Comparison

Pre vs Handwriting Tracing Practice

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

Head to head
About

Pre

This app helps children develop fine motor skills and foundational pre-writing patterns essential for letter formation. It features interactive tracing activities with visual patterns and offers customizable settings for a focused learning experience.

Highlights
  • Interactive pattern tracing
  • Develops fine motor skills
  • Consolidates letter formation basis
  • Customizable pattern selection
  • Free-play mode option
  • Guidance on pre-writing development
Features
Read full description

As a precursor and support to developing good letter formation, pre-writing activities help children to build fine motor skills and the language to talk about shape and pattern. This app employs the foundational pre-writing patterns to develop and consolidate such skills. Select a pebble from the array and watch its pattern created by a fish in the rockpool. Trace the track of the bubbles, watching the pattern appear. Choose the same or a different pebble from the array to continue exploring. FEATURES - Select a pre-writing pattern to see it drawn on the rockpool’s surface - Trace over the bubble pattern to develop fine motor skills - Learn and consolidate the patterns that form the basis of clear letter formation - Use settings to disable stones to limit those on offer - Use settings to disable all patterns to provide a free-play space - A Read Me file with guidance on other ways to support the development of pre-writing patterns - No third-party advertising - No in-app purchases. WHO IS YELLOW DOOR? We are a publisher offering a range of inspiring and innovative literacy and maths resources. From multisensory games to interactive software, we combine hands-on learning with open-ended technology to promote communication and language, collaborative play and creativity across the curriculum. Our aim is to produce resources that are appealing to small hands and curious minds, and that will help build an engaging, playful learning environment for all young children. OTHER APPS FROM YELLOW DOOR Letter Formation App Letter Recognition App Come Alive Traditional Tales (6 individual apps) Come Alive Nursery Rhymes Come Alive Sound and Letters Come Alive Listening. REVIEW THE APP We would love to know what you think of our new app, so please leave a review!

About

Handwriting Tracing Practice

This app helps children learn and practice writing cursive and block letters. It offers interactive tracing, letter animations, and voice input/output for a fun, educational experience. Includes a memory game and customizable fonts.

Highlights
  • Cursive and block letter tracing
  • Letter writing animations
  • Voice input and text-to-speech
  • Memory game (Pairs)
  • Multiple cursive and block fonts
  • Text export to PDF
Features
Read full description

Is your child starting school and learning to write? Handwriting Tracing Practice helps children aged 6–8 master cursive and printed letters step by step — with the exact fonts used in schools. Children learn independently, at their own pace, using voice controls designed for little hands that can't type yet. No ads. No data collected. Safe for children. The app has three sections: Letters Browse cursive and printed letters and find any letter by voice. See all four forms at once — uppercase cursive, lowercase cursive, uppercase print, lowercase print. Play the writing animation to learn the correct stroke order. Then trace it yourself — move the virtual pen along the letter's lines to practise proper technique. Each letter plays its sound too, so children connect the shape with the phonics. Pairs The classic card-matching game — now with letters! Find pairs of identical letter cards against the clock. Choose whether to match lowercase with uppercase, or same-case pairs. Pick cursive or printed cards and set the difficulty by the number of cards. Learning letters has never felt more like play. Texts (SK/CZ Cursive font) Type or speak any text — it appears instantly in cursive handwriting. Listen to it read aloud. Play the Telephone game together: one person speaks a sentence, the other listens back and compares. Export your text as a cursive PDF, print it out, or send it as a handwritten letter to grandma. Available fonts in Settings: Cursive: D'Nealian · Handwriting Without Tears · Zaner Bloser · UK Cursive · SK/CZ Cursive Print: Manuscript · SK/CZ Print Download free and start exploring the world of handwriting today!

Screenshots

Handwriting Tracing Practice4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Handwriting Tracing Practice at Free against Pre's $19.99. Handwriting Tracing Practice also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 39 months). Pre's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.6). On ads 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

Handwriting Tracing Practice is free to download; Pre costs $19.99 up front. Handwriting Tracing Practice sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Pre asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pre ships an update every 39 months, Handwriting Tracing Practice weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pre versus Handwriting Tracing Practice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPreHandwriting Tracing Practice
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating—4.0 (50 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings—50 — better
Update frequencyEvery 39 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYellow Door LtdVladimir Zavada

Customer experience

Pre

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Handwriting Tracing Practice

All ratings50 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral12.0%
Negative18.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pre

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Handwriting Tracing Practice

One-time3
  • Entry functions$4.99
  • Advanced functions$6.99
  • Premium functions$8.99

Questions

Is Pre free?
Pre costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Handwriting Tracing Practice free?
Handwriting Tracing Practice is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pre or Handwriting Tracing Practice have ads?
Neither Pre nor Handwriting Tracing Practice shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pre or Handwriting Tracing Practice?
Pre ships an update every 39 months, and Handwriting Tracing Practice weekly. Most recently, Pre was updated on October 21, 2026 and Handwriting Tracing Practice on October 24, 2026.

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