First Phrases vs SCIP
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
First Phrases
This interactive app helps young children learn to combine words into meaningful phrases. It features animated characters performing actions and allows for recording and playback to aid language development. Ideal for speech therapy and early literacy support.
- 72 verb + noun phrase combinations
- Animated characters performing actions
- Record and playback speech
- Group setting for multiple users
- Data collection and reporting
- Visual support for learning
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From SmartAppsforKids.com: "In my opinion, First Phrases is a must-have for parents of children working on increasing expressive vocabulary, as well as the therapists and teachers who support their learning. First Phrases is creative, utilizes the iPad’s features in effective ways, and is engaging for young children. Highly recommended." This interactive, illustrated and animated app is perfect for a toddler, preschooler, or any child who is learning to put two or three word English phrases together. It provides many opportunities to hear (receptive), see, and say/record (expressive--if the child is talking) 72 different verb + noun combinations, such as: eat the carrot, blow the bubble, ride the bike, throw the ball, sleep on the bed, put away the toys, and more. With 6 different characters performing the actions, there are 456 possible animations so your child will never be bored! Each verb form is paired with several associated nouns to make a logical phrase such as "eat the apple" or "eat the banana" or "eat the carrot". It is also a great way to teach the article “the” in a meaningful phrase context. Use with 20 children, making it an excellent choice for professional use by a speech-language pathologist. There is also a group setting that allows several children to be engaged at once yet still have their own personal settings. Replay missed items, email results or print them out on the Session Results page! How to play: Tell the characters what to do! Touch the illustrated parts of the phrases in order one at a time (e.g. “eat... the... carrot”). The child hears the pre-recorded spoken phrase modeled. You can have this repeated once, twice or three times in the settings for maximum auditory input. Children who are not yet talking can skip the recording option and simply tap/see the associated animation on the Easy Level to learn the meanings of the phrases and to build language comprehension. The child then watches the character (bear, mouse, cat, dog, boy or girl) perform the command to help associate the words with their meaning. Now it’s the child’s turn to say it and tell them what to do! Tap the microphone and record, listen again, and watch the character follow the direction. Use the optional visual support to help remember what to say! On the scoring page, an adult can indicate what parts of the verb phrase were produced correctly for data collection if desired, then tap "Done". When all parts of the phrase are correct the character gives a thumbs-up. This format is especially powerful for children with speech delays and autism spectrum disorders who need strong visual support with as little background clutter as possible, and for use in speech therapy sessions. The format also is a terrific way to support early literacy for left to right orientation, reading (with text on feature) and word boundaries. Options include text on/text off, recording feature on/off, girl or boy narration voice models, presentation of the phrase in 3 segments (verb + the + object) or 2 segments (verb + the object). A perfect speech therapy app for children with special needs! PRIVACY POLICY: We do NOT collect personal data from our users and have no ads. Personal data regarding user performance on the tasks on this app are self-contained and not transmitted in any way. This is a one-time download fee. We do not have subscriptions. Developed by noted speech-language pathologist Patti Hamaguchi, M.A., CCC-SLP who is also the author of books such as "Childhood Speech, Language & Listening Problems: What Every Parent Should Know", "A Metacognitive Treatment Approach to Treating Auditory Processing Disorders", several tests (RESCA-E, ELCI, TAPS4) To find out more about this app and our other upcoming projects, go to: www.hamaguchiapps.com Questions or need Tech Support? Email us at info@hamaguchiapps.com
SCIP
This therapeutic tool aids speech therapy by implementing evidence-based contrastive phonology approaches. It offers a vast library of words and allows for individualized or group sessions with detailed progress tracking and reporting.
- Five contrastive therapy approaches
- 2,400+ real words and 6,000+ nonsense words
- Individual or group sessions (up to 4 students)
- Individualized treatment targets and data collection
- Printable progress graphs and session notes
- Printable illustrations for practice
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Turbocharge your speech therapy! SCIP (Sound Contrasts In Phonology) is an evidence-based, therapeutic tool developed through a one million dollar NIH grant by ASHA Fellow Dr. A. Lynn Williams. Dr. Williams partnered with EBS Learning to create this revolutionary app to maximize therapy by increasing intelligibility in less time. SCIP allows you to both create and implement treatment approaches using five different contrastive therapy approaches: Multiple Oppositions Minimal Pairs Maximal Oppositions Treatment of the Empty Set Vowel Contrasts SCIP includes more than 2,400 real words and 6,000 nonsense words to provide the widest variety of treatment stimuli and support rapid progress. The app allows individual or group sessions with up to 4 students. In group sessions, each student has individualized treatment targets and data collection. Print or email graphs of treatment progress and individual session notes! Choose the option to treat word-initial or word-final sounds using pictures or illustrations. You can also print illustrations to prepare practice sets to be used away from the iPad or sent home for reinforcement. Amazing features of this app allow you to: Easily create treatment programs with five contrastive approaches. Provide therapy sessions using illustrations or pictures. Collect data and enter therapy notes for each session. Graph treatment data and produce therapy reports. Print illustrations for use away from the iPad. Create and save groups of up to four students each with their own targets and treatment approach. Previously created for use with a computer, this improved and even easier-to-use program is now available as an app on your iPad! "SCIP" the prep time and jump right into treatment!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: First Phrases at $15.99 against SCIP's $59.99. First Phrases also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 67%) and device support (3 vs 1). SCIP's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On 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
First Phrases costs $15.99 and SCIP $59.99 up front. First Phrases sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SCIP asks for nothing beyond the download.
SCIP holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 94% of First Phrases's written reviews are positive against 67% of SCIP's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
First Phrases ships an update every 4 months, SCIP every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Phrases | SCIP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $15.99 — better | $59.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (13 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.8% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 612 MB | 355 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hamaguchi Learning & Development, LLC | EBS LEARNING INC |
Customer experience
First Phrases
SCIP
Bugs and requests
First Phrases
Reported bugs
5 issues- Screen share disconnects during animations
- App crashes frequently
- Settings do not save
- Words do not flip to show phrases after update
- App not working after new iPad purchase (resolved)
Requested features
8 requests- Store recordings for progress tracking
- Add more phrases
- Allow more student profiles
- Save multiple recordings
- Repeat targeted phrase with icons on all pages
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- Data collection feature
- Add more verb-noun combinations
- Data tracker for student progress
SCIP
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
First Phrases
- In-app purchase$0.99
SCIP
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is First Phrases free?
Is SCIP free?
Which has better reviews, First Phrases or SCIP?
Do First Phrases or SCIP have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Phrases or SCIP?
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