Comparison

Meet the Alphablocks! vs Phonics Playtime

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

Head to head
About

Meet the Alphablocks!

Explore the alphabet and letter sounds with interactive characters. Children can tap to bring each character to life, hear their letter sounds, and sing along to catchy songs. This app uses proven phonics methods to help young learners develop reading skills.

Highlights
  • Interactive alphabet characters
  • Learn letter sounds
  • Sing along to songs
  • Phonics-based learning
  • Letter name mode
Features
Read full description

Meet the Alphablocks, get to know your alphabet and letter sounds and sing along to the Alphablocks song. Alphablocks is the hit TV show that’s helping millions of children learn to read the fun way. (British English). As seen on Cbeebies. HOW TO PLAY It couldn’t be simpler: tap to bring each Alphablock to life and hear them sing their letter sound and a line from the Alphablocks song. Every Alphablock is designed to help your child remember their letters and letter sounds, so A says a! when an apple falls on her head, and so on. LETTER SOUNDS AND NAMES Listen to the Alphablocks singing their letter sounds, then change to Letter Name mode and have fun learning all the letter names too. FULL OF GOOD PHONICS Alphablocks uses best-practice phonics as taught in UK schools. It’s also part of a whole reading system that can give your child a boost in key phonics skills. Watch Alphablocks on CBeebies and find out more at www.alphablocks.tv. READY FOR MORE? If you enjoy this app, try ALPHABLOCKS LETTER FUN and really get to know the Alphablocks and the alphabet. Letter Fun has four minigames for each Alphablock (more than 100 total) to help your child master their letters and sounds, and they can sing along to the whole Alphablocks letter song.

About

Phonics Playtime

This app offers over 10 engaging Jolly Phonics games designed to help children master phonetic sounds. With over 2000 exercises and adjustable difficulty, it enhances cognitive skills through playful learning experiences. It's optimized for iOS devices and features a child-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • 10 unique phonics activities
  • Over 2000 exercises
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Sticker rewards system
  • Child-friendly interface
  • Jolly Phonics system based
  • Fully voiced pronunciation
Features
Read full description

Explore over 10 exciting Jolly Phonics activities that turn phonics learning into a playful adventure, perfect for young learners and teachers alike. Just like our other phonics apps, Phonics Playtime is designed to help children master phonetic sounds instead of just focusing on the alphabet. By completing exercises and practicing different phonics groups, Phonics Playtime enhances your child’s cognitive skills through engaging and playful experiences. With over 2000 unique exercises carefully crafted to teach various phonics sounds and groups, Phonics Playtime allows children to complete activities within specific phonics sets or tackle randomized exercises at easy, medium, hard, or mixed difficulty levels. Phonics Playtime is optimized for iPad and iPhone devices running iOS 12.0 or higher. Features: • 10 unique phonics activities, each with 3 levels of difficulty. • Over 650 phonics pictures and 800 phonics words categorized by difficulty level. • Earn fun stickers for achievements on the sticker board. • Child-friendly interface with large buttons and simple navigation. • Choose to play by phonics group or jump into a quick play game. • Fully voiced with accurate phonics pronunciation by B.J. Rowling, cousin of J.K. Rowling. • Toggle between lowercase and uppercase phonics letters. • Based on the renowned Jolly Phonics system by Jolly Learning Ltd. • No in-app purchases, everything is included! • Vibrant graphics with support for all iOS devices running 12.0 or higher. Included Activities: • Find the Phonic. • Which Phonic Did You Hear? • Sort the Phonics Words. • Unscramble the Word. • Which Word Sounds Like ___? • Find the Odd One Out. • Match the Pictures with the Right Shadow • Find the Missing Phonic. • Pop the Phonics Balloons. • Which Word Did You Hear?

Screenshots

Meet the Alphablocks!4 screens
Phonics Playtime4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Meet the Alphablocks! at every 11 months against Phonics Playtime's every 40 months. Phonics Playtime's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 73%). 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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Meet the Alphablocks! ships an update every 11 months, Phonics Playtime every 40 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and June 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Meet the Alphablocks! versus Phonics Playtime: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMeet the Alphablocks!Phonics Playtime
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (333 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.9% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings333 — better
Update frequencyEvery 11 months — betterEvery 40 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size212 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue-ZooBram Van Damme

Customer experience

Meet the Alphablocks!

All ratings333 ratings
Positive85.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews129 reviews
Positive72.9%
Neutral9.3%
Negative17.8%

Phonics Playtime

Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

Meet the Alphablocks!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when tapping on certain letters
  • Some visual glitches with character animations
  • Subscription/purchase issues for full app access
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more mini-games and interactive elements
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Provide clearer instructions on accessing all content
  • Expand the app to include more advanced learning activities

Phonics Playtime

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Meet the Alphablocks!

No in-app purchases

None

Phonics Playtime

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Meet the Alphablocks! free?
Meet the Alphablocks! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Phonics Playtime free?
Phonics Playtime is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Meet the Alphablocks! or Phonics Playtime have ads?
Neither Meet the Alphablocks! nor Phonics Playtime shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Meet the Alphablocks! or Phonics Playtime?
Meet the Alphablocks! ships an update every 11 months, and Phonics Playtime every 40 months. Most recently, Meet the Alphablocks! was updated on September 21, 2026 and Phonics Playtime on June 10, 2026.

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