Smart Phonics vs First Phonics
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smart Phonics
This educational series systematically introduces basic phonics skills to young learners of English as a Foreign Language. It equips children with essential reading and writing tools through engaging stories and songs that incorporate common sight words.
- Systematic phonics introduction
- Basic reading and writing tools
- Sight words integration
- Phonics stories and songs
- Five-book series
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Smart Phonics is an easy-to-teach phonics series developed for elementary school children learning English as a Foreign Language. Throughout the five books series, basic phonics skills are introduced in a simple and systematic way while providing children with efficient tools for basic reading and writing. Smart Phonics also introduces a great number of common sight words embedded in fun phonics stories and songs. In this way, children can run sight words naturally and effortlessly.
First Phonics
This educational app helps young children learn English phonics through interactive games, animations, and storybooks. It covers alphabet sounds, word recognition, and reading skills across multiple levels.
- Alphabet letter sound videos
- Phonics word flashcards
- Interactive skill-building activities
- Chants and songs for practice
- Review games
- Alphabet tracing
- Phonics storybooks
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*Spotlight on First Phonics* ■ Overview From learning the alphabet letters to reading stories! Bricks Spotlight on First Phonics, a program designed for children studying English for the first time, has a mobile app which makes it easy and fun to study phonics. With animations, chants, games, storybooks, and a variety of other components, children can study phonics in ways which cater to a multitude of learning styles. *Visit the Bricks website below for further information. https://www.hibricks.com ■ Features Student Book: Level 1 to Level 5 1. - Sound: Learning the alphabet letter sounds through videos - Flashcard: Learning phonics words through sounds and images - Activity: Building phonics skills through various activities - Chant: Practicing letter-sound recognition skills through singing chants - Game: Playing games to review letters and sounds 2. - Alphabet Chant: Learning the alphabet letters and sounds through a video - Alphabet Tracing: Learning to write each letter of the alphabet by tracing it Storybook: Level 1 to Level 5 1. Story: Reading a collection of stories with phonics words 2. Song: Viewing story animations and joining along with songs ■ How to acquire and apply: 1. Install the app and download the appropriate level. 2. Click on the level, and children can learn phonics with the multi-content provided.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Smart Phonics at 46% against First Phonics's 9%. First Phonics's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 5 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
Smart Phonics ships an update every 5 months, First Phonics every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on June 8, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smart Phonics | First Phonics |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 46.3% of reviews — better | 8.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 474 MB | 506 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | e-future Co., Ltd. | Bricks Education |
Customer experience
Smart Phonics
First Phonics
In-app purchases
Smart Phonics
No in-app purchases
First Phonics
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Smart Phonics free?
Is First Phonics free?
Do Smart Phonics or First Phonics have ads?
Which is updated more often, Smart Phonics or First Phonics?
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