Comparison

ABC MAGIC PHONICS vs Jolly Phonics

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

Head to head
About

ABC MAGIC PHONICS

This app teaches children the sounds of alphabet letters, crucial for developing reading skills. It uses visual and auditory methods, matching phonetic images to letters, and focuses on lowercase letters for a strong reading foundation. Developed with educators, it aims to help young learners associate letters with their sounds effectively.

Highlights
  • Teaches letter sounds for reading
  • Matches phonetic images to letters
  • Focuses on lowercase letters
  • Customizable letter selection
  • Uses rhythm and repetition
  • Visual and auditory learning
  • Distraction-free learning environment
Features
Read full description

This app will help your child learn the sounds of the letters of the alphabet, which are necessary for reading. Learning the sounds of the letters gives your child the tools for reading and helps them become better readers. A matching phonetic photo image is matched with each letter to help your child learn the sound of each letter. This app has many customizable features, including the ability to select which specific letters you would like you child learn. LOWERCASE Don’t waste your child’s time teaching them capital letters, which represent only 5% of the words in printed text. 95% of the printed word in books and periodicals is in lowercase letters. Give your child the smart start of learning lowercase letters first. LETTER SOUNDS The sounds of the letters are what give children the tools for reading. Just like counting skills are the foundations of addition, knowing the sounds of the letters are the foundations of reading. Contrary to popular belief and the current educational paradigm, teaching your child the names of the letters DOES NOT help your child learn how to read! TEACHING THE SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS DOES HELP YOUR CHILD LEARN HOW TO READ! Give your child the smart start of learning the sounds of the letters! RHYTHM The repetition and rhythm of the words will help your child memorize the sounds of the letters. VISUAL The photograph images and colored letters will help your child in learning the letter sounds. AUDITORY Children speak all the sounds and words. Each letter will repeat its sound when touched. Each photo will say its name when touched. Most young learners child will enjoy repeating the sounds they hear on this app. FOCUS All distracting bells and whistles have been removed to allow your child to focus on the essential skill to be learned here-associating a letter with its most commonly occurring sound using photographs. A team of educators using accelerated learning techniques and Montessori principles developed this app. It has been tested and used with preschool children. The children loved it and it helped them learn the letter sounds. Please give us your feedback and suggestions.

About

Jolly Phonics

This interactive app teaches children to read and write using a systematic synthetic phonics approach. It offers engaging lessons, songs, and games to build phonemic awareness and handwriting skills, aligned with the Science of Reading.

Highlights
  • Explore 42 letter sounds with songs and audio
  • Interactive tools for reading practice
  • Step-by-step handwriting animations
  • Phonics learning games
  • Progress tracking and assessments
Features
Read full description

Teach Your Children to Read and Write with Jolly Phonics! Unlock reading and writing potential with the literacy programme designed for kids and trusted by teachers worldwide. Aligned with the Science of Reading, this interactive app makes learning to read and write and building phonemic awareness fun and engaging! What is Jolly Phonics? Jolly Phonics is a programme for teaching reading and writing. It is based on a systematic synthetic phonics approach, and was developed by teachers Sue Lloyd and Sara Wernham. It is the first stage in teaching children to read and write using the 5 key skills. It focuses on direct, explicit instruction of phonemic awareness and phonics for both reading (decoding) and writing (encoding). Scientific research has consistently shown phonemic awareness to be essential for building strong reading, spelling and writing skills. Why Choose Jolly Phonics? 1. Proven Success: Used in schools globally for over 30 years with proven literacy outcomes. 2. Science-Based Approach: Aligned with the Science of Reading to ensure kids build effective foundational reading and spelling skills. 3. Engaging and Multi-Sensory: Songs, actions and interactive learning games bring phonics learning to life! Key Features That Make Learning Easy and Fun: 1. Explore All 42 Letter Sounds: Go beyond ABC with free songs and audio to help kids learn every sound. 2. Learn to Read: Build phonemic awareness with our interactive learning tools such as flashcards, wordbank and action images to enhance and support every lesson. 3. Learn to Write: Develop strong handwriting skills with step-by-step visual animations. 4. Learning Games: Learn to read and write with fun phonics learning games that reinforce kids' learning. 5. Progress Tracking: Built-in assessments to monitor children's progress and celebrate achievements. Who Is Jolly Phonics For? 1. Kids: From preschoolers learning their first words and ABC, to confident young readers building their phonics skills. 2. Parents: Support your children's early reading, writing, and spelling journey at home with our guided lessons. 3. Teachers: A valuable classroom resource for phonics instruction. Start Your Kids' Phonics Journey Today! Join the millions of families and educators who have embraced the Jolly Phonics programme of learning for confident readers and writers. Whether at home or in the classroom, this app makes literacy learning simple, effective and enjoyable! Why Phonics Instead of ABC? 1. Phonics focuses on letter-sound relationships and how sounds (phonemes) make up words. It teaches kids the valuable skill of decoding, which is essential for reading and spelling fluency. 2. ABC refers to learning letters and their names rather than their sounds. Knowing the alphabet may be a precursor to phonics but doesn't directly teach reading skills. Learning Beyond ABC! Jolly Phonics doesn't stop at just ABC or phonemic awareness. The app offers: 1. Advanced learning strategies 2. Comprehensive handwriting exercises 3. Fun learning games designed for children to reinforce spelling and letter sounds knowledge Start Your Kids' Phonics Journey Today! Join the millions of families and educators who have embraced the Jolly Phonics programme of learning for confident readers and writers. Whether at home or in the classroom, with our structured lessons, interactive tools, and a focus on foundational phonemic awareness, your kids will learn to read, write and spell confidently. Download now and see how Jolly Phonics can transform your children's literacy learning! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ABC MAGIC PHONICS4 screens
Jolly Phonics4 screens

