Comparison

Magical Concepts vs Now and Next

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

Head to head
About

Magical Concepts

This app uses engaging activities and real-life photos to help children learn over 60 essential early-learning concepts. It supports comprehension across various categories and provides motivational rewards for progress.

Highlights
  • 60+ early learning concepts
  • 2,000+ real-life photos
  • Audio prompts and instructions
  • Motivational rewards (Magic Show)
  • Progress tracking and reports
  • Supports multiple students
Features
Read full description

Magical Concepts helps children master over 60 essential early-learning concepts through engaging, child-friendly activities. With 2,000+ real-life photos, audio prompts, and motivational rewards, kids learn concepts like big/small, above/below, hot/cold, more/less, inside/outside, and many more. Perfect for speech-language pathologists, educators, and parents, the app supports concept comprehension across spatial, temporal, quantitative, qualitative, and social-emotional categories. Students earn stars for correct answers and unlock a magical show as positive reinforcement. Magical Concepts includes: β€’ Over 2,000 vivid photo stimuli β€’ 60+ core concepts across 5 learning categories β€’ Audio instructions for emerging readers β€’ Magic Show rewards for motivation β€’ Randomized or ordered presentation β€’ Track progress and manage multiple students β€’ Emailable session reports Designed to support early learners, children with language delays, autism, or concept-comprehension difficulties.

About

Now and Next

This app provides a visual communication tool to articulate current and upcoming activities. It helps build cognitive skills and encourages speech and language development through engaging visuals and custom activity creation.

Highlights
  • Visual activity sequencing
  • Custom activity creation with own images
  • Over 60 pre-loaded activities
  • Timeline feature with automatic card progression
  • Optional sound notifications for activity changes
  • Supports early years and special education needs
Features
Read full description

Show a child what is happening now, and what is happening next. Now and Next takes the part of the day that is hardest to explain and makes it something a child can see. Put the current activity on one side of a card and the one that comes after it on the other, and β€œwe're leaving the playground after this” stops being an argument and becomes a picture to point at. Teachers and therapists usually call it a first-then board. It is the same idea, and the app does both. It was built by parents, and it is used at home, in preschool and elementary classrooms, and in therapy sessions: with autistic children, with children who have ADHD, with children whose speech and language is still developing, and with any young child whose day goes better when they can see it laid out. NOW AND NEXT CARDS Pick two activities and the card is made. Tap a picture to hear the activity read aloud. If your family or your classroom says something other than β€œNow” and β€œNext,” change the wording to the words you already use. CHOICE CARDS, WITH TWO OR THREE PICTURES Ask with pictures instead of words. A choice card is a visual choice board: a question and two or three activities to choose from β€” milk or water, playground or backyard, which book at bedtime β€” so a child can pick one by pointing. TIME LINE Put your cards in order and the Time Line runs the routine for you: a morning, the hour after school, a whole school day. Each card stays up for as long as you set, then moves on by itself, with an optional friendly sound as it changes. 60+ ACTIVITIES, AND ROOM FOR YOUR OWN More than 60 illustrated activities come with the app, covering home and school from breakfast and brushing teeth to school, nap time and the dentist. Your own are just as easy to add: take a photo, choose one from your library, or create a picture with Image Playground on supported devices. Name them in your own words, and organize them into categories that match your day. ACTIVITIES THAT SPEAK Activities and questions can be read aloud when they are tapped, in the voice you pick, so a card works for listening as well as looking. IN YOUR LANGUAGE The app follows your device language in English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, including the names of the built-in activities. Anything you typed yourself stays exactly as you wrote it. BACKUP AND RESTORE Export everything you have built β€” activities, cards, choice cards, categories and the Time Line β€” and restore it on another iPhone or iPad, or on a new device. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, no sign-in and no ads. Your photos, activities and cards are kept on your device; nothing about them is collected or shared. A backup goes only where you choose to send it. ONE PURCHASE Now and Next is bought once. There is no subscription and nothing else to unlock, it works on both iPhone and iPad, and Family Sharing lets up to six family members use it.

Screenshots

Magical Concepts4 screens
Now and Next4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Now and Next at 100% against Magical Concepts's 38%. Now and Next also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months) and price ($6.99 vs $9.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Magical Concepts costs $9.99 and Now and Next $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Magical Concepts ships an update every 6 months, Now and Next every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 5 level
Magical Concepts versus Now and Next: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMagical ConceptsNow and Next
Price$9.99$6.99 β€” better
Positive reviews37.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews β€” better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details β€” not scored
Size213 MB25 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVirtual Speech Center Inc.Peter Stanley

Customer experience

Magical Concepts

Written reviews8 reviews
Positive37.5%
Neutral62.5%
Negative0.0%

Now and Next

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Magical Concepts

No in-app purchases

None

Now and Next

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Magical Concepts free?
Magical Concepts costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Now and Next free?
Now and Next costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Magical Concepts or Now and Next have ads?
Neither Magical Concepts nor Now and Next shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Magical Concepts or Now and Next?
Magical Concepts ships an update every 6 months, and Now and Next every 2 months. Most recently, Magical Concepts was updated on October 24, 2026 and Now and Next on October 24, 2026.

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