Comparison

iPA Phonetics vs toPhonetics IPA Keyboard

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

Head to head
About

iPA Phonetics

Explore the International Phonetic Alphabet and voice production with an intuitive touch interface. Hear and see accurate examples of symbols and articulations, enhanced by real-life laryngoscopic and ultrasound videos. Adjust playback speed for detailed study.

Highlights
  • Interactive IPA chart
  • Voice quality exploration
  • Articulations demonstration
  • Laryngoscopic videos
  • Ultrasound videos
  • Adjustable playback speed
  • Full-screen video viewing
Features
Read full description

This App provides a unique and intuitive touch interface for exploring the International Phonetic Alphabet as well as numerous voice qualities and articulations. Simply press any symbol or label in the illustrations to see and hear an accurate example. Amazing real-life laryngoscopic and ultrasound videos never before documented accompany sounds articulated in the mouth and throat! You can speed up and slow down all the video examples, view full-screen, and more!

About

toPhonetics IPA Keyboard

This keyboard extension provides full International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) support with diacritics. It automatically transcribes English text as you type, offering suggestions for pronunciation based on British or American dialects. Additional layouts allow for detailed phonetic transcriptions of any language.

Highlights
  • Full IPA character set with diacritics
  • Automatic English text transcription
  • British and American dialect options
  • Customizable keyboard layouts
  • Cursor control gestures
Features
Read full description

IPA keyboard extension with a twist. Actually, with two! - Custom keyboard can be used with any app or text input; - Full character set of International Phonetic Alphabet, including diacritics support. - On the fly automatic transcription of English text as you type or on word selection, using the same transcription engine as in toPhonetics Converter app. - A unique, albeit experimental, IPA-to-Speech feature in the companion app that lets you convert your own API input into actual speech audio and export it as a file. Apart from providing full support for editing texts using International Phonetic Alphabet, toPhonetics IPA Keyboard allows you to type in common English and will convert it into phonemic transcription on the fly. Select one of the offered transcriptions or just keep typing and the first suggestion will be selected automatically. You can also select an English word in your text and transcribe it by tapping on one of the suggestions. For auto-transcription you can switch between British and American dialect. Two other layouts allow you to type detailed narrow phonetic transcriptions for any language or dialect. Certain keys offer quick access to alternative characters via long press or double tap. This keyboard relies on the same engine and dictionary as toPhonetics Converter. The workflow is different though. Specifically, using the keyboard: - Auto-transcription for English language offered word by word, not for the entire text, therefore all possible pronunciation of the word are shown as suggestions at once. - You can tap on original word in the suggestion list if you don't want to auto-transcribe it, but the keyboard does not offer output with the original line-by-line (which is a feature of toPhonetics Convertor app). - You can refine your transcriptions by creating both broad and narrow phonetic transcriptions. - You can create transcriptions for any language. Control your cursor position with gestures: 1. Pan horizontally with a finger anywhere on the keyboard to change your cursor position quickly and precisely; 2. Swipe left or right with one finger across the spacebar to move your cursor one character left or right.

Screenshots

iPA Phonetics4 screens
toPhonetics IPA Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: toPhonetics IPA Keyboard at none against iPA Phonetics's 1. toPhonetics IPA Keyboard also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). iPA Phonetics's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 50%) and ratings volume (64 vs 4). On price, ads, monetization model 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

iPA Phonetics costs $3.99 and toPhonetics IPA Keyboard $3.99 up front. iPA Phonetics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. toPhonetics IPA Keyboard asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

toPhonetics IPA Keyboard holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iPA Phonetics has 64 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of iPA Phonetics's written reviews are positive against 50% of toPhonetics IPA Keyboard's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iPA Phonetics ships an update every 6 months, toPhonetics IPA Keyboard every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iPA Phonetics versus toPhonetics IPA Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriPA PhoneticstoPhonetics IPA Keyboard
Price$3.99$3.99
Rating4.2 (64 ratings)4.5 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings64 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size900 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJohn EslingMu-sonic

Customer experience

iPA Phonetics

All ratings64 ratings
Positive79.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative14.1%
Written reviews94 reviews
Positive83.0%
Neutral5.3%
Negative11.7%

toPhonetics IPA Keyboard

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

iPA Phonetics

One-time1
  • Voice Qualities Plus$1.99
None

toPhonetics IPA Keyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iPA Phonetics free?
iPA Phonetics costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is toPhonetics IPA Keyboard free?
toPhonetics IPA Keyboard costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iPA Phonetics or toPhonetics IPA Keyboard?
toPhonetics IPA Keyboard is rated higher. iPA Phonetics averages 4.2 out of 5 from 64 ratings, while toPhonetics IPA Keyboard averages 4.5 from 4 ratings.
Do iPA Phonetics or toPhonetics IPA Keyboard have ads?
Neither iPA Phonetics nor toPhonetics IPA Keyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iPA Phonetics or toPhonetics IPA Keyboard?
iPA Phonetics ships an update every 6 months, and toPhonetics IPA Keyboard every 2 months. Most recently, iPA Phonetics was updated on October 19, 2026 and toPhonetics IPA Keyboard on October 22, 2026.

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