Comparison

First Words App vs Launch speech

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

Head to head
About

First Words App

This educational app helps toddlers learn new words through interactive pictures and short video clips of real animals and objects. Its simple design, calm colors, and gentle music make it easy for young children to use independently, offering a screen time alternative to cartoons.

Highlights
  • Learn new words with real-life visuals
  • Short video clips of animals and objects
  • Simple and intuitive design for toddlers
  • Calm color scheme and pleasant music
  • Offline functionality after initial download
  • Suitable for tablets and smartphones
Features
Read full description

First words is an educational app for toddlers. By clicking on the pictures your child not only learns new words, but also sees how the real animals/objects (not from cartoons/book illustrations) look on the example of short video clips, which is very important for child's development. The design of the application is made as simple and clear as possible so that the child can use it without your help (you only need to show how it works for the first time). Also, we took into account a calm color scheme and pleasant music, the absence of harsh sounds, in order to avoid hyperstimulation of the toddler's nervous system. Thus, the app became a great alternative to cartoons! We hope you and your child appreciate the idea! The app is available for tablets and smartphones. The application does not require a permanent connection to the Internet. After the first data download, you can use it offline.

About

Launch speech

This app helps develop phonemic hearing in children by focusing on distinguishing non-speech sounds. It offers structured courses with guidance for parents and professionals, aiding in early speech development and comprehension.

Highlights
  • Non-speech sound exercises
  • Parental guidance and recommendations
  • Automatic timer for sessions
  • Progress statistics for professionals
  • Customizable specialist mode
  • Sound mixing to prevent memorization
Features
Read full description

Before a child begins to speak, he/she must learn to understand the addressed speech, and if he/she has a phonemic hearing malfunction, then he/she hears sounds, but can't understand and distinguish sounds from each other. As a result, the child can't distinguish words and understand their meaning, and speak. The basis for the development of phonemic hearing is the child's difference in non-speech sounds, which is what the lessons are aimed at in this application. But a developed phonemic, or the so-called speech ear, is also the basis for correct speech. This is the ability to recognize and distinguish sounds (phonemes) of speech among themselves in the speech stream. In simple words, it is not only a person's ability to hear sounds, but also to recognize them. Phonemic hearing impairments lead to misunderstandings of speech. In the future, difficulties arise with the expression of thoughts, impaired written speech, and so on. That is why experts advise developing it in a child from the first days of life, and also pay attention to the sounds surrounding him. The application, first of all, is recommended to parents, speech therapists, speech pathologists and pedagogues-audiologists for joint classes with a child on the development of phonemic perception and speech. The key feature of the application is the absence of visualization of animals and various objects. It contains courses with non-speech sounds, divided into groups of difficulty, which have step-by-step recommendations for parents and an automatic timer so that they can properly organize the process of class with non-speaking children. For professional use of the program by specialists, the program provides statistics on the success of mastering the material studied by each child for each sound separately, including the time spent by the child for its study. There is also a mode of use, at your discretion, based on the specialist's own methodology, bypassing the recommendations for parents. The timer allows you to control the duration of the lesson and the process of learning the sound. For ease of use by a specialist, there is the possibility of mixing, in order to prevent the child from remembering the location of the buttons that reproduce certain sounds. In the free version: Farm course for learning basic animal sounds. It is used as a baseline at any stage of the study. By practicing every day, following the recommendations of the course, you will be able to assess the effectiveness of the classes, you will see how with each stage the child will begin to master new sounds faster, it is better to distinguish new ones. Start the initial stage of the development of phonemic perception. Additional paid courses: Have you successfully mastered the "Farm" course? Continue to develop child speech with additional advanced courses with the inhabitants of Africa, the Forest and the North Pole. Course "Birds" for those who mastered sound perception, and course "Musical Instruments" will help to raise it to a special level, adding more "uniqueness" to classes. Professional paid mode: - Possibility of taking turns with several children; - Statistics for each child with information about the success of the lessons for each sound; - Sandbox mode, for organizing classes according to your own method, with an automatic timer; - Sound mixing function.

Screenshots

First Words App4 screens
Launch speech4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Launch speech at 33% against First Words App's 0%. First Words App's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. First Words App sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Launch speech sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Words App ships an update every 3 weeks, Launch speech every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
First Words App versus Launch speech: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst Words AppLaunch speech
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews33.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVyacheslav VolkovAleksey Moryakov

Customer experience

First Words App

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

Launch speech

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

First Words App

One-time1
  • All cards$1.99
7 purchases

Launch speech

One-time7
  • PRO Functions$3.99
  • Course "Forest"$5.99
  • Course "Pole"$5.99
Show 4 more
  • Course "Africa"$5.99
  • Course "Birds"$5.99
  • Musical Instruments$5.99
  • Full version$23.99

Questions

Is First Words App free?
First Words App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Launch speech free?
Launch speech is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do First Words App or Launch speech have ads?
Neither First Words App nor Launch speech shows ads.
Which is updated more often, First Words App or Launch speech?
First Words App ships an update every 3 weeks, and Launch speech every 4 weeks. Most recently, First Words App was updated on October 27, 2026 and Launch speech on October 18, 2026.

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