Comparison

Keyword Understanding vs StepByStep Sequencing Freemium

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

Head to head
About

Keyword Understanding

This app helps users of all ages improve their ability to understand spoken and written directions. It features various activities targeting vocabulary, basic concepts, and sequential instructions, making it beneficial for individuals with listening comprehension or processing difficulties.

Highlights
  • Follow spoken and written directions
  • Improve vocabulary and basic concepts
  • Target auditory attention and working memory
  • Activities for one and two-step directions
  • Temporal and sequential direction practice
  • Comprehension check for vocabulary and concepts
Features
Read full description

“This app is great for children with processing difficulties which need to improve their ability to follow directions with a variety of embedded concepts.” ~ Smart Speech Therapy blog “Every child I have used it with has been very engaged by the lovely, brightly-colored pictures, and has quite happily kept on listening and following the instructions.” ~ Speech Blog UK “It can be used for informal assessments, language therapy and home practice. It can also be used to target auditory attention and working memory for cognitive-communication goals.” ~ Speaking of Apps blog Keyword Understanding is a professional speech and language therapy app that targets the ability to understand sentences and follow spoken and written directions of increasing difficulty. Children and adults are asked to follow directions in their everyday lives. In order to follow directions, the child or adult requires a strong knowledge of vocabulary, basic concepts and the ability to process and retain the information they have listened to or read. WHO IS KEYWORD UNDERSTANDING FOR? - Parents - Teachers - Speech language pathologists / Speech and language therapists - Children with reduced attention and listening comprehension or auditory processing difficulties  - Children with receptive language delay, developmental language delay or autism - Adults with mild to moderate aphasia due to stroke or traumatic brain injury - Adults with cognitive-communication difficulties due to stroke or traumatic brain injury  WHAT COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES ARE INCLUDED IN KEYWORD UNDERSTANDING? Comprehension Check: This activity helps you identify where comprehension breaks down. It checks the understanding of individual vocabulary items, and the basic concepts of size and color. Object, Size & Color: This activity works on the understanding of the basic concepts of size and color as well as the ability to follow one and two-step directions of increasing difficulty. 2 keyword level: Touch the green car 3 keyword level: Touch the big red mug 4 keyword level: Touch the green vase and the yellow cushion 6 keyword level: Touch the small pink gloves and the big blue comb Before & After: This activity works on the ability to understand and follow temporal directions (directions which include the concepts before/after in a variety of positions in the sentence). “Before you touch the t-shirt, touch the phone” “After you touch the lamp, touch the vase”, “Touch the flower before you touch the box”, “Touch the sock after you touch the bucket”. First & Then: This activity works on the ability to understand and follow sequential directions (directions which include the concepts first/then in the sentence). “First touch the ladder, then touch the bike”.  WHAT LANGUAGE & COGNITIVE SKILLS DOES KEYWORD UNDERSTANDING TARGET? - Vocabulary - Listening / Auditory Comprehension - Reading Comprehension - Working Memory - Attention to Detail - Language Processing - Basic Concepts / Adjectives (size, color) - Temporal Directions (Before/After) - Sequential Directions (First… Then)  FEATURES 3 modes: - Listening/ Auditory Only: Match the spoken direction to the picture(s) - Reading Only: Match the written direction to the picture(s) - Listening and Reading: Match the spoken and written directions to the picture(s) Keyword Understanding lets you: - Choose from a variety of vocabulary items in different sizes and five different colors allowing for thousands of following directions tasks - Follow directions of increasing difficulty and length - Add individual user profiles - Automatically track correct and incorrect responses of each user - Email a detailed result summary after a session or at a later date - Receive audio feedback for correct answers only, incorrect answers only or both All Aptus Speech Therapy apps participate in the 50% off Volume Purchase Program.  Visit our website for more details about our other speech and language therapy apps.

About

StepByStep Sequencing Freemium

This app helps improve sequencing skills for daily tasks for individuals with cognitive challenges. It features illustrated sequences for various activities, suitable for all ages and skill levels, and is recommended by professionals.

