Hooked on Phonics Learn & Read App Reviews

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Best Literacy Tool EVER!!!. People! Listen up! This is by far the BEST way to build literacy skills! I’m a 90s baby and I grew up on Hooked on Phonics. Now I get to share the same experience with my child! This platform is incredible to use, my son is 5 and has developed phonemic awareness, letter recognition and can write! Through the use of HOP, he has developed a love for literacy and that is a mother’s DREAM! Additionally, I made a goof in my account and called the customer support team for help. Ryan Roberson was AWESOME and even took the time to understand my child’s needs on a personal level. He went above and beyond to fix my issue and showed incredible pride in the company. Give him a raise! Parents, don’t hesitate. Be the teacher your child needs and take the stress out of homeschool! Subscribe to Hooked on Phonics ASAP! It’s worth it!

Love this app, but a few wrong pronunciations. I still recommend this app, it’s amazing! But you guys need to check a few pronunciations on the learn to read section. Specifically “bed” in the Ed section was just wrong. I have heard a few other words that were pronounced a little rough too.

Very disappointed. We have been having issues with trying to log into the account and have tried many times to get a hold of someone to speak with and resolve this issue. I have called your number, but an automated message just comes on saying that due to a high volume of calls, my only option is to leave a message. After calling numerous times, at different times of the day, because I wanted to speak with a live person, this message always comes on and no one ever answers the phone. I finally gave up and left a message and to this day have not received a call back. We were only able to use this program maybe twice, before we started having issues, even though payment was still taken from my account. I now wish to CANCEL this subscription, effective immediately and I am so disappointed that I ever gave this program a chance.

Second Generation Win. My Dad used Hooked on Phonics when I struggled with reading growing up so when my own children started having problems I found an old cassette tape and book set and tried it out. They enjoyed it, but one of our kids has a hard time with Times New Roman font so I reached out the company to ask about the new app and book set. The customer service rep was not sure about which typeface the new system used but offered us a trial run for $1 of app and books. The new system has larger more adaptive font with more spacing between the lines as well. We love that the books are used in different ways on the app so we can reinforce what our kids are doing independently. Now both have the ability to read and we are continuing to work on fluency and confidence. Thank you Hooked on Phonics for helping a second generation of readers in my family.

Great but... So my son has been using this app for almost 2 weeks now and has definitely improved on his speech and words BUT his package has not arrived , I got an email saying it shipped but when I checked the tracking it said that “it could not be found” We have definitely been looking forward to using the practice workbook to go along with his work but so far it’s just been nerve wrecking with this.

I had to give a star but really no stars. I taught two children to read using the older version. this new version is horrible. The upload is too slow to keep the attention of the children. I have given it some time and still cannot identify a path or how to determine when you have completed an area. They have sections but those have not as helpful as the outline path of the previous version. I realize there may be some aversion to change. But I am pretty adaptable if the change is greater than what was. This is all over the place and is taking longer for the children to learn to read. No stars.

5yr old daughter is now reading in 1 week!!!. Myself and my 5 yr old daughter have been using HOP for a week now, ONE WEEK!, and she can now read 4 books!!! She’s doing incredibly with this program. She does her lessons on the HOP app and she uses it along with the workbook and practices until she gets it right. I’ve struggled all year to teach her to read and in one week she can now read 4 books! Thank you Hooked on Phonics!

THE BEST. Hi. I started my subscription with hooked on phonics/math just last month. And my daughter and I have been enjoying her ‘study time’ since then, granted its for a 30 minute activities and reading only but I can see that she is starting to really learn and understand letters and numbers. Thank you Hooked on phonics. Your app and the materials really help her learn. More power to you guys. MOM out there do not hesitate to subscribe.

Such a great product!!. My son did not want to sit down and read, ever. But this summer I purchased this app and told him it’s a fun new learning game. He likes to play the app and will read for nearly 35 mins. It’s wild. He is now asking to sit and read the practice books that were sent. I’m still so surprised that he is so into reading now.

Buggy [UPDATED]. UPDATE: I think as long as you keep your subscription current, the progress is saved. Personally, I prefer to manually update my subscriptions month to month (sometimes letting them expire for a short time) to ensure I don’t pay for ones I no longer use. In any case, the app works well and has helped my four-year-old develop independent reading very early, and I’m especially happy to see the introduction of a spelling program. I want to love this app as its method really is helping my kid learn to read, but it’s SOOO buggy when it comes to remembering/saving my kid’s progress. He’s had to do the same lesson 5 times and the app refuses to acknowledge he’s completed it.

We love hooked on phonics!. I enjoy the simplicity of the program, it is easy for me to do with my 3 year old. My daughter enjoys the games on the app, we sing the songs together and it is very fun! The books are AWESOME. She could only recognize two letters before we began and now she can recognize letter names AND sounds of 18 letters!

Disappointing. Initially this app was great for the kids, and they sang along as they learned. Though it’s hard to track their progress, and you must wait for the weekly reports. I would be nice to be able to track in real time - not just what lessons are “complete”. The weekly progress reports are great, if you actually get them every week. I got them on week 1 and week 4. Customer support was dismal. They even asked for my password so they could log into my account to see what the problem was. That alone is enough to tell me all I need to know about this company. Plenty of other resources out there. On to the next!

Used to be great. This USED to be amazing, BUT the program was rewritten and now it makes no sense, follows no discernible pattern, and our second child is getting almost nothing from it and does not stay engaged like he did with the previous version. Then is for some reason it gets deleted (Oh I am sure your child would not do that) you lose your account information as to payments and plans. Hours and hours multiple phone calls & Emails to get it back only to have to do it again because a little brother deleted it. I don’t have the time or energy to work to get the program back and am looking for a new one that works

Fun but customer service lacking.. My daughter enjoys this. She is able to confidently read the books, there’s no annoying music during the books to distract her which is great unlike a lot of programs. She is able to project herself more confidently now. However we had an issue with a password, some system error, I called to have it resolved and the guy on the phone was really just plain rude. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes through the phone.

