Review Insights · Google Play
Hooked on Phonics Learning
Hooked on Phonics · 5,359 ratings · ★ 4.3
4.3
★★★★★
5,359 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 52 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"kids"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "this is not a cheap subscription but it can cover up to 3 kids. but for me it isn't worth the money at all and I'll be cancelling it when it comes up for renewal. the math is Great the reading absolutely not. when they get so high up in the…" - Katherine Harrison
2
"learning"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The app freezes at least four times during a 15-minute learning session. This requires me to constantly close and restart the application. I have attempted to use the application on various devices, including an Amazon Fire tablets and my c…" - Mariah Nesbitt
3
"update"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "scam. signed up for the trial and hated it. canceled that day. the app said it might take 5 days to update my cancellation, but it was the 7-Day trial so I figured no problem. just wearing that they did charge my card anyway and was told I …" - MC Stokes
4
"lesson"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "this is not a cheap subscription but it can cover up to 3 kids. but for me it isn't worth the money at all and I'll be cancelling it when it comes up for renewal. the math is Great the reading absolutely not. when they get so high up in the…" - Katherine Harrison
5
"freezes"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The app freezes at least four times during a 15-minute learning session. This requires me to constantly close and restart the application. I have attempted to use the application on various devices, including an Amazon Fire tablets and my c…" - Mariah Nesbitt
6
"times"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The app freezes at least four times during a 15-minute learning session. This requires me to constantly close and restart the application. I have attempted to use the application on various devices, including an Amazon Fire tablets and my c…" - Mariah Nesbitt
7
"scroll"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This is a poorly made app. The content is great for learning, but the app loads slow, freezes multiple times during use and now it does not save the last learning step, it jumps forward and I have to scroll all the way back to get to the st…" - Sara Ray
8
"keeps"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I have just downloaded the application but don't know why its keeps getting close by self" - Vanita Desai
9
"through"
6 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "This app was wonderful right up until the last update -- now the progress bar/map is awful. I deleted all my daughters' progress so it would stop jumping ahead; but even choosing their starting points manually, I still have to scroll backwa…" - Nicole Schmiedicke
📋 All 52 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
this is not a cheap subscription but it can cover up to 3 kids. but for me it isn't worth the money at all and I'll be cancelling it when it comes up for renewal. the math is Great the reading absolutely not. when they get so high up in the phonics. say around level 30, they become able to just guess over and over until they get the correct answer. I watch them push the options until it says "great job you did it". so at the end of the lesson the have learned absolutely nothing.
The app freezes at least four times during a 15-minute learning session. This requires me to constantly close and restart the application. I have attempted to use the application on various devices, including an Amazon Fire tablets and my cell phone. However, it consistently freezes, rendering the application unusable. Unfortunately, I have already paid for a yearly subscription, so I am unsure of the next course of action.
7 day free trial start screen requires an account, worst type of companies do this
This is a poorly made app. The content is great for learning, but the app loads slow, freezes multiple times during use and now it does not save the last learning step, it jumps forward and I have to scroll all the way back to get to the step we were previously. I will be looking for something else that works better.
I have just downloaded the application but don't know why its keeps getting close by self
Took my payment but will not let me log in. Have Uninstalled and reinstalled but still will not let me in. Says I have saved email and password but not letting me log in. Very disappointed
amazing
I can't even see the reading app...have no help and don't know what I am doing
won't let me open the app at all
scam. signed up for the trial and hated it. canceled that day. the app said it might take 5 days to update my cancellation, but it was the 7-Day trial so I figured no problem. just wearing that they did charge my card anyway and was told I would not be granted a refund. horrible customer service.
Said it was $8.99. Charged $16.62 instead.
we love Hooked on Phonics and have been subscribers of the app and books for quite a while. BUT what were the app developers thinking when they made the new update?!??! It's horrible to navigate! It's really not that much fun anymore if you have to scroll along that path for minutes to find what you're looking for.
we have 5 different devices 3 different types of tablets, all new, and it doesn't run on any of them. A horrible waste of money.
we are having trouble with the app. it keeps closing before we can do anything. I have uninstalled and reinstalled and it still keeps closing
App is always crashing.
I got this for my kids to use, but the app keeps crashing on their tablet. I can't even sign them in before it crashes
does that teaches me nothing it sucks, , ,
The app freezes so much I'm getting tired of it. I'm about to cancel this app and find an alternative. I already brought this up before to their customer service and was advised to uninstall and reinstall but that didn't solve anything.
My kids can't even get through one lesson on this app using their Amazon Fire tablets without it freezing up. It isn't just a one off instance either. I have 6 kids using it on 6 different devices. It happens to all of them every single time. To make matters worse, Hooked has now increased their monthly pricing. So now I'm paying for two over-priced subscriptions for an app that doesn't even work well. I'm very close to canceling.
can't even log in. uninstalling. canceling!
