Comparison

iPhonogram vs Phoneme

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

Head to head
About

iPhonogram

This app helps children and students improve reading skills by teaching phonics. It offers a wide range of phonogram sounds and interactive exercises to make learning engaging and fun. Users can search, sort, and create custom phonogram lists for personalized practice.

Highlights
  • Comprehensive phonogram sound collection
  • Interactive learning interface
  • Searchable phonogram database
  • Sort phonograms by type
  • Custom phonogram list creation
  • Personalized study and practice
Features
Read full description

Help your child hear, see and practise every sound in English spelling. iPhonogram teaches phonograms: the letters and letter teams (like sh, ee, igh and ough) that spell the sounds of English. Learning them is the foundation of phonics and one of the fastest routes to confident reading and spelling. TAP TO HEAR EVERY SOUND • All 87 phonograms, from single letters to igh, eigh and ough • 122 clearly recorded sounds • Every sound a phonogram makes, shown in real example words with the phonogram highlighted FLASHCARDS • Big, clear cards that say each sound when tapped • Swipe through in order or shuffle for review • Build your own deck with just the phonograms your child is working on POP THE BALLOON PRACTICE • Hear a sound, then pop the balloon with the matching phonogram • Level up, earn streaks, chase golden balloons and unlock new sky themes • Practise all phonograms or only your own selection EASY TO FIND, EASY TO USE • Browse Alphabet, Multi-Letter or all Phonograms • Search to jump straight to any phonogram • Clean, distraction-free design for iPhone and iPad • No ads and no accounts Great for parents, homeschoolers, teachers, tutors and reading specialists, and for any learner, child or adult, building reading and spelling skills. Happy learning!

About

Phoneme

Features
Read full description

Phoneme is a fast, legible IPA reference and pronunciation trainer built for EFL and ESL teachers — and anyone who wants to understand English sounds. REFERENCE — ALWAYS FREE • Complete chart of 38 English phonemes (24 consonants, 14 vowels and diphthongs) • Tap any IPA symbol to hear it spoken and read the articulation cue • Keyword examples for every sound (e.g. ə → "schwa", ʃ → "shoe") • Designed around the International Phonetic Alphabet standard • Works offline — no account, no internet required The free Reference tab is always accessible. No paywall, no timer, no nudge. TRAIN — ONE-TIME UNLOCK ($4.99) Unlock permanent access to all drill modes: • Minimal-pair drills — contrast similar sounds side by side (ship vs. sheep, bit vs. beat). The classic exercise for ear training. • Hear-and-choose — listen to a phoneme and tap the correct IPA symbol. Builds auditory discrimination. • Identify-the-symbol — see the IPA glyph and match it to the spoken keyword. Reinforces symbol literacy. • Printable IPA charts and minimal-pair contrast handouts for classroom use — export as PDF for your students. • Session progress tracking — streaks and accuracy history so you can see which sounds need more work. One payment. No subscription. Yours permanently. BUILT FOR EFL CLASSROOMS Phoneme was designed with CELTA and DELTA teachers in mind. Every screen is optimised for quick reference during a lesson — pull up the chart, tap a sound, hand the phone to a student. The IPA chart layout follows standard teaching conventions. The drill modes cover the exercises that appear most frequently in phonemic awareness curricula: minimal pairs for contrastive analysis, listening discrimination, and symbol recognition. If you teach pronunciation, these are the exercises your students need. DESIGN Phoneme uses a retro Mac OS 8 window aesthetic — beveled chrome, sandy beige background, crisp IPA glyphs in Accent Orange on a white content area. It looks different because it is different: a reference tool that takes its visual identity seriously. PRIVACY No account required. The IPA Reference works entirely offline. Optional sign-in (magic link or Google) is available to sync your Train Unlock across devices. We use anonymous product analytics to improve the app — we do not sell your data, we do not track you across other apps, and we do not show ads. See our privacy policy at phoneme.app/privacy.

Screenshots

iPhonogram4 screens
Phoneme4 screens

Verdict

The call

iPhonogram and Phoneme are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. iPhonogram sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Phoneme sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPhonogram ships an update every 2 weeks, Phoneme weekly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
iPhonogram versus Phoneme: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPhonogramPhoneme
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (28 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings28 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWozete LLCTTG Languages LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

iPhonogram

One-time1
  • Unlock More Features$9.99
1 purchases

Phoneme

One-time1
  • Train Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is iPhonogram free?
iPhonogram is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Phoneme free?
Phoneme is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iPhonogram or Phoneme have ads?
Neither iPhonogram nor Phoneme shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPhonogram or Phoneme?
iPhonogram ships an update every 2 weeks, and Phoneme weekly. Most recently, iPhonogram was updated on October 24, 2026 and Phoneme on October 24, 2026.

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