎 Limited letter selection - 👎 Not engaging for older students - 👎 Waste of money for some **Commonly reported bugs** - Sound doesn't work - Audio issues on iPhone - App volume not working - Flash cards not playing - Tracking activity requires tapping, not dragging **Most requested features** - Ability to pause story/song - Drag and drop letters in tracking activity - More letters included - Option to try free version ## Recent user reviews (10 of 44) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lively-letters-phonics/id1217971701/reviews.md ### 2/5 — Just ok *2023-08-10, version 1.5.1* I think this app could be so much improved. I really wanted just to be able to do flashcards as needed but there’s a whole process, you can’t just easily go from one to another, there’s too much music and transitions between screens, too many choices to be made and it just seems to take too long for everything. On a school caseload, things need to be much more efficient. I’m kind of bummed and I guess I’ll just be using my regular lively letter letter cards instead. ### 1/5 — Waste of Money *2022-12-03, version 1.5.1* Not interactive, not engaging and the sound doesn’t even work. I want my money back. ### 1/5 — Overpriced and outdated *2022-08-24, version 1.5.1* This app is overpriced and outdated. The sound doesn’t work. It is not engaging or educationally beneficial for students. It is a waste of money. There is no support offered online. ### 5/5 — Great for digital learning *2020-07-21, version 1.5.1* This app was a huge help during remote learning with the ability to use the lively letters on screen! The various options for matching and tracking activities can be tailored to the needs of different learners. ### 5/5 — Great app for learning letter sounds! *2020-07-20, version 1.5.1* This is such a great app for learning letter sounds and working on sound manipulation skills. It contains all of Lively Letter stories and sounds for each letter, plus built in activities for practice deciding and encoding. A great value for your money! Only two things I wish were different (maybe you will consider for future updates!!): 1. I wish there were a way to pause the story or song and then start playing again in the same place you left off. Especially when the story asks questions, I would love to pause and wait for the child to answer. 2. I wish you could drag the letters directly to the place you want them in the tracking activity. As it is now you have to tap once and it goes to the final position, then you drag it to the correct location. Overall, this is an excellent app and you won’t be disappointed!! ### 5/5 — Perfect for SLPs!! *2020-07-20, version 1.5.1* My patients love the app and I love having all of the stories at my fingertips for review. Best home program for carryover! ### 5/5 — The most fun you will have teaching sound - letter correspondence *2020-07-17, version 1.5.1* Lively letters is hands down the most fun you will have teaching sound- letter correspondence. It follows evidence - based practice and engages children in all aspects of phonological awareness. Don’t miss out on this opportunity ### 5/5 — Amazing App! *2020-07-17, version 1.5.1* I started using Lively Letters as an elementary teacher years ago and now use the app as a speech-language pathologist. I could not imagine a session without the app. It is fun and engaging! I am a true believer of embedded pictures to aide the learning process and Lively Letters does this seamlessly. ### 5/5 — Easy access *2020-07-17, version 1.5.1* I like how this app allows selection of specific sounds to address. ### 5/5 — Great Resource!! *2020-07-17, version 1.5.1* I started using this App during remote learning. This is so easy to use with Zoom meetings. The students were engaged and the activities helped to keep the lesson moving. ## Frequently asked questions about Lively Letters ### What does Lively Letters teach? Lively Letters teaches phonemic awareness and phonics, focusing on the English language sounds. It aims to improve skills in reading, spelling, and pronunciation through a multisensory, structured approach. ### What are the key features of the app? The app includes three main activities: Flashing, Tracking, and Matching. It utilizes memory tricks, mouth and hand cues, humorous stories, colorful pictures, and songs to teach letter-sound associations and phonemic awareness skills like blending and segmenting. ### How much does Lively Letters cost? The app is a paid application. It was originally designed to sell for a higher price but is currently available at a low introductory price due to its overwhelming response. ### What devices is Lively Letters compatible with? While specific device compatibility is not detailed, the application is designed for mobile use, suggesting it is available on iOS and Android platforms. Users can check their respective app stores for exact compatibility information. ### Who can benefit from using Lively Letters? This app is beneficial for students of all ages and abilities, including those who are resistant learners or learning English as a second language. It can be used independently by older students or with involvement from parents or instructors. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.5.1 — 2020-05-04 - Minor bug fixes ### 1.5 — 2019-11-20 - Addresses issue with sounds in Matching Game on select devices. ### 1.4 — 2019-06-27 - Fixes user login issue. Thank you for supporting Lively Letters! ### 1.3 — 2019-03-04 - Parents and teachers now have the ability to edit and delete student information - Enhanced matching game, adding sounds after flipping cards - Easy access to additional Lively Letters resources ### 1.2.1 — 2018-11-13 - Bug fixes and performance enhancements. ## Apps similar to Lively Letters | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Kids ABC Phonics Tracing Games](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kids-abc-phonics-tracing-games/id1482752587) | 4.5 (6,498) | Free | Education | | [ABC Games & Toddler Alphabet](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abc-games-and-toddler-alphabet/id1599052124) | 4.1 (1,740) | Free | Education | | [ABC Kids - Tracing & Phonics](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abc-kids-tracing-and-phonics/id1112482869) | 4.5 (32,366) | Free | Education | | [ABC: Learning Games for Kids](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abc-learning-games-for-kids/id6447961749) | 4.2 (2,932) | Free | Education | | [ABC Alphabet Games for Kids](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abc-alphabet-games-for-kids/id1453443199) | 4.4 (6,566) | Free | Education | | [ABC Phonics Games for Girls!](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/abc-phonics-games-for-girls/id1561749038) | 4.6 (838) | Free | Education | --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-02.*