Learn to Read - Duolingo ABC reviews
What users love and hate · 500 reviews analyzed · ★ 4.2
A free Duolingo app that teaches preschoolers to read English through play and short stories — beloved for exactly that, yet boxed in by being English-only and noticeably buggy on certain devices.
What users love
Kids genuinely start reading in weeks, not months
The headline praise is a concrete outcome: parents and grandparents describe a child recognizing letters, blending sounds and reading words within a week or two. Not «we liked it» but measurable progress.
my 4 year old is addicted to this app and started to read from the very first week
She just turned 5 and after 2 days of playing on this, instead of YouTube, she's sounding out words.
brilliant had my granddaughter reading at 3 because of this app
Fully free with no ads — a rarity among kids' apps
The «free + no ads» combo surfaces again and again as a standalone reason to love it: parents stress it's the only kids' app without ads they've come across.
Love this app - engaging, fun, educational, free and no ads!! Works great on my laptop too.
Free app, no adds, and my kid ASKS to play this game! Couldn't ask for a better reading resource!
this is like so much fun you can learn books even it does not have ads
The game-like format hooks kids who used to find learning boring
Kids don't just tolerate the app — they ask for it and get upset when it's turned off. Parents note that a child with no interest in learning games got hooked on this one specifically.
10/10 recommend this my son had no interest in learning games til I sat him down with this app
kid loves it dearly and now begs for it when I turn it off
my 4 year old is addicted to this app
The short stories are a favorite and a tool for blending words
The in-app stories earn their own praise: cute, inclusive, and useful for practicing blending sounds and rhymes. For many it's the part they come back for.
my daughter loves the short stories and it's great for blending words and rhymes.
The short stories are cute and inclusive.
I like this app there are so many stories to read 😍
What users hate
English-only, no language switch — a wall for non-English kids
The single most common complaint: the app teaches reading only in English and explains everything in English too. For a child who doesn't yet know the language, that turns learning into confusion — and there's no option to switch the interface language.
my small sister can not understand English and there were no option to change language so I can not like this app because this is useless for my sister
what if the child isn't an english speaker? too much talking in a language they want to learn and not know anything aboit! the kid gets easily confused and bored.
it would be great if it was in Greek as my child doesn't speak English
Crashes on launch and won't open on some devices
For a chunk of users the app simply doesn't work: it crashes right after opening, kicks them out within a fraction of a second, or won't launch at all after install. Painful because even fans get locked out.
I just downloaded it but it keeps crushing.. it doesnt open at all. It keeps crushing immediately i try opening it. Please help!
I love this app but whenever I try to open it, it kicks me out after one millisecond..
my app lagg like. when I open it it would automatically close
Child's progress gets lost, forcing lessons to be redone
A painful bug: saved progress suddenly vanishes and the child has to redo the same lessons over and over. For a kids' app that hits motivation directly.
I installed this app 2 days ago I spent so much time and now all my progress is all gone suddenly😡😡
it keeps losing my son's progress making him redo the same lessons over and over. It should save more often.
System nav bar covers the 'next' button
A specific UI defect on several Android devices (Pixel, ZFold): the app goes full-screen but doesn't hide the system nav bar, so it covers the bottom buttons — making play impossible unless you switch to gesture navigation.
the app incorrectly is full screen but does not hide the system navigation, so buttons are hidden behind the 'home button'
Overlaps the bottom navigation and covers the 'next' button, making it impossible to use unless I'm in gesture navigation not 3 button on my pixel
On the ZFold 4 the task bar at the bottom of the phone never goes away so I can't let my kid play it on my phone.
Spelling rewards guessing: letters magnetize into place
Thoughtful parents spot a pedagogical flaw: in spelling exercises letters can be placed out of order and magnetize into the right spot — rewarding blind guessing over real learning. Related: teaching letter names instead of sounds makes blending harder.
Some of the spelling practice allows kids to spell words out of order, and letters magnetize to the right spot. it rewards blind guessing and jot learning.
telling them the names of the sound for spelling makes it harder. it should be the lower case letters represent the sound and uppercase the name.
instead of the letter names, we would prefer the phonetic sounds as this would make more sense for learning the sounds and reading
No age personalization: same content for a 4- and 9-year-old, dull and repetitive
Some parents and older kids fault the lack of leveling: children of different ages get identical content, material repeats to the point of boredom, and those who already know the alphabet find it too easy. A rigid «curriculum» with no freedom of choice deepens the feeling.
there was no age personalisation, gave my 9 and 4 year old same content. Very repetitive to the point they both got bored.
there is no flexibility. I have to go according to the "curriculum" that the app sets and am not free to learn according to my own interests and goals
absolutely bad I already know the ABC my little sister down below the this app
Whiteboard writing isn't recognized and the recording cuts off
The interactive input mechanics break down: handwriting on the whiteboard isn't recognized, the bottom of writing activities fails to load, and when repeating after the narrator the mic only captures a second of sound. It breaks exactly the exercises the app exists for.
it is really hard to write in the white board.. IT DIDNT RECOGNIZE WHAT I WAS WRITING.
It only pick