Comparison

8th Grade Vocabulary vs Simplex Spelling Phonics 3

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

Head to head
About

8th Grade Vocabulary

Master essential vocabulary for 8th graders with interactive flashcards and a fun hangman game. This app provides definitions, synonyms, and usage examples to enhance word retention through active study and recall techniques.

Highlights
  • Interactive flashcards
  • Hangman vocabulary game
  • Definitions, synonyms, usage examples
  • Bi-directional learning
  • Automatic missed word tracking
  • Email report card
Features
Read full description

A good vocabulary is essential to your child's future. SuperKids Vocab Apps provide a fun and easy way to master the words they will need in school, and beyond. SuperKids' users agree: o "Just what we'd been looking for, vocabulary by grade level." o "This method really does work -- and it's a lot more fun than memorizing a stack of flashcards." o "... great for home schooling." SuperKids.com's educational software experts have reviewed thousands of programs since 1995. Their teams of parents, teachers, and kids have been exposed to the best, and the well, not-as-good in educational technology. They know what works, and what doesn't, and their word is trusted by a million visitors/month. Here, in SuperKids Word-of-the-Day for 8th Grade, they have created a deceptively elegant app for the iPhone that can be used for a few minutes at a time while on the go, or in extended sessions to master 365 important words. This app provides a coordinated drill and game pair that makes expanding your vocabulary easy and fun. Students use interactive flash cards to learn and review, and then practice their knowledge in a game of hangman. These elements activate different learning centers in the brain, and utilize active study and immersive recall techniques to improve memory acquisition and retention. Special features include: - definitions, synonyms, and a usage example for each word - bi-directional learning: words to definitions, definitions to words - learn in monthly sets - automatic missed word tracking and review - high score tracking for each player - email report card and study review - game position and status memory Words included in this app are based on the vocabulary set honed by millions of users of SuperKids.com's online vocabulary tools over the last ten years. A strong vocabulary is an essential element of understanding and communication. Use this app to give your child the linguistic foundation to achieve their potential, and become a SuperKid at school and beyond. Questions or suggestions? Email us at apps@superkids.com And be sure to check out our growing family of educational products in the iTunes App Store.

About

Simplex Spelling Phonics 3

This app enhances English spelling and reading skills through phonics lessons, word patterns, and a unique reverse phonics approach. It scientifically helps students improve their spelling, covering over 750 high-frequency words and 52 instructional lists.

Highlights
  • Phonics lessons and word patterns
  • Reverse phonics approach
  • 750+ high-frequency words
  • 52 instructional lessons
  • Contextual spelling rule hints
  • Progress tracking for 40 users
  • Exportable progress reports
Features
Read full description

Simplex Spelling is one of the best ways to improve English spelling and reading skills. Using a powerful combination of phonics lessons, spelling/word patterns, syllabication, our unique “reverse phonics” (phonics encoding) approach and contextually relevant spelling rules. Scientifically validated as a highly effective approach to improving spelling skills, a published study revealed that students demonstrated an average spelling improvement of 1.9 grades among children in a classroom setting who regularly used Simplex Spelling over a 18 week period. The largest student improvement observed over the same time period was 4.4 grade levels as assessed by administering the Schonell Spelling Test. 

Teaching over a year of spelling curriculum with more than 750 high frequency words divided into 52 lists that are organized by spelling patterns and difficulty levels. Each of the 52 lists comes with a lesson that teaches one of the basic building blocks of spelling in the English language. Students learn a new concept for each lesson building on the skills learned from previous lessons and those covered in Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 & 2. Simplex Spelling Phonics Advanced Phonograms guides the student and acts as a personal spelling coach with every word, while teaching students "how to spell" English words. Every word is broken down into its syllables both visually and auditorily to help students build phonological awareness skills. Our “reverse phonics” hint feature breaks each word down further into individual phonemes to improve phonemic awareness, a critical skill in achieving literacy. Simplex Spelling Advanced Phonograms focuses on some of the more difficult phonograms in the English language in addition to lessons covering contractions and the capitalization of proper nouns. Recommended age 9+
 
Note: You can not create your own spelling lists.

 Features: 
 - Over 750 high frequency spelling words to help build literacy. - Words are spoken and used in a sentence to establish context and improve vocabulary. 
 - Introductory spelling list seamlessly leads a student through all of the application’s features.
 - 52 instructional lessons teach phonics, phonograms, spelling rules, contractions and the capitalization of proper nouns. 
- A full “reverse phonics” approach that builds phonemic awareness. - Contextually relevant spelling rule hints that help explain “how to spell” English words.
 - Letter by letter feedback system provides feedback while the student is in the process of spelling each word. 
 - Support for 40 user accounts. 
 - Remembers each user’s progress in every list.
 - User stats screen track progress with every word. - Export and email progress reports. - Ability to set the number of times a word must be spelled correctly to become mastered. 
 - Supports upper and lower case letters.
 - Supports alphabetic and QWERTY keyboard layouts. 
- Supports US, UK and Canadian English spelling of words.

 Please check the word lists provided on www.pyxwise.com to ensure that the word lists provided in Simplex Spelling meet your educational needs. - Advanced Phonograms has previously been featured by Apple as New & Noteworthy in 20 countries. - "Best Educational App of 2014" - Balefire Labs. -iTeach: Apps For The Classroom - "I was immediately in awe of the design and educational thought that has gone into this product." -Teachers With Apps - Certified Developer - Academics' Choice Award. Privacy Disclosure: 
- Does not contain 3rd party ads 
 - Does not share any data 
 - Does not contain In-App purchases 
 - Contains child protected links in app to developer's website for additional information, support and teaching tips. - Contains child protected link to developer email support. 

COPPA Compliant 
https://pyxwise.com/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

8th Grade Vocabulary4 screens
Simplex Spelling Phonics 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 at 92% against 8th Grade Vocabulary's 67%. Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 also leads on update cadence (every 13 months vs every 65 months). 8th Grade Vocabulary's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $4.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

8th Grade Vocabulary costs $0.99 and Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

8th Grade Vocabulary ships an update every 65 months, Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
8th Grade Vocabulary versus Simplex Spelling Phonics 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameter8th Grade VocabularySimplex Spelling Phonics 3
Price$0.99 — better$4.99
Rating—4.2 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews92.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyEvery 65 monthsEvery 13 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB230 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSuperKidsPyxwise Software Inc.

Customer experience

8th Grade Vocabulary

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%

Simplex Spelling Phonics 3

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

8th Grade Vocabulary

No in-app purchases

None

Simplex Spelling Phonics 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is 8th Grade Vocabulary free?
8th Grade Vocabulary costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 free?
Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do 8th Grade Vocabulary or Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 have ads?
Neither 8th Grade Vocabulary nor Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, 8th Grade Vocabulary or Simplex Spelling Phonics 3?
8th Grade Vocabulary ships an update every 65 months, and Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 every 13 months. Most recently, 8th Grade Vocabulary was updated on October 27, 2026 and Simplex Spelling Phonics 3 on November 2, 2026.

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