Comparison

READING MAGIC 2 vs Student Check In

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

Head to head
About

READING MAGIC 2

This app helps children master consonant blends, a key skill for reading success. It offers interactive modes for blending sounds, segmenting words, and independent reading practice with over 300 words and engaging themes.

Highlights
  • Blending Mode for sound practice
  • Segmenting Mode for word breakdown
  • Reading Mode for independent word reading
  • Focus on CCVC and CVCC words
  • Advanced consonant blend practice
  • Over 300 words with male/female voices
  • Themed lessons for engagement
Features
Read full description

Unlock the Magic of Reading with READING MAGIC 2! Transform your child into a confident reader with READING MAGIC 2! This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure with interactive activities focused on CCVC (Consonant-Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) and CVCC short-vowel blend 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

Student Check In

This app streamlines the check-in process for educational institutions, replacing paper sign-in sheets with an electronic system. It automatically documents, sorts, and time-stamps arrivals, sending student information to staff desktops for quick acknowledgment and response.

Highlights
  • Electronic sign-in replacement
  • Automatic documentation and time-stamping
  • Student information sent to staff desktops
  • Optional staff notification via text
  • Reduces wait times
  • Improves customer service
Features
Read full description

Student Check In is a simple and fast replacement for the paper sign in sheet. Designed for Admissions, Registration, clinics and Counseling offices, this app improves your customer service by automatically documenting, sorting and time stamping each person as they arrive. The students and/or visitors sign in with their name, phone number, company name and select a reason for their visit. The information is then sent to each desktop in a check list format to allow staff to acknowledge and respond to the students quickly. Optionally, the system can send a text message to a staff member, notifying them someone is waiting. This app is a mobile add-on to allow the use of an Apple iPad for the kiosk portion of Student Check In. A paper sign-in sheet just isn’t enough to handle the volume of students and it’s hard to justify a person dedicated to greeting people upon arrival. Student Check In will alleviate the line and push the student information to each desktop. Staff now has an organized student list on their computer desktop. A typed name, time and reason for visit of each student are shown in an organized list. Each department or staff member can respond directly reducing wait times and improving customer service.

Screenshots

READING MAGIC 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Student Check In at none against READING MAGIC 2's 1. Student Check In also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 81%) and update cadence (every 6 months vs every 19 months). READING MAGIC 2's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.7 vs 15.0). On price, rating, ratings volume 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 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Student Check In asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for READING MAGIC 2 against 4.5 for Student Check In. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 4 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of READING MAGIC 2's written reviews are positive against 100% of Student Check In's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

READING MAGIC 2 ships an update every 19 months, Student Check In every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
READING MAGIC 2 versus Student Check In: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADING MAGIC 2Student Check In
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 6 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS13.7 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size258 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYCheck In Systems Inc

Customer experience

READING MAGIC 2

All ratings21 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral9.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral6.3%
Negative12.5%

Student Check In

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

READING MAGIC 2

One-time1
  • Deluxe Upgrade$3.99
None

Student Check In

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is READING MAGIC 2 free?
READING MAGIC 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Student Check In free?
Student Check In is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, READING MAGIC 2 or Student Check In?
READING MAGIC 2 and Student Check In are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 8 and 4 ratings respectively.
Do READING MAGIC 2 or Student Check In have ads?
Neither READING MAGIC 2 nor Student Check In shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READING MAGIC 2 or Student Check In?
READING MAGIC 2 ships an update every 19 months, and Student Check In every 6 months. Most recently, READING MAGIC 2 was updated on November 6, 2026 and Student Check In on November 2, 2026.

Other comparisons