Comparison

SoundingBoard vs Letter Recognition

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

Head to head
About

SoundingBoard

Create custom communication boards quickly using pre-made symbols or your own words. This app provides a powerful tool for individuals needing alternative communication methods. It supports switch access for enhanced usability.

Highlights
  • Customizable communication boards
  • AbleNet symbol integration
  • User-added words
  • Switch access support
  • Compatible with AbleNet Blue2 Switch
Features
Read full description

SoundingBoard transforms your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into the latest in communication technology. In just minutes, you can create custom boards using AbleNet symbols or your own words. Perfect for children in special education, persons on the autism spectrum, and adults with disabilities. SoundingBoard includes switch access and is compatible with the AbleNet Blue2 Switch.

About

Letter Recognition

This educational app helps children recognize letters by matching pairs of letter pebbles. It teaches letter names, sounds, and shapes through a memory game, with customizable settings for different learning levels. Designed to enhance early literacy skills, it offers a focused and engaging learning experience.

Highlights
  • Match uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Learn letter names and sounds
  • Customizable game difficulty
  • Focuses on visual and auditory learning
  • Supports early writing development
  • No ads or in-app purchases
Features
Read full description

Recognising and remembering the different forms that a letter can take increases children’s awareness as they see them in other contexts and begin to use them in their early writing. The simple game play of this visually-engaging app follows the rules of pelmanism. Select a pair of letter pebbles, hear their name and sound and watch to see if they match. If a pair is found, they remain face up. If not, they turn over. Try to remember what you saw though as you might need some of those pebbles later! When a game is over, a new set of pebbles appears with letters selected randomly. Teacher options allow you to choose what matching takes place: lowercase to lowercase, uppercase to uppercase or uppercase to lowercase. FEATURES - Learn the name and sound of each letter and its lowercase/uppercase shape - Turn a pair of pebbles to find matching letters - Use settings to choose matching options: UC-UC, lc-lc or lc-UC - Use settings to reduce/increase the number of pebbles used in a game - A Read Me file with guidance on other ways to support letter recognition in children - No third-party advertising - No in-app purchases. WHO IS YELLOW DOOR? We are a publisher offering a range of inspiring and innovative literacy and maths resources. From multisensory games to interactive software, we combine hands-on learning with open-ended technology to promote communication and language, collaborative play and creativity across the curriculum. Our aim is to produce resources that are appealing to small hands and curious minds, and that will help build an engaging, playful learning environment for all young children. OTHER APPS FROM YELLOW DOOR Pre-Writing App Letter Formation App Come Alive Traditional Tales (6 individual apps) Come Alive Nursery Rhymes Come Alive Sound and Letters Come Alive Listening. REVIEW THE APP We would love to know what you think of our new app, so please leave a review!

Screenshots

SoundingBoard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SoundingBoard at 48% against Letter Recognition's 0%. SoundingBoard also leads on price (Free vs $19.99) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 39 months). Letter Recognition's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

SoundingBoard is free to download; Letter Recognition costs $19.99 up front. SoundingBoard sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Letter Recognition asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SoundingBoard ships an update every 3 months, Letter Recognition every 39 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SoundingBoard versus Letter Recognition: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSoundingBoardLetter Recognition
PriceFree — better$19.99
Rating3.5 (34 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews48.2% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings34 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 39 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbleNetYellow Door Ltd

Customer experience

SoundingBoard

All ratings32 ratings
Positive59.4%
Neutral6.3%
Negative34.4%
Written reviews56 reviews
Positive48.2%
Neutral16.1%
Negative35.7%

Letter Recognition

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

SoundingBoard

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • App crashing on startup after purchase
  • Folders not saving changes
  • Created boards disappearing
  • Edit lock not working, student can edit pictures
  • Cannot record voice over preloaded boards
Show 14 more
  • App crashes after in-app purchase
  • App crashes every time going into the app
  • User created boards not showing up correctly
  • Cannot record voice, does not save
  • Cannot create new boards with new symbols, save button does nothing
  • Sound quit working on iPad 2 with OS 6
  • Two touches needed to activate icon/button
  • Last time content was added, it didn't work
  • Recordings play back very quietly
  • Audio does not work at all
  • Does not work on iPod touch
  • Images are small, cells are small, does not utilize entire screen
  • Difficult to get back to the home screen
  • Losing new pages after saving

Requested features

20 requests
  • Large button icons for board selection
  • Login system to save boards across platforms
  • Ability to log in and save boards across devices
  • User login system for shared boards
  • Ability to erase pre-made boards
Show 15 more
  • Choose a default board to open with
  • iPad version to avoid magnification issues
  • Sentence strip option
  • Improve picture library search
  • Facility to play music tracks directly
  • More picture cards for school-related content
  • More choices for layout on initial screen
  • Option to change background color
  • Improve navigation for board design
  • Basic pre-formatted pages
  • Editing options for pics and boards (size, placement)
  • Basic communication symbols (yes/no, alphabet)
  • More PX available on a page
  • Better contrasting pictures with black background
  • Universal or iPad version

Letter Recognition

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SoundingBoard

One-time10
  • Mealtime_MaleFree
  • Mealtime_FemaleFree
  • Getting Dressed_MaleFree
Show 7 more
  • Getting Dressed_FemaleFree
  • General Conversation_MaleFree
  • General Conversation_FemaleFree
  • Fast Food Restaurant_MaleFree
  • Fast Food Restaurant_FemaleFree
  • Movies_MaleFree
  • Movies_FemaleFree
None

Letter Recognition

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SoundingBoard free?
SoundingBoard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Letter Recognition free?
Letter Recognition costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do SoundingBoard or Letter Recognition have ads?
Neither SoundingBoard nor Letter Recognition shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SoundingBoard or Letter Recognition?
SoundingBoard ships an update every 3 months, and Letter Recognition every 39 months. Most recently, SoundingBoard was updated on October 23, 2026 and Letter Recognition on October 13, 2026.

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