My little buddy is reading!. I just leave the monthly packet on our kitchen table and my 4yo and I have been slowly working our way. He loves it! I don’t pressure him and so sometimes we fall behind on the months, but he is reading already! (Started July to August). We keep the books in his room that they send and we read them some of the nights at bedtime to reinforce what he has learned. Love it!

Could be great if the app ever worked. This app is incredibly frustrating. We have never made it past 2 exercises until the next one just won’t load. Customer service is no help, even after providing screen shots of the problem they just tell you it’s fine on their end. I’ve used the app on multiple different devices all with same lack of loading and then error message. So buy it if you enjoy kids staring at an app that stalls out and won’t work and customer service who suddenly goes silent when you say the phrase “I would like a refund”. And no it’s not an internet issue or an operating system issue, it’s literally the app only, everything else works.

Worth it!! Reading in 3 weeks.. My five year old son had been in “Phonics” after school class two times a week for a few months for just 30 mins each session. I found that he was making very little progress and the activities he was doing did not hold his attention. Then after his school shut down due to COVID in April, I got him all sorts of learning books in order to prepare him for Kindergarten. He wasn’t too much interested in those. I decided to download the Hooked on Phonics app since it was just $1 for the first month. Let me tell you, I was a bit skeptical at first about the claims they were making that my son would be reading in a month. But to my amazement within three weeks he was reading. Now he’s reading everything and is definitely ready for Kindergarten and I couldn’t be happier. I must admit that some of the reviews almost made me not give the app a try, but I’m glad I did. Thank you Hooked on Phonics.

Needs to work out some kinks. It’s a good app but there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. I really wish “aw” would be added to it because my son really struggled with “aw” words (saw, jaw) when we were doing sight words without the app. I wish you had to make the kids speak the words before they moved on. Because he can just click right through them. So I really have to be right on top of him when he’s doing this otherwise he’s not getting anything out of it. If my Spanish app requires me to say things in Spanish before I move on then there’s no reason why it can’t be on this app too. It’s an okay app. Just really needs a bit more tlc.

It helps but easily bores. Before pre-k my son had already mastered the alphabet and phonics so I was excited to try this with him to challenge him to learn more. The lessons are good but since there is little to no variety he races thru it to get finished. They do get harder as far as words go but there is zero challenge in the lessons. And it is literally the same set of lessons over and over just with different word families. I do appreciate that the lessons build up and continue using words he has already practiced. But PLEASE add some variety to the lessons so young readers stay engaged and have something new to look forward too.

Can’t hold my 5 year olds attention. I figured I would try it since it was only $1 for the first month and she’s going to be doing complete remote learning her kindergarten year, which I’m very nervous about. But I had doubts because my daughter is very much into her phone and playing Roblox and other stuff on it, so learning games never hold her interest. And I was right when it came to this one. Unless I forced her to sit and do it she has no interest whatsoever. And I don’t want her to end up hating the learning process. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it this year and make sure she learns everything she needs to. I’m terrified. But I think for kids who don’t already spend hours a day behind a phone or tablet (yeah I’m a bad parent I know) I do think your kid would benefit!!!

Sub for 2022. I was gifted the Hooked on Phonics books by someone who had originally purchased it about 5 years ago. The videos seemed out of date but I thought that level of production is probably not worth updating too often. I decided to supplement the books with a subscription but the games are extremely basic. The graphics are on the same level as the outdated videos. I give it three stars because it works as a supplement to the books, which have done a great job for getting my 4 year old beyond kindergarten level reading in less than a year, but as for the app it doesn’t flow well, no customization for reading level and it really just follows the exact path as the book which could work against your child if they’re just memorizing. I’d expect more for a large company like Hooked on Phonics.

Awful awful app. This app freezes and you get stuck in a loop of having to input your birth year and then having to X out of an offer to subscribe and you can’t escape it. Even if you’re already subscribed. I tried agreeing to the subscription just to move on but instead it double charged me for the same account with VERY different fees and I was still stuck in the loop. Had to contact support. Some of the pages won’t let you continue or it shows the activity is not completed so you can’t move onto the next lesson. It’s extremely infuriating. Onto a new app.

Highly recommend. My 5 year old was struggling in preschool being ahead. I bought this program to help him out and get an early start to kindergarten. We did our first purple learn to read book and within 10 minutes of doing the lesson he read his first book! He was so excited and couldn’t wait to show his teacher! This is definitely worth every penny!

Add more users. I’ve contacted the company multiple times to make them aware some family’s have more then 3 kids. However I have to make two different accounts with two different emails to accommodate my five kids to use the program. If this is not addressed soon we will quit. And I will warn every family I know that has more then three kids that this program and company does not support large families period.

Cute but very buggy. Sat with my daughter during an exercise with words end in “id”…where you have to click on the letter flying by that matches the word the game says…in our case, “kid”…she was there waiting for 20 minutes waiting for a “k” to float by, but it was nothing but b, m, and r floating by…the whole time. Sadly, this sort of buggy behavior has been pretty common…so we turn off the game and return to it later…usually resolves the issue, but not always. Deleting this after our month and moving on to another.

My daughter loves it, great purchase!. My daughter is 4 and very intelligent; and had another educational app we were using. I decided to give this app a try as well and it’s great! She requires a lot be challenged and this app is perfect for that. The lessons are tailored to what she needs and allows for her to review often if needed. I highly recommend!! I also like the review/practice material that comes in the mail also. As well, as the review emails that lets you know how well she’s doing and the areas in which she may need a little more work in. Overall best purchase! Considering she’s not in preschool and will be starting school for the first time as a kindergartner. I have no worries she’ll do great!

This has helped my son so much!. My son was behind in reading and it was a struggle trying to teach him myself. But after just 1 week of doing the Hooked on Phonics lessons, I saw such a huge improvement!! I love the way the program is structured and how they make it fun for the kids. It’s been a month now and I am so proud of how far my son has come. I’m a huge believer in Hooked on Phonics and recommend it to anyone!!!

Made a HUGE difference. I homeschool my 5 year old and teaching him how to read the traditional way was starting to just get so painful. I was excited to try this app since hooked on phonics is how I learned to read once upon a time and I was not disappointed! In just 2 weeks of using the app 30 mins a day, I saw a huge improvement. The only con I think of is that every now and the levels can drag on with repetition and he loses interest because he finds it too easy and just wants to move onto the next section.