The app freezes constantly. it also keeps placing my child in the higher category, I've had to restart his progress multiple times due to this. im so disappointed.
I signed up on a laptop only to find out at the end its not even compatible with lap tops. I can't even manage the subscription or cancel because I can't access the account from the device they allowed set up on. now I have to dispute charges through my bank
I was unable to even sign into the app.
Not good at all. I downloaded the app yesterday. I am unable to get in. It freezes and I've resetted my password several times. I called customer service and no one was available and no one was available through chat either. I am highly disappointed.
this app would not even let me log in just continuously crashed about 15 to 20 seconds after opening
garbage, dishonest sneaky, high price over $100 is fine, but then endless sneaky upsell, lots of disruptive ads to spoil your kids learning
the program is great but the app is glitchy. if I can actually get the app to open and run it is good and my children learned a lot but I have to open and close the app several times on their tablets and my phone. I had to undoenload it from my phone and now the key card won't open with the app for me to even log in. the app needs a serious update!
too many bugs
New update makes it no longer available on our Samsung tablet after we paid for a year.
In my previous review I praised this application. I deleted it because we absolutely do not find this new version user friendly. We heavily relied on the navigation bar to get to the lessons which needed additional review. What's worse is that once you find the lesson you want to review, you have to page back through the lessons because it does not retain the spot where you last left off. I am seriously disappointed and we are considering cancelling what once was an incredible product.
Lost access to app on phone and tablet in the first week, would let me log in but would try to have me choose a new plan. No way to do anything unless I got another plan. I already have a subscription. even when I updated the app, I still couldn't do anything but they were still charging my card.
very bad experience
1. The new "map" makes it hard to "scroll" back to where we are in our review. 2. I wish there was a lot more vocab for the "review games". My daughter has memorized what picture goes to what letter b/c they use the same words over and over... instead of practicing listening for the starting sound. 3. I wish I could opt out of the mini non-learning games between learning games. Aimless-games between learning-games makes the learning games feel less fun. 4. The stories honestly... stink.
terrible the app half the time doesn't work, can't get it to load and no there is nothing wrong with my wifi.....been having trouble with it since I down loaded it for my granddaughter......fix it please
how the heck do we unsubscribed this app, y'all stole $30 from us
how do you unsubscribe to this? ya'll stole $30 from us
As an educator I don't see a top quality of students learning how to read through this program
kids did not take to it. did not help them at all they got bored too fast.
cant open the app without subscription. 7 days free trial needs to be connected to a payment card first
it glitches like crazy, it keeps telling me my kids on lesson 21 when he is on lesson 7. and I have to scroll all the way from 21 to 7 bc they updated a "path" but dont make it easy getting to different lessons without scrolling backwards. its a hot mess. it hasnt asked for an update so its just glitcha and everytime I finally get to scrolling to the lesson he should be on, it wont load and then tells me something is wrong and to go to the website. im about to get rid of this just bc of the app.
This app was wonderful right up until the last update -- now the progress bar/map is awful. I deleted all my daughters' progress so it would stop jumping ahead; but even choosing their starting points manually, I still have to scroll backwards through half a dozen units every single day and make sure I remember to write down where they finished. And no, un/reinstalling does not fix this.
This used to be a 5 star app, but the new UX design is a nightmare for parents and children !
The app is helpful to a degree, but also easy to just guess until getting the right answer and not really learning. It does repeat the incorrect questions to try to rectify a likely guess and not really knowing. BUT.. the app frequently freezing up while using, which doesn't facilitate learning. I have to restart the app every 15-20 minutes. It also glitches frequently distorting the picture, also making it difficult to answer questions. For the $$ I pay for this app, this is unacceptable.
app freezes alot
learning experience is great. good foundations. but... the app has a nasty tendency to load at lesson 25 or 30 instead of where my kids actually are, and it makes my kids hate learning to read. we have reset multiple times, made sure they're where they should be, and next day it happens again.
Works fine on a smart phone but will NOT work on a tablet or PC. I'd prefer to use a tablet for this then a phone....I have uninstalled it and reinstalled the app but nothing has changed.. Can this be fixed asap? I use this for my son's homeschooling work.
At least half of the time we try to load the app it gives us an error message.
I have not been able to consistently log into the app for a while now. I've tried using someone else's device and still receive an "Something went wrong" error message. When I can log in, the new design is difficult to utilize as I can't seem to find where I left off. Please correct, as my daughter seems to benefit from this program.
app keeps crashing/freezing up. Haven't been able to use it for a month.
Navigating the path on the new update to access earlier lessons is a horrendous design. You have to scroll forever to where you want to go. If you shortcut to the game/book library to replay earlier games, it's the same lesson over and over again. For example instead of scrolling back the path to step 1, I went to the game library and selected the first game, the spider web one. Except it makes you play the same sound "a" over and over again. No possibility of practicing other sounds.
+ 2 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
81%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
15%
Negative (1-2★)