Can understand the accent
La k of practice
Response from developer
Hi. Thanks for the feedback. We offer both spelling test and word search options, as well as a "word of the day" feature and the ability for you to create custom tests with your own audio and own words if you want to. But this is a "spelling test" app and the features within it are very clearly laid out in the app description. The app allows practice and testing, but it doesn't teach children *how* to spell - it lets them practice a given set of words and is intented as a tool to use alongside teaching / school. Nevertheless, if you have any specific requests for features you'd like to see us add in a future update, then we'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail info@keystagefun.co.uk with any specific requests.
Not user friendly
Response from developer
Hi there. Thanks for your comments. Our app does have a good number of features and is aimed at being usable by quite a wide age range (anywhere from 5 to 12 years old or so), which means a little bit of time setting things up so it works for your children is going to be necessary. However, that process has been designed to be intuituve, so obviously I'm sorry to hear that you've found it otherwise. If you have time, it would really help if you'd e-mail us on info@keystagefun.co.uk and lay out exactly what you struggled with. This isn't feedback we've had in general and we've worked hard to make the process of setting up child accounts, assigning spelling lists and viewing children's spelling scores as easy as possible, but if it was so difficult for you as to warrant a 1 star review (which basically means it's as bad as it gets - and I don't believe that's the case obviously) then we'd like to know why you felt that way and try to make improvements if we feel the things you've laid out can be improved. If you don't have time to get in touch, or have moved on to a different product, then I understand. But our approach to any negative feedback is to try and learn from it and improve our apps for other people too, so if you do have the time to let us know more, it would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks. Ian, KeyStageFun. info@keystagefun.co.uk
Accents
Response from developer
Thanks for your review and feedback. We've had a few US customers mention this. We're a UK company and 90% of our customers are based in the UK, so it's very deliberate that the primary accent we provide within the app is a UK accent. Even here though, we have huge variations in accent between regions. However, the app gives parents the option to record their own voice saying each spelling word - and this was the main way we always intended the app to be used. If you have time to do so, recording your own audio for each word can make it a lot more fun for your child. It means you can give them the exact context for a word (making it part of a funny sentence, or specifically related to them and their interests) and personalised to what you know about how they best learn. This is quick and easy to do via the app. Obviously we're not suggesting a parent record all 10,000 or so of the words we already include within the app in one go! But most children learn in blocks of words - certainly here in the UK the standard approach is to introduce 15-20 new words at a time each week. Recording that number of words once a week isn't going to take long at all, but it's not for everyone, and if that isn't something you have time to do, then I'd recommend looking for an alternative solution that provides words in a US accent that your child is comfortable with. There are plenty of options out there that are more US-centric. At some stage we may add a generic US accent, but I suspect this will only resolve the issue for customers in certain regions, due to the enormous difference in regional accents throughout the USA. Thanks for reaching out, and I hope you find something that works for your child.
Not for American English
Response from developer
Hi there. The app does feature a UK accent, which given we're based in the UK and 90% or so of our customers are based in the UK, is understandable (and deliberate). However - the app gives parents the option to record their own voice saying each spelling word - and this was the main way we always intended the app to be used. If you have time to do so, recording your own audio for each word can make it a lot more fun for your child. It means you can give them the exact context for a word (making it part of a funny sentence, or specifically related to them and their interests) and personalised to what you know about how they best learn. This is quick and easy to do via the app. If that's something you don't want to do, then I'd recommend looking for an alternative solution that provides words in a US accent that your child is comfortable with. There are plenty of options out there that are more US-centric. At some stage we may add a generic US accent, but I suspect this will only resolve the issue for customers in certain regions, due to the enormous difference in regional accents throughout the USA. Thanks for reaching out, and I hope you find something that works for your child. Thanks. Ian, KeyStageFun.
Pretty good, but…
Response from developer
Thanks for your review and feedback. Totally get that it would be ideal for everyone to have the words available in their own accents / language. But the work involved in doing that is beyond the scope of what a reasonably small company like us can realistically manage. Instead, we decided to provide the ability for parents and teachers to record their own audio for each spelling word in the app - if their child isn't used to a British accent. It's quick and easy for you to record your own audio using the app and makes the app a lot more fun for your child when they hear your voice rather than a generic voice - you can add funny sentences for context, which can also make learning more enjoyable. It's possible at some stage we'll add a generic US voice option, but realistically (and we've found this in the UK already), with such huge variations in accents even within the same country, it's never going to be perfect for everyone in the way recording the audio yourself will be.
Needs more practice games
Response from developer
Hi. Thanks for your positive review. Really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts. We're a bit confused on some of what you've said though, as there are various different ways to practice words. You have the regular "spelling test" type game, but also word searches, which allow a secondary way of familiarising with spelling lists, as well as a couple of other things like the "Word of the Day" feature, that allows children to see / learn a new word every day. We are always looking at new ways of allowing practice, but one of the things we're keen to avoid is taking away from the core practice of being asked to spell words in a "spelling test" format. Thanks for the feedback however - we'll certainly bear in mind the idea of adding in some more types of game or ways of presenting the existing games that make the app more varied. All the best. KeyStageFun (info@keystagefun.co.uk)
Poor customer service
Not like it used to be
Response from developer
Hi, ------- Sorry to hear you've found some of the features of the new app frustrating. I'll do my best to address them. -------> "Typeface hard to read" - we use the OpenDyslexic font throughout, which is specifically aimed at being easier for children to read, especially children who struggle with dyslexia. All our research suggested this was a better choice as the primary font for the app. We have included an alternative when spelling words (a cursive font) and we are looking at adding a second font option for people who don't want to use the OpenDyslexic option. -------> "No autofill password" - the app is used in schools, multi-child households and other places where more than one child will use the app on different devices. Having auto-login for children would mean they were constantly logging into other children's accounts (although below for our solution to this) and having auto-login for adults would mean children were able to log in to the parent area (and believe us, this used to happen far more often than you'd think with our older app) and delete other children's accounts or add rude words into spelling tests etc. -------> "Too many logins required" - we have now allowed (in the most recent update) you to choose one child account on any specific device to autofill the username and password. We only recommend using this on devices where one child uses their own device. -------> "More complicated app than it used to be when it was free" - it was never free and there has never been a free version of this app or any other Squeebles app, so I'm not sure what you're referring to here. The app is a subscription-based app because, quite simply, we couldn't run it if it wasn't. This app allows login on multiple devices, saving all progress to the cloud. This means server costs, development costs and support costs that couldn't be covered by a small one-off payment. What the app offers, for less than the cost of a takeaway coffee a month, is something we feel is incredible value for money. ------- Thanks for taking the time to give your thoughts. I hope the updates we've made to improve the login process and the answers above might mean you revisit the app and perhaps also your star-rating. Reviews and ratings are hugely important to us. Thank you.
SQUEEBLES APPS ARE AMAZING!!!!!
Thank you so much for creating squeebles, I hope other people can experience the squeebles apps and enjoy them as much as I did as a kid.
Thanks again!
Response from developer
Thank you for the review! It's great to hear how much you're enjoying the app and that Squeebles has been a part of your educational journey.
What happened
Great idea, and very helpful developers
Response from developer
Issue Resolved: Hi Lisa. Sorry about this and thank you for raising it. We did find around 10 words out of over 8500 included where the audio had playback issues on some devices. You were incredibly unlucky to use even one of these in your first spelling list, let alone three! We have now re-uploaded all audio and checked every single one of the 8670 included words and all are present and correct. Please check your e-mail for our full response and once again, huge apologies. Ian, KeyStageFun. info@keystagefun.co.uk
