MathTappers vs READING MAGIC for Schools
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MathTappers
This app is a game designed to help learners understand multiplication and division with whole numbers. It aims to build fluency and accuracy through engaging gameplay and visual models. It is part of a suite of educational math games.
- Learn multiplication
- Learn division
- Develop fluency
- Improve accuracy
- Visual models
- Focused content
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MathTappers: Multiples is a simple game designed first to help learners to make sense of multiplication and division with whole numbers, and then to support them in developing fluency while maintaining accuracy. Design: Tim Pelton & Leslee Francis Pelton Programming: Mike Anderson, Joshua E. Smith & Garrett Reimer The designers of the MathTappers apps are math educators and researchers seeking to create simple games that will help learners to make sense of mathematics one concept at a time. We have designed MathTappers apps to support students in learning mathematics by providing relevant visual models, focused content linked games and helpful suggestions for parents and educators. Please check out all of our MathTappers apps (links found at MathTappers.com): MathTappers: MultiMatch--a matching app that challenges learners to match sets of cards placed on the table. This is our newest MathTappers app. Although it comes with a deck and you can download others from our website, it was really designed to encourage teachers and students make and share their own matching game decks to capture their understanding and challenge others. Please go to mathtappers.com and check out our instructions on the right to find out how to make your own decks MathTappers: Clock Master--learn to tell time MathTappers: Estimate Fractions--make sense of fraction sums and differences MathTappers: Find Sums--learn basic facts for addition and subtraction MathTappers: Multiples--learn basic facts for multiplication and division MathTappers: Equivalents--equivalent fractions, decimals and percents MathTappers: Numberline--find relative positions of numbers on a numberline, MathTappers: Carbon Choices--help students explore their carbon footprint.
READING MAGIC for Schools
This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure for young children. It uses interactive games and activities focused on CVC words and phonics principles to build essential reading skills. Designed by educators, it helps children develop phonemic awareness and phonological processing.
- Interactive CVC word games
- Focus on phonemic awareness
- Blending and segmenting practice
- Science of reading-based approach
- Lesson tracking and sequenced curriculum
- Discourages picture guessing
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Unlock the Magic of Reading with READING MAGIC 1! Transform your child into a confident reader with READING MAGIC 1! This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure with interactive activities focused on short-vowel words, specifically CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words. Meticulously designed to provide an advanced boost to your child’s phonemic awareness, this app combines three foundational pillars of literacy science into one powerful, interactive ecosystem: Blending (Listening), Segmenting (Speaking), and Decoding (Reading). Grounded firmly in Science of Reading principles and utilizing University of Florida Literacy Institute (UFLI) guidelines, READING MAGIC provides specific, precise training with extensive repetitions to help young brains bridge the gap between spoken sound units and complete words. IDEAL FOR BOTH BEGINNING PRE-READERS AND STRUGGLING READERS For Beginning Pre-Readers: A stress-free launchpad. By practicing words through pure sound sequences first, your child masters the internal mechanics of reading without cognitive overload. This keeps them from being frustrated by trying to learn separate, difficult skills at the same time. For Struggling or Remedial Readers: If your child's reading is hesitant or choppy, or if they guess at words, this app provides the targeted intervention recommended by modern reading science to help young brains bridge the gap. THREE CRITICAL SKILL-BUILDING PILLARS While many phonics programs completely overlook the auditory mechanics of reading, our program systematically guides your child through the complete progression of decoding: Skill 1: Blending (Listening): Interactive listening activities train your child’s neural processing ability to hear isolated sounds in words and join them together mentally. This builds the vital auditory runway required for future fluency. Skill 2: Segmenting (Speaking): True spelling and reading independence require the ability to pull spoken words apart into their individual sound units. These exercises build explicit awareness of the acoustic structure of language. Skill 3: Decoding (Reading): The ultimate bridge to literacy. Your child applies their mastery of blending and segmenting directly to text, smoothly moving from spoken sounds to visual words. STRUCTURAL SPACING & INSTRUCTION (Science-Backed Layout) Our app builds the actual findings of reading science directly into the user interface for maximum visual clarity: Anti-Crowding Design: Peer-reviewed research, including Marinus et al. (2016) and Wery & Diliberto (2017), demonstrates that generous letter spacing is critical for early decoding. By placing each letter on its own isolated card with distinct physical gaps, our layout eliminates visual crowding, allowing your child to isolate each sound unit cleanly. True Comprehension: The app strictly discourages picture guessing, forcing children to rely purely on their decoding skills to foster true comprehension and build lasting confidence. INDEPENDENT LEARNING & AESTHETIC SIMPLICITY Distraction-Free: Our minimalist design eliminates overstimulating audio-visual clutter, excessive sound effects, and animations to keep your child entirely focused on the mechanics of reading. Stress-Free Growth: Built-in natural feedback loops offer gentle corrections, nurturing self-discovery and independent learning at your child's own pace. EXPERT RESEARCH BACKING "Before a child can read fluently with their eyes, they must be able to blend fluently with their ears. Weakness in auditory blending is one of the strongest early predictors of later reading failure." — Dr. Joseph Torgesen, Florida State University. "Teaching students to blend and segment benefited their reading much more than did a multiple-skills approach... and teaching phonemic awareness with letters created effect sizes almost twice as large as teaching children without letters." — The National Reading Panel (NRP) Meta-Analysis.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: MathTappers at Free against READING MAGIC for Schools's $3.99. MathTappers also leads on ratings volume (118 vs 9). READING MAGIC for Schools's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 3.4) and update cadence (every 13 months vs every 61 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
MathTappers is free to download; READING MAGIC for Schools costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
READING MAGIC for Schools holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MathTappers has 118 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of MathTappers's written reviews are positive against 93% of READING MAGIC for Schools's.
MathTappers ships an update every 61 months, READING MAGIC for Schools every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and August 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MathTappers | READING MAGIC for Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 3.4 (118 ratings) | 4.4 (9 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 92.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 118 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 61 months | Every 13 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 13.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 190 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Joshua Smith | PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY |
Customer experience
MathTappers
READING MAGIC for Schools
In-app purchases
MathTappers
No in-app purchases
READING MAGIC for Schools
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MathTappers free?
Is READING MAGIC for Schools free?
Which has better reviews, MathTappers or READING MAGIC for Schools?
Do MathTappers or READING MAGIC for Schools have ads?
Which is updated more often, MathTappers or READING MAGIC for Schools?
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