Comparison

READING MAGIC 2 vs Shakespeare SwipeSpeare

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

Shakespeare SwipeSpeare

Easily understand Shakespeare's works with this app that translates classic texts into modern English. Swipe to toggle between original and translated versions, access a built-in dictionary, biography, and study guides. Order print or ePub versions of plays.

Highlights
  • Modern English translations
  • Interactive swipe to toggle text
  • Searchable Shakespeare Dictionary
  • Shakespeare biography
  • Print and ePub ordering
  • Cross-device sync
  • Study guides and lesson plans
Features
Read full description

Shakespeare has all the ingredients of a big budget movie—if you can understand him. SwipeSpeare puts the words of the Bard into plain and simple English with a Swipe of a finger! SwipeSpeare only shows you the modern text when you want to see it. Simply swipe your finger over the text, and the text will change; swipe it again and it will change back. This app features: • FREE built in (and searchable) Shakespeare Dictionary • FREE Shakespeare biography • FREE "Swipeable" books available • Order print copies and ePubs of any play • Sync highlights, notes, and bookmarks across any device • Every Shakespeare play translated into modern English! (The original play is also included--you choose how you want to read it. Swipe your finger and you can easily toggle back and forth!) • Study Guides for every major play with more on the way • Lesson Plans for every major play with more on the way We are already making lots of improvements to this app--both to the content / features and the UI; we are eager to receive any feedback about what you dislike about the app or what you would like to see in future updates.

Screenshots

READING MAGIC 24 screens
Shakespeare SwipeSpeare4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: READING MAGIC 2 at 4.8 against Shakespeare SwipeSpeare's 2.7. READING MAGIC 2 also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 58%). Shakespeare SwipeSpeare's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 19 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.7). 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 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Shakespeare SwipeSpeare sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

READING MAGIC 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 21 and 23 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of READING MAGIC 2's written reviews are positive against 58% of Shakespeare SwipeSpeare's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

READING MAGIC 2 ships an update every 19 months, Shakespeare SwipeSpeare every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
READING MAGIC 2 versus Shakespeare SwipeSpeare: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADING MAGIC 2Shakespeare SwipeSpeare
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (21 ratings) — better2.7 (23 ratings)
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews — better57.6% of reviews
Number of ratings2123 — better
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS13.710.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size258 MB171 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYBookCaps

Customer experience

READING MAGIC 2

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

Shakespeare SwipeSpeare

All ratings23 ratings
Positive39.1%
Neutral4.3%
Negative56.5%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive57.6%
Neutral7.6%
Negative34.8%

Bugs and requests

READING MAGIC 2

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Shakespeare SwipeSpeare

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • Crashes when opening app
  • Crashes when trying to open a book
  • Takes money but doesn't unlock plays
  • Confirmation code not sent
  • Purchases not restoring
Show 12 more
  • App crashes on iPhone 7 iOS 10.3.3
  • Modern translation not appearing
  • Swipe feature not working
  • Lesson plan summaries are all the same
  • Omitted lines in original text
  • Cannot create a profile (code error)
  • App glitches and shuts down shortly after opening
  • Modern Shakespeare biographies not loading
  • Typos in biographies
  • Missing line numbers
  • Misspellings in text
  • Character list for Romeo and Juliet not accessible

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to edit notes
  • Side-by-side view of original and modern text
  • Line numbers included
  • Character lists available
  • Bookmark functionality
Show 1 more
  • Visual overhaul to fit modern iOS

In-app purchases

1 purchases

READING MAGIC 2

One-time1
  • Deluxe Upgrade$3.99
10 purchases

Shakespeare SwipeSpeare

One-time10
  • Midsummer Nights Dream$1.99
  • Hamlet$1.99
  • Macbeth$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Romeo and Juliet$1.99
  • Julius Caesar$1.99
  • The Tempest$1.99
  • Twelfth Night$1.99
  • Othello$1.99
  • Much Ado About Nothing$1.99
  • Unlock All Plays$19.99

Questions

Is READING MAGIC 2 free?
READING MAGIC 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shakespeare SwipeSpeare free?
Shakespeare SwipeSpeare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, READING MAGIC 2 or Shakespeare SwipeSpeare?
READING MAGIC 2 is rated higher. READING MAGIC 2 averages 4.8 out of 5 from 21 ratings, while Shakespeare SwipeSpeare averages 2.7 from 23 ratings.
Do READING MAGIC 2 or Shakespeare SwipeSpeare have ads?
Neither READING MAGIC 2 nor Shakespeare SwipeSpeare shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READING MAGIC 2 or Shakespeare SwipeSpeare?
READING MAGIC 2 ships an update every 19 months, and Shakespeare SwipeSpeare every 6 weeks. Most recently, READING MAGIC 2 was updated on November 10, 2026 and Shakespeare SwipeSpeare on November 1, 2026.

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