Comparison

Starfall Learn to Read vs Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

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

Head to head
About

Starfall Learn to Read

This free app offers engaging books, games, and movies to help children learn to read. It focuses on vowel sounds and spelling through interactive activities, songs, and movies, fostering a love for language and reading.

Highlights
  • Interactive reading activities
  • Engaging games and movies
  • Focus on vowel sounds and spelling
  • Songs and positive reinforcement
  • Suitable for emerging readers
  • Supports English language learners
Features
Read full description

Starfall® Learn to Read is the second step of Starfall’s Learn to Read phonics sequence, which teaches the foundational skills for learning to read. Step 1: ABCs Step 2: Learn to Read Step 3: It’s Fun to Read Step 4: I’m Reading! In Starfall Learn to Read, children explore early phonics in a sequential, stress-free environment. Each step of the learning journey comes to life with help from the Vowel Pals—delightful characters that add depth and personality to each vowel sound. Children develop their phonics skills through the use of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, sight words, and vowel teams. Mastering the skills taught in Starfall Learn to Read helps children become confident, independent readers. Travel-ready. No internet connection required. Find Starfall Learn to Read, along with 700+ additional activities and counting across reading, math, music, and more in the Starfall app. The Starfall website and applications are program services of Starfall Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported nonprofit organization. Starfall® and Starfall.com® are registered trademarks in the US, the European Union, and various other countries. Copyright © 2002–2026 by Starfall Education. All rights reserved. Starfall apps are inclusively designed to support all children, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Starfall also provides an Enhanced Accessible Index for children with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. For more information, please contact Customer Service at (+1) 303-417-6414.

About

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

This app teaches foundational reading and spelling skills using a phonics-based system. It introduces letter-sound relationships through interactive games and exercises, suitable for children and adults learning to read.

Highlights
  • Introduces 15 letter/sound relationships
  • Interactive exercises for listening and matching sounds
  • Teaches sound-to-letter and letter-to-sound association
  • Guided word-building exercises
  • Word reading tests
  • Supports American, British, Australian, and NZ accents
Features
Read full description

Interested in teaching your child to read, or helping an adult struggling with reading? This app introduces the Oz Phonics reading system. Available in American, British, Australian and New Zealand accents. See video demo on http://youtube.com/user/ozphonics American accent demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMPvCsDJhk Australian accent demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6MWD5SinlY Do I need to help my child with this app? Once your child understands the games/exercises in this app they can play them without help. We do, however, think that adult interest in the learning to read process is invaluable. It will benefit your child if you understand how the system works and you may well learn new things that will surprise you. This app introduces 15 letter/sound relationships. Short vowel sounds /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ and 10 consonant sounds for letters c, d, g, h, l, m, n, r, s, t. More sounds are introduced in our other apps. Exercises in this app Warm Up - This is a simple matching game with a difference: animal sounds, not pictures. This is to train your child in the first reading and spelling skill – listening. Two friendly ‘long-tongue’ lizards help by removing matched sounds. Sound Match - OK! Your child is now ready to start listening to and matching some of the actual sounds of the English language. Being able to differentiate between sounds and match identical ones is fundamental to the reading and spelling process. Now your child needs to learn the alphabetic principle, which is hearing a sound and knowing which letter make it, and the reverse, see a letter and knowing what sound it makes. The later is called decoding and will provide your child with the skills required for working out new words. Sound-to-Letter - Once your child can identify individual sounds, they need to learn how these sounds are written down. A crocodile and bird provide a few surprises here. Letter-to-Sound - Now we’re reversing the order – your child needs to know what sounds the written letters make. They can also learn capital letters by a simple touch. Making Words – Words are made up of one sound after another. This illustrated, guided exercise will help your child put together words from the sounds/letters they have learnt in earlier exercises. Word Test – See how many words your child can read using the Oz Phonics method. Who can use this app: -Parents who want to teach their children to read. -school age children who are struggling to learn to read at school. Check that they know their sounds, particularly the vowel sounds (not the letter names). -Parents who want a better understanding of phonics. If your child is not a “natural reader” then improving your own understanding of phonics can greatly improve your chance of helping them. -Dyslexic children and adults who struggle with reading. Phonics has been shown to be particularly effective for teaching dyslexics. -ESL (English as a Second Language) students. The sounds of English differ from other languages and in order for ESL students to make themselves understood, they first need to become aware of the sounds they’ve never spoken in their mother tongue, and to practice making these sounds themselves. Oz Phonics is committed to helping children and adults learn to read. If you have feedback or suggestions for our apps, we’d love to hear from you. Please visit us at www.ozphonics.com or contact us at support@ozphonics.com

Screenshots

Starfall Learn to Read4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Starfall Learn to Read at Free against Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics's $1.99. Starfall Learn to Read also leads on ratings volume (226 vs 2) and review sentiment (75% vs 63%). Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months). On ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Starfall Learn to Read is free to download; Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Starfall Learn to Read has 226 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Starfall Learn to Read's written reviews are positive against 63% of Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 11 months, Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and June 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Starfall Learn to Read versus Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfall Learn to ReadIntro To Reading by Oz Phonics
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.2 (226 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews74.7% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings226 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarfall Education FoundationDSP Learning Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Starfall Learn to Read

All ratings226 ratings
Positive77.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive74.7%
Neutral1.3%
Negative24.0%

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

Starfall Learn to Read

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App won't load beyond launch screen (black or green screen)
  • Math games incompatible with iPhone updates
  • Sound not playing in some instances
  • App requires deletion and reinstallation to function
  • Crashes on iOS 9.2.1 and older versions
Show 3 more
  • Glitches when pressing letter machine words
  • App needs to be opened twice each time to run
  • Compatibility issues with various iOS versions

Requested features

10 requests
  • Reward/star system for motivation and progress tracking
  • Lesson progression markers showing mastery of modules
  • Writing and spelling exercises to reinforce learning
  • More stories and content variety
  • UK English version option
Show 5 more
  • Settings to control word pronunciation features
  • More word-building exercises
  • Sight vocabulary games for common words
  • Additional phonics rules (ng, tch, ck, tion, sion)
  • Level progression system to track advancement

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starfall Learn to Read

No in-app purchases

None

Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starfall Learn to Read free?
Starfall Learn to Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics free?
Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Starfall Learn to Read or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics?
Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics is rated higher. Starfall Learn to Read averages 4.2 out of 5 from 226 ratings, while Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Starfall Learn to Read or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics have ads?
Neither Starfall Learn to Read nor Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfall Learn to Read or Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics?
Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 11 months, and Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics every 4 months. Most recently, Starfall Learn to Read was updated on September 5, 2026 and Intro To Reading by Oz Phonics on June 5, 2026.

Other comparisons