Highlights
  • Assess and improve sequencing skills
  • Illustrated sequences of daily tasks
  • Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
  • Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs)
  • Transfer sequences
  • Suitable for all ages and skill levels
Features
Read full description

StepByStep is a therapeutic and educational tool which helps assess and improve the sequencing skills of every day tasks for kids and adults with impaired or developing cognition! StepByStep uses fun and clearly-illustrated sequences of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs), and Transfers! Sequences range from 3-10 steps, and are appropriate for users of all ages and skill-levels. Challenge, sharpen, and increase the sequencing, problem-solving, and storytelling skills for users of all ages! Highly recommended by Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, parents, and teachers! StepByStep is perfect for parents, teachers, and therapists who assist others at: • Home • Skilled Nursing Facilities • Rehab Centers • Hospitals • Schools • Tutoring Centers StepByStep was developed by an Occupational Therapist with the goal of helping people of all ages with diagnoses such as: •Stroke •Autism •Dementia/Alzheimer's •Traumatic Brain Injury •Developmental Delays

Screenshots

Keyword Understanding4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: StepByStep Sequencing Freemium at 75% against Keyword Understanding's 25%. StepByStep Sequencing Freemium also leads on price (Free vs $17.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). Keyword Understanding's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 24). On ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

StepByStep Sequencing Freemium is free to download; Keyword Understanding costs $17.99 up front. StepByStep Sequencing Freemium sells 24 one-off in-app purchases. Keyword Understanding asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Keyword Understanding holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 4 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of Keyword Understanding's written reviews are positive against 75% of StepByStep Sequencing Freemium's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Keyword Understanding ships an update every 10 months, StepByStep Sequencing Freemium every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 3, 2026 and June 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Keyword Understanding versus StepByStep Sequencing Freemium: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKeyword UnderstandingStepByStep Sequencing Freemium
Price$17.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.5 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings34 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsEvery 7 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAptus Speech and Language Therapy LimitedSOAR Therapy, LLC

Customer experience

Keyword Understanding

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

StepByStep Sequencing Freemium

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative18.8%

In-app purchases

None

Keyword Understanding

No in-app purchases

24 purchases

StepByStep Sequencing Freemium

One-time24
  • Adult - Making a cup of coffee$0.99
  • Transfer - Stand to Sit - Adult$0.99
  • Putting on Shoes and Socks - Kids$0.99
Show 21 more
  • Buying a Candy Bar - Kids$0.99
  • Making a Bed - Adult$0.99
  • Kids - Toileting$0.99
  • Going to School - Kids$0.99
  • Washing a Car - Adult$0.99
  • Going Down a Slide - Kids$0.99
  • Kids - Building a Sandcastle$0.99
  • Addressing an Envelope - Adult$1.99
  • Making a Phone Call - Adult$2.99
  • Making a Sandwich - Kids$2.99
  • Doing Laundry - Kids$2.99
  • Cleaning Your Room - Kids$2.99
  • Getting Dressed - Kids$2.99
  • Washing Your Hands - Kids$2.99
  • Making a Sandwich - Adult$2.99
  • Grocery Shopping - Adult$2.99
  • Doing Laundry - Adult$2.99
  • Brushing Your Teeth - Adult$2.99
  • Baking a Cake - Adult$2.99
  • All Adult Sequences$14.99
  • All Kids Sequences$14.99

Questions

Is Keyword Understanding free?
Keyword Understanding costs $17.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is StepByStep Sequencing Freemium free?
StepByStep Sequencing Freemium is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Keyword Understanding or StepByStep Sequencing Freemium?
Keyword Understanding is rated higher. Keyword Understanding averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while StepByStep Sequencing Freemium averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do Keyword Understanding or StepByStep Sequencing Freemium have ads?
Neither Keyword Understanding nor StepByStep Sequencing Freemium shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Keyword Understanding or StepByStep Sequencing Freemium?
Keyword Understanding ships an update every 10 months, and StepByStep Sequencing Freemium every 7 months. Most recently, Keyword Understanding was updated on September 3, 2026 and StepByStep Sequencing Freemium on June 7, 2026.

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