Phonics vs Kidalu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Phonics
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Phonics helps children aged 4 to 8 hear, count and play with the sounds of English โ the skills every reader needs before, and while, learning to read. Built by a primary-school teacher for a real classroom, Phonics grows with your child: an invisible difficulty ratchet makes each game a little harder after a few successes and a little easier after a few misses, so nobody ever sees a "level" โ they just keep playing. 14 GAMES โข Vocabulary โ find the right word โข The Sounds โ where do you hear the sound? โข The Syllables โ clap and count โข Find the Syllable โ which syllable is it hiding in? โข Spelling Test โ the Montessori way โข Writing โ build the word, letter by letter โข The Rhymes, Odd One Out, The First Sound โข The Syllable Train, Sound Memory, The Sound Hunt โข Repeat After Me โ record and listen to yourself โข The Riddle MADE FOR NON-READERS Every instruction is spoken aloud. Every word has a picture. Children play on their own from the very first tap. TODAY'S CHALLENGE Each day, three games are picked for a short guided session โ open to everyone, subscribed or not. FOR GROWN-UPS Several children can play on the same device, each with their own profile and stars. The Grown-Ups' Corner shows which words and sounds a child keeps missing. Progress stays on the device. PHONICS PLUS Vocabulary, The Sounds, The Syllables and today's challenge are free. Phonics Plus unlocks all 14 games for every child on the device, with Family Sharing and no ads โ ever. โข Monthly plan, or โข Yearly plan with a 7-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period (or of the free trial). Manage or cancel it any time in your App Store settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://apperetif.com/phonics/privacy
Kidalu
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Read by Syllables helps children who are starting to read on their own in Polish, Italian, German, Spanish or French. The app splits every text into syllables and colors them in two alternating colors, so your child can see where one syllable ends and the next begins. Note: the app does not teach reading in English; English is available as the app's interface language. MADE FOR BILINGUAL FAMILIES Pick the country whose language your child is learning: Poland, Italy, Germany, Spain or France. The library, the syllable rules and the sample sentences follow that country. The interface can stay in English (or Polish, Italian, German, Spanish or French). A READING COURSE IN 20 LEVELS Italy, Germany, Spain and France each get a course written by Kidalu (Leggo da solo, Ich lese selbst, Leo solo, Je lis tout seul): 20 levels of 12 pages, from vowels and first syllables to a whole story read alone. Every page has a tip for the parent. CLASSIC STORIES AND POEMS Poland: over 1,000 fairy tales, fables and poems. Italy, Germany, Spain and France: 100 classic texts each, such as Grimm and Andersen fairy tales, La Fontaine and Samaniego fables, nursery rhymes and poems. A few texts in every country can be read without purchase; the rest unlocks with the full version. SYLLABLES THE WAY SCHOOLS TEACH THEM Each language follows its own school rules. Polish offers phonetic or orthographic division, French offers written or spoken syllables, as taught in first grade in France. TEXT FROM A PHOTO Take a photo of a page from a school reader or a book, or pick one from your gallery, crop it, and the app recognizes the text and shows it in colored syllables. Recognition runs on the device: the photo is never uploaded and is deleted right after. You can also type or paste any text. Custom text and text from a photo are part of the full version. COMFORTABLE READING - any two syllable colors (16 shades) with a live preview - 10 backgrounds, light and dark - adjustable letter size, from small to very large - every line of a poem on its own line - print or save as PDF with colored syllables PARENT AREA Settings sit behind a parent PIN: syllable colors and division, country and app language, license and purchases. A purchase started outside the parent area requires solving an addition problem, so children cannot buy anything by accident. ONE PURCHASE, NO SUBSCRIPTION Buy the full version once and keep it forever. It unlocks all texts in all countries and custom text. No ads, no accounts; the app only collects anonymous usage statistics, without an advertising identifier.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Phonics at none against Kidalu's 1. Kidalu's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (daily vs every 10 days). On price 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
Both are free to download. Kidalu sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Phonics asks for nothing beyond the download.
Phonics ships an update every 10 days, Kidalu daily. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | Phonics | Kidalu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Daily โ better |
| Ads | Yes | No โ better |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 | 15.5 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 183 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Alexandre Sivera | Sebastian Rosinski |
In-app purchases
Phonics
No in-app purchases
Kidalu
- Lifetime Access$5.99









