Comparison

Itsy Bitsy Spider vs Phone for Play

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

Head to head
About

Itsy Bitsy Spider

This interactive app brings a classic nursery rhyme to life with engaging illustrations and activities. Children can explore hidden surprises, sing along, and learn through playful interactions. Designed for young children, it offers a fun and educational experience.

Highlights
  • Interactive illustrations with hidden surprises
  • Easy navigation
  • Record your own voice to sing along
  • Learn about nature and counting
  • Play peek-a-boo
  • Listen to classical music
  • Watch caterpillar transformation
Read full description

An award-winning original tribute to a childhood classic, Itsy Bitsy Spider offers children a fun, interactive and educational experience. AGES: 2-5. OVERVIEW - 100% interactive illustrations with hidden surprises on every page - Easy navigation – just poke the spider to move to the next scene - Use the record feature to sing along CATEGORY: Nursery Rhyme ACTIVITIES - FOLLOW the spider on an adventure – up, down and all around - LEARN about the environment and nature from Cloe the fly - COUNT with a squirrel as he builds his house - PLAY peek-a-boo with a frog - SING along and record your own voice - LISTEN to classical music performed on a violin and cello - WATCH a caterpillar become a beautiful butterfly
 - COLLECT colorful eggs on the spider web AWARDS - Parents’ Choice Gold Award - Parents’ Choice Foundation - Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice Award for Excellence in Design ABOUT DUCK DUCK MOOSE (A subsidiary of Khan Academy) Duck Duck Moose, an award-winning creator of educational mobile apps for families, is a passionate team of engineers, artists, designers, and educators. Founded in 2008, the company has created 21 top-selling titles and has received 21 Parents’ Choice Awards, 18 Children’s Technology Review Awards, 12 Tech with Kids’ Best Pick App Awards, and a KAPi award for “Best Children’s App” at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Duck Duck Moose is now part of the Khan Academy family. Like all Khan Academy offerings, all Duck Duck Moose apps are now 100% free, without ads or subscriptions. For kids ages 2-7, don't miss Khan Academy Kids, our new early learning app to help young children with reading, writing, math and social-emotional development! We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at www.duckduckmoose.com or drop us a line at support@duckduckmoose.com.

About

Phone for Play

This app offers a comprehensive collection of over 37 engaging educational games and activities for children. It covers a wide range of learning topics including numbers, letters, colors, shapes, animals, and more, all presented with vibrant graphics and an intuitive interface.

Highlights
  • 37+ educational games and activities
  • Learning for colors, numbers, letters, shapes
  • Animal recognition and spelling
  • Drawing and coloring tools
  • Interactive music and math games
  • Fun emoji keyboard and SMS chat simulation
Read full description

~~> The largest collection of fun educational activities in a single app! ~~> Top #1 Education app in US, UK, and most countries around the world! ~~> Over 6,000,000 downloads! ~~> 37 amazing educational games and activities inside! Come enjoy the beloved Phone for Play app with brand new beautiful graphics and exciting new features! Everybody's favorite app is now better than ever! With 36 exciting games and one new mini game (Spelling Animals) . Phone for Play includes intuitive and child friendly educational materials about: Colors, Numbers, Letters, Shapes, Directions, Days of the Week, Animals, Drawing and much more. Over 30 Fun-Filled Educational Games and Activities Inside: - NEW! Spelling Animals! - Fruit and Vegetable Slicing Games! - Balloon Numbers - Learn numbers 1 to 20. - ABC You and Me - Learn to type the ABC. - Emoji Keyboard - Express your feelings with adorable emojis! - Bingo Game - Have fun with numbers! - Directions Compass - Learn basic directions. - Animal Quiz – Tap the right animal to win. - Touch Dial Phone – Learn numbers 0 to 9. - The Four Seasons - Learn about the 4 seasons of the year. - Easy Paint – Draw and learn all 10 basic color names. - SMS Chat – Send text messages to yourself. - Sing and Learn - Sing the Do, Re, Me notes. - Color Vocabulary – learn color names and spelling. - Animal Zoo – See, hear and interact with 16 adorable animals. - Popup Peek-a-Boo – Pop the cute animals from their houses. - Alarm Clock – Learn about the alarm clock. - Shape Master – Find all the basic shapes, see how they look and learn their names and spelling. - Aquarium Wonders – Help fish swim in an underwater environment, motion and touch sensitive. - Mr. Penguin School Directions – Learn directions with Mr. Penguin. - Math Calculator – Fully functional calculator for kids to enjoy and practice. - 1 to 12 Numbers – See, hear, spell and learn the first 12 numbers. - Kids Guitar – A delightful colorful guitar with 6 strings, 18 notes and 6 animals to play, sing and enjoy. - Galactic Star Rattler - Enjoy an amazing light show of animations and special effects in deep outer space. - Days of the Week Train - The train is traveling through the days of the week. - Farm Peek-a-Boo - Come find the adorable animals that are hiding in the farm. - Coloring Book - Color the animals in vibrant colors and play with exciting sparklers. And so much more!