Good app but why the update. App was great, but now it won’t auto rotate when we flip the iPad screen. There are other issues with stories that are missing words. Other issues with the new noise button covering words during activities, such as the balloon activity. Then, some of the red font doesn’t work when listening to the stories aloud. The developer needs to thoroughly test the app before making it public. All the issues above could have easily been avoided. Still helpful for teaching reading though!

Terrible after the redesign. This used to be an amazing app that my son loved to use. Unfortunately they have made it busier, less user friendly and full of glitches now. The muted colors were nice but the new format took away some favorite features and worst of all they have added too much background visual stimuli that is unnecessary. Apparently the developers are completely unaware of what cognitive load is. My son went from progressing and navigating this on his own to needing help every step of the way with the new design. Really really poor design that is not beneficial to kids of any ability level.

Kindergartener. My son entered Kindergarten and was immediately referred to a specials teacher for reading skills. They evaluated the kids first day in September and then again in January. When the results in January weren’t much different then September I looked into what I could do different. My son (who also has ADHD) started hooked on phonics in February and by mid March was pulled from the specials class and testing at the top of his class in reading and sight words.

Fun but needs different games. My kids like this but they quickly got annoyed with having to do the same game over and over a ton of times. They “games” are pretty boring too. My daughter loves all the songs though. I also wish there was an option for the app to read the book to them in the pre-readers section. They are just learning their letters and the books are very difficult for that age.

Bring back the old version. I’m a homeschool mom, my first daughter learned to read using your program I have all the sets and for a reward that would get to use the app that went along with the books and was super excited to learn to read. Now that my other daughter is learning to read with the physical books she doesn’t get to use the app because it’s too baby-ish and doesn’t look like the books anymore or easy to use. They loved the part where they earned trophies and extra books to read on it. Wish you would give the option to use the old app or new one for others. Disappointing. I’m going to have to find another reading program to buy now to use for my other daughter.

NIGHTMARE, THESE PEOPLE ARE THIEVES. This is a nightmare, I thought I canceled months ago, but just realized I’m still being charged. I tried to log into the app, it takes me to safari to log in, but I can’t because I only ever had a temporary password as I cancelled it the first time I logged in. I request a password reset over and over, never get an email. I request in the app for a new password, they send me an email, then say I successfully changed my password, but then my password doesn’t work and I can’t log in to cancel, again! This app is a joke, it’s so poorly designed, and they are clearly counting on you forgetting to cancel, or not noticing that they keep charging you. Trash people with a trash app.

Lessons in activities great but “a” in end of unit books doesn’t match. My daughter just started the “Learn to read” program & was so proud to get to the end of the unit reading words that end in -an. Hooked on phonics spends the unit (and every subsequent unit) using the simple lowercase “a” shape (the one that my phone won’t let me type apparently, but we write as a circle with a line backbone), and then in the end of unit book the program switches to the fancy type lowercase “a” (as typed here). After spending a unit identifying the shape of lowercase a’s go switch to a new shape of a with jo introduction is rough on a new reader. The end of unit books could use more support in general- it’s unclear if the expectation is that she can independently read them or if she’s meant to listen to them as watch the words highlight as a means of reinforcement.

Absolutely the Solution for Many. My eldest child is gifted and my younger possibly struggles with dyslexia. HOP has worked wonders for both children. My first child was completely independent with it back when it came in CD form and she taught herself to read at the age of 3! My son who is 6.5 and is struggling is not fighting the lessons and is delighted by the online content. I can’t say enough for this wonderful app. Worth the money any day of the week.

It’s great but painfully slow. My kids definitely enjoy it but it’s unnecessarily slow at times. For example, we hate the shopping cart with the meerkat because it goes back to the initial spot each time the correct word is chosen. It drags and my kids just hate it and they’re bored. We wish there was a fast forward button. Please consider taking out some gratuitous actions or several speed options. Also, it’ll be nice to have an option to skip some lessons if needed. My oldest son should be starting at level 9 or 10, but this doesn’t give you the option at all. You would have to go through from level 1 and do every single activity. It’s too easy for him. I wish we can choose which level to start. Overall great, but not versatile and even frustrating at times.

Great app - a suggestion. My 3 year old has been using the app for a few months and it (along with our phonics work-practice if individual letter sounds) is helping her start to blend. The lessons progress well by teaching kids word families. The one area I would improve is the pronunciation of the short letter sounds. I would remove the “uh” sound from letters like /b/ /c/ /p/ /h/ etc. I think the “uh” sound makes it more difficult for kids to blend as they progress in their reading development.

We have a reader!!. We have so enjoyed watching our now almost-5 year old son become a reader during quarantine using only this App and the related practice packs mailed to us. He went from reading words like ‘cat’ and ‘mat’ in March to reading full stories from our shelf, and he is loving the freedom it gives him to explore books in a new way. We have used the program inconsistently over the last 5 months depending on our family’s bandwidth, but it has been easy to move at our own pace and review areas where my son was not quite confident by revisiting sections of the App. He loves the songs (and so does his little bro), and they like the silly animals and their antics, particularly the rhino on the bulldozer and the strange but funny meerkat. There was a period where we saw problems with the App loading, and we reached out to customer service and they told us the developer team was working on it. This most recent update fixed any issues we were having and all seems to be in order. We can’t wait to finish the program as we start homeschooling more officially in September! We’re on the beginning of first grade now, so it won’t be long!

Excellent App for my son John. My son John loves this App. He enjoys the songs and animals. They really seem to help him learn the letter sounds. Whenever I let him use the app a big smile appears. The other night I unfortunately had to tell him it was bedtime and he pleaded with me for “just 15 more minutes, please”. I couldn’t say no and watched as he completed another level. Thanks Hooked on Phonics!

Not letting me cancel an subscription. My son has been using this program for months and he was doing fine until I got emails about a payment. I am aware that the program is paid for but I tried to cancel it and I went through the website and it would not let me login and cancel my subscription. I even went through the email that you guys have been sending me and it still wouldn’t let me login and cancel my subscription, it’s a good app but I’m disappointed because I’m still being charged

Love it!. We have only been using Hooked on Phonics for a short period of time and we really love it! The lessons are colorful and fun but they also challenge our daughters and teach each concept very well! The lessons that our daughters struggles with, the app does a great job of helping them to grasp the concept! We love the reading, spelling, and math! Thank you Hooked on Phonics! It’s been a great experience and they are enjoying learning!

