Comparison

Phonogram Sounds vs Survival Swim

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Hear correct pronunciation of sounds
  • Clear enunciation of letters and combinations
  • Includes all 72 basic phonograms
  • Supports reading and spelling skills
  • Interactive learning experience
Features
Read full description

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!

About

Survival Swim

Learn vital swimming skills with step-by-step video instruction. This affordable tool helps you teach yourself or others essential techniques for water safety and survival, building confidence in and out of the water.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step video instruction
  • Professional swim instructor techniques
  • Skill-strengthening exercises
  • Build water confidence
  • Affordable learning tool
Features
Read full description

Learning to swim is the #1 survival skill Everyone should learn to swim. But often, swimming programs are costly or time prohibitive. The Survival Swim App is an affordable, effective tool that helps you teach yourself and/or your swimmer vital swimming skills. Survival Swim lesson videos help you learn the same techniques used by professional swim instructors and provide step-by-step video instruction to strengthen specific skills. Through the use of the catalog of videos your confidence will grow both in and out of the water. Get ready for the water. Prepare to swim safe & survive. https://survival-swim.com/privacy-policy/ https://survival-swim.com/terms-conditions/

Screenshots

Phonogram Sounds3 screens
Survival Swim4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Phonogram Sounds at none against Survival Swim's 2. Phonogram Sounds also leads on review sentiment (70% vs 50%) and ratings volume (84 vs 6). Survival Swim's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 4.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Survival Swim sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Phonogram Sounds asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Survival Swim holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Phonogram Sounds has 84 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Phonogram Sounds's written reviews are positive against 50% of Survival Swim's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Phonogram Sounds ships an update every 6 months, Survival Swim every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Phonogram Sounds versus Survival Swim: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhonogram SoundsSurvival Swim
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (84 ratings)4.3 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.6% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings84 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAll About Learning Press, Inc.Survival Swim, LLC

Customer experience

Phonogram Sounds

All ratings84 ratings
Positive70.2%
Neutral14.3%
Negative15.5%
Written reviews46 reviews
Positive69.6%
Neutral13.0%
Negative17.4%

Survival Swim

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

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 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

Survival Swim

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Phonogram Sounds

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Survival Swim

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly1 Month trial$120.991 Year

Questions

Is Phonogram Sounds free?
Phonogram Sounds is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Survival Swim free?
Survival Swim is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Phonogram Sounds or Survival Swim?
Survival Swim is rated higher. Phonogram Sounds averages 4.0 out of 5 from 84 ratings, while Survival Swim averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do Phonogram Sounds or Survival Swim have ads?
Neither Phonogram Sounds nor Survival Swim shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Phonogram Sounds or Survival Swim?
Phonogram Sounds ships an update every 6 months, and Survival Swim every 5 months. Most recently, Phonogram Sounds was updated on November 1, 2026 and Survival Swim on November 3, 2026.

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