Comparison

Sesame Street vs Photo Play (for Families)

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

Head to head
About

Sesame Street

Watch hundreds of Sesame Street videos and play over 100 educational games featuring beloved characters. Designed to teach school readiness skills in a safe, ad-free environment for young children.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of ad-free videos
  • Over 100 educational games
  • Filter by character or learning area
  • Kid-friendly interface
  • Save favorites with a free account
  • Cross-device access
Read full description

Do you have a little one who loves Elmo? Can’t get enough of Cookie Monster? Giggles along with Grover? Download the free, official Sesame Street app to watch videos and play fun, educational games in a kid-safe, ad-free environment! These videos and games were designed to teach your child school readiness skills while delivering on Sesame Workshop’s mission to help children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. VIDEOS: • Hundreds of Sesame Street songs and videos featuring Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, and more furry friends in an ad-free environment. • Create a free account to save your favorites for easier repeat viewing. • Filter videos by character or learning area. GAMES: • More than 100 free, educational games featuring your favorite Sesame Street characters with new games being released regularly. • Create a free account to save your favorite games. • Filter games by character or learning area. FEATURES: • Instant access to unlimited Sesame Street videos and games, all for FREE. • Kid-friendly interface for frustration-free play for kids of all ages. • Create a free account to save your favorites for later. • Sign into the app or website from any device to access your favorites! • Access your watch and play history. • Filter by character or learning area including Emotional Development, Literacy, Math, Science, and more! • Always kid-safe and ad-free. ABOUT US Sesame Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder and we’re doing everything we can to meet the needs of children in more than 190 countries. You’ll find us on screens, in classrooms, in communities—everywhere families can use a trusted hand to help little ones reach their full potential. Our unforgettable characters bring joyful learning into children’s lives—and help Sesame Workshop change the world, one smile at a time. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org. CONTACT US Our goal is to make quality apps accessible to every family and provide the best possible experience for children. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at sesameworkshopapps@sesame.org or www.sesameworkshop.org/contact-us/ Sesame Street Privacy Policy: https://www.sesamestreet.org/content/privacy-policyyour-california-privacy-rights Sesame Street Terms of Use: https://www.sesamestreet.org/termsofuse Sesame Street Website: https://www.sesamestreet.org/

About

Photo Play (for Families)

This app helps families develop early literacy skills through interactive play and conversation using personal photos. It encourages dialogue and language development by engaging children with everyday objects and memories.

Highlights
  • Interactive photo-based conversations
  • Develops early literacy skills
  • Encourages dialogue and language development
  • Use personal family photographs
  • Decorate and play hide-and-seek with photos
  • Designed for caregiver-child interaction
Features
Read full description

Critical pre-literacy skills are developed long before elementary school — through play and interactive conversations with caregivers at home. Free early-literacy apps from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) are made for parents and caregivers to use with their children to encourage fun and rewarding interactions and promote dialogue — giving children the foundations they need to read, learn, and thrive. Welcome to Photo Play — a fun and creative way to get families talking! Just by talking with your little one — and helping them talk with you — you can get them ready to read and ready to learn about the world. This app is specially designed for you and your child to use together, talking and laughing about everyday objects and interactions as you play. In Photo Play, you'll use your own family photographs and memories to develop conversations and early literacy skills with your children. Choose a photo and have fun drawing on it, decorating it with stickers, playing hide and seek with it, and talking about people and events you see in the image. Photo Play can help you build your child's language skills even when you've put the app down, during everyday activities like going shopping, running errands, or walking to the playground. Photo Play will give you plenty to talk about all day! Photo Play is a product of the Reach Every Reader initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in collaboration with FableVision Studios. Check out HGSE’s related apps, Small Wonders and Animal Antics — equally fun, and equally ready to spark conversation and lay the foundations for reading! To learn more, and for information about privacy and updates, visit http://hgse.me/apps.

Screenshots

Sesame Street4 screens
Photo Play (for Families)4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sesame Street at 3.7 against Photo Play (for Families)'s 3.0. Sesame Street also leads on ratings volume (644 vs 2). Photo Play (for Families)'s advantage is iOS requirement (11.4 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sesame Street holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sesame Street has 644 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Sesame Street versus Photo Play (for Families): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSesame StreetPhoto Play (for Families)
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (644 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews
Number of ratings644 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.111.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size137 MB158 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSesame Workshop (Apps)Harvard University

Customer experience

Sesame Street

All ratings644 ratings
Positive61.0%
Neutral10.9%
Negative28.1%
Written reviews130 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral21.5%
Negative38.5%

Photo Play (for Families)

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

Sesame Street

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Videos and games freezing or not loading
  • Sound cutting out or not working
  • Crashes when switching between sections
  • Compatibility issues on certain devices
  • Login and account management problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Offline mode to access content without internet
  • More customization options for parents
  • Expanded content library with new videos and games
  • Improved accessibility features
  • Better parental controls and content filtering

Photo Play (for Families)

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Sesame Street

No in-app purchases

None

Photo Play (for Families)

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sesame Street free?
Sesame Street is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Photo Play (for Families) free?
Photo Play (for Families) is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sesame Street or Photo Play (for Families)?
Sesame Street is rated higher. Sesame Street averages 3.7 out of 5 from 644 ratings, while Photo Play (for Families) averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Sesame Street or Photo Play (for Families) have ads?
Neither Sesame Street nor Photo Play (for Families) shows ads.

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