Oz Phonics 1 vs Ormiston Swim Academy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Oz Phonics 1
This app focuses on phonemic awareness and letter/sound knowledge for early readers. It offers 10 interactive exercises and sound reference screens to help children differentiate sounds, match them to letters, and build foundational spelling and reading skills. It aligns with US Common Core State Standards for kindergarten.
- Phonemic awareness exercises
- Letter-sound matching
- Sound differentiation games
- Beginning and ending sound identification
- Rhyme recognition
- Sound reference screens
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Visit ozphonics.com for free worksheets to accompany this app. Exercises covering US Common Core State Standards: RF/K/2a, RF/K/2d, RF/K/3a, RF/K/3b(short vowels only). This app is focused on phonemic awareness and letter/sound knowledge. Oz Phonics 1 has 10 exercises and 2 sound reference screens, covering the beginning steps of both spelling and reading. Students are trained to listen first, before they even see the letters written down. Matching the sounds they hear to the written letters is the next step. 1.Sound Match Being able to differentiate between sounds and match identical ones is fundamental to the reading and spelling process. Here we play a sound matching game with a random selection from the 28 sounds covered in this app. 2.Odd One Out – Beginning Sound Listen to all the beginning sounds, then drag the odd one out into the basket. 3. Odd One Out – Rhyme This activity is quite difficult and requires careful listening and remembering. Note that some of the words in this exercise are nonsense words. 4. Phonics Sounds Reference We learn to read and spell by listening to the sounds in the words, not the names of the letters, (though these will be important later on). This screen allows the student to listen to the word first, then hear the sound at the beginning. Note the first sound in ‘quiz’ is /k/ (not /kw/). At this point we teach the sounds of the letter ‘x’ when it comes at the end of the word six, /ks/. We introduce the end sound in the word sunny /ee/. Another new sound is /th/at the beginning of this. Because we could not represent this word with a picture, we have shown it in letters. It is underlined because it is a voiced sound. (An unvoiced /th/ is heard at the beginning of thin.) 5. Odd One Out – Beginning Vowel Vowels are more difficult than consonants. Careful listening is necessary for this activity. Tap the tiles again if you don’t get it the first time. The word honest begins with a silent ‘h’ – the first sound we hear is the short /ŏ/. 6. Missing Beginning Sound Tap on the middle and end tiles to hear that part of the word. Think which sound is missing, then tap on the colored tiles until you find it. Drag that tile onto the question mark. The whole word will then be sounded out. Note that the tiles represent sounds not letters – the word egg has two sounds and therefore only two tiles. 7. Missing End Sound Tap on the first tiles to hear that part of the word. Think which sound is missing, then tap on the colored tiles until you find it. Drag that tile onto the question mark. The whole word will then be sounded out. 8. Missing Middle Sound Tap on the first and last tiles to hear those parts of the word. Think which sound is missing, then tap on the coloured tiles until you find it. Drag that tile onto the question mark. The whole word will then be sounded out. Note that most students find the middle sound most difficult to identify. 9. Sound Match (letter visible) Consonants are black and vowels are red. Tap on the tiles until you find a matching pair. When you tap them quickly, one after the other, the lizards will gobble them up. You may play this again. 10. Phonics Touch Pad Tap on each tile to hear the sound. Make up some two-letter words like on, in, up, at; three-letter words like cat, dog, man, fox, big, sun, ten; four-letter words like this, that, then. You will be surprised how many words the student will be able to make. 11. Vowel Test Test how many vowel sounds your student knows. 12. Phonics Sound Test – 28 sounds Note there are three letters that make the /k/ sound – ‘c’, ‘k’ and ‘q’. It does not matter in which order you tap on them. When the letter ‘y’ is a consonant and says /y/, it is black. When it is a vowel and says /ee/, it is red.
Ormiston Swim Academy
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The Ormiston Swim Academy app enables users to easily manage their class bookings. Through the app, users can monitor their child's lesson progress, report absences, and manage their accounts.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Ormiston Swim Academy at Free against Oz Phonics 1's $2.99. Ormiston Swim Academy also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 11 months) and device support (3 vs 1). 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
Ormiston Swim Academy is free to download; Oz Phonics 1 costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Oz Phonics 1 ships an update every 11 months, Ormiston Swim Academy every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Oz Phonics 1 | Ormiston Swim Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 65 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DSP Learning Pty Ltd | Member Retention Systems PTY LTD |
In-app purchases
Oz Phonics 1
No in-app purchases
Ormiston Swim Academy
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Oz Phonics 1 free?
Is Ormiston Swim Academy free?
Do Oz Phonics 1 or Ormiston Swim Academy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Oz Phonics 1 or Ormiston Swim Academy?
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