Comparison

First Letters and Phonics vs Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

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

Head to head
About

First Letters and Phonics

This app helps young children learn letter shapes, names, and sounds through interactive matching and songs. It features delightful illustrations and engaging audio to develop pre-reading skills and fine motor control.

Highlights
  • Letter shape recognition
  • Letter name identification
  • Phonics sound learning
  • Alphabet Song (two versions)
  • Word association with letters
  • Fine motor skill development
Features
Read full description

Match the letters and listen to the song! First Letters teaches the youngest iPhone kids about letter shapes, letter names and phonics. The game includes two original renditions of the Alphabet Song by popular children's musician Debi Derryberry. Toddler tested and approved, First Letters keeps the littlest kids entertained and engaged while developing important pre-reading skills. Educational: - learn to recognize letters, both uppercase and lowercase - learn the names of letters - learn the sounds that letters make (phonics) - develop fine motor skills - learn words that begin with each letter Entertaining: - a beautiful picture for each letter of the alphabet - a cute voice saying each letter, phoneme, and word - two versions of the Alphabet Song: one using letter names and one using phonics First Letters features great music and the voice of popular kids' entertainer Debi Derryberry. Find out more about Debi's songs, live shows, and kid's games at www.mybabybanana.com. First Letters is the best way for your child to learn their letters. Filled with delightful illustrations and fun songs, it's full of fun and learning! If your child is old enough to ask for your phone, they're old enough for First Letters!

About

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

This app teaches foundational reading and spelling skills using a phonics-based system. It introduces letter-sound relationships through interactive games and exercises, suitable for children and adults learning to read.

Highlights
  • Introduces 15 letter/sound relationships
  • Interactive exercises for listening and matching sounds
  • Teaches sound-to-letter and letter-to-sound association
  • Guided word-building exercises
  • Word reading tests
  • Supports American, British, Australian, and NZ accents
Features
Read full description

Interested in teaching your child to read, or helping an adult struggling with reading? This app introduces the Oz Phonics reading system. Available in American, British, Australian and New Zealand accents. See video demo on http://youtube.com/user/ozphonics American accent demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMPvCsDJhk Australian accent demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6MWD5SinlY Do I need to help my child with this app? Once your child understands the games/exercises in this app they can play them without help. We do, however, think that adult interest in the learning to read process is invaluable. It will benefit your child if you understand how the system works and you may well learn new things that will surprise you. This app introduces 15 letter/sound relationships. Short vowel sounds /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ and 10 consonant sounds for letters c, d, g, h, l, m, n, r, s, t. More sounds are introduced in our other apps. Exercises in this app Warm Up - This is a simple matching game with a difference: animal sounds, not pictures. This is to train your child in the first reading and spelling skill – listening. Two friendly ‘long-tongue’ lizards help by removing matched sounds. Sound Match - OK! Your child is now ready to start listening to and matching some of the actual sounds of the English language. Being able to differentiate between sounds and match identical ones is fundamental to the reading and spelling process. Now your child needs to learn the alphabetic principle, which is hearing a sound and knowing which letter make it, and the reverse, see a letter and knowing what sound it makes. The later is called decoding and will provide your child with the skills required for working out new words. Sound-to-Letter - Once your child can identify individual sounds, they need to learn how these sounds are written down. A crocodile and bird provide a few surprises here. Letter-to-Sound - Now we’re reversing the order – your child needs to know what sounds the written letters make. They can also learn capital letters by a simple touch. Making Words – Words are made up of one sound after another. This illustrated, guided exercise will help your child put together words from the sounds/letters they have learnt in earlier exercises. Word Test – See how many words your child can read using the Oz Phonics method. Who can use this app: -Parents who want to teach their children to read. -school age children who are struggling to learn to read at school. Check that they know their sounds, particularly the vowel sounds (not the letter names). -Parents who want a better understanding of phonics. If your child is not a “natural reader” then improving your own understanding of phonics can greatly improve your chance of helping them. -Dyslexic children and adults who struggle with reading. Phonics has been shown to be particularly effective for teaching dyslexics. -ESL (English as a Second Language) students. The sounds of English differ from other languages and in order for ESL students to make themselves understood, they first need to become aware of the sounds they’ve never spoken in their mother tongue, and to practice making these sounds themselves. Oz Phonics is committed to helping children and adults learn to read. If you have feedback or suggestions for our apps, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit us at www.ozphonics.com or contact us at support@ozphonics.com

Screenshots

First Letters and Phonics4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics at 5.0 against First Letters and Phonics's 4.1. Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 23 months). First Letters and Phonics's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid) and ratings volume (44 vs 2). On price, 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

First Letters and Phonics costs $1.99 and Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: First Letters and Phonics has 44 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of First Letters and Phonics's written reviews are positive against 63% of Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Letters and Phonics ships an update every 23 months, Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
First Letters and Phonics versus Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst Letters and PhonicsIntro To Reading by Oz Phonics
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating4.1 (44 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings44 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 23 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS12.2 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLearning Touch LLCDSP Learning Pty Ltd

Customer experience

First Letters and Phonics

All ratings44 ratings
Positive77.3%
Neutral4.5%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

None

First Letters and Phonics

No in-app purchases

None

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is First Letters and Phonics free?
First Letters and Phonics costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics free?
Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, First Letters and Phonics or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics?
Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics is rated higher. First Letters and Phonics averages 4.1 out of 5 from 44 ratings, while Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do First Letters and Phonics or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics have ads?
Neither First Letters and Phonics nor Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics shows ads.
Which is updated more often, First Letters and Phonics or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics?
First Letters and Phonics ships an update every 23 months, and Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics every 4 months. Most recently, First Letters and Phonics was updated on September 25, 2026 and Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics on June 5, 2026.

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