Comparison

Writing Wizard vs The Reading Bug

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

Head to head
About

Writing Wizard

This app helps children learn to trace letters, numbers, and words with a fun, motivating system. It offers customizable tracing practice, interactive games, and progress reports for parents and educators.

Highlights
  • Trace letters, numbers, and words
  • Customizable tracing practice
  • Interactive games and animated stickers
  • Create custom word lists with audio
  • Progress reports for tracking
  • Printable PDF worksheets
Features
Read full description

"Fantastic, customizable tracing practice with fun rewards." 5 Stars - Common Sense Media 500,000+ units sold (including 300,000+ to schools) ! Writing Wizard is designed to help every child learn how to trace letters, numbers, and words through a fun system carefully designed to maintain motivation. • Show and enforce how to trace letters correctly • Letter names and phonics (customizable) • 16 Fonts available (including 3 most popular in the US) • Fun tracing using 50+ animated stickers, sound effects and interactive games that animate letters at the end of tracing • Uppercase & lowercase letters, numbers, and words • Ability to create your own word lists (and record audio for each word) • Fully customizable to suit every child’s needs (letter size, difficulty,...) • Check progress thanks to reports that display what the child has traced • Shapes tracing activity for toddlers • Create PDF Worksheets and print them to help your child to write on paper • Use Apple pencil to write at a very small size All the shapes, the first 7 letters, numbers, and words are free. The remaining letters and the ability to add your own words can be unlocked with a one-time purchase or a monthly subscription. _______ ACCOLADES • "Writing Wizard is the most complete and intelligent letter tracing app we’ve seen"" AppoLearning.com • "This brand-new app should be the go-to for every parent, teacher and therapist to work on handwriting" - TOP PICKS - 5 stars - SmartAppsForKids.com • "Writing Wizard by L’Escapadou is everything a parent wants in a handwriting app, and more." 5/5 - kids-app-reviews.com • "L’Escapadou has made handwriting fun." AppyMall.com 5/5 • Listed in "20 best educational iPhone and iPad apps for kids of 2013" - appsplayground.com • Editor's Choice Award for Excellence in Design - Children's Technology Review _______ PERFECT FOR KIDS Kids want to have fun, and Writing Wizard offers a lot of fun to keep them motivated in the learning process! • They can trace using 50+ animated stickers and sound effects • Once tracing is complete, they can interact with them on 4 games that animate letters • They can trace any word - like their name - and record their voice for each word • They can collect stars in 5-Stars play mode _______ PERFECT FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS • Ability to create your own word lists (and record audio for each word) • Detailed reports provide information on what kids have done, including the ability to replay and export the tracings to view kids' progress • Share word lists via iCloud Drive or other cloud providers, adhoc network, or email • Multiple parameters to customize the app according to the child’s current education level (e.g. letter size, difficulty, show/hide model, allow to stop between key points, etc.) • 3 most popular fonts in the US (ZB, DN & HWT) and 13 international fonts (UK, Scandinavia, Australia, Germany and France) • Upper and lower case letters, numbers (and word lists) • Letter names and letter sounds (which can be customized) • A customizable 5-Stars play mode prompting the child to trace a letter or a word 5 times using different parameters (each step is more challenging) • Create an unlimited number of users • Many settings to customize the app (sound, game time limit, black background,...) • In the A-Z section, special graphics available to match letters (e.g. ant graphic for A/a) _______ Privacy Policy KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE As a Moms with Apps member, we follow the "Know what's inside" best practices for kids’ apps L’Escapadou takes children’s privacy seriously. We believe you should not have to worry about your kids being tracked by apps or websites. This app: • Does not collect any user information (we do not use data collection tools) • External Links : Before accessing a parent section, an operation must be solved so that young kids cannot access it. Terms of use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

The Reading Bug

This app offers a curated audio experience for children, featuring musical stories, educational facts, and bedtime tales. Parents can manage content and connect membership accounts for exclusive features, providing a safe and imaginative alternative to screen time.

Highlights
  • Award-winning audio content library
  • Musical stories and factual deep dives
  • Bedtime stories for children
  • Parental management portal
  • Exclusive member content integration
  • Safe and immersive audio experience
Features
Read full description

The Ultimate Audio Adventure for Curious Kids. Welcome to The Reading Bug, the parent-managed portal to a world of stories, facts, and imagination. Designed to provide a safe, immersive audio experience, our app brings the magic of the bookstore and the Reading Bug Box directly to your device. ALL YOUR FAVORITE PODCASTS IN ONE PLACE: No more searching! Access our full library of award-winning content: - Reading Bug Adventures: Journey to far-off lands in our signature musical stories. - The Fact Fly’s One Big Question: Spark curiosity with deep dives into how the world works. - The Book Worm’s Story Snacks: Quick, delightful tales for busy moments. - Lauren’s Little Bedtime Stories: Gentle narrations to help your little ones drift off to sleep. EXCLUSIVE MEMBER INTEGRATION: Are you a Reading Bug Box subscriber or a bookstore member? Connect your account to unlock special content and manage your subscription preferences seamlessly within the app. BUILT FOR PARENTS: We know peace of mind matters. This app is designed for parents to manage, ensuring a curated and high-quality listening experience that competes for "mindshare" by offering real substance over mindless screen time. Open the app. Open their imagination. Start your adventure today!

Screenshots

Writing Wizard4 screens
The Reading Bug4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: The Reading Bug at 5.0 against Writing Wizard's 4.4. The Reading Bug also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 4 months). Writing Wizard's advantage is ratings volume (5.2K vs 1). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Writing Wizard sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and The Reading Bug sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Reading Bug holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Writing Wizard has 5.2K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Writing Wizard ships an update every 4 months, The Reading Bug every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Writing Wizard versus The Reading Bug: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWriting WizardThe Reading Bug
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (5.2K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings5.2K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPierre AbelThe Reading Bug

Customer experience

Writing Wizard

All ratings5,184 ratings
Positive84.3%
Neutral6.0%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews209 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative19.6%

The Reading Bug

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Writing Wizard

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when trying to access locked features
  • Purchased content not unlocking properly
  • Inconsistent letter formation guidance

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more letters, numbers, and shapes
  • Allow recording of custom voice instructions
  • Improve compatibility with stylus/digital pens
  • Provide more customization options

The Reading Bug

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Writing Wizard

Subscriptions1
  • Full Access - Monthly$2.491 Month
One-time3
  • All Letters and Numbers$5.99
  • Add Your Words and Word Lists$5.99
  • Lifetime Full Access$9.99
2 purchases

The Reading Bug

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Writing Wizard free?
Writing Wizard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Reading Bug free?
The Reading Bug is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Writing Wizard or The Reading Bug?
The Reading Bug is rated higher. Writing Wizard averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5.2K ratings, while The Reading Bug averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Writing Wizard or The Reading Bug have ads?
Neither Writing Wizard nor The Reading Bug shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Writing Wizard or The Reading Bug?
Writing Wizard ships an update every 4 months, and The Reading Bug every 3 days. Most recently, Writing Wizard was updated on November 11, 2026 and The Reading Bug on November 5, 2026.

Other comparisons