Screenshots

Itsy Bitsy Spider4 screens
Phone for Play4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Itsy Bitsy Spider at none against Phone for Play's 6. Itsy Bitsy Spider also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 75%). Phone for Play's advantage is ratings volume (982 vs 68) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). On price, rating, ads 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

Both are free to download. Phone for Play sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Itsy Bitsy Spider asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Itsy Bitsy Spider against 4.2 for Phone for Play. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phone for Play has 982 ratings behind it against 68, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Itsy Bitsy Spider's written reviews are positive against 75% of Phone for Play's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Itsy Bitsy Spider ships an update every 6 months, Phone for Play every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Itsy Bitsy Spider versus Phone for Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterItsy Bitsy SpiderPhone for Play
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (68 ratings)4.2 (982 ratings)
Positive reviews86.6% of reviews — better75.3% of reviews
Number of ratings68982 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS9.09.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB135 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuck Duck Moose LLCTabTale LTD

Customer experience

Itsy Bitsy Spider

All ratings68 ratings
Positive79.4%
Neutral2.9%
Negative17.6%
Written reviews201 reviews
Positive86.6%
Neutral3.0%
Negative10.4%

Phone for Play

All ratings982 ratings
Positive78.3%
Neutral7.4%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews291 reviews
Positive75.3%
Neutral6.2%
Negative18.6%

User reviews

Itsy Bitsy Spider

From 68 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for toddlers and young kids
  • 🎨 Excellent graphics and animations
  • 🎶 Engaging music and sounds
  • 🕷️ Interactive features like collecting eggs
  • 🎨 Customizable with ability to record own voice

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
  • 🔇 Sound issues after updates
  • 🔁 Limited number of screens/levels
  • 🔍 Confusing navigation with 'recommended' icon

Phone for Play

From 982 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging for kids
  • 🤩 Nostalgic for older users
  • 🎉 Keeps kids entertained
  • 🧠 Educational and learning-focused
  • 🎨 Colorful and visually appealing

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Locked content requires purchase
  • 🙄 Excessive in-app ads and popups
  • 🐛 Crashes and technical issues
  • 🔊 Annoying audio/sound effects
  • 🤦‍♀️ Accidentally exits app too easily

Bugs and requests

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sound not working after iOS updates
  • App crashing on certain devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • More levels and screens to explore
  • Additional songs/nursery rhymes
  • Ability to change backgrounds/environments

Phone for Play

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Locked content not unlocking after purchase
  • Ads leading to inappropriate external links
  • App freezing or becoming unresponsive
  • Inability to adjust volume or mute sounds

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free content and games
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Add parental controls and app locking
  • Introduce new educational mini-games
  • Allow customization of audio/visuals

In-app purchases

None

Itsy Bitsy Spider

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Phone for Play

One-time6
  • Learn & Play Pack + No Ads$3.99
  • Epic Adventures & Fun Pack + No Ads$3.99
  • Festive Pack + No Ads$3.99
Show 3 more
  • Creative Play Pack + No Ads$3.99
  • Fun Activity Pack$3.99
  • Super Phone Deal + No Ads$7.99

Questions

Is Itsy Bitsy Spider free?
Itsy Bitsy Spider is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phone for Play free?
Phone for Play is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Itsy Bitsy Spider or Phone for Play?
Itsy Bitsy Spider and Phone for Play are both rated 4.2 out of 5 on the App Store, from 68 and 982 ratings respectively.
Do Itsy Bitsy Spider or Phone for Play have ads?
Neither Itsy Bitsy Spider nor Phone for Play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Itsy Bitsy Spider or Phone for Play?
Itsy Bitsy Spider ships an update every 6 months, and Phone for Play every 2 months. Most recently, Itsy Bitsy Spider was updated on October 18, 2026 and Phone for Play on October 15, 2026.

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