Symbol vs Homes by Tinybop
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Symbol
This app helps students develop basic description skills through progressive activities. It uses symbols, illustrations, and recorded speech to teach adjective use and descriptive language. Students are rewarded with animations and can earn printable certificates upon completion.
- Progressive description activities
- Widgit symbol integration
- Clear recorded speech with intonation
- Two levels of difficulty
- Reward animations
- Printable certificates
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Symbols2Write – Adjectives has been designed to introduce and develop the student’s skills in basic description. The students will develop and practise their ability to describe various objects through a progressive set of activities. These activities are ideal for home, classroom and therapy use and have been developed in conjunction with education and speech and language professionals. Featuring Widgit symbols, engaging illustrations and clear recorded speech, Symbols2Write – Adjectives gives the student the support they need to understand and use basic descriptive language. The recorded speech gives natural intonations and tone with positive reinforcements to guide the user through the activities. There are two levels of activities. Level 1 activities begin with basic description skills where the user identifies and selects suitable adjectives for the given illustrations. Level 2 activities develop the skill of describing with the introduction of commas, conjunctions and connectives. Students are rewarded with animations throughout the activities. There is a printable certificate for every student once they have completed an activity. SymWriter 2 activities and a teacher user guide to support language development are available to download from www.widgit.com.
Homes by Tinybop
Explore diverse homes globally, from urban apartments to rural dwellings. Engage in interactive play, discover cultural elements, and learn about utilities and architecture in a safe, curiosity-driven environment.
- Explore 4 interactive homes worldwide
- Decorate homes with photos
- Investigate working utilities
- Learn about global cultures
- Learn new vocabulary in 50+ languages
- Kid-friendly design with no rules
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Play in faraway places! Wander into unique homes around the world. Make meals, decorate, and play games. Investigate electricity and utilities, but watch out! Wires spark and toilets bubble. Clean up, or make a mess. From NYC to Mongolia, Yemen to Guatemala, make yourself at home. *** Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner *** “If all apps were like Tinybop’s, we wouldn’t worry so much about our kids staring at screens. In fact, we might even encourage it.” — WIRED Homes is No. 3 in Tinybop’s Explorer’s Library series, designed for curious kids ages 4+ to dive deep into big ideas. The apps in this series have won Best of the App Store, App Store Editors’ Choice, Parents’ Choice, and Children's Technology Review Editor’s Choice awards. Features * Explore 4 interactive homes: a brownstone in Brooklyn, a ger in Mongolia, an adobe home in Guatemala, and a tower house in Yemen. * Play in 20 different rooms, inside and outside * Make each home your own: decorate with your photos and see your reflection in mirrors. * Investigate working models of plumbing, electricity, and other utilities in every home. * Learn how rural and urban landscapes, architecture, division of space, and materials shape the construction of each home. * Learn about cultures around the world: each home is full of unique foods, books, animals, and decor. * Celebrate seasonal holidays in Brooklyn. * Learn new vocabulary in 50+ languages with removable and affixable labels. * Intuitive, safe, and kid-friendly design. * Entertaining for kids and adults alike. * Interactive animations reward curiosity. No rules. No levels. FREE handbook Our expert-reviewed handbook is full of facts, interaction hints, and discussion questions to support learning in this app, in the classroom or at home. Download in your app or at: http://tinybop.com/handbooks. Privacy Policy We take your and your child’s privacy very seriously. We do not collect or share personal information about your child, nor do we allow any third-party advertising. When the camera, microphone, and other services are used within an app, your information is neither collected nor distributed outside of the app. Read our complete privacy policy at tinybop.com. Tinybop, Inc. is a Brooklyn-based studio of designers, engineers, and artists. We make toys for tomorrow. We’re all over the internet. Visit us: www.tinybop.com Follow us: twitter.com/tinybop Like us: facebook.com/tinybop Peek behind the scenes: instagram.com/tinybop We love hearing your stories! If you have ideas, or something isn’t working as you expect it to, please contact us: hi@tinybop.com. BTW. It's not Tiny Bop, or Tiny Bob, or Tiny Pop. It's Tinybop.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Homes by Tinybop at 63% against Symbol's 0%. Homes by Tinybop also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 39 months) and ratings volume (100 vs 1). Symbol's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.3). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Symbol costs $5.99 and Homes by Tinybop $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Symbol holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Homes by Tinybop has 100 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 0% of Symbol's written reviews are positive against 63% of Homes by Tinybop's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Symbol ships an update every 39 months, Homes by Tinybop every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Symbol | Homes by Tinybop |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | $2.99 — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.3 (100 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 62.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 100 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 39 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 611 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Widgit Software Ltd | Tinybop Inc. |
Customer experience
Symbol
Homes by Tinybop
In-app purchases
Symbol
No in-app purchases
Homes by Tinybop
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Symbol free?
Is Homes by Tinybop free?
Which has better reviews, Symbol or Homes by Tinybop?
Do Symbol or Homes by Tinybop have ads?
Which is updated more often, Symbol or Homes by Tinybop?
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