Comparison

ABC Animals vs ABC Animals AR

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

Head to head
About

ABC Animals

This app offers an interactive way for preschoolers to learn letters, phonics, and handwriting. It features engaging animal illustrations and audio, with customizable options for parents.

Highlights
  • Interactive flashcards
  • Letter recognition
  • Phonics instruction
  • Handwriting practice
  • Animal illustrations
  • Audio pronunciation
  • Multilingual support
Read full description

Letters, phonics and handwriting for preschoolers. It's like having preschool in the palm of your hand! *** Discover why ABC Animals has been featured in television commercials by both Apple and Sprint! "Best App for Learning ABC's" -- O'Reilly Media, Inc "Elegant in its simplicity." -- Apple at Macworld "ABC Animals provides a unique interactive teaching tool that makes learning letters fun." -- AppCraver "I love the fact the letters are sitting on 'lined paper' graphics and the clear directives on how to write letters had me imagining school classrooms full of children with iPhones..." -- http://Geekdad.com An Apple "Staff Favorite" since 2008, ABC Animals provides a wonderful set of interactive flashcards that aid in teaching young children to recognize, say and print English alphabet letters. Intuitively swipe between cards with the flick of a finger. Fun and engaging animal illustrations help to keep learning ABC's fun! Audio accompanies each card providing a letter name, associated animal name and the phonetics for each letter. INSTRUCTIONS Swipe between flashcards. Press letter or animal images to repeat audio. Tap the scribble icon in the lower left corner of the app to practice tracing both uppercase and lowercase letters right on the screen of your iPhone. Tap the icon again to continue swiping between flashcards. PREFERENCES Preferences for ABC Animals are available by tapping the settings icon on the lower right of the app. Preferences allow a parent to choose the handwriting method best suited for their child, enable or disable any or all sound effects and prevent the tracing of letters if practicing writing skills or phonics isn't age appropriate. For bilingual families and parents who want to teach their children ABC's in other languages, ABC Animals can also be used in English (both US & UK), French, German or Spanish. Change your preferred application language for ABC Animals in iOS’s Settings application by selecting ABC Animals and then setting your Preferred Language. SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK Feedback, bug reports and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged! Please visit the Critical Matter website to provide any of the above or to receive support for your purchase. Thank you! GET SOCIAL Twitter: @critical_matter

About

ABC Animals AR

This app uses augmented reality to bring the alphabet and animals to life through a companion book. It combines reading with interactive video to help toddlers and preschoolers learn letter names and animal facts.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality technology
  • Parent-child engagement
  • Combines reading with video
  • Teaches letter names
  • Teaches animal facts
  • Companion book integration
Features
Read full description

Surprise your child with ABC Animals, the app that uses Augmented Reality to bring the alphabet alive through print, audio and video. This is a first-of-its-kind experience that will delight both you and your child! Use the free app with the beautifully illustrated ABC Animals, Alphabet in Motion book, to help your toddler or preschooler learn the letter names and discover adorable animals as the animals come alive in live-action video. The app includes a free downloadable book page so you can sample the magic! Read the book with your child, emphasize the letters, and then ask the questions related to each letter and animal. Point your device at the photographs in the book and hear and see the answers to each question as the animal photos seem to magically turn into motion video and the questions are answered. Features: • Simple to use! Uses Augmented Reality technology in a highly intuitive and user-friendly way. • Increases parent-child engagement. • Combines the positive emotional and intellectual impact of reading books to children with the power of video to enhance learning! • Teaches letter names and interesting animal facts. • Companion book features more than 26 beautifully illustrated “pages.” • Companion book features 26 live action video clips especially chosen to reinforce letter names and teach toddlers and preschoolers about animals To learn more about how to enjoy this amazing app and how to get its companion book, ABC Animals, Alphabet in Motion, please go https://abcanimals.sparxworks.com For any additional assistance please contact us at customerservice@sparxworks.com.

Screenshots

ABC Animals4 screens
ABC Animals AR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ABC Animals AR at Free against ABC Animals's $2.99. ABC Animals AR also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.0) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). ABC Animals's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 19 months) and ratings volume (42 vs 5). On ads, in-app purchases 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

ABC Animals AR is free to download; ABC Animals costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ABC Animals AR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ABC Animals has 42 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ABC Animals ships an update every 2 months, ABC Animals AR every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
ABC Animals versus ABC Animals AR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterABC AnimalsABC Animals AR
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (42 ratings)4.8 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews58.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings42 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB168 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCritical Matter, Inc.Sparx Works Inc

Customer experience

ABC Animals

All ratings42 ratings
Positive42.9%
Neutral14.3%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews135 reviews
Positive58.5%
Neutral11.1%
Negative30.4%

ABC Animals AR

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

ABC Animals

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes on iOS 5 and newer versions
  • Crashes immediately after loading screen
  • Shake to erase feature doesn't work
  • Double-tap to flip cards is unresponsive
  • Sound disappears after multiple uses
Show 5 more
  • App freezes when flipping between cards
  • Settings not accessible from within app
  • No feedback on correct letter writing
  • Crashes when attempting to flip to next letter
  • Audio volume too low even at maximum

Requested features

18 requests
  • Ability to swipe between cards in tracing mode
  • Direct access to specific letters
  • Larger tracing area on screen
  • Animal sound effects for each letter
  • Numbers and shapes flashcards
Show 13 more
  • Shuffle/randomize letter order option
  • In-app instructions and help menu
  • Erase button instead of shake gesture
  • Ability to draw on entire card
  • UK English voice option with proper pronunciation
  • Phonics teaching mode
  • Reward system for correct letter writing
  • Word building feature
  • Letter practice review folder
  • More variety of animals per letter
  • Looping from Z back to A
  • Mute button within app
  • Uppercase and lowercase letter selection

ABC Animals AR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

ABC Animals

No in-app purchases

None

ABC Animals AR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ABC Animals free?
ABC Animals costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ABC Animals AR free?
ABC Animals AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ABC Animals or ABC Animals AR?
ABC Animals AR is rated higher. ABC Animals averages 3.0 out of 5 from 42 ratings, while ABC Animals AR averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do ABC Animals or ABC Animals AR have ads?
Neither ABC Animals nor ABC Animals AR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ABC Animals or ABC Animals AR?
ABC Animals ships an update every 2 months, and ABC Animals AR every 19 months. Most recently, ABC Animals was updated on November 6, 2026 and ABC Animals AR on November 2, 2026.

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