Comparison

READING MAGIC vs Reading Train Starter Books

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

Reading Train Starter Books

This app offers a growing library of over 300 beginner books, songs, and quizzes designed to help children develop reading skills, confidence, and a love for reading. It includes professional narration, a word dictionary, and interactive games.

Highlights
  • 300+ beginner books
  • Songs and quizzes
  • Professional narration
  • 450+ word dictionary
  • Interactive train game
  • Leveled reading
  • Unlimited user accounts
Features
Read full description

Every child can learn to read with this growing library of 300+ engaging beginner books, songs and quizzes. Complete reading curriculum building skills, self confidence, vocabulary and a love of reading. FREE: Try 33 books, 21 songs, play the train games and use the 450+ word dictionary for FREE. Grand Prize Winner of the 2015 Technology and Reading Award, International Literacy Association. "No other app is as specifically tailored to the needs of beginning readers." KinderTown.com "Beautifully designed storybooks and related games that teach foundational reading": Appolicious.com "A vast selection of mini books to help kids reach reading independence" Geeks With Juniors. Access the whole library of over 300 books with a FREE trial for 30 days when you sign up for an auto-renewing subscription. Choose $1.99/month; 6.99 for 6 months or 9.99 for a year! (U.S. Dollars) All subscriptions are renewing. You may turn off auto-renewal at any time from your iTunes account settings. Safe for Kids: The Learning Station is a Proud Member of Moms With Apps and the Know What's Inside Program. Kid tested and parent/teacher approved. We are ad-free and take our users privacy seriously. View our Privacy Policy here: http://www.readingtrain.org * Listen, read and record books at 3 different beginning reading levels. * Professional narration: American English. All books can be recorded by users. * Play the train game after every book. * 450+ word integrated dictionary * 20 free song books * Unlimited user accounts * Powerful reporting tools Books Kids CAN Read. Books Kids LOVE to Read. Leveled books on numbers, colors, animals, shapes, and science help build the foundational knowledge kids need to succeed in school. Keep in Touch We welcome your feedback: support@readingtrain.org facebook.com/readingtrain How the Reading Train Works- * Free users can read/listen/record the first book in every unit, (33 books in all), play the train game, use the integrated 450+ word dictionary, and listen to 21 song books. * Subscribers get access to all 300+ books, with new books added regularly. * To access our entire library of books, FREE for the first month, choose an automatically renewing subscription for $1.99/one month; $6.99/six months; 9.99/twelve months. (U.S. Dollars) * After subscribing, you may need to touch the "Restore" button on the "buy" screen where you purchased the subscription. (You will not be charged again.) * The service can be shared with additional iPads you own. * Your subscription is for your iTunes account and payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase (subscribing is optional and in a parent-only section of the app). * Your Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period * Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal * You may turn off auto-renewal at any time from your iTunes account settings- Manage Subscriptions. * No refunds for unused portions of the current subscription are allowed during active subscription period. * For help or additional information please contact us at http://www.readingtrain.org/contact/ or send an email to support@readingtrain.org * Our apps take privacy very seriously. We do not collect, access or transmit any personal information. Full details of our privacy policy are available here- https://www.readingtrain.org/privacy-policy/ Please read our Terms of Use here- https://www.readingtrain.org/terms-of-use * Not compatible with iPad 1.

Screenshots

READING MAGIC4 screens
Reading Train Starter Books4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: READING MAGIC at 4.6 against Reading Train Starter Books's 4.1. Reading Train Starter Books's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 62%) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 6 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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 and Reading Train Starter Books sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

READING MAGIC holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 41 and 28 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 62% of READING MAGIC's written reviews are positive against 78% of Reading Train Starter Books's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

READING MAGIC ships an update every 6 months, Reading Train Starter Books every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
READING MAGIC versus Reading Train Starter Books: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADING MAGICReading Train Starter Books
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (41 ratings) — better4.1 (28 ratings)
Positive reviews62.2% of reviews78.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings41 — better28
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.711.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size208 MB1.3 GB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYThe Learning Station, LLC

Customer experience

READING MAGIC

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

Reading Train Starter Books

All ratings28 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative17.9%
Written reviews73 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral2.7%
Negative19.2%

Bugs and requests

READING MAGIC

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Reading Train Starter Books

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App has no sound
  • App does not open/crashes
  • Charged after trial period
  • Cannot unsubscribe after trial
  • Error with earning coins for songs

Requested features

5 requests
  • Higher level books
  • More songs
  • Update progress across devices
  • Dark mode option
  • Option to buy content outright (no subscription)

In-app purchases

1 purchases

READING MAGIC

One-time1
  • Deluxe Upgrade$3.99
3 purchases

Reading Train Starter Books

Subscriptions3
  • The Reading Train1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • The Reading Train1 Month trial$6.996 Months
  • The Reading Train1 Month trial$9.991 Year

Questions

Is READING MAGIC free?
READING MAGIC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Reading Train Starter Books free?
Reading Train Starter Books is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, READING MAGIC or Reading Train Starter Books?
READING MAGIC is rated higher. READING MAGIC averages 4.6 out of 5 from 41 ratings, while Reading Train Starter Books averages 4.1 from 28 ratings.
Do READING MAGIC or Reading Train Starter Books have ads?
Neither READING MAGIC nor Reading Train Starter Books shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READING MAGIC or Reading Train Starter Books?
READING MAGIC ships an update every 6 months, and Reading Train Starter Books every 3 months. Most recently, READING MAGIC was updated on October 15, 2026 and Reading Train Starter Books on October 10, 2026.

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