Highly recommend!. I am well aware of how kids are being taught to read in schools... and it’s all WRONG (listen to the ‘EDUCATE’ podcast, and you will see just how bad it really is!) Anyways, when my son was about 16 months I introduced him to Hooked on Phonics. This. Changed. Everything. By 19 months he could recite his ABC’s. By 21 months he would rearrange the fridge magnets with the entire alphabet. By 24 months he would SPELL things to me like when he wanted water, he would literally SPELL out ‘W-A-T-E-R’ as well as other things like ‘ I LOVE YOU’. Today, he is now 3.5yrs old, my child is reading level 5 books. There is not a single word that he cannot decipher. He isn’t just reading, he is actually COMPREHENDING the text. I encourage parents to use HOOKED ON PHONICS. It is also critical to understand how schools are teaching kids to read (see podcast ‘EDUCATE’ on NPR.. it is an award winning podcast,) & to look at the actual SCIENCE behind how children are learning to read. Hooked on Phonics is absolutely vital in a child’s journey to becoming a good reader. I cannot express to parents just how important it is to teach your child PHONICS first and foremost. I suppose you don’t need to take my word for it, just see the science for yourself!!

Please make getting the right answers a bit more interesting.. My little one enjoys this app, and learns from it, but you wouldn’t know it by her performance. Why? The animations for wrong answers are more interesting, visually speaking, than those for correct answers. For instance, the flowers in the bee game. The petals shake and disappear for wrong answers, while a correct answer elicits a simple “ding.” The baby determinedly chooses wrong answers, avoiding the right one, because she wants to see the more interesting animations. Making correct answers more visually appealing would greatly improve this app.

Less than expected. I was really disappointed in this app. It’s not very intuitive and the presentation comes across as clunky. I thought that this well established system would be the ticket to help engage my daughter in reading practice, but I wasn’t even sure how things were organized or how to gauge her progress. She lost interest in it very quickly and would rather do any other reading activity than use this app. I have already canceled my subscription. I think Khan Academy is a far better option.

I want to like this but…. My almost kindergartner is getting bored with it after just 3 days in but that’s not my main concern…I sit with her while she’s working on it and during the “PreReader” lesson on capital letters with the bee going from flower to flower it asks the kids to find the flower with the sound that the letter on the bee makes…but it’s not actually the letter sound the guy is saying, it’s the actual letter. My daughter even said that’s not what B says…as the guy just said B and not the sound. That’s what it does throughout the whole exercise. Why is this being taught that way? It’s incorrect.

Annoying App. First, I don’t like having to download the app and create an account before I can find out how much it costs. They want you to give them information and invest time so you are invested in the app and more likely to buy. Every other screen I have attempted to select takes me to a screen called Parent Area which asks to enter my birthday. I downloaded the app 15 minutes ago and have had to enter my birthday 12 times already. When I first downloaded the app I quickly had a pop up window that said something like “Select the most relevant statement”, but there was no statement, only BACK and NEXT buttons, which were both greyed out, so I had to close and restart the app. Initial impression is that not a lot of quality programming went into this app.

Good tool - some flaws with design. Overall, the Hooked On Phonics app is a really good tool for emergent readers and also pre-readers. My son gets good use out of this app and it does provide adequate feedback where your child will likely need to revisit based off of how well they do on the games. That being said, one of the issues that I believe is problematic for the learning skills of an emergent reader, is the fact that visually you cannot differentiate between a capital I and a lowercase L within this software. Establish readers don’t have difficulty with this because they’re able to gather the context clues surrounding the word to be able to interpret the information in front of them. An emergent reader is still building the decoding skills, and therefore can’t tell the difference between the two letters. It would be beneficial if software developers would adjust this, so that emergent readers did not have the confusion of trying to pronounce words with I’s that look like L’s and the readers wouldn’t be faced with the challenge of trying to pronounce words that do not exist within the English language.

Reading at 3. I started Hooked on Phonics with my granddaughter when she was 3 years old. We actually started because I care for her 8 hours a day and I didn’t want her watching television all the time. It was really just something to do but low and behold the child learned to read. I have to admit that now she is 4 the app doesn’t appeal to her anymore but she still loves the notebooks and reading books. I photocopy the pages in the workbooks so she can do them over and over again. It is a wonderful program. Just go at your own pace with no expectations and you will see something wonderful happen.

Deceptive and unauthorized billing. I downloaded this app many years ago for my daughter, I got it on a special offer for “free”. The “subscription” that I supposedly started doesn’t appear in my phone’s active or even inactive subscriptions. I tried logging into the site and manage my account. When I try to cancel it directly through the website, it says it is through the App Store and I need to cancel it somehow through them. Going back to try and find anything else that shows any active account subscriptions there is nothing to be found. I’m not sure how long they have gotten away with billing me $8 for something I don’t use anymore and never asked to subscribe. I can’t even see if that is a monthly or yearly bill unless I log into my bank! Very lowdown and dirty business practice, hiding the information for customers to see and easily manage being billed. It may only be $8 that does add up!

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Fantastic app. Such a great app for my 4yo, ready to take the first steps to read. How can I get the full version??

Love the books- I’m hoping the app catches up. I love this reading program and have used it for one of my children already. I was hoping that the app would be great. However, there are a few issues. It can take a long time to load and be a little confusing to navigate. Also, Customer Service states that they will reply within 2 business days- nearly a week later and I have no response from two separate emails. I’m hoping that the developers can fix these problems as overall this is a good reading program.

What a SCAM don't buy. Shame Shame Shame! I got the "free" app for my son. He was enjoying it so I purchased $15 worth in app purchases. Once i downloaded them I gave it to my son. He must have hit the BIG RED "Purchase the whole set" button at the top of the main page just after I gave him the iPad. Because it was so soon after, it didn't ask for my password. This cost me $64.99 on top of the $15 i had already paid. So now I have paid for the first three units twice! I attempted to get a refund 5 minutes later but but Apple say "This purchase is not eligible for a refund." What a total scam!!!

