Comparison

READING MAGIC 2 vs SAS Math Stretch

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

SAS Math Stretch

This app offers a variety of interactive activities designed to build elementary math skills and number sense. It covers counting, number relations, operations, and time-telling with customizable difficulty levels. Progress can be easily shared with parents and teachers.

Highlights
  • Counting and number relations activities
  • Time telling and manipulation exercises
  • Practice and quiz modes
  • Customizable difficulty levels
  • Progress sharing with parents/teachers
  • Whole numbers, fractions, and decimals support
Features
Read full description

Math Stretch provides a suite of activities for developing elementary math skills and number sense. Specifically, activities target counting, number relations and operations, and telling and manipulating time. Math Stretch activities offer both practice and quiz modes. Settings allow students, parents, and teachers to control the level of difficulty of each activity independently. Practice sessions and completed quizzes can easily be shared with parents and teachers. Math Stretch now includes whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Customize each activity to your students’ level with settings. Activities Place Picker – Build numbers by placing the correct value in each position. Ordering Numbers – Arrange numbers in order from lowest to highest. Largest or Smallest – Find the largest or smallest number among a collection. Skip Counter – Complete number patterns of varying difficulty. Number Bonds – Complete the number bond from a selection of numbers. Number Comparison – Compare numbers (both whole numbers and fractions). Even/Odd – Sort numbers into evens and odds. Number Line – Add and subtract using a number line. Find the Time – Manipulate the hour and minute hand to display the correct time. Time Conversion –Convert time measurements to hours, minutes, and seconds. Pi – Practice building pi and see how many places you can memorize. Hundred Chart –Identify missing numbers in a chart containing numbers from 1 to 100. Math Drag-and-Drop – Count, add, and subtract using number blocks, a virtual math manipulative. Ten Grid – Count in groups of 10. Math Grid – Add and subtract using number grids. Daily Numbers – View three new numbers every day. Practice writing the word form and take a photo of the number in action. Feedback Your feedback will help shape the next release of Math Stretch. Please send questions or comments to socialinnovation@sas.com. Follow twitter.com/saseducator License Agreement Your use of this Application indicates your acceptance of the terms of the SAS Institute Inc. License Agreement for SAS® Math Stretch, linked below. If you do not agree with these terms, you are not authorized to use the Application.

Screenshots

READING MAGIC 24 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SAS Math Stretch at 5.0 against READING MAGIC 2's 4.5. SAS Math Stretch also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 81%). READING MAGIC 2's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, update cadence 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. SAS Math Stretch asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SAS Math Stretch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: READING MAGIC 2 has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of READING MAGIC 2's written reviews are positive against 100% of SAS Math Stretch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
READING MAGIC 2 versus SAS Math Stretch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREADING MAGIC 2SAS Math Stretch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 10 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS13.79.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size258 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPRESCHOOL UNIVERSITYSAS Institute Inc.

Customer experience

READING MAGIC 2

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

SAS Math Stretch

All ratings1 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

SAS Math Stretch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is READING MAGIC 2 free?
READING MAGIC 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SAS Math Stretch free?
SAS Math Stretch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, READING MAGIC 2 or SAS Math Stretch?
SAS Math Stretch is rated higher. READING MAGIC 2 averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while SAS Math Stretch averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do READING MAGIC 2 or SAS Math Stretch have ads?
Neither READING MAGIC 2 nor SAS Math Stretch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, READING MAGIC 2 or SAS Math Stretch?
READING MAGIC 2 ships an update every 19 months, and SAS Math Stretch every 10 months. Most recently, READING MAGIC 2 was updated on November 6, 2026 and SAS Math Stretch on November 1, 2026.

Other comparisons