Comparison

Starfall ABCs vs Shape Patterns

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

Head to head
About

Starfall ABCs

This app offers a free introduction to foundational reading skills, featuring interactive activities that engage children through sight, sound, and play. It's designed to help young learners recognize letters and develop essential reading abilities, with special considerations for English language learners and children with disabilities.

Highlights
  • Interactive letter and sound activities
  • Positive reinforcement and play-based learning
  • Develops letter recognition
  • Builds foundational reading skills
  • Accessible for children with impairments
Features
Read full description

Starfall® ABCs is the first step of Starfall’s Learn to Read phonics sequence, which teaches the foundational skills for learning to read. Step 1: ABCs Step 2: Learn to Read Step 3: It’s Fun to Read Step 4: I’m Reading! Starfall ABCs helps children master letter recognition in a stress-free environment through exploration, positive reinforcement, and play. Children delight as they see, hear, and interact with colorful imagery carefully matched to letters and sounds. By mastering these letter-sound relationships, they develop the skills they need to become confident, independent readers. Travel-ready. No internet connection required. Find Starfall ABCs, along with 700+ additional activities and counting across reading, math, music, and more in the Starfall app. The Starfall website and applications are program services of Starfall Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported nonprofit organization. Starfall® and Starfall.com® are registered trademarks in the US, the European Union, and various other countries. Copyright © 2002–2026 by Starfall Education. All rights reserved. Starfall apps are inclusively designed to support all children, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Starfall also provides an Enhanced Accessible Index for children with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. For more information, please contact Customer Service at (+1) 303-417-6414.

About

Shape Patterns

Features
Read full description

On the split screen you can see at the same time what the program code looks like when you create the patterns with shapes or what the pattern with shapes looks like when you create a program code. The app deals intensively with the topic of "loops" because they have a special meaning when programming and creating patterns. The app works best on the iPad because you can see two views at once and see how changes affect the different layers (pattern/programming). On iPhone, you only see one view at a time, but you can switch between views. On PIKAS digi (https://pikas-digi.dzlm.de) you will soon receive assignments, digital blackboards and ideas for use in class.

Screenshots

Starfall ABCs4 screens
Shape Patterns4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shape Patterns at every 2 months against Starfall ABCs's every 7 months. Shape Patterns also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfall ABCs ships an update every 7 months, Shape Patterns every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Starfall ABCs versus Shape Patterns: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfall ABCsShape Patterns
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (472 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings472 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarfall Education FoundationIPN - Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education

Bugs and requests

Starfall ABCs

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Black screen issues
  • Repeated crashes and freezing
  • Incompatibility with latest iOS updates
  • Inability to exit app on certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Expand app to include more Starfall website features
  • Add more advanced learning content beyond just ABCs
  • Improve compatibility and stability across devices
  • Integrate voice assistant and accessibility features
  • Address gender representation issues in content

Shape Patterns

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starfall ABCs

No in-app purchases

None

Shape Patterns

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starfall ABCs free?
Starfall ABCs is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shape Patterns free?
Shape Patterns is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Starfall ABCs or Shape Patterns have ads?
Neither Starfall ABCs nor Shape Patterns shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfall ABCs or Shape Patterns?
Starfall ABCs ships an update every 7 months, and Shape Patterns every 2 months. Most recently, Starfall ABCs was updated on October 10, 2026 and Shape Patterns on October 2, 2026.

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