Spell vs Developing Sentence Strips
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spell
An early academic program designed for learners of all levels to practice letter identification, spelling, and word recognition. It supports external keyboards and offers special feedback for blind learners, utilizing an errorless learning method with embedded scaffolding.
- Errorless learning method
- Supports external keyboards
- Scaffolding for cognitive challenges
- Customizable word lists
- Feedback for blind learners
- Early academic program
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This large-print, early academic program is for beginning to advanced letter users. It uses an errorless learning method. Spell-A-Word works on identification, spelling, & word recognition (for reading). WORKS WITH EXTERNAL KEYBOARD, such as our Colored-Rows BigKeys, or any Bluetooth keyboard (or *any* USB keyboard)! Or choose from the regular iOS keyboard, or Spell-A-Word's own 1-row-at-a-time one). Scaffolding (as much help as needed but as little as possible) is embedded so as to help those with significant cognitive challenges. This program is designed for you to easily enter lists of spelling words/phrases for the learner to practice and be tested on. WordLists consisting of hundreds of words/sounds/pictures are available from the developer's website at no charge. Spell-A-Word even has special feedback for blind learners.
Developing Sentence Strips
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As you work with learners to broaden their reading/sight word volcabulary, helping them see the words used in context is an important tool. Buying commercial sentence strips or preparing them in advance can certainly be helpful, but we wanted a way to tap into the context of the moment as we worked with learners. Writing out a sentence and then cutting out each word is time consuming and cumbersome while working one-on-one or in small groups with learners. Our goal for this app was to provide a tool to quickly enter a sentence given by a learner, break that sentence into individual words, and scatter them on the "table" for them to reconstruct their sentence. We also included a way to easily add/remove punctuation and add/delete words one at a time.
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Developing Sentence Strips at Free against Spell's $1.99. Developing Sentence Strips also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Developing Sentence Strips is free to download; Spell costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Spell ships an update every 4 months, Developing Sentence Strips fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Spell | Developing Sentence Strips |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 71 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | RJ Cooper & Associates, Inc. | Classroom Focused Software |
In-app purchases
Spell
No in-app purchases
Developing Sentence Strips
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Spell free?
Is Developing Sentence Strips free?
Do Spell or Developing Sentence Strips have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spell or Developing Sentence Strips?
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