Not worth it. Average user experience. In my opinion over priced. Be very mindful that the price is not one off, but a monthly charge.

it's good. it really helpful for my little brother but I didn't like how you had to pay for it

Simon. Great for 3-4 yo starting out

hooked on phonics. my fav is the pig song

Completely unnecessary upgrade that does not work on iPads. The latest upgrade is not user friendly and not intuitive to navigate, unlike the previous version. The design is extremely poor - you cannot even see the back arrow on an iPad once you are in the learning to read section, so can't go back to the home page. There is also an activity where you press a letter and it's meant to fall down from a tree - doesn't work at all.

Not happy. So not impressed with this review page this is my third attempt .... We purchased this app for $79.99 in December 2017 ( over charges even as it was on a special offer ) Then on the 9th January was charged a further $10.99 for a monthly fee .... Why are there monthly fees when We purchased the life time app . Not happy Would appreciate a reply

No Sound?. Looks great but there is no sound?

Doesn't always download, big hassle. The lessons in the app are not always inline with the workbooks and dvds and sometimes the wrong videos are shown for the lesson. Also a big hassle to download each lesson individually and sometimes that doesn't work on the ipad. Please fix this.

Love it. Really great in teaching kids how to start reading, everything is nice in this app, not regretting the purchase...keep on the good work A happy mum of a 5 years old

Fantastic!. I absolutely love this app. The best in phonics so far, hands down!

I had this app now I have to pay for it. I had this app now you’re asking me to pay for it again even though I had already paid for it…. Not good enough!!!!!. It’s a great app but why do I have to pay for the complete package again as I have already paid for it…. Why why why????

Helpful. My preschool is enjoying it,

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Do not subscribe to this! You'll never get out!. Do not subscribe to this app! Not worth it, far better free resources on the internet. You cannot cancel and will end up being charged every month.

Disappointed with the update.. With the most recent update, I'm a little disappointed that the extra books in each level are not there, as well as not having the customized "My Words". We liked the extra books for extra reading practice and variety, and the My Words were great for practicing as well. I do like the updated format though, and the additional games are great and make it fun!

don't subscribe there's no way out. I unsubscribed after my free trial, but they've been taking 10 dollars out of my credit card every month without consent This app is a thief, their customer service is impossible, completely operated to jip you out of your money by supplementing a subpar learning system Calling my credit card company now to get them written up for fraud since they won't remove me from their billing list

DO NOT buy this app!!. They con you into a full year membership, saying they'll teach your child how to read, but only cover the VERY basics, and don't offer any levels beyond that. I bought a 'year' membership and my child completed it in 3 weeks, and it's not like she's an excellent reader. She just basically reviewed everything I had taught her before. No one at Hooked on Phonics takes any responsibility for a refund, and the App Store might give you a problem refunding too. Don't waste your time on this app, unless you have a 2-3 yr old who knows nothing about the alphabet, and just purchase month-by-month at that. Better yet, find another app. Very disappointed at Hooked on Phonics. False advertising!

Really Disappointed. This app sucks. I was really pumped about getting it for my kids but it bitterly disappoints. I love the paper version so I thought the creators of that would have been far more particular about what they put their name on. You have to pay right up front without having a chance to see the app so I was suckered in to paying $10 that I literally cancelled after seeing the app for an hour with my kids. Just awful. ☹️

SLOW. This app is so slow. My kids loose interest as all their other apps are faster and they get bored waiting for this one to load.

App is pain to use. Got a free trial of this but after 1st day I can’t wait to cancel. I try to manage my subscription or account but the app redirects me to webpage. Can’t sign into account. It keeps telling me “invalid username and password”. I have changed my password 3 times and still won’t log me in. Absolutely ridiculous and can’t wait to get rid of this terrible app and subscription. Why not just let me do everything through the app and stop making it all so ridiculous to navigate??

Pretty good. Fun games, my son is enjoying learning to read, but app is glitchy and cuts out randomly

Multiple Devices On Same Account Nit Syncing. We’re using this app on multiple devices and each device has my children’s progression on different levels. The hooked on phonics app is not syncing progression levels with all the other devices on the same account/user being used.

Buggy progress. Somewhere along the way someone released an app with major bugs. Please fix as the app is currently unusable.

Forced Update. I had to update from the original app I bought as it stopped working until I would. This new app is NOTHING like the original, it was perfect before, why would you completely change it? The new version is not as engaging, all the cute characters are completely replaced and the activities are boring compared to the original. My children loved the original version. I bought a lifetime subscription and feel like you took it away from me. Also, the new app freezes constantly on me and the layout is so disappointing. Is there a way to get my old app back?? I’m also nervous as under my subscription it says ‘monthly’ now instead of ‘Lifetime’ I will not be pleased if I have to deal with charges. I hope your team has a way to get the old app back for download, as that’s what we paid for.

Excellent learning tool, great customer service!. I received a developer response after originally writing a negative review in regards to the new app and, when I called in, the customer service provided by Hooked on Phonics was incredible. They were great to work with and worked hard to resolve the issue. Thank you so much! As for the app, it is an excellent learning tool! I highly recommend it.

Paid for full version and now doesn’t work - Disappointed. I paid for the life-time version ($69 USD) and I can no longer get the app to work on my iPhone or iPad. This is very disappointing. It does not appear that there are any available updates.

New app is terrible!. We have been using hooked on phonics for 6 years and have used it to teach 3 kids to read. Then the app changed and now books take forever to load, it is much less user friendly... I’m so disappointed because now I need to find a new method to teach my kids to read. The new app also got rid of the “big reading show” which was great for pre-readers, the new “pre-reader” section is too difficult for pre-readers and expects them to read books?!?

Good reading app. I too experienced a glitch with an update but they were very quick to respond, and when I reinstalled the app it works great again. My daughter loves the stories and it’s easy to get it her to follow along with this interactive teaching app.

Disappointing. Had the Canadian Hooked on Phonics Classroom edition, now it no longer works and is no longer in the App Store. It was an expensive app and the fact that it no longer functions is very upsetting.

