Comparison

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 vs First Grade Math Challenge

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 6

This app helps young children develop foundational reading skills by focusing on letter sounds and their relationships to words. It uses engaging matching games to reinforce phonemic awareness and letter-sound correspondence, building upon previous learning.

Highlights
  • Develops phonemic awareness
  • Teaches letter-sound correspondence
  • Reinforces alphabet sound recognition
  • Uses matching games
  • Includes a preview feature
  • Offers tiered learning system
Features
Read full description

This app helps give your child foundational reading skills. This app helps beginning readers gain mastery with the alphabetic principle. This app will help your child understand the relationship between sounds and letters.
 Learn The Alphabetic Principle. Develop Phonemic Awareness. Learn How Sounds Relate to Words. Learn Letter-Sound Correspondence. Learn How to APPLY Letter-Sound Correspondence. Gain proficiency in the use of the sounds of the letters. Gain Proficiency in Auditory Discrimination.
 This app is the classic matching game with a phonics twist. This app helps to reinforce alphabet sound recognition by matching beginning letter sounds to the familiar phonetic pictures from the previous apps in this series.
 The second option is to match pictures with the same beginning sounds, such as "sun" and "sailboat." This app has a preview feature for the matching games to help train the mind to remember images and image placement.
 What is the purpose of this app? ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 gives your child practice with beginning phonics skills. This app focuses on the most common sound that each letter makes. This app builds on the skills learned in the four apps of this series. Those apps were about teaching letter/sound associations. This app continues this process by testing letter sound recognition. In this app, the default is for the letters to be silent and not to make their sounds when touched. The child's knowledge of the sounds is used in this app.
 How does this app work? This app uses four different games to help your child learn and reinforce their knowledge of which sound each letter makes. When appropriate, the games are programmed with a built-in tiered learning system that gets slightly more challenging with correct answers. Incorrect answers will make the games slightly less challenging. There is another built-in feature that reintroduces incorrectly guessed letters to give the child another chance to get those letters right.
 Why do you focus on the sounds of letters rather than the names of letters? It is a much better use of time to focus on letter sounds rather than letter names. A child can actually read without knowing the letters' common names, but a child only knowing the names of the letters cannot phonetically read. The ubiquitousness of the ABC song both at home and at school will surely give children the ability to name the letters. However, many children are not given the much-needed explicit instruction of the SOUNDS that the letters make. In this app, only the SOUNDS of the letters are used and NEVER the names of the letters. This app is dedicated to helping children learn the sounds and functions of letters.
 These games are designed so that children can do them independently after being given the basic instructions on how to play the games. The app has built-in feedback mechanisms to help the child to work independently. These mechanisms allow the child to learn at their own pace and in their own way. The child does not need to be constantly supervised and told what the right answer is. This frees up the adult to be an observer of their child's learning and assist them when invited.

About

First Grade Math Challenge

Practice addition and subtraction skills with a barnyard theme. Collect and learn about animals by completing timed math challenges, unlocking fun facts and sounds. An in-app upgrade offers more levels and animals permanently.

Highlights
  • Addition & Subtraction practice
  • Barnyard animal collection
  • Timed math challenges
  • Learn animal facts
  • Animal sounds
  • Gradually increasing difficulty
Features
Read full description

Practice math skills and learn about animals around the barn! * Addition & Subtraction Edition is perfect for grades K-3 but still challenging and fun for everyone, even adults! * Collect and learn about barnyard animals by completing timed math challenges * Innovative dual learning opportunity, learn interesting facts about different animals while practicing math skills! * Tons of fun facts about each animal to learn and share with your friends! * Listen to each animal! * No annoying ads to distract from game play! This game is perfect for a First Grade, Second Grade, or Third Grade student! The levels gradually increase in difficulty as the game progresses.

Screenshots

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 64 screens
First Grade Math Challenge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: First Grade Math Challenge at none against ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6's 1. First Grade Math Challenge also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 27 months). ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (182 vs 4). On price, ads 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. ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. First Grade Math Challenge asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 has 182 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6's written reviews are positive against 80% of First Grade Math Challenge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 ships an update every 27 months, First Grade Math Challenge every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 versus First Grade Math Challenge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterABC MAGIC PHONICS 6First Grade Math Challenge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (182 ratings) — better4.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings182 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 27 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size387 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYEric Marschner

Customer experience

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6

All ratings177 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral11.9%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

First Grade Math Challenge

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral6.7%
Negative13.3%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6

One-time1
  • Full Version$1.99
None

First Grade Math Challenge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 free?
ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is First Grade Math Challenge free?
First Grade Math Challenge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 or First Grade Math Challenge?
ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 is rated higher. ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 averages 4.3 out of 5 from 182 ratings, while First Grade Math Challenge averages 4.0 from 4 ratings.
Do ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 or First Grade Math Challenge have ads?
Neither ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 nor First Grade Math Challenge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 or First Grade Math Challenge?
ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 ships an update every 27 months, and First Grade Math Challenge every 2 months. Most recently, ABC MAGIC PHONICS 6 was updated on November 1, 2026 and First Grade Math Challenge on November 1, 2026.

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