COOLPHABETS vs Start Writing
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
COOLPHABETS
This app uses AI-powered handwriting recognition to help children learn to read and write in five Indian languages. It offers guided tracing, freehand drawing practice, and interactive games to master letters, words, and sentences. Designed for families, it supports multiple profiles and offline play.
- AI handwriting recognition
- Learn 5 Indian languages
- Guided tracing and free draw
- Interactive games and flashcards
- Offline functionality
- Family sharing and profiles
- Progress tracking
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Can you read and write your mother tongue? How about your kids? Can they? If your kids won't learn it, neither will your grand kids. What do you think will happen if one generation skips learning their mother tongue? Sending your kids to a language school is not the answer. They hate it. And YOU know it. SERIOUSLY. Stop wasting their time and your money. COOLPHABETS offers something better. It's an AI coach. The AI runs completely on the device and works even without the internet. It's one app - for your entire family. It's child-safe (COPPA compliant). No ads. No Tracking. No Nonsense. COOLPHABETS - Learn to read and write in your mother tongue - for kids who are just starting, and adults who never did. Terms of Service: https://coolphabets.com/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://coolphabets.com/privacy-policy
Start Writing
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Handwriting is muscle memory, and muscle memory needs the right kind of repetition. Start Writing gives you a proper practice sheet, correct stroke order, and a scheduler that brings each character back just before you'd forget it. WRITE THREE SCRIPTS Chinese characters, Japanese kana and kanji, and the Latin alphabet, each with its own paper. Chinese and Japanese get the square grid with diagonal guides that teachers use; English gets the four-line baseline grid. STROKE ORDER, ANIMATED Watch any character draw itself stroke by stroke, then trace over the model and write it from memory. Stroke-order data covers the characters you'll actually meet, not just a starter set. SCORING THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING Every attempt is checked against the reference form for stroke count, position and proportion, so you find out which stroke drifted rather than just seeing a number. REVIEW AT THE RIGHT MOMENT A spaced-repetition scheduler tracks each character separately. Characters you write cleanly move further out; the ones you fumble come back sooner. Your daily goal splits new items from reviews so a session has a clear finish. BUILT FOR APPLE PENCIL Pressure and tilt come through to the stroke. Choose ink colour and stroke width, or turn on finger writing when the Pencil isn't nearby. THIRTY-FOUR THEMED SETS Numbers, family, body, colours, nature, animals, food, time, school, greetings, actions and places — written in parallel across all three scripts and graded from beginner to intermediate. Twenty-five starter sets are free. RADICALS AND KANA TABLES 223 Chinese radicals ordered by stroke count, the full gojūon tables for hiragana and katakana, and the alphabet in upper and lower case. Every entry is practiceable on its own. TRACK WHAT YOU'VE DONE A contribution-style activity map, streak count, per-character history and mastery breakdown. All of it computed on your device. NO ACCOUNT, NO TRACKING Start Writing collects nothing. There is no account, no analytics and no advertising SDK. Your writing history stays on your device unless you turn on iCloud sync, in which case it goes to your own private iCloud database and nowhere else. ONE PURCHASE The full version is a single purchase — no subscription, no expiry. It unlocks importing your own articles and word lists, iCloud sync and restore, Home Screen widgets, ink colour and stroke width, nine word and sentence sets, and unlimited books. Free forever: stroke-order animation for all three scripts, scoring, tracing, twenty-five starter sets, daily goals, practice history and statistics. Character shape data comes from the Make Me a Hanzi project (Arphic Public License) and letter models from open-source school teaching fonts (SIL Open Font License). Full licence texts are in Settings › About › Open Source Licences.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: COOLPHABETS at every 5 days against Start Writing's fortnightly. COOLPHABETS also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. COOLPHABETS sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $79.00 per year and Start Writing sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
COOLPHABETS ships an update every 5 days, Start Writing fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | COOLPHABETS | Start Writing |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (13 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 81 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Coolphabets Applications LLC | 家豪 张 |
In-app purchases
COOLPHABETS
- Solo7 Days trial$79.001 Year
- Super Family7 Days trial$99.001 Year
Start Writing
- Premium$14.99
Questions
Is COOLPHABETS free?
Is Start Writing free?
Do COOLPHABETS or Start Writing have ads?
Which is updated more often, COOLPHABETS or Start Writing?
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