Awesome App!!. I wish this app came in French!

Beware, won’t recognize your subscription after trial ends!. This app is great, my son loved it for 7 days until it stopped working because it wouldn’t recognize my subscription after the free trial ended. Customer service was useless, the call centre had me email them, then five long descriptive email communications later another rep says she can’t see the email history and told me to call customer service. They have an issue and can’t seem to fix it, just suggesting instead that the user is clueless and needs to log in, which doesn’t work! Save yourself the headache and find another app and save yourself the wasted $11.49 CAD per month.

Can’t even view app without payment. I downloaded the app for my child and opened it to make sure it was working, only to be prompted with create an account, well I did and only to find out I have to pay to even see the app. What a load of garbage. Should at least have like a preview where you can see three mini games or something to get a feel of the app.

Not the app I paid for. I bought the lifetime subscription for this app before the relaunch and my kids loved it. Then in May that version was replaced with the current app that really feels inferior with less appealing graphics and drab colours and a much more basic user interface, and now the kids are a lot less interested. Please give us the choice to use the old app!

New version takes forever to load. It’s so slow. Previous version was much better.

Great App but one massive issue. The app and program are great in helping my grade 1 up his reading skills to the level that's needed. One major issue with the app is the progress resets and completely levels show up not completed. Very frustrating when we pause in the middle of a lesson to find out we have to start it all over again. The young one feels disappointed after going so far to fall back. Epic fail on the programmers part.

New version very disappointing. I bought this years ago for my daughter , and that it was decent for the price.Now it’s just a disappointment.

Terrible update. The old version was better. I hope they change it back or at least make changes to the new one. The new app is too confusing and less engaging

Incredibly disappointed. Had the classroom edition in Canada, no longer works. What a joke. No warning, just dead. Thanks HOP.

Great supplement. This is a great supplement to a child's education. The cartoons are age appropriate for the older child struggling to read.

Paid $50 for full app and SCAMMED!. I paid $50 for the full, unlocked app. It worked before and now they want me to sign up for a paid membership to unlock it again?? SCAM DO NOT DOWNLOAD! I have emailed them and they have not been able to help. SCAM!

Disappointed by extremely slow download. As far as this interested parent was to download this program; parent quickly got bored of the length of the downloading time; and deemed as a quick gimmick. This marketing venture to purchase app was not on my radar and will not be until I see a quicker downloading time. Two thumbs down HoP

Doesn’t work. The website says to contact them if you have issues but I was provided with zero support. I couldn’t even get the first game to load. Also, the developer has no record of you if you sign up through the app. You must unsubscribe through the App Store, even though the app takes you to their website to manage your subscriptions. Don’t waste your time!

You broke it!. This is a fantastic app... when it works! I can no longer access any levels - I get bumped back to the ‘choose user’ page when I try to select a level. The frustration is almost unbearable because the lessons are awesome, and my oldest child benefited greatly from them. Now my youngest wants to learn and is not able to. Many app updates have come through since this problem arose and yet the app continues to be broken. This is unacceptable for an app that I paid for and worked perfectly. Enough is enough. Get it together and fix it.

Terrible. Subscribed and can’t even log in. It keeps saying wrong password. When it finally works, I can’t access anything. Yet I am getting charged monthly. There is no number to call only and email address. When I emailed, no one reached out. Had to send a second email to cancel subscription and still no one responds. Ridiculous scam.

Great for learning to read. Fantastic learning to read app. Great progression levels and collection of books. Regarding the issue as noted in reviews below, after registering, log out then log back in. Works after that.

Disappointed. My daughter loved her Hooked on Phonics app. She was making progress in her reading and really enjoyed working on each of the activities. The recent update ruined all of that. It’s not even remotely close to the previous program. It’s dull, confusing and boring. She doesn’t like it at all and now I have to look for a new program and start again. So disappointing! You have gone from a 5 star to a 1 star app in 1 upgrade.

No sound. Sound only plays through headphones.

Review. The app content itself was good. My son has been working on this app for months now. Recently, we started having issues with being shut off at the end of each month even though the payment had been taken from my visa. Each month I would get shut down on the 30th and it would take me upwards of 5 days to get this reinstated by sending proof of payment. I was only getting 3 weeks of my sons subscription if I was lucky. Complained and became “that person” and got a free month. Never once was I told in my many conversations that there was a yearly subscription which is 1/2 the amount when u look at the price. I had only planned to use it for a few months for my son but he’s in French and wanted It to help with his English reading. I never realized that I could pay for just a year o e would think someone could of mentioned this when I was having all this monthly trouble.. Leaving this app in hopes of finding something better both for my son and for its customer service. 👎

Can no longer access levels. We have a subscription but it will not let me access any of the levels we did before. Too bad, it was a good program while it worked.

Feeling annoyed... We had the Hooked on Phonics Classroom Edition in Canada and all of a sudden it recently just disappeared out of the App Store all together. My son loved this and used it all the time. Now it's just gone! No warning or heads up or offer to give us another edition. We just got off the phone with Apple and they said it's been removed from the developer but there is another version. That version has a couple books and that it, then when we try to purchase it from App Store, it won't allow for a postal code, just a zip code. This is ridiculous. I'd like this to be fixed. This is not fair to the kids, who have this as part of their daily routines. Very disappointed.

Older version was better. The older version of this app was much better. Not impressed with the updates. It is also slower to load. I do like the access to the books - but the lessons are confusing and do not have a systematic approach to phonics.

Excellent. Very fun and intuitive

Terrible. App is not designed for iPad (which my child uses) as it cuts off a part of the screen on each side. I contacted customer service and they offered me a month free but then charged me again the next month. Now I am attempting to cancel and I cannot login to the account as it says my account is not recognized. I would not recommend

Disappeared....?. Purchased this educational game some time ago. Thought perhaps my son accidentally deleted. One of the MOST expensive kids apps I've bought but was worth it. Now it's gone and they want me to pay subscription 😞. Well... not even loading properly. Let me know when you can give me my product back I paid for. See ya later

Was a great app while it lasted. I purchased the app. A couple of years ago for my grandson. I updated my iPad's OS. And now when I attempt to load H.O.P. It asks me to purchase. It says my email address is unrecognized. The app. Is still listed in my purchased file with Apple. My advice, save your money!!