Verdict

The call

ABC MAGIC PHONICS and Jolly Phonics both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 79% of ABC MAGIC PHONICS's written reviews are positive against 42% of Jolly Phonics's. ABC MAGIC PHONICS also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Jolly Phonics sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. ABC MAGIC PHONICS asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for ABC MAGIC PHONICS against 4.4 for Jolly Phonics. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 4.8K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of ABC MAGIC PHONICS's written reviews are positive against 42% of Jolly Phonics's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ABC MAGIC PHONICS ships an update every 6 weeks, Jolly Phonics every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ABC MAGIC PHONICS versus Jolly Phonics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterABC MAGIC PHONICSJolly Phonics
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (14K ratings)4.4 (4.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.6% of reviews — better42.1% of reviews
Number of ratings14K — better4.8K
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size147 MB227 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYJolly Learning

Customer experience

ABC MAGIC PHONICS

All ratings13,976 ratings
Positive81.5%
Neutral9.9%
Negative8.7%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral6.0%
Negative15.5%

Jolly Phonics

All ratings4,773 ratings
Positive83.4%
Neutral6.2%
Negative10.4%
Written reviews247 reviews
Positive42.1%
Neutral10.1%
Negative47.8%

User reviews

ABC MAGIC PHONICS

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Engaging and fun for children
  • 🚀 Straightforward and effective for learning letter sounds
  • 💡 Focuses on lowercase letters and sounds, which is more useful for reading
  • 👍 Simple and clean design without distractions
  • 👍 Helpful for struggling readers and dyslexic individuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Some letter sounds (like 'L') are mispronounced by the child voice
  • 🔍 Lack of option to hear letter names along with sounds
  • 🔍 No continuous mode to cycle through letters without swiping
  • 🔍 Inconsistent pronunciations between male, female, and child voices

Jolly Phonics

From 4.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent for teaching phonics
  • 🎓 Helpful for learning letter sounds
  • 🎨 Multi-sensory approach (writing, reading, signing, singing)
  • 🏫 Aligns with school curriculum

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔇 Audio issues (sound cutting out, missing sounds)
  • 🤖 Unresponsive touch controls
  • 💰 Expensive for limited content
  • 🔁 Requires re-purchase on new devices

Bugs and requests

ABC MAGIC PHONICS

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sound not working on some devices
  • Incorrect information for the letter 'X' sound

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add an option to hear letter names along with sounds
  • Improve pronunciation of certain letter sounds
  • Provide a continuous mode to cycle through letters without swiping
  • Add more visual aids like pictures for each letter
  • Include a British or Australian voice option

Jolly Phonics

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Account login issues
  • Inability to restore purchases
  • Blank/white screen problems
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More games and interactive activities
  • Print letter option instead of pre-cursive
  • Ability to share purchases across devices
  • Improved customer support and bug fixes

In-app purchases

None

ABC MAGIC PHONICS

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Jolly Phonics

Subscriptions1
  • Full access (monthly)$4.991 Month
One-time6
  • Writing$0.99
  • Sounding$1.99
  • Alternatives$1.99
Show 3 more
  • Tricky Words$1.99
  • Sound Groups 2 to 7$7.99
  • Unlock Everything$9.99

Questions

Is ABC MAGIC PHONICS free?
ABC MAGIC PHONICS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Jolly Phonics free?
Jolly Phonics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ABC MAGIC PHONICS or Jolly Phonics?
Jolly Phonics is rated higher. ABC MAGIC PHONICS averages 4.3 out of 5 from 14K ratings, while Jolly Phonics averages 4.4 from 4.8K ratings.
Do ABC MAGIC PHONICS or Jolly Phonics have ads?
Neither ABC MAGIC PHONICS nor Jolly Phonics shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ABC MAGIC PHONICS or Jolly Phonics?
ABC MAGIC PHONICS ships an update every 6 weeks, and Jolly Phonics every 5 weeks. Most recently, ABC MAGIC PHONICS was updated on October 28, 2026 and Jolly Phonics on October 29, 2026.

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