Comparison

Phonics Playtime vs Letter Formation

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Phonics Playtime

This app offers over 10 engaging Jolly Phonics games designed to help children master phonetic sounds. With over 2000 exercises and adjustable difficulty, it enhances cognitive skills through playful learning experiences. It's optimized for iOS devices and features a child-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • 10 unique phonics activities
  • Over 2000 exercises
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Sticker rewards system
  • Child-friendly interface
  • Jolly Phonics system based
  • Fully voiced pronunciation
Features
Read full description

Explore over 10 exciting Jolly Phonics activities that turn phonics learning into a playful adventure, perfect for young learners and teachers alike. Just like our other phonics apps, Phonics Playtime is designed to help children master phonetic sounds instead of just focusing on the alphabet. By completing exercises and practicing different phonics groups, Phonics Playtime enhances your child’s cognitive skills through engaging and playful experiences. With over 2000 unique exercises carefully crafted to teach various phonics sounds and groups, Phonics Playtime allows children to complete activities within specific phonics sets or tackle randomized exercises at easy, medium, hard, or mixed difficulty levels. Phonics Playtime is optimized for iPad and iPhone devices running iOS 12.0 or higher. Features: • 10 unique phonics activities, each with 3 levels of difficulty. • Over 650 phonics pictures and 800 phonics words categorized by difficulty level. • Earn fun stickers for achievements on the sticker board. • Child-friendly interface with large buttons and simple navigation. • Choose to play by phonics group or jump into a quick play game. • Fully voiced with accurate phonics pronunciation by B.J. Rowling, cousin of J.K. Rowling. • Toggle between lowercase and uppercase phonics letters. • Based on the renowned Jolly Phonics system by Jolly Learning Ltd. • No in-app purchases, everything is included! • Vibrant graphics with support for all iOS devices running 12.0 or higher. Included Activities: • Find the Phonic. • Which Phonic Did You Hear? • Sort the Phonics Words. • Unscramble the Word. • Which Word Sounds Like ___? • Find the Odd One Out. • Match the Pictures with the Right Shadow • Find the Missing Phonic. • Pop the Phonics Balloons. • Which Word Did You Hear?

About

Letter Formation

This educational game teaches preschoolers and kindergarteners how to write letters and numbers with correct formation. It uses animations and tracing exercises to guide children, focusing on independent learning without auto-correction. The app also introduces concepts of letter sizing and placement within four-line writing grids.

Highlights
  • Alphabet and number tracing
  • Correct letter formation guidance
  • Four-line writing practice
  • Pre-writing fine motor skill exercises
  • Uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Chicken, Giraffe, and Monkey letter guides
Read full description

Fun English alphabet and number tracing game for preschool & kindergarten kids! Learn how to write with correct formation. Are you having trouble teaching your preschooler and kindergarten children how to write letters and numbers with proper formation? The UptoSix Letter Formation App is perfect for your child. This app is fun, engaging, and developed by experienced teachers to teach your children how to write. Kids can watch and learn how to write correctly. Unlike other apps, this does not auto-correct a child’s writing. Children really learn to Write ABCs and 123s. Preschool and Kindergarten children must learn to write letters and numbers with correct formation. Once they have learned how to construct letters or numbers correctly, they need to know about the sizing and placement of the letters so that the handwriting looks neat and legible. It is a gradual process, and children need guidance for this. Otherwise, children are likely to pick the wrong way of writing, which is very difficult to correct later. LETTERS AND NUMBERS An animation repeatedly plays to show the proper letter and number formation. Children watch the animation and try tracing independently on the big red letter. A stylus or a finger can be used to trace. Tracing with a finger is similar to writing on a sand tray with a finger or on a slate with water. Writing with a stylus is similar to writing with a pencil on paper. So kids start with finger tracing and gradually progress to paper-pencil writing. HOW THE APP IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER APP The app does not auto-correct the writing. This app does not give any false sense of achievement to the children. Accurate finger control happens, and children learn to write in a fun and engaging way. FOUR LINES WRITING Once children have perfected letter formation, they must learn about letter sizing and spacing and keep their writing within the designated space of the page. Kindergarten children learn to use the four lines on the page to guide the sizing of the letters. Chicken, giraffe, and monkey letters are useful for remembering which lines to put the letters on. CHICKEN LETTERS are small. They sit between the two middle blue lines. Like ‘a’, ‘c’, ‘s’. GIRAFFE LETTERS are tall. They have long necks; they touch the top red line. Like ‘b’. ‘d’, ‘h’. MONKEY LEYYERS have a tail that falls and touches the blue bottom line. Like ‘g’, ‘y’. Capital letters and numbers are all giraffe letters. PRE-WRITING SKILLS FOR FINE MOTOR SKILLS Children who need help with more finger control exercises can practice Pre-writing skills. By tracing different types of lines, they can master various finger movements. FEATURES - A colourful early education game that helps children learn to write -Uppercase and Lowercase Letters of the alphabet - Numbers - Chicken, Giraffe and Monkey letters -Four lines writing - Pre-writing skills -Smart interface helps kids focus on learning without accidentally exiting the game. We hope this app will help Kindergarteners and preschoolers to learn to write with PROPER FORMATION in a fun and engaging way. LEARN TO READ WITH PHONICS. CHECK THE UPTOSIX PHONICS APP FOR A SOLID FOUNDATION IN READING AND SPELLING. A PHONICS APP MADE BY TEACHERS

Screenshots

Phonics Playtime4 screens
Letter Formation4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Phonics Playtime at none against Letter Formation's 1. Phonics Playtime also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Letter Formation's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 40 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 86%). On price, ads, monetization model and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Letter Formation sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Phonics Playtime asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phonics Playtime ships an update every 40 months, Letter Formation every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Phonics Playtime versus Letter Formation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhonics PlaytimeLetter Formation
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 40 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBram Van DammeUPTOSIX KIDS PRIVATE LIMITED

Customer experience

Phonics Playtime

Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Letter Formation

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Phonics Playtime

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Letter Formation

One-time1
  • One payment to unlock all$34.99

Questions

Is Phonics Playtime free?
Phonics Playtime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Letter Formation free?
Letter Formation is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Phonics Playtime or Letter Formation have ads?
Neither Phonics Playtime nor Letter Formation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phonics Playtime or Letter Formation?
Phonics Playtime ships an update every 40 months, and Letter Formation every 9 days. Most recently, Phonics Playtime was updated on October 15, 2026 and Letter Formation on October 6, 2026.

Other comparisons