Comparison

PocketPhonics Stories (full) vs iWHELD

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

Head to head
About

PocketPhonics Stories (full)

This app helps children aged 4-6 learn to read and write through phonics and interactive storybooks. It offers guided practice, progress tracking for parents and teachers, and adaptive difficulty levels.

Highlights
  • Phonics instruction
  • Handwriting practice
  • Interactive storybooks
  • Word sounding out help
  • Reading comprehension quizzes
  • Progress monitoring
  • Common Core aligned skills
Features
Read full description

This award-winning app is the one to get if you are passionate about your child learning to read, and your child is aged between 4 and 6, or older but needs some extra help with reading. It teaches phonics and handwriting (including joined up). It has a first set of storybooks for them to read, written specifically for children learning to read using the app. Your child will prefer our books to paper books, because they help them read - if they get stuck, they tap a word to get help sounding it out. You will prefer our books, because the quizzes check they can read the words and understand them. The books get progressively harder, but kids don’t realise because they are getting better at reading all the time. Our apps are used in hundreds of American elementary schools. One of only nine education apps awarded the top A+ rating by Balefire Labs. The app is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Children master these skills: * writing letters * recognising 72 letter sounds (e.g. ‘ch’ are the letters that make the initial sound in ‘chat’) * blending letter sounds together to make words (e.g ‘ch-a-t’) * hearing a word and selecting its written form (e.g. the app says, “chat”, the child has to select ‘chat’ from a group of words - some of which are similar to chat) Parents and teachers can easily monitor children’s progress online. They can see what stage the child is at, any letter sounds they are having difficulty with and what storybooks have been read.They are also emailed a certificate when a child completes a task. These certificates are a much-loved feature of the original PocketPhonics app, which launched in 2008 and has been downloaded over half a million times. Teachers don't need to worry about making sure kids have the same iPad each lesson. If a child switches iPads, they automatically continue learning from where they finished previously.  Children can use the app at home, and continue from where they left off at school. Order the app's FREE GUIDE to teaching kids to read to understand how it teaches. Phonics (letter sounds) help children to read by understanding the sounds that letters make. The National Reading Panel concluded that “children who have phonics instruction read better and spell better than other children”. Montessori & other experts recommend not including letter names when teaching letter sounds.

About

iWHELD

Read full description

The FREE online support programme and study created specifically to support care homes and their staff in Improving the Wellbeing and Health for People Living with Dementia (iWHELD). Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), iWHELD is here to provide connection, coaching and care for care staff.

Screenshots

PocketPhonics Stories (full)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iWHELD at Free against PocketPhonics Stories (full)'s $19.99. PocketPhonics Stories (full)'s advantage is device support and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13.0). On 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

iWHELD is free to download; PocketPhonics Stories (full) costs $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PocketPhonics Stories (full) versus iWHELD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocketPhonics Stories (full)iWHELD
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (15 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews89.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings15 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks—
AdsNo—
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — better—
Requires iOS11.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size742 MB50 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperApps in My Pocket LtdSmartshore B.V.

In-app purchases

None

PocketPhonics Stories (full)

No in-app purchases

None

iWHELD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PocketPhonics Stories (full) free?
PocketPhonics Stories (full) costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is iWHELD free?
iWHELD is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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