iBrainstorm vs READING MAGIC 3
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iBrainstorm
This app allows users to capture and organize creative ideas on a digital canvas. Easily add notes, drawings, and arrange them visually. Share your brainstormed content seamlessly across devices.
- Multi-device collaboration
- Add and drag-and-drop notes
- Assign colors to notes
- Digital drawing board
- Zoom functionality
- Capture and share ideas
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Capturing and sharing your inner most creative genius has never been easier. Introducing the first multi-device collaboration tool from Universal Mind. From iPad to iPad with just a flick of the finger, iBrainstorm has set the bar and has redefined the very nature of collaboration. Add a note, then drag and drop it anywhere on the iPad's screen to create any desired order or pattern. Assign colors to give additional meaning or priority. Provide clarity to your students or classmates through simple organization. The iPad canvas also serves as a drawing board. Draw, erase or zoom in for tighter control. Everything is then captured for later. Show relationships between ideas or just capture your best stickman - it's easy. Think it. Share it. Love it!
READING MAGIC 3
This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure for children. It uses interactive activities and science-backed methods to help master words with two or more syllables, building essential literacy skills.
- Science of Reading methodology
- Focus on multi-syllable words
- Blending and segmenting skills
- Phonemic awareness development
- Three engaging learning modes
- Interactive reading games
- Progress tracking
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Unlock the Magic of Reading with READING MAGIC 3! Transform your child into a confident reader with READING MAGIC 3! This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure through interactive activities focused on short vowel words containing multiple syllables. 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 review sentiment: READING MAGIC 3 at 89% against iBrainstorm's 46%. READING MAGIC 3 also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.7) and device support (3 vs 1). iBrainstorm's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 22 months). On price, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. READING MAGIC 3 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iBrainstorm asks for nothing beyond the download.
READING MAGIC 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of iBrainstorm's written reviews are positive against 89% of READING MAGIC 3's.
iBrainstorm ships an update every 4 months, READING MAGIC 3 every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iBrainstorm | READING MAGIC 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (25 ratings) | 4.9 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 45.6% of reviews | 89.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 25 — better | 16 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 22 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 7.1 — better | 13.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 250 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Erik Loehfelm | PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY |
Customer experience
iBrainstorm
READING MAGIC 3
Bugs and requests
iBrainstorm
Reported bugs
3 issues- Sticky notes sometimes disappear after reopening the app
- Drawing tools can be laggy or unresponsive
- Difficulty connecting devices for collaboration
Requested features
6 requests- Add undo/redo functionality
- Allow resizing and formatting of sticky notes
- Implement multi-page or infinite workspace
- Enable collaboration between multiple devices
- Add support for inserting images and documents
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- Improve eraser and drawing tools
READING MAGIC 3
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
iBrainstorm
No in-app purchases
READING MAGIC 3
- Deluxe Upgrade$3.99
Questions
Is iBrainstorm free?
Is READING MAGIC 3 free?
Which has better reviews, iBrainstorm or READING MAGIC 3?
Do iBrainstorm or READING MAGIC 3 have ads?
Which is updated more often, iBrainstorm or READING MAGIC 3?
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