Phonogram Sounds vs Times Alive
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Phonogram Sounds
This interactive app provides clear audio pronunciations for letter sounds and combinations, featuring all 72 basic phonograms from a popular language arts curriculum. It's designed to support reading and spelling development for learners of all ages.
- Hear correct pronunciation of sounds
- Clear enunciation of letters and combinations
- Includes all 72 basic phonograms
- Supports reading and spelling skills
- Interactive learning experience
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Touch a button and hear the correct pronunciation! *Check that your sound is turned on!* This interactive program features clear enunciation of the sounds of the letters and letter combinations (also known as phonograms). Contains all 72 of the basic phonograms as taught in the All About Reading and All About Spelling language arts curriculum. All About Reading is a multisensory, mastery-based program that starts with essential pre-reading skills and continues on to teach all five key components of reading. All About Spelling teaches encoding skills, spelling rules, and multisensory strategies to help your student become a proficient speller for life. Our lightly scripted “open and go” lesson plans and mastery-based approach leave no gaps and make this curriculum a favorite of homeschool families everywhere. Suitable for all ages and learning styles!
Times Alive
This app makes learning multiplication tables engaging through story videos and songs. It offers quizzes and games covering all tables from 0-9, and tracks student progress. It's particularly beneficial for students with learning differences.
- Story videos and songs for memorization
- Quizzes and games for all times tables (0-9)
- Progress tracking (completed lessons, scores, time)
- Pretest and post-test for progress monitoring
- Supports students with learning differences
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Times Alive is designed to make memorization easy and fun so students are eager to learn. Award winning Times Alive teaches multiplication with story videos and songs — includes quizzes and games to teach ALL the times tables 0s-9s. Shown helpful for students with dyslexia, adhd, dyscalculia, autism, and other learning differences. Times Alive keeps track of the student's progress showing completed lessons, test scores with time elapsed. Easily clear progress to re-take a test or to start a new student. Multiplication pretest and post-test included to monitor progress and facts learned. Studies show our Times Tables the Fun Way(™) picture, story, and songs program outperforms most methods for effectiveness and retention of the multiplication facts. Once the facts are committed to memory students find math class a breeze and are able to move on to ratios, division, and algebra.Times Alive is based on the widely used and award winning book, Times Tables the Fun Way. Provided by City Creek Press, established in 1992. Check out our youtube channel @timestablesthefunway. Try Online Times Alive for multiple student tracking, free trial found at CityCreek.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Phonogram Sounds at Free against Times Alive's $14.99. Phonogram Sounds also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 13 months). Times Alive's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and review sentiment (85% vs 70%). On ratings volume, 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
Phonogram Sounds is free to download; Times Alive costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Times Alive holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 84 and 153 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Phonogram Sounds's written reviews are positive against 85% of Times Alive's.
Phonogram Sounds ships an update every 6 months, Times Alive every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Phonogram Sounds | Times Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 4.0 (84 ratings) | 4.6 (153 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.6% of reviews | 84.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 84 | 153 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #136 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 156 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | All About Learning Press, Inc. | City Creek |
Customer experience
Phonogram Sounds
Times Alive
Bugs and requests
Phonogram Sounds
Reported bugs
7 issues- R says /er/ instead of /r/
- Sound not working
- App crashes
- No sound when tapping phonograms
- Sound only works with ringer on
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- List of phonograms cut off on iPad
- App is stick, no audio, no movement
Requested features
9 requests- Videos showing lip/tongue placement
- Interactive game app
- App for building words/movable tiles
- Level-based sound availability
- Enlarging tapped tile
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Adding missing phonograms (Level 6, Spalding)
- Adding more sounds for /i/, /e/, /x/, /ou/, /ei/, /oe/, /wor/, /ear/
- Spelling lists for review
- All About Reading app with word reading
Times Alive
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Phonogram Sounds
No in-app purchases
Times Alive
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Phonogram Sounds free?
Is Times Alive free?
Which has better reviews, Phonogram Sounds or Times Alive?
Do Phonogram Sounds or Times Alive have ads?
Which is updated more often, Phonogram Sounds or Times Alive?
Other comparisons
