Read Live vs Hairy Phonics 1
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Read Live
This app provides a structured, audio-supported system to improve reading fluency, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension for learners of all ages. It offers access to four distinct curriculum options, including support for Spanish readers, and tracks student progress across devices. A Read Live account is required to use the program.
- Four curriculum options
- Audio-supported system
- Develops reading fluency
- Improves comprehension
- Tracks student progress
- Spanish reading support
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Read Live delivers measurable results for struggling and developing readers of all ages. With this app, your students can access their Read Live student stories and exercises in an experience designed to take advantage of the iPad’s capabilities. Improve fluency and phonics skills while supporting vocabulary and comprehension development with Read Naturally Live. Build mastery and automaticity in phonics and decoding with systematic phonics instruction with Word Warm-ups Live. Enable structured, engaging, and independent reading practice with One Minute Reader Live. Help native Spanish speakers or others to learn to read Spanish text fluently with Read Naturally Live–Español. Visit our website to learn more about Read Live: readnaturally.com/go-read-live *** A Read Live account and internet connection are required to use this app. Don’t have an account yet? Don't worry: you can create a free account and start using the program within 1 business day! Read Live was designed by teachers for use in schools. Here's what some teachers are saying: “A great program. Kids enjoy using it. They see their progress in fluency and comprehension skills.” – Special Education Teacher, VT “Love, Love, Love this program to help build our students' fluency. All of the stories are engaging for the students. The technology is easy for both students and teachers to use.” – First-Grade Teacher, WI “This program has dramatically increased the fluency, comprehension and writing abilities of my ELL students. Their MAP scores have risen as much as 15 points in a trimester. It provides great individualization.” – ELL/ESL Teacher, IL KEY FEATURES • Full access to all four curriculum options: Read Naturally Live, Word Warm-ups Live, One Minute Reader Live, and Read Naturally Live–Español. • Structured, audio-supported system keeps students motivated and holds them accountable for their own success. • Develops reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and phonics. • Excellent for Response to Intervention (RTI) or Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). • Student progress syncs across computer and iPad. • Free iPad app for Read Live account holders. ________________________________________ Need support? We’re here to help. Email us at support@readnaturally.com *** IMPORTANT!! You must have a Read Live account to use this app.
Hairy Phonics 1
This educational app helps children aged 4-6 develop phonemic awareness by introducing consonant digraphs. It features interactive animations, letter tracing, and games to blend sounds into words, making learning fun and engaging.
- Learn 9 consonant digraph phonemes
- Structured learning sequence
- Phonic animations with actions
- Interactive letter tracing
- Word blending games
- Save and collect characters
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The ideal app to follow the award-winning Hairy Letters. Hairy Phonics develops phonemic awareness with the introduction of the 9 most common consonant digraphs. This is where two consonants join and make one sound. - Learn 9 phonemes (sounds): sh, ch, th, ck, ff, ll, ss, zz, ng. - Guides your child through a structured sequence of learning. - Phonic animations link an action with the sound. - Trace the letters with your finger. - Play games to blend the phonemes into a whole word and improve understanding - Sound out words and understand how the phoneme changes the sound of the word - Save all the Hairies and see them dance. This is a particularly important skill for those with dyslexia. Designed for 4-6 year olds. This app is strictly educational and has no in-app purchases. **************************************************** REVIEWS **************************************************** This is a really great app my son loves it. All the Nessy products are amazing and my son thinks it's such a funny game, so learning and laughing fab. – 100CoolCat My kids loved the first Hairy app and were excited to play this one. It didn't disappoint as they really enjoyed it. It has a different game to the first one where you build a word for the Hairy guy to slide over. – OJRocks
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Read Live at 5.0 against Hairy Phonics 1's 2.7. Read Live also leads on review sentiment (29% vs 10%) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 12 months). Hairy Phonics 1's advantage is ratings volume (19 vs 1) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Read Live holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hairy Phonics 1 has 19 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of Read Live's written reviews are positive against 10% of Hairy Phonics 1's.
Read Live ships an update every 4 months, Hairy Phonics 1 every 12 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Read Live | Hairy Phonics 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 2.7 (19 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 28.6% of reviews — better | 10.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 19 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 12 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.3 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 239 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Read Naturally, Inc. | Nessy Learning Limited |
Customer experience
Read Live
Hairy Phonics 1
In-app purchases
Read Live
No in-app purchases
Hairy Phonics 1
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Read Live free?
Is Hairy Phonics 1 free?
Which has better reviews, Read Live or Hairy Phonics 1?
Do Read Live or Hairy Phonics 1 have ads?
Which is updated more often, Read Live or Hairy Phonics 1?
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