Free trial. I cancelled my free trial in the allocated time frame and was still charged. Be careful.

Excellent ap. This Ap has helped all of my kids. It is fun and interactive. Also if you ever have any questions or concerns, customer service is prompt and helpful! Totally recommend!

Terrible. The app keeps asking for a new account and a subscription even when I already have one

Issues with subscription recognition. Login does not recognize subscription. Tried cancelling and resubscribing only to end up with multiple charges and still can’t access second level. Very irritating just like other users pointed out.

Very glitchy. Constantly loses progress and makes you start a level over.

Review. Wellstructured

Buggy. We can’t get past level 2. The app asks you to find all the word “Dan” or “Jan” but there are only two. You click on both and it just keeps saying you’ve missed one. The way it is set up you can never move to the next level bc of their bug. There are much better apps out there for free that actually work.

Used to work. But now sound no longer works

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Glitchy processes. My son enjoys learning through this app however, there are several glitches that are impeding the proper progression with several sections. For example when Moving to next activity it will not start when pushed but continually say "letter _” but not open the activity. This is frustrating for my son. Also the ant activity has at least 2 letters on the moped so he cannot accurately identify the correct letter. So he is guessing which we do not want him doing. These things are occurring on both devices I have this application on. We might cancel the subscription because of this.

Great for learning but flawed. My son is in the first grade and struggles with blending and then guessing without attempting to sound out the word. This is definitely helping. I wish that some of the sounds didn’t including burping and farting following correct answers. We’re trying to work on having good manners as well

Not working!. I used this app in 2013 and I fell in love with it. Especially the P song, it was my favourite! I decided to download the app a full decade later to fulfill my memories but every time I try opening the app, it takes me to the ‘Contacting store’ page, then it opens this pop up advert for ‘Hooked on Spelling’ bundle. When I press the ‘X’ button, it takes me back to the page where I have to fill in my login details. I’ve been trying for 2 full hours! Please fix my issue ASAP!

This is heaven sent. Since having hooked on phonics my son has been doing well with learning he loves the app as well. He went from no interest at all in reading to loving to read I absolutely love this app. He loves doing the workbook as well.

Lessons are great but the settings are terrible.. My daughter is really enjoying the lessons but is getting frustrated because a third of the images are not on the screen. Some of the activities are hard to complete because she can not see all of the pieces. Also the icons are hard to touch

Sound issue. I love the app however the sound has stopped working a couple days ago. I tried deleting and downloading again. Still not working.

Please make option to remove background noise. The app has great information and learning however, My child gets so annoyed with all the background noises that never stop. The volume has to be turned up in order to hear the phonics but the unnecessary background noises are so loud and annoying. Please help. I just bought a whole year’s subscription.

Highly recommend!. My daughter has been using Hooked on Phonics to supplement her half day kindergarten. I am impressed. I don’t love adding more screen time to her day. But I limit it to 15 minutes. That with the workbooks has helped her a lot

Help. I have contacted hooked on phonics and they continue to refer me back to the app. I cancelled a couple of months ago and they keep charging me. They said it’s you. What do I need to do.

Learn to spell. Toward the end I started getting really aggravated because I couldn’t remember the words I think it is doing get me a better read in spelling better

THE BEST DECISION EVER!!. My daughter just turned 7 years old. I started her on Hooked On Phonics about 4 months ago and it was the best decision I have made! She is now reading full sentences like she been reading for years. It helps children identify words by sounding them out. I am so proud of her and thankful for this app!

Feature suggestion. The idle background noise should have an option to be turned off or lowered. It’s not a pleasing sound you may want to opt for real insect sounds but definitely not the current noise.

App Update. Grandkids are happy again !! Updated fixed issues I was complaining about. Thanks for listening Hooked on Phonics !!

Games won’t unlock but helpful. No matter how far my son progresses I can’t unlock any games from the game tabs. Other than that it works well WITH THE BOOKS. The physical books help us more but the app is a great thing to play after the actual lesson.

Virtual Learn. My son is in kindergarten and virtual learning since the pandemic started. Hooked on Phonics helped him so much to learn reading during all these months in lockdown. He is going to 1st grade next year and I highly recommend this app and all the books to your kiddos. I saved all of them to my young daugther.

So far not great. I’ve already paid for the 6 month subscription on my phone and when I went to sign in on the iPad it told me I already had a subscription and wanted to restore my purchase. We went to do the letter s and it wants me to subscribe again. I have had it one day! Super frustrating and now I wish I had stayed with just ABC Mouse.

Hate the update. Used to love this app but hate the update. There is so much background noise and the games are much make repetitive. My daughter loved all the old songs and seeing the kids on the old app. Such a bummer we paid for another year and now she doesn’t enjoy it much.

Learned so much!. Even his teacher notice a night and day difference. My son is age 5. We do the app and work books together. Can’t wait tell they add spelling!

Too many add for Hooked on Math. Great app aside from the annoying adds popping up in between almost every activity. I can’t get out of the add unless I click on the add and then have to go back into the app. I paid for this app and shouldn’t have to have this kind of interruption.

Hooked onPhonics. I have been trying anything I find to try to teach my boys from home. Hooked on Phonics is the best I have found. Would recommended to anyone. Update the latest updates have made the app so much better than it already was. Thank you Hooked on Phonics for an amazing product.

Good app, terrible customer service. Enjoyed the app while we had it. However, cancelling the subscription has taken months and I am still being charged, “customer service” for the company states they can’t stop the subscription although it’s been stopped through the App Store and I continue to be charged!

Helped my daughter. The pandemic really messed us up and esp my daughters reading progress. I ordered this and went through it. It really works I’m really happy I invested in it. She can read very well now, I’m actually quite surprised.

Scam!. Gives me the hardest time to cancel subscription! Sends me to 2 different logins to cancel and still says error to ‘load screen’ I tried calling the number and it hangs up because there’s no one available to help on the phone. SCAM! I do not recommend. I will probably have to get ahold of my bank to get it cancelled. How annoying!

