Comparison

IPA Reader vs Samuel's Writing Practice

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

Head to head
About

IPA Reader

Features
Read full description

IPA Reader adds IPA phonetic transcription to English PDFs and web pages. Tap any word to hear how it sounds and see what it means, without leaving the page. Reading in English gets slow when you are unsure how a word sounds, and stopping to look it up breaks your concentration. IPA Reader keeps the phonetics, the meaning and the audio in the same place as the text. READ - BROWSER, PDF AND READER MODE - Built-in browser with Bing or Google search, plus a PDF reader, both with automatic IPA annotation - Every line of a PDF is annotated, including tightly spaced body text - Open PDFs from Files, Mail or any other app through Share and "Open in" - In-document search, outline navigation, go to page, and PDF display themes - Reader mode strips the clutter, with adjustable fonts, spacing and themes - American and British IPA, switchable with one tap - A common-word filter hides annotation on words you already know, in browsing, reader mode and PDF UNDERSTAND - WORD LOOKUP AND TRANSLATION - Tap a word once for its pronunciation and its dictionary definition together - Definitions in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and English - Translate a whole article on the web, or the current page of a PDF - Long-press a sentence to play it, copy it, collect it or attach a note LISTEN - TEXT TO SPEECH - Sentence-by-sentence playback with the current sentence highlighted - Speed from 0.4x to 2.0x, for every level - Voices filtered to your accent preference, with previews before you choose - Auto mode selects the highest quality voice installed on the device PRACTICE - SHADOWING AND REVIEW - Record yourself reading a sentence and get a pronunciation score - Flashcards for saved vocabulary and saved sentences, in separate modes - Spaced repetition schedules each item for the day you are about to forget it TRACK - GOALS AND STREAKS - Daily goals, learning streaks and reading time - XP, levels, quests and achievements - Progress insights across everything you read and practise ORGANIZE - COLLECTION, NOTES AND BOOKMARKS - Save words and sentences, and attach colour-coded notes - Bookmarks, browsing history and an archive organised by source PRIVACY AND LANGUAGES - Everything is stored on your device. No account and no registration. - The interface is available in 51 languages FREE AND PRO Free every day: 2 article translations, 15 word lookups and 5 saved items. One tap on a word costs at most one lookup, replaying audio from the definition panel costs nothing, and sentence playback is always free. Pro removes the daily limits. Useful for academic papers, textbooks, news, novels and exam preparation - TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge and GRE. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Samuel's Writing Practice

Features
Read full description

Samuel's Writing Practice helps young children learn to write โ€” from their first letter shapes to whole words โ€” with gentle, guided tracing. โ€ข Trace letters and numbers with a finger or Apple Pencil, following ghost guides and animated "show me" demos that teach correct letter formation. โ€ข Warm, encouraging feedback โ€” never red marks. Stars and a friendly mascot keep little ones motivated. โ€ข Grows with your child across five levels, from pre-writing patterns to writing their own name and short words. โ€ข Made for small hands: large tap targets, read-aloud instructions, left-handed mode. โ€ข A grown-up area (behind a parental gate) sets the level and daily amount, and keeps a portfolio of saved writing. โ€ข Record handwriting samples in the full-screen grown-up area and share saved samples with AirDrop or Save to Files. Private, offline practice: no accounts, no ads and no automatic uploads. You choose whether to export and share saved handwriting samples.

Screenshots

IPA Reader4 screens
Samuel's Writing Practice1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Samuel's Writing Practice at none against IPA Reader's 2. Samuel's Writing Practice also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 3 weeks). IPA Reader's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. IPA Reader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Samuel's Writing Practice asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

IPA Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, Samuel's Writing Practice daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
IPA Reader versus Samuel's Writing Practice: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIPA ReaderSamuel's Writing Practice
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 โ€” better17.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size134 MB12 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developer็ฒค็  ่ขDavid Lee

In-app purchases

2 purchases

IPA Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Pro Annual$12.991 Year
None

Samuel's Writing Practice

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is IPA Reader free?
IPA Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Samuel's Writing Practice free?
Samuel's Writing Practice is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do IPA Reader or Samuel's Writing Practice have ads?
Neither IPA Reader nor Samuel's Writing Practice shows ads.
Which is updated more often, IPA Reader or Samuel's Writing Practice?
IPA Reader ships an update every 3 weeks, and Samuel's Writing Practice daily. Most recently, IPA Reader was updated on October 1, 2026 and Samuel's Writing Practice on October 4, 2026.

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