# Colored Dots vs Cengage Read

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Colored Dots at 65% against Cengage Read's 20%. Colored Dots also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and iOS requirement (7.0 vs 18). Cengage Read's advantage is ratings volume (4K vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Colored Dots holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cengage Read has 4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Colored Dots's written reviews are positive against 20% of Cengage Read's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on August 15, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Colored Dots | Cengage Read |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/colored-dots-by-ukids/id1044534100/reviews)** | [4.2 (4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cengage-read/id6444260893/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **4K** |
| Positive reviews | **65.0% of reviews** | 19.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 226 MB | 46 MB |
| Requires iOS | **7.0** | 18 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [北京优趣时光文化科技有限公司](https://appshunter.io/developer/1441493798) | [Cengage Learning](https://appshunter.io/developer/371168145) |

## What reviewers say

### Colored Dots

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/colored-dots-by-ukids/id1044534100)

This interactive story app for young children explores the world of colors and their connections to nature, geography, and daily life. It aims to spark curiosity, develop logical thinking, and foster emotional intelligence through engaging visuals and gameplay.

**Highlights:** Interactive color cognition story, Explores color relationships with nature and life, Develops intelligence and emotions, Fresh and vivid images, Enhances curiosity and logical thinking, Includes color vision detection charts

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### Cengage Read

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cengage-read/id6444260893)

Access and study your digital textbooks from anywhere. This app allows students to read, take notes, highlight, bookmark, and use text-to-speech for a flexible learning experience on the go.

**Highlights:** Read eTextbooks on the go, Take notes and highlight, Bookmark important sections, Text-to-speech functionality, Search keywords, Navigate via table of contents

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Easy to read textbooks
- 🚀 Convenient for on-the-go learning
- 👍 Useful for listening to audio while commuting
- 👍 Allows highlighting and note-taking

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and glitchy
- 🔥 Poor text formatting and layout
- 👎 Difficult to navigate and use
- 🔒 Login and account issues
- 🔍 Missing key features like split-screen and assignment tracking

**Reported bugs**

- Frequent crashes and sign-outs
- Inconsistent highlighting and note-taking functionality
- Inability to view full pages and content
- Text-to-speech feature not working properly

**Requested features**

- Improve text formatting and layout
- Add split-screen support for note-taking
- Enhance accessibility features like text-to-speech
- Integrate assignment and due date tracking


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Colored Dots free?

Colored Dots is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Cengage Read free?

Cengage Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Colored Dots or Cengage Read?

Colored Dots is rated higher. Colored Dots averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Cengage Read averages 4.2 from 4K ratings.

### Do Colored Dots or Cengage Read have ads?

Neither Colored Dots nor Cengage Read shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Colored Dots or Cengage Read?

Colored Dots ships an update every 2 months, and Cengage Read every 2 months. Most recently, Colored Dots was updated on August 15, 2026 and Cengage Read on September 23, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*