Comparison

Lightbot Jr vs Osmo Newton

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

Head to head
About

Lightbot Jr

Introduce young children to programming concepts through engaging puzzles. Players guide characters to solve challenges using sequencing, debugging, and loops, fostering a foundational understanding of computer science. Supports multiple players and languages.

Highlights
  • Sequencing instructions
  • Debugging problems
  • Creating reusable procedures
  • Executing loops
  • 42 challenging levels
  • Multiple player profiles
  • Multilingual support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Apple Features, in over 100 countries: *Best New Apps and Games* *Best for Learning to Code* *Best in Hot Educational Games* It's never too early to start programming! Lightbot Junior gets your little ones 'coding' within minutes! Lightbot Junior is specifically designed for ages 4-8, and is an easier version of the popular Lightbot: featuring a gentler learning curve and not-as-complex puzzles. You can play as Boybot or Girlbot as you solve puzzles that use game mechanics that are based on Computer Science ideas; Lightbot Junior cultivates a real understanding of sequencing instructions, debugging problems, creating reusable procedures and executing loops. Educators around the world are choosing to use Lightbot first when introducing their students to programming, coding and Computer Science. Lightbot Junior features 42 levels. This version can be played in English, French, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Norwegian, Slovenian, Romanian, Indonesian, German, Polish, Danish, Croatian, Dutch, Slovak, Czech, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Thai, Hindi, Swedish, Finnish and Hungarian! Just hit the associated flag icon on the main screen to select a language. Lightbot features multiple save slots and separate progress tracking for multiple players. Multiple players can advance at their own pace in their own save slot, and also compete on number of levels finished, number of stars collected and number of overall commands used to complete the game. There are NO in-app purchases in Lightbot Junior.

About

Osmo Newton

Engage with creative physics puzzles by drawing or placing physical objects. Guide falling balls into target zones using everyday items. Experience a blend of physical and digital play.

Highlights
  • Draw lines to solve puzzles
  • Place physical objects to interact
  • Guide falling balls into targets
  • Works with everyday items
  • Hands-on learning experience
  • Promotes creativity and problem-solving
Read full description

Solve creative physics puzzles by drawing lines or placing items in front of the screen. Play your favourite Osmo Newton on both iPhone and iPad! Use your iPhone with the "Osmo Base for iPad" which can be found at playosmo.com. * Please see our device compatibility list here: https://support.playosmo.com/hc/articles/115010156067 "..games that interact with just about any physical object—pen, paper, blocks, even toys your kids already own. - The Wall Street Journal "This interplay between the physical and digital realms looks and feels like magic." - Forbes "Osmo has been a revolution in our family." - Wired Awarded: **Best Design** - Good Design, 2016 **Best Product Designs** - Fast Company Finalist, 2016 **Innovative Toy of the Year** - TOTY Finalist, 2015 **Best Inventions** - TIME, 2014 Works with any object or drawing – Mom’s keys, hand-drawn basket, even toys you already own. Simply place the object/drawing in front of the screen and manipulate it to guide the falling balls into the target zones. About Osmo Osmo is using the screen to create a new healthy, hands-on learning experience that promotes creativity, problem-solving and social interaction. We do this with our reflective artificial intelligent technology.

Screenshots

Lightbot Jr3 screens
Osmo Newton4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Osmo Newton at Free against Lightbot Jr's $2.99. Osmo Newton also leads on ratings volume (383 vs 11). Lightbot Jr's advantage is review sentiment (79% vs 65%) and chart position (#135 vs unranked). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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

Osmo Newton is free to download; Lightbot Jr costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.2 for Lightbot Jr against 4.1 for Osmo Newton. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Osmo Newton has 383 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Lightbot Jr's written reviews are positive against 65% of Osmo Newton's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Lightbot Jr versus Osmo Newton: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLightbot JrOsmo Newton
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.2 (11 ratings) — better4.1 (383 ratings)
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews — better65.4% of reviews
Number of ratings11383 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#135 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS5.1.1 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB451 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSpriteBox LLCTangible Play

Customer experience

Lightbot Jr

All ratings11 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral9.1%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%

Osmo Newton

All ratings383 ratings
Positive75.5%
Neutral6.8%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews81 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral8.6%
Negative25.9%

Bugs and requests

Lightbot Jr

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Osmo Newton

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during gameplay
  • Unresponsive app after recent updates
  • Lorem Ipsum placeholder text stuck on screen
  • Achievement page frozen preventing gameplay
  • App incompatible with iPad Air 2 and 11-inch iPad
Show 5 more
  • Camera permission prompt issues on newer iOS
  • Line detection fails to recognize drawings
  • Game slows down significantly with multiple balls
  • App fails to load or gets stuck on loading screen
  • Whiteboard compatibility issues

Requested features

8 requests
  • Back/front camera option for better positioning
  • Pause menu functionality
  • More levels beyond the current 61
  • Grid screen option for better line detection
  • Adjustable camera sensitivity settings
Show 3 more
  • Better instructions and tutorial for beginners
  • Start button before gameplay begins
  • Support for older iPad models

In-app purchases

None

Lightbot Jr

No in-app purchases

None

Osmo Newton

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lightbot Jr free?
Lightbot Jr costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Osmo Newton free?
Osmo Newton is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lightbot Jr or Osmo Newton?
Lightbot Jr is rated higher. Lightbot Jr averages 4.2 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Osmo Newton averages 4.1 from 383 ratings.
Do Lightbot Jr or Osmo Newton have ads?
Neither Lightbot Jr nor Osmo Newton shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lightbot Jr or Osmo Newton?
Lightbot Jr ships an update every 2 months, and Osmo Newton every 2 months. Most recently, Lightbot Jr was updated on October 11, 2026 and Osmo Newton on October 12, 2026.

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