Comparison

Native Numbers vs READING MAGIC 5

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

Head to head
About

Native Numbers

This app offers a comprehensive curriculum designed to build a strong foundation in number sense for young learners. It features 25 engaging activities that help children understand number representations and relationships through visual and interactive methods.

Highlights
  • Comprehensive number sense curriculum
  • 25 engaging and sequenced activities
  • Develops number representations
  • Teaches number relations
  • Individualized learning experience
  • Inspired by research
Features
Read full description

*** Top Rank of #2 in Education! 350,000 kids, 70 million math tasks, and counting! *** WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING - 12 BEST Children's Educational Apps of 2012: “Native Numbers is a fabulous app, promoting deeper learning and providing a much needed foundation in math for all children.” - TeachersWithApps.com - “The kids loved the gameplay feel of the app… This is a great app to help young kids learn the concept of numbers and basic math skills.” -iHeartThisApp.com - "A Math App Worth Bragging About!" - Karen Mahon, Ed. D, Learning Scientist OVERVIEW - Number Sense is widely cited as the most critical math skill a child ever learns - Native Numbers is the first and only comprehensive Number Sense curriculum in the App Store Inspired by research, designed by Harvard Education School graduate Dr. Michael W. Connell, and developed by a team of MIT engineers, Native Numbers is the first of its kind - a complete curriculum to help early learners develop Number Sense. THE PROBLEM There are countless "early math apps" available in the App Store - but are any of these effective in laying down a proper Number Sense foundation? THE REALITY Unfortunately, most math app developers ignore the complex sequence of activities required to properly develop Number Sense. Instead, some claim to develop math knowledge as a side effect of other, non-mathematical games and activities. Others inflate a single, narrow math concept into a game that they promise will provide "hours of fun and learning." This random approach to early math simply does not work. Researchers Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama found, for example, that while it might appear that kids are "doing mathematics" when engaged with puzzles, blocks, songs, and the like, "evidence suggests that such an approach is ineffective, owing to a lack of explicit attention to mathematical concepts and procedures along with a lack of intentionality to engage in mathematical practices" (Science Magazine, Aug 2011). THE SOLUTION The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the Common Core State Standards have made Number Sense a focus area of elementary mathematics education for all children. Native Numbers is based on high-quality learning research and is designed to engage each child directly in an individualized, intrinsically rewarding learning experience while minimizing distractions – what some people call "hard fun.” (For a brief video that explains why Number Sense is so important and how Native Numbers develops it, search for "Native Numbers" on YouTube.) Native Numbers challenges children with 25 engaging and carefully sequenced activities that develop an understanding of several core concepts and skills, including: - Number Representations: Identify the numbers 1-9 as continuous quantities (rods), discrete quantities (sets of animals), and symbols (numerals) - Number Relations: Answer questions about number relationships using a variety of visual representations and vocabulary (greater/less, bigger/smaller, heavier/lighter, etc.) - Ordering: Arrange numbers in order from small to big and big to small - Counting: Use numbers to put a set of objects in order (ordinal numbers) and to determine how many objects are in a set (cardinal numbers) - Demonstrate Mastery: Apply concepts from previous activities to novel, untrained examples Recommended Ages: 4-7 (home or school) although many younger and older children can benefit as well *** Teachers - Learn about Classroom Functionality here: http://bit.ly/WHHSJ1 THE PRICE Teachers With Apps said that, "Native Numbers is a fabulous app, promoting deeper learning and providing a much needed foundation in math for all children. We highly recommend this app and please, don’t let the price stop you from purchasing this extensive curriculum, it’s worth every penny of the $9.99."

About

READING MAGIC 5

This educational app teaches children the rules of the silent final 'e' in English phonics through engaging games. It helps develop essential reading skills like blending and segmenting, fostering phonemic awareness and phonological processing.

Highlights
  • Teaches silent final 'e' rules
  • Develops phonemic awareness
  • Enhances phonological processing
  • Includes engaging blending and segmenting games
  • Discourages picture guessing
  • Offers lesson tracking (deluxe version)
Features
Read full description

Unlock the Magic of Reading with READING MAGIC 5! Transform your child into a confident reader with READING MAGIC 5! This app makes learning to read an exciting adventure through interactive activities focused on words containing silent final e 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

Screenshots

READING MAGIC 53 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: READING MAGIC 5 at 4.8 against Native Numbers's 3.7. READING MAGIC 5 also leads on review sentiment (90% vs 81%) and device support (3 vs 1). Native Numbers's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months). On price, ratings volume 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 5 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Native Numbers asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

READING MAGIC 5 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 11 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Native Numbers's written reviews are positive against 90% of READING MAGIC 5's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Native Numbers ships an update every 2 months, READING MAGIC 5 every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Native Numbers versus READING MAGIC 5: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNative NumbersREADING MAGIC 5
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (7 ratings)4.8 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.0% of reviews90.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings711 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.7
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB226 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNative Brain, Inc.PRESCHOOL UNIVERSITY

Customer experience

Native Numbers

All ratings7 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews21 reviews
Positive81.0%
Neutral14.3%
Negative4.8%

READING MAGIC 5

All ratings11 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews20 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Native Numbers

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

READING MAGIC 5

One-time1
  • Deluxe Upgrade$3.99

Questions

Is Native Numbers free?
Native Numbers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is READING MAGIC 5 free?
READING MAGIC 5 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Native Numbers or READING MAGIC 5?
READING MAGIC 5 is rated higher. Native Numbers averages 3.7 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while READING MAGIC 5 averages 4.8 from 11 ratings.
Do Native Numbers or READING MAGIC 5 have ads?
Neither Native Numbers nor READING MAGIC 5 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Native Numbers or READING MAGIC 5?
Native Numbers ships an update every 2 months, and READING MAGIC 5 every 11 months. Most recently, Native Numbers was updated on November 6, 2026 and READING MAGIC 5 on November 1, 2026.

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