Comparison

READING MAGIC vs Morton Subotnik Create

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

Head to head
About

READING MAGIC

This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure for young children. It focuses on CVC words and uses science-based phonics principles to build essential reading skills like blending and segmenting.

Highlights
  • CVC word focus
  • Blending and segmenting practice
  • Phonemic awareness building
  • Phonological processing improvement
  • Engaging games and activities
  • Discourages picture guessing
Features
Read full description

Unlock the Magic of Reading with READING MAGIC 1! Transform your child into a confident reader with READING MAGIC 1! This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure with interactive activities focused on short-vowel words, specifically CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) words. 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.

About

Morton Subotnik Create

This application enables users to engage with assignments from MusicFirst Junior on an iPad. It provides a platform for creative musical exploration and learning.

Highlights
  • Interactive music assignments
  • MusicFirst Junior integration
  • iPad compatibility
  • Creative musical exploration
  • Educational content
Features
Read full description

The Morton Subotnik Create App allows users to work with Morton Subotnik Create assignments from MusicFirst Junior using an iPad.

Screenshots

READING MAGIC4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Morton Subotnik Create at none against READING MAGIC's 1. Morton Subotnik Create also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). READING MAGIC's advantage is ratings volume (42 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. READING MAGIC sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Morton Subotnik Create asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Morton Subotnik Create holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: READING MAGIC has 42 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

READING MAGIC ships an update every 6 months, Morton Subotnik Create every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
READING MAGIC versus Morton Subotnik Create: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADING MAGICMorton Subotnik Create
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (42 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings42 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS13.79.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size208 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYParsons Music Limited

Customer experience

READING MAGIC

All ratings41 ratings
Positive90.2%
Neutral4.9%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews37 reviews
Positive62.2%
Neutral8.1%
Negative29.7%

Morton Subotnik Create

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

READING MAGIC

One-time1
  • Deluxe Upgrade$3.99
None

Morton Subotnik Create

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is READING MAGIC free?
READING MAGIC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Morton Subotnik Create free?
Morton Subotnik Create is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, READING MAGIC or Morton Subotnik Create?
Morton Subotnik Create is rated higher. READING MAGIC averages 4.6 out of 5 from 42 ratings, while Morton Subotnik Create averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do READING MAGIC or Morton Subotnik Create have ads?
Neither READING MAGIC nor Morton Subotnik Create shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READING MAGIC or Morton Subotnik Create?
READING MAGIC ships an update every 6 months, and Morton Subotnik Create every 2 months. Most recently, READING MAGIC was updated on November 1, 2026 and Morton Subotnik Create on November 2, 2026.

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