PBS KIDS ScratchJr vs Osmo Squiggle Magic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PBS KIDS ScratchJr
This app allows children ages 5-8 to create their own interactive stories and games using simple programming blocks. Kids can make characters move, jump, and sing, while learning foundational coding concepts and problem-solving skills. It features beloved PBS KIDS characters and offers creative tools like painting and voice recording.
- Create interactive stories and games
- Learn basic coding concepts
- Use colorful programming blocks
- Incorporate PBS KIDS characters
- Paint and edit characters/backgrounds
- Record voice for projects
- Utilize story starters for inspiration
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With PBS KIDS ScratchJr, kids can create their own interactive stories and games through programming activities and lessons. Learn the basics of coding through fun games and activities featuring characters from Wild Kratts, Lyla in the Loops, Odd Squad, Work it Out Wombats, and more! The storytelling possibilities are endless with this creative coding app for children ages 5-8. Children can express their creativity and make characters move, jump, dance and sing by snapping together colorful programming blocks. This app helps kids learn the foundation of programming and coding concepts in a way that’s fun and easy to learn. As kids play, they’ll learn to solve problems, design projects and express themselves creatively. With PBS KIDS ScratchJr, young kids can play and practice early school concepts at home. Download this fun educational app to get started! PBS KIDS ScratchJr Features: Programming Games - Colorful Programming Blocks teach basic coding concepts - Play and learn by snapping together the color-coded motion, sound, look, trigger and control blocks - Use programming concepts to create sequences that cause characters to animate - Program characters to interact in fun and exciting ways - Learn problem solving techniques PBS KIDS Characters and Backgrounds - 150+ PBS KIDS characters to mix and match - Children can create projects based on their favorite shows, including: - Wild Kratts - Lyla in the Loop - Work It Out, Wombats - Molly of Denali - Odd Squad - Arthur - Nature Cat - Peg +Cat - Ready Jet Go - And more! Paint Editing - Create characters and backgrounds - Painting made simple on illustration grids - Paint characters from PBS KIDS shows - Express creativity by painting Voice Recording - Use the recording tool to add sounds and your voice to projects - Voice characters from PBS KIDS shows Story Starters - Looking for inspiration? Eight Story Starters in the app are a great place to start - Each Story Starter features a different set of characters from PBS KIDS shows - Kids can create the stories they want with Story Starters - Encourage children to edit and complete the story however they’d like Introduce children to the basics of coding while having fun with PBS KIDS characters. Start learning, programming, painting, drawing and creating interactive stories. Download PBS KIDS ScratchJr today! PBS KIDS ScratchJr is only available for iPad. ---------------------- For more PBS KIDS apps, visit http://www.pbskids.org/apps For more on ScratchJr, visit http://www.scratchjr.org Privacy Across all media platforms, PBS KIDS is committed to creating a safe and secure environment for children and families and being transparent about what information is collected from users. To learn more about PBS KIDS' privacy policy, visit pbskids.org/privacy PBS KIDS ScratchJr is a collaboration between PBS, Scratch Foundation and the DevTech Research Group at Boston College. The PBS KIDS logo & PBS KIDS® PBS. Used with permission. ScratchJr logo is used with permission. PBS is not affiliated with Scratch Foundation and Boston College.
Osmo Squiggle Magic
Bring your drawings to life with interactive game pieces. This app fosters creativity, cognitive skills, and pre-drawing abilities through hands-on play. Designed for young children, it offers a fun and engaging learning experience.
- Create with physical sticks and rings
- Watch creations come alive on screen
- Develop cognitive skills
- Foster creativity and pre-drawing skills
- Hands-on learning experience
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Create anything you want using sticks & rings and then watch them come alive! Develop cognitive, creative, social and emotional skills with our game pieces designed for little hands. Foster creativity and pre-drawing skills, through this fun-filled exploration. *Play your favourite Osmo Squiggle Magic on both iPhone and iPad! Use your iPhone with the Osmo Base for iPad and Squiggle Magic Silicone Sticks & Rings pieces - each can be found at playosmo.com. *Requires the Osmo Base for iPad and Silicone Sticks & Rings pieces. Learn more by visiting www.playosmo.com. *Please see our device compatibility list here: https://support.playosmo.com/hc/articles/115010156067 ABOUT OSMO -- 21ST CENTURY PLAY AND LEARNING Osmo uses the screen to create a new healthy, hands-on learning experience that promotes creativity, problem-solving and social interaction. We do this with our reflective artificial intelligence technology.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Osmo Squiggle Magic at every 6 weeks against PBS KIDS ScratchJr's every 12 months. Osmo Squiggle Magic also leads on device support (3 vs 1). PBS KIDS ScratchJr's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (62% vs 41%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for PBS KIDS ScratchJr against 4.0 for Osmo Squiggle Magic. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 289 and 195 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of PBS KIDS ScratchJr's written reviews are positive against 41% of Osmo Squiggle Magic's.
PBS KIDS ScratchJr ships an update every 12 months, Osmo Squiggle Magic every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PBS KIDS ScratchJr | Osmo Squiggle Magic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (289 ratings) | 4.0 (195 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 62.0% of reviews — better | 41.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 289 — better | 195 |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 138 MB | 578 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PBS KIDS | Tangible Play |
Customer experience
PBS KIDS ScratchJr
Osmo Squiggle Magic
Bugs and requests
PBS KIDS ScratchJr
Reported bugs
13 issues- Home button causes character to revert to previous position
- Projects fail to load when creating or opening
- Voice recording feature not working or missing
- How-to tutorial videos don't play
- Drawing tool corrupts custom characters
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- Timer block doesn't function correctly
- Drag-and-drop programming blocks unresponsive
- App crashes when using certain blocks
- Dot character won't disappear from new slides
- Performance slowdown during projects
- Paint editor labels incorrectly aligned with icons
- Microphone feature doesn't show up or work
- Text rendering issues with fonts and handwriting
Requested features
13 requests- Add more PBS Kids shows (Let's Go Luna, Dinosaur Train, Elinor Wonders Why, Hero Elementary, Wordgirl, Rosie's Rules, Alma's Way)
- Unlimited pages/slides instead of 4-slide limit
- More coding blocks from original Scratch (text-to-speech, etc.)
- Custom character creation on blank canvas
- Level maker and world maker features
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- 2D and 3D options
- Editable PBS backgrounds
- Search bar for projects
- More sound effects (crashing, slipping, sliding)
- Page titles/naming system
- More characters for existing shows
- Offline functionality
- Bring back Kart Kingdom game
Osmo Squiggle Magic
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
PBS KIDS ScratchJr
No in-app purchases
Osmo Squiggle Magic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PBS KIDS ScratchJr free?
Is Osmo Squiggle Magic free?
Which has better reviews, PBS KIDS ScratchJr or Osmo Squiggle Magic?
Do PBS KIDS ScratchJr or Osmo Squiggle Magic have ads?
Which is updated more often, PBS KIDS ScratchJr or Osmo Squiggle Magic?
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