Comparison

Shoonya Kids vs Touch & Explore

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

Head to head
About

Shoonya Kids

This multilingual app makes early literacy and math fun for young learners. It offers engaging games designed by educators to build foundational skills in phonics, reading, writing, and number sense across five languages. The app is safe, ad-free, and culturally inclusive.

Highlights
  • Multilingual learning (English, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu)
  • Literacy and numeracy games
  • Culturally inclusive content
  • Montessori-inspired design
  • Research-driven curriculum
  • Teacher dashboard for progress tracking
  • Safe and ad-free environment
Features
Read full description

Built with a research grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Reading, phonics, and math in five languages — for ages 3 to 8. Shoonya Kids teaches early literacy and numeracy in English, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu. Children can easily switch languages in a single app, bringing true multilingual learning and accessibility to their fingertips. WHAT CHILDREN PRACTICE Phonics & Reading — letter sounds, blending, digraphs, rhyming, syllable segmenting, CVC words, and high-frequency sight words Writing & Tracing — letter and number formation aligned to Handwriting Without Tears, the standard used in schools Early Math — counting to 100, skip counting, addition, subtraction, geometry, patterns, and positional words Vocabulary — themed words drawn from food, clothing, instruments, and daily life across cultures Progress is self-paced and Montessori-inspired, allowing children to choose their own path. Teachers can customize and differentiate learning for students with a dedicated teacher portal. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Genuinely multilingual. Shoonya Kids is built with input from pedagogy experts and Dual Language Immersion educators to provide a genuine learning experience. Content is designed for each language and not run through a translator, so that children learn the language as it is intended to be taught. Research-backed. Developed under an SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, with WestEd as our independent research partner and classroom testing in California public schools. Built for how children actually learn. Designed in alignment with UNICEF and LEGO Group's RITEC framework and NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice principles. Safe by design. COPPA- and FERPA-compliant, no ads, no third-party tracking. WHAT EDUCATORS SAY "They don't even know they're learning because they think they're playing — but they're learning!" — Perla Estrada, TK Teacher, Dual Language Immersion, El Camino Elementary "It helps a lot to have technology that is authentic in Spanish and play-based — it's appropriate for the development and age of this group." — Stephanie Hernandez Jarvis, Kindergarten Teacher, El Camino Elementary "Shoonya's multicultural and multilingual platform is the state-of-the-art in early language and multiliteracy development." — Dr. Barbara Flores, Former President, California Association for Bilingual Education IN CLASSROOMS & AT HOME PreK–2nd Grade: Foundational literacy and numeracy Dual Language & English Language Learners: Authentic Spanish, English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi content After School & Summer Enrichment: perfect for independent learning rotations Common Core aligned: phonemic awareness and number sense Teachers get a dashboard to assign activities, track progress, and see accuracy and completion by student. Shoonya is available for at home use and used in homes across the world for multilingual learning. RECOGNITION U.S. Department of Education Small Business Innovation Research Grant Most Innovative Consumer App — Octane High Tech Awards Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in Science and Technology — Women's Economic Ventures Antares REACH Grant Featured by NBC, Parentology, and Educational App Store Used by families and teachers in over 80 countries. TRY IT FREE A free version is always available to practice letters in five languages. Full curriculum access is $5.99/month, $19.99/quarter, or $57.99/year. Cancel anytime. Support: support@shoonyadigital.com Privacy Policy: https://www.shoonyadigital.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.shoonyadigital.com/terms-of-service

About

Touch & Explore

This app introduces young children to the world through interactive exploration and language learning. It features two modes: one for discovering plants and animals with pronunciation, and another for reinforcing knowledge through games. The app supports English, Spanish, and Russian for language study.

Highlights
  • Interactive world exploration
  • Foreign language learning
  • Animal and plant identification
  • Knowledge reinforcement games
  • Multiple learning themes
  • Calm and peaceful atmosphere
Features
Read full description

We present unique application where your children can touch everything. It allows youngest kids to get the first glimpse of the world around them in a playful way and helps older children to study foreign languages. The current version supports three languages ​​for studying: English, Spanish and Russian. The application has two modes. In the first mode a child explores the world around, gets acquainted with plants and animals, listens and learns the pronunciation of their names, including, if desired, in a foreign language. In the second mode the baby is invited to play searching of a given animal or another object on the scene thereby checking and consolidating the knowledge gained in the first mode. Both modes allow your child to learn and examine the chosen foreign language. The application is made in soft colors, in a beautiful and peaceful style that will not leave indifferent neither kids nor their parents. Pleasant and calm music will help to relax and reduce children's fatigue. Key features: - Three themes: forest, farm, sea; - More than 100 objects to explore; - Three languages ​​to learn allow your children to study over 300 new words; - The peaceful atmosphere, beautiful graphics and calm music; - Suitable for short-time classes.

Screenshots

Shoonya Kids4 screens
Touch & Explore4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Touch & Explore at 5.0 against Shoonya Kids's 4.2. Touch & Explore also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 73%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.6). Shoonya Kids's advantage is ratings volume (97 vs 1). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Shoonya Kids sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Touch & Explore sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Touch & Explore holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shoonya Kids has 97 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Shoonya Kids's written reviews are positive against 100% of Touch & Explore's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shoonya Kids ships an update every 3 weeks, Touch & Explore every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Shoonya Kids versus Touch & Explore: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShoonya KidsTouch & Explore
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (97 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings97 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.68.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size818 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShoonya Digital IncFutujoy

Customer experience

Shoonya Kids

All ratings97 ratings
Positive76.3%
Neutral6.2%
Negative17.5%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral4.8%
Negative22.2%

Touch & Explore

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Shoonya Kids

Reported bugs

27 issues
  • Subscription cancellation not confirmed
  • No updates on cancellation status
  • Lot of click ads
  • Hissing noise while tracing
  • Won't restore purchases
Show 22 more
  • Restore purchases button does nothing
  • Link to contact them is not working
  • Paid subscription but hardly has anything
  • Unable to use the app after payment
  • Email address does not exist
  • Cannot login into iPad with same details
  • Sound is not coming on mobile
  • Sound stopped working
  • Complaints to the company not answered
  • Design is so complicated
  • Asks to put code continuously
  • Learning is limited
  • Slow app
  • No access to support
  • My toddler loves it!!
  • Not worth it
  • Restore doesn’t work after changing iPad
  • Crashes after new update
  • Not opening after the latest update
  • Charged me for the app and won’t let me download
  • Full version does not work
  • When i trace the alphabet, the left hand side of the screen puts me back to the previous alphabet instead of progressing

Requested features

2 requests
  • Add a number section for learning
  • More languages in the future

Touch & Explore

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Shoonya Kids

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Quarterly Subscription$19.993 Months
Show 2 more
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$57.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription$57.991 Year
One-time1
  • Complete Alphabet Pack$3.99
1 purchases

Touch & Explore

One-time1
  • Unlock Farm & Sea$0.99

Questions

Is Shoonya Kids free?
Shoonya Kids is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Touch & Explore free?
Touch & Explore is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shoonya Kids or Touch & Explore?
Touch & Explore is rated higher. Shoonya Kids averages 4.2 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while Touch & Explore averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shoonya Kids or Touch & Explore have ads?
Neither Shoonya Kids nor Touch & Explore shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shoonya Kids or Touch & Explore?
Shoonya Kids ships an update every 3 weeks, and Touch & Explore every 2 weeks. Most recently, Shoonya Kids was updated on September 13, 2026 and Touch & Explore on September 18, 2026.

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