Comparison

Card Talk vs Abacus Practice

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

Head to head
About

Card Talk

This app uses visual cards with voice support to aid children with verbal communication difficulties. It helps users express emotions and intentions while learning vocabulary and grammar. Users can also create custom cards with their own images and recordings.

Highlights
  • 200 everyday use cards with voice
  • Multi-language support
  • Create custom cards with images and recordings
  • Limited card choices for initial learning
  • No advertisements
Features
Read full description

Card Talk supports communication with cards for children who have difficulties in verbal communication. You can indicate your emotion/intention, and learn vocabularies and grammar at the same time. This app was developed from the actual cards used in LITALICO classrooms. Now everybody can use these special cards to learn communication anywhere, at anytime. The app has been improved over and over based on the feedbacks from classrooms. *LITALICO classrooms are run by teachers and professors who specialize in kids development and education. Characteristics of this app: • All 200 cards for everyday use include voice sound. • The app supports multiple languages so you can switch to whichever language you want to learn. • You can make your original card with original picture and recording. • Choices of cards may be limited so it also fits in initial learning. • NO Advertisements are displayed so there is no visual destruction and kids can use it safely. Please feel free to notify us! app-support@litalico.co.jp Hope you enjoy our app. Thank you!

About

Abacus Practice

Practice abacus, mental arithmetic, and calculation skills on your iPhone or iPad. Features a realistic abacus interface for various exercises, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and flash calculations. Track your progress and review your performance over time.

Highlights
  • Realistic abacus interface
  • Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, division
  • Flash and slip calculations
  • Customizable problem generation
  • Practice history and performance records
  • Adjustable settings for sound, vibration, and left-handed mode
Features
Read full description

Build an answer with beads. Check it, then try your mistakes again. Abacus Practice brings Japanese soroban and mental arithmetic practice to iPhone and iPad. Use the on-screen abacus, work with your own physical soroban, or answer mentally. LEARN AND PRACTICE • 16 introductory lessons with bead movement demonstrations • Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division • Flash mental arithmetic with adjustable speed and column-style drills • Answer checking, per-question results and mistake-only review • Start another session with your previous practice settings CREATE YOUR OWN DRILLS Generate problems from selected conditions and practice them in the app. Timed mock exams show answer progress and scores by subject. These are practice formats based on Japanese soroban exams, not official examinations or a guarantee of passing. FIND YOUR FAVORITE BEADS The standard wooden beads have a detailed natural texture. Pro adds skins including springy mint Jelly and transparent Glass, each with a distinct feel and sound. Try extra skins in the interactive preview before purchase. Sound, haptics and left-handed layout are adjustable. FREE AND PRO Introductory lessons, basic practice, a free abacus, and selected problem-generation and mock-exam options are available free. A one-time Pro purchase unlocks expanded practice conditions, advanced problem generation, PDF worksheet creation and sharing, additional exam levels, and extra skins. There is no monthly subscription. No account or ads. Practice records are stored on this device. Now available in Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean. Screens, all 16 introductory lessons, instructions, purchases and restore, practice history and PDFs follow your app language. Change it directly in Settings > App language inside the app; your choice applies immediately. There are six skins in total: standard Amber is free; Pro adds Walnut, Red & Ivory, Indigo, Jelly and Glass. The free abacus uses a large landscape board with minimal controls so you can focus on moving the beads.

Screenshots

Card Talk4 screens
Abacus Practice4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Card Talk at Free against Abacus Practice's $0.99. Card Talk also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Abacus Practice's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 68%). On ads, in-app purchases, 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

Card Talk is free to download; Abacus Practice costs $0.99 up front. Card Talk sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Abacus Practice sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Card Talk ships an update every 2 weeks, Abacus Practice every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Card Talk versus Abacus Practice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCard TalkAbacus Practice
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.5 (269 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews68.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings269 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLITALICO Inc.SMART BIT K.K

Customer experience

Card Talk

All ratings269 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews209 reviews
Positive68.4%
Neutral15.8%
Negative15.8%

Abacus Practice

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Card Talk

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Sound does not play on any cards (most critical issue)
  • App screen does not fit properly on iPhone X and newer models
  • Bottom navigation bar overlaps with card selection area
  • App crashes when scrolling through categories
  • Cards not clickable in certain screen areas
Show 7 more
  • Audio works on iPhone but not on iPad
  • Custom voice recordings not playing back
  • App requires earphones to produce sound
  • Frequent audio dropout issues
  • App not compatible with iOS versions from past 5+ years
  • Screen rotation not properly disabled despite settings
  • Family sharing does not sync custom cards between devices

Requested features

20 requests
  • Fix audio/sound playback issues
  • Increase maximum deck size beyond 8 cards
  • Add data synchronization and cloud backup across devices
  • Enable card categorization and folder organization
  • Allow editing and re-recording of existing cards
Show 15 more
  • Increase number of custom cards allowed
  • Add ability to disable or hide preset cards
  • Implement full-screen card enlargement option
  • Add text-to-speech functionality for custom cards
  • Provide adjustable speech speed and voice options
  • Add more language options (Cantonese, Thai, etc.)
  • Improve screen optimization for all iPhone models
  • Add phrase/sentence saving functionality
  • Enable family sharing and multi-device syncing
  • Add video card support in addition to pictures
  • Implement card history/logging feature
  • Add password protection for card editing
  • Increase grid display options beyond 3 columns
  • Add more diverse preset card categories
  • Implement tutorial/help documentation

Abacus Practice

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Card Talk

One-time1
  • All Functions$2.99
1 purchases

Abacus Practice

One-time1
  • Proアンロック$2.99

Questions

Is Card Talk free?
Card Talk is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Abacus Practice free?
Abacus Practice costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do Card Talk or Abacus Practice have ads?
Neither Card Talk nor Abacus Practice shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Card Talk or Abacus Practice?
Card Talk ships an update every 2 weeks, and Abacus Practice every 4 months. Most recently, Card Talk was updated on October 17, 2026 and Abacus Practice on October 16, 2026.

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