Comparison

The Elements by Theodore Gray vs Letter Tiles for Learning

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

Head to head
About

The Elements by Theodore Gray

Explore the building blocks of the universe with this interactive guide to the periodic table. Discover beautifully photographed elements, fascinating stories, and detailed 3D models of over 500 objects, all presented in multiple languages.

Highlights
  • Living periodic table interface
  • Rotating 3D element samples
  • Detailed 3D object models
  • Pinch-zoom and 3D stereo viewing
  • Multilingual support
  • Fascinating stories and facts
Features
Read full description

From Theodore Gray comes a beautifully produced app introducing and educating users on the elements of the periodic table and how they combine to form the world around us. The Elements is a rich and engaging love story, told in words and pictures - allowing you to experience the beauty and fascination of the building blocks of our universe in a way you've never seen before. Start off on a living periodic table where every element is shown with a smoothly rotating sample. To read about gold, tap the gold nugget. Immediately you see the sample filling the screen, photographed to razor sharpness and rotating around a complete circle in front of your eyes. Enjoy the extensive array of facts and figures. Next find a fascinating story about the element, surrounded by carefully photographed objects representing it. Every one of these objects, well over 500 in total, is a freely rotatable, live object that you can examine from all sides and pinch zoom to see in unprecedented detail. Touch the element name at the top of the page and you can see that element’s name in over a dozen different languages. Choose one and you’ll find that the entire book, stories, captions and all, switches to that language: The Elements includes both the full English original text and over a dozen full translations. Pinch-zoom or tap any object to bring it up full screen, where you can split into a pair of stereo 3D images, allowing you to see all 500 objects pop off the screen in 3D, and you can spin the objects, in 3D, with the touch of a finger. This book will show everyone there’s a lot more to the periodic table than a bunch of numbers and letters. Features include: • Beautifully composed pages for every Element in the periodic table • Fun stories and fascinating facts • All objects pinch-zoom with amazing detail and rotate in 3D • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Engaging introduction explaining the structure of the periodic table • Fully translated into English, Catalan, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish ------------ Reviews: “The iPad’s splendor and power may be best shown by The Elements... it’s not like any ebook you’ve seen. The periodic table of elements comes to life.” – USA Today

About

Letter Tiles for Learning

Build words, divide them into syllables, and explore phonogram sounds. This educational tool supports specific reading and spelling programs, offering relevant letter tiles for each lesson. Ideal for interactive learning on tablets.

Highlights
  • Build words
  • Divide words into syllables
  • Hear phonogram sounds
  • Supports All About Reading
  • Supports All About Spelling
  • Lesson-specific letter tiles
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

This app is designed for tablets. It is not recommended for phones. Our Letter Tiles app lets you build words, divide words into syllables, and hear the sounds of the phonograms. Just choose your program from the menu (All About Reading or All About Spelling) and select which lesson number you are currently teaching. The appropriate letter tiles for that lesson will appear, making it easy for you to teach and easy for your child to learn. The app contains all the phonograms, suffixes, and word parts taught in the All About Reading and All About Spelling lesson plans. Suitable for all ages and learning styles! Please Note: This app does not read words aloud.

Screenshots

The Elements by Theodore Gray4 screens
Letter Tiles for Learning4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: The Elements by Theodore Gray at $9.99 against Letter Tiles for Learning's $19.99. The Elements by Theodore Gray also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.2) and review sentiment (73% vs 38%). Letter Tiles for Learning's advantage is chart position (#62 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). On ratings volume, 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

The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99 and Letter Tiles for Learning $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Elements by Theodore Gray holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 123 and 93 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of The Elements by Theodore Gray's written reviews are positive against 38% of Letter Tiles for Learning's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, Letter Tiles for Learning every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
The Elements by Theodore Gray versus Letter Tiles for Learning: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe Elements by Theodore GrayLetter Tiles for Learning
Price$9.99 — better$19.99
Rating4.6 (123 ratings) — better3.2 (93 ratings)
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews — better37.7% of reviews
Number of ratings123 — better93
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank—#62 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.5 GB43 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNatureGuides Ltd.All About Learning Press, Inc.

