ABC MAGIC PHONICS vs LetterSchool
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
LetterSchool
This app helps young children learn to write letters, numbers, and shapes through interactive tracing and engaging animations. It offers progress tracking and is designed by educational professionals to be safe and fun for toddlers and preschoolers.
- Block and cursive letter tracing
- Uppercase and lowercase letters
- Numbers 1-10 tracing
- Geometric shape tracing
- Progress tracking for multiple players
- Interactive animations and sound effects
- CVC, CVCC, and long sound word practice
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The #1 alphabet tracing and words spelling app for toddlers & pre-schoolers. Recommended and used by parents, teachers, and occupational therapists! Loved & played by more than 2 million kids and used at more than 5,000 schools! - Winner of 'National Parenting Product Awards' - NAPPA Awards - ‘Best Mobile App Platinum Award’ nominee! – BMA SPECIAL FEATURES: - Block & Cursive Letters, - Uppercase and Lowercase, - Numbers 1-10, - 24 geometric shapes for toddlers! - Keep track of your child’s progress, - Unlock Golden Levels! - 72 CVC words, 36 CVCC words, and 39 long sound words! - Progress and settings stored for up to three players on the same device, - Interactive and visually attractive fun animations, - Available for both iPads and iPhones! IMPORTANT: The first five letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase), five shapes, and the first three CVC flashcards (nine words) are completely for free. They can be played entirely (on 3 game steps). Enjoy this trial and have fun! PERFECT FOR KIDS: Kids want to have fun and LetterSchool offers an educational journey with the most engaging and entertaining educational material! - Learn while engaging with over 20+ exciting animations, graphics, and sound effects. - Associate letters with words, master and memorize tracing directions and the correct formation of each character. - Learn phonics, the formation of words, understand syllable formations, and spell entire words. - Perfect for home-schooling kids and kindergartens. A user-friendly app for children with special educational needs. PERFECT FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS: - Choice of the three most popular font families in handwriting education (Handwriting Without Tears, D’Nealian, and Zaner-Bloser). - Complete a set of letters, numbers, or shapes to unlock the Golden Levels! - Golden Level allows progress tracking and displays exactly how the letter was drawn! - A new challenge at every step: Your child traces a letter, number or shape 3 times using different parameters. SAFE: - An educational app created together with parents and educational professionals. - NO ADS! - Advanced settings or purchases only accessible by an adult! - Extremely committed Customer Support ready to answer all questions and fix any issues. LET'S PLAY & LEARN! Join LetterSchool on this exciting educational journey! Download the app and allow your toddler to discover the magical world of letters and words. Before you know it, your kid will become a pro in writing and spelling! SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: LetterSchool offers several auto-renewing subscription options: per month. quarter, and year. - You can cancel your subscription anytime without an extra cancellation fee. - Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours before the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during an active subscription period. - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. - Your iTunes account will be charged automatically after the 7-day free trial. CONTACT For more reviews and information, visit our website www.letterschool.com If you have any question or suggestions, please contact us at support@letterschool.com You can also check our FAQ page on https://www.letterschool.com/en/help. Terms of service and privacy policy: https://www.letterschool.com/legal/terms-of-use & https://www.letterschool.com/legal/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ABC MAGIC PHONICS at none against LetterSchool's 14. ABC MAGIC PHONICS also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 54%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). LetterSchool's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. LetterSchool sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. ABC MAGIC PHONICS asks for nothing beyond the download.
LetterSchool holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 17K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 79% of ABC MAGIC PHONICS's written reviews are positive against 54% of LetterSchool's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ABC MAGIC PHONICS ships an update every 6 weeks, LetterSchool every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ABC MAGIC PHONICS | LetterSchool |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (14K ratings) | 4.5 (17K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better | 54.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14K | 17K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 147 MB | 158 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY | Letterschool Enabling Learning B.V. |
Customer experience
ABC MAGIC PHONICS
LetterSchool
User reviews
ABC MAGIC PHONICS
From 14K App Store ratingsWhat 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
LetterSchool
From 17K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Engaging and interactive
- 🚀 Helps improve handwriting
- 💡 Supports multiple writing styles (print, cursive, d'nealian)
- 👍 Motivating with rewards and animations
- 👍 Useful for children with learning challenges
Room to improve
- 🐛 Subscription issues (app reverts to lite version, need to restore purchases)
- 🐛 Glitches and crashes (especially with Dari letters)
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Limited free version
- 🔍 Inconsistent letter formation (not aligned with school standards)
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
LetterSchool
Reported bugs
4 issues- Dari letter (پ) keeps glitching
- Subscription issues (app reverts to lite version, need to restore purchases)
- Incompatibility with older devices
- Login screen freezes
Requested features
5 requests- Add more languages (Russian, Serbian, Thai, Korean, Hebrew, Hindi, etc.)
- Allow creating custom words/names to practice
- Improve letter sound pronunciations
- Add more visual options (fonts, themes, etc.)
- Integrate with International Phonetic Alphabet
In-app purchases
ABC MAGIC PHONICS
No in-app purchases
LetterSchool
- Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- LetterSchool - Monthly Pass7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$9.991 Month
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- Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$12.993 Months
- LetterSchool - Monthly Pass7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$19.993 Months
- Annual Access Pass7 Days trial$44.991 Year
- LetterSchool - Annual Pass$59.991 Year
- Yearly Access Pass7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- LetterSchool - Annual Pass7 Days trial$74.991 Year
- Unlock All Shapes$2.99
- Unlock Full Block Alphabet$6.99
- Unlock Full Cursive Alphabet$6.99
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- All-in-one Package$79.99
Questions
Is ABC MAGIC PHONICS free?
Is LetterSchool free?
Which has better reviews, ABC MAGIC PHONICS or LetterSchool?
Do ABC MAGIC PHONICS or LetterSchool have ads?
Which is updated more often, ABC MAGIC PHONICS or LetterSchool?
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