Endless Birthday verification questions a bummer. I’d leave a better review, but the number of times it asks for my birthday as the parent is REALLY obnoxious. 4 times in the last 5 minutes alone.

New version cuts off screen. Something about the new version makes the width of the image get off at the sides of our iPad by just enough to cut off some words or syllables making it difficult for my 4 year old. She’s been using HOP for two years and this new update is giving us issues in using it. Otherwise, it’s a good app.

It’s not the same as Cd one. The tablet version is ok. My 5/6 year old did not benefit from it. It didn’t help her read smooth and independent. Me reading regular books was more helpful. She also dreaded using this app. Some of the stories are super long to read like over 30 mins for one book? For this age group I do not recommend.

Amazing progress. My granddaughters have started using this app and are showing so much growth in their reading and spelling. Happy meemaw right here. 🤗🤗

Not Even Worth The Hassle of the Trial. None of us like the app, and all the hoops we had to jump through to make sure we weren’t charged after the trial were ridiculous. I don’t recommend you give this a shot unless you already know that you like this program.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND. My son has struggled with reading and hooked on phonics has been such a blessing for us! It’s seriously wonderful. It’s not just a self learn app. They keep up with what he needs more time in and sends it packets monthly! It’s seriously amazing! If your child is struggling, GET THIS!!!!!!!

Finally. My son was not picking up reading by any other method before this. He actually enjoys the app

Disappointed in the new version. The new version is glitchy and in order to even open the program I have to delegate and reinstall the app! I also noticed that this new version has a lot of distractions. My daughter keeps getting distracted by the different animals and their movements and the progression is confusing. This app helped my son learn to read 5 years ago, it was amazing. The changes are so disappointing.

Awesome. I used to use it when i was 4 and then my brothers started using it they love using hooked on phonics and they like math too!!, I love it and i had a great childhood with it

He was doing really good. But he accidentally erased the app and erased all his progress it started sending him books that are for pre-readers when we are past that stage he is very discouraged I don’t really know what I’m paying for if it went backwards just because the app got erased we’ve reinstalled it and now none of his progress even shows up that he’s done since then I don’t understand

Doesn’t work. My kids were using this app for a number of months now and they absolutely loved it except when there were glitches with the math part(like 5-4 doesn’t equal 1 according to the app) but now it doesn’t work AT ALL. I’ll click on the app and the loading page comes on then it closes out and I’m back on my regular home screen. I gave it a few days thinking that they would fix the problem but it’s still there so I’m basically throwing money away.

No sound. Can someone please tell me why this app has no sound and I’m paying for it?? How is the child that’s learning supposed to learn on their on with no sound? Uninstalling and canceling account! 🥺🥺

Portly made login. I purchased this program to help my son start to learn to read well I got it setup and got into the app on my phone but for some reason it won’t let me login my account on my desktop I am very disappointed in the way this is setup and if it doesn’t get fixed soon I will get a refund I didn’t pay money to not be able to login on my computer and use the program poorly made login for sure

No trial mode?. I loved hooked on phonics IRL as a kid and would like to share it with my own kids now but there’s not a chance I’m giving you my payment info if I can’t tell if the app even functions. The language of the subscription ad leads me to believe that there might be something to get without paying but I can’t figure is how to get past that screen. You have my email, you have my birthdate, you haven’t given me any confirmation that I made an account. As far as I know you could be a scam.

Definitely worth it!. I purchased hooked on phonics for my 6 year old daughter. She loves it, it’s very interactive and engaging to her. She loves the app and the games it offers. I even get practice books in the mail which further helps her learning.

App needs work. The concept and books are good, but the app is completely outdated. I also subscribed to ABC kids and the graphics, music & everything are more lively & entertaining for learning. I’m going to see if my 3 yo grandbaby student adjusts to this app & see if it improves her literacy, but I’m skeptical because this app would put me to sleep. I’m really surprised that they haven’t added some better graphics, but they need to do that soon.

My son started reading words within the hour!. My 4yo started on the learning to read section and was reading the words in the small books by the end of the lesson. I could hardly believe it, it happened so fast!

Iffy. There’s a game where you have to put the letters together to make a word and when you do the birds fly into a cliff and parish. My 4 year old was refusing to do that game because right after you put the letters together the birds died. Not cute.

Disappointed. I was excited for my daughter to try this. I was disappointed because the app doesn’t hold her attention. It doesn’t spend enough time on each letter. My daughter forgot the first letter by the time we got to the third letter. And forget about by the time we got to the activity books. Completely forgot about what she just “learned”.

Hooked on phonics app. This is great my 3 year old son loves the pre reader he keeps playing the song over and over he now wakes up and wants the iPad to open the app thank you very much he will be ready for preschool soon

I CANNOT ACCESS MY ACCOUNT. I can’t access my account & it’s very frustrating! My daughter has been loving this app so much so far. But it won’t let me log in. My money has already been swiped out of my account. When it has been corrected, I will come back here with an update

We Love This!. My son genuinely loves logging on to learn letters and sounds and is starting to recognize what they are throughout the lessons. It’s been so fun to watch him grow! Great quality packets and books and overall really satisfied.

So helpful. This app was so helpful for my daughter. She is in an immersion school and was having trouble with reading English. She was behind even for an immersion setting. This got her excited about learning to read and helped her catch up to her peers. Very glad we did it.

We are hooked. This has been informative for my daughter and areas she can improve in her reading and language art.

Never has loaded. I’ve paid for a subscription for 4 months now and the app will not get past 40% of loading on any device we have. I’ve tried uninstalling and reinstalling, I’ve tried on a total of 5 devices as well as different houses in case it was the Internet. I have contacted HOP through their website with this issue several times as well and no one ever responds to me. Such a waste of money unfortunately.

Open Up Family Sharing. Great app to build early readers skills. I just do not get this not being available for Family Sharing!! Subscription purchased on adults iPhone and not able to share it child’s iPad. Makes no sense to me. Won’t be renewing until it’s available for Family Share.

Glitchy. The app is constantly glitchy and freezing. The only app on my phone that gives us problems. Which in turn prevents it being useful. I’ll most likely cancel subscription and try something else.