Keyboarding Without Tears vs Co
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Keyboarding Without Tears
This app provides touch-typing practice for K-5 students using a game-based curriculum. Licensed users can log in to access assigned activities and develop essential computer skills. An educator account is required for access.
- Game-based touch-typing activities
- Pre-keyboarding lessons
- Developmentally appropriate lessons
- Online progress monitoring
- Digital citizenship training
- Cross-curricular connections
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Access the Keyboarding Without Tears K-5 student curriculum. This app is available for licensed students of Keyboarding Without Tears web-based program and serve as a companion app for touch-typing practice on mobile devices. Students can login and access their Keyboarding Without Tears activities assigned to them by their educator. An existing educator account in +Live Insights educator dashboard is required to access the app. The Keyboarding Without Tears K-5 curriculum features: • Effective, game-based activities • Pre-keyboarding and touch-typing lessons • Developmentally appropriate lessons by grade • Easy online progress monitoring • Digital citizenship and general computer readiness activities • Strong English Language & Arts and other Cross-Curricular connections
Co
This app provides advanced word prediction and spelling support for students. It offers grammar-smart suggestions and access to millions of topic-specific dictionaries to aid in writing. Built-in text-to-speech functionality helps users review their work.
- Grammar-smart word prediction
- Millions of topic-specific dictionaries
- Flexspell™ technology for spelling errors
- Built-in text-to-speech
- Personalized vocabulary and settings
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Co:Writer® Universal app and third-party keyboard gives students easy access to word prediction on iPad, iPad Pro, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Students simply sign in to their Co:Writer Universal accounts to write with their personal settings and vocabulary. ABOUT CO:WRITER UNIVERSAL This version is for schools with a Co:Writer Universal license only. Users without a Co:Writer Universal license must purchase the Co:Writer app. HOW DOES CO:WRITER WORK? As letters are typed, Co:Writer predicts the intended word with a selection of word suggestions using powerful grammar-smart word prediction. These suggestions can be read aloud with a swipe. Selecting the intended word places it into the writing document. For feedback while writing (and after writing) built-in text to speech can be used to read letters, words, sentences, and the entire document. 4+ MILLION TOPIC-SPECIFIC DICTIONARIES Co:Writer has access to a main prediction dictionary (that includes core words) and Topic Dictionaries (that includes topic specific words). Co:Writer can access over 4 million topic-specific dictionaries which are activated based on the writing task. A small sampling of the variety of topic dictionaries: - America's Cup - Apple II - Compare and Contrast - Dinosaurs - Grumpy Cat - History of the Peloponnesian War - Mahatma Gandhi - My Dog - Pig Latin - Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost - SpongeBob SquarePants - Tommy (album) - Wonders of the World SPELLING SUPPORT Co:Writer handles the widest range of spelling mistakes through its Flexspell™technology including phonetic spelling and inventive spelling errors (letter omissions, word ending omissions, letter reversals, etc). Examples of how Co:Writer aides with phonetic and/or inventive spelling: Before Co:Writer The blk jargon flu over the bra lfnt. R u hpy to ce me? I no hw to nor the fone. After Co:Writer The black dragon flew over the gray elephant. Are you happy to see me? I know how to answer the phone. GRAMMAR SUPPORT Co:Writer bases its prediction off of proper grammar, and uses its understanding of grammar to accurately predict words within the framework of valid sentence structures. Examples of how Co:Writer aides with grammar: Dogs are furry. (noun, verb, adj.) - When you typed d-o, you get plural noun choices Three very mangy dogs ran down the street. (adj., adv., adj., noun, verb… etc.) - After typing three, very, mangy, you get plural noun choices, then you get plural verb tenses. OTHER FEATURES - Built-in Text to Speech - Export
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Keyboarding Without Tears at 3.7 against Co's 2.6. Keyboarding Without Tears also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). Co's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 13.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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.
Keyboarding Without Tears holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 17 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 4% of Keyboarding Without Tears's written reviews are positive against 8% of Co's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Keyboarding Without Tears ships an update every 2 months, Co every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Keyboarding Without Tears | Co |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (6 ratings) — better | 2.6 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 4.1% of reviews | 8.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 6 | 17 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Handwriting Without Tears & Get Set for School | Don Johnston Incorporated |
Customer experience
Keyboarding Without Tears
Co
Bugs and requests
Keyboarding Without Tears
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes frequently
- App freezes during use
- External keyboards are not recognized
- Progress is deleted without warning
- Puzzle pieces do not work correctly
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- Screen does not rotate
- No sound after sign-in
- Login issues (PIN required, invalid email)
- Inconsistent skipping of review content
- Grammar errors in the app
Requested features
11 requests- Make the app more fun and engaging
- Fix the keyboard recognition issue
- Improve app performance and stability
- Allow skipping of review content
- Ensure puzzle pieces work correctly
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- Fix screen rotation issues
- Add sound to tutorials and lessons
- Clarify PIN/license requirements
- Make the app available to the general public
- Improve grammar and spelling
- Use the default iOS keyboard
Co
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Keyboarding Without Tears
No in-app purchases
Co
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Keyboarding Without Tears free?
Is Co free?
Which has better reviews, Keyboarding Without Tears or Co?
Do Keyboarding Without Tears or Co have ads?
Which is updated more often, Keyboarding Without Tears or Co?
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