Customer experience

The Elements by Theodore Gray

All ratings122 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews479 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral9.6%
Negative17.3%

Letter Tiles for Learning

All ratings93 ratings
Positive48.4%
Neutral8.6%
Negative43.0%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive37.7%
Neutral10.1%
Negative52.2%

User reviews

The Elements by Theodore Gray

From 123 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Stunning visuals and 3D animations
  • 📚 Comprehensive information on elements
  • 🎨 Engaging and humorous writing style
  • 🏫 Excellent educational tool for all ages

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find specific elements
  • 🔌 Massive file size takes up a lot of storage
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 💰 Expensive for the limited content

Letter Tiles for Learning

From 93 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easier than physical tiles
  • 👍 Convenient for travel
  • 👍 Good for multiple children
  • 👍 Works well with AAS/AAR
  • 👍 Intuitive design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frustrating to use
  • 🐛 Overpriced
  • 🐛 Inconsistent tile response
  • 🐛 New update issues
  • 🐛 Not phone compatible

Bugs and requests

The Elements by Theodore Gray

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Element descriptions cut off on iPhone 6 Plus
  • Crashes when switching landscape orientations
  • Unable to download app after initial purchase

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to disable animations
  • Improve periodic table navigation
  • Include more detailed scientific information
  • Support multiple languages and spellings

Letter Tiles for Learning

Reported bugs

50 issues
  • Drop-down menu not staying down
  • Blank white screen
  • App crashes constantly
  • Tiles go missing when splitting syllables
  • Spaces appear randomly in words
Show 45 more
  • Replacing letters moves them to end
  • Cannot drag tiles to top
  • App crashes on opening after update
  • App not working after update
  • New version not compatible with curriculum
  • Letters freeze up constantly
  • Cannot clear tiles easily
  • Tapping letters to appear on screen not working
  • Sound stopped working
  • Difficulty downloading app components
  • Dragging syllable tags is difficult
  • Cannot get syllable tags to move
  • App orientation locked
  • Cannot put two separate words on same line
  • Cannot play 'change the word' activity
  • Drop-down for picking lesson not working
  • Hardly ever works, difficult to select level/lesson
  • Stuck on white screen
  • App freezes
  • Can't see all letters on screen, cut off
  • Let you switch out letters fluidly
  • Word building area cut off by letter tiles
  • Child cannot hold on a letter blend to hear sound
  • Child cannot hold built word to see spelling
  • Interface difficult to use
  • Tiles don't always respond to touch
  • Tiles go missing
  • Clears for no reason
  • Cannot find sounds, don't fit on screen
  • Letters too large
  • Constantly have to swipe to get to vowel teams
  • Cannot drag them up there, have to fling
  • App unusable for many activities
  • App keeps closing itself
  • Letters freeze up
  • Cannot get any of it to work
  • Too sensitive to clear tiles
  • Tapping letters doesn't work
  • Cannot divide syllables easily
  • Cannot put divided syllables back together
  • Difficult to slide screen to access syllable tags
  • Cannot drag tiles on iPad
  • Issues dragging tiles
  • Cannot get tiles to respond
  • Words popping up on screen within lessons

Requested features

14 requests
  • Undo feature
  • Tile scramble mode
  • Apple Pencil/stylus support
  • Card quiz feature
  • Option to adjust tile size
Show 9 more
  • Ability to write on whiteboard
  • Sound out words in lessons
  • Add end mark punctuation
  • Add 'q' tile for advanced learners
  • Fix /r/ and /er/ sound issue
  • Add 'are you sure?' for deleting tiles
  • Allow multiple words on one line
  • Fix first line bug
  • Allow user to adjust keyboard area size

In-app purchases

None

The Elements by Theodore Gray

No in-app purchases

None

Letter Tiles for Learning

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is The Elements by Theodore Gray free?
The Elements by Theodore Gray costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Letter Tiles for Learning free?
Letter Tiles for Learning costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Letter Tiles for Learning?
The Elements by Theodore Gray is rated higher. The Elements by Theodore Gray averages 4.6 out of 5 from 123 ratings, while Letter Tiles for Learning averages 3.2 from 93 ratings.
Do The Elements by Theodore Gray or Letter Tiles for Learning have ads?
Neither The Elements by Theodore Gray nor Letter Tiles for Learning shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The Elements by Theodore Gray or Letter Tiles for Learning?
The Elements by Theodore Gray ships an update every 3 months, and Letter Tiles for Learning every 6 weeks. Most recently, The Elements by Theodore Gray was updated on November 6, 2026 and Letter Tiles for Learning on November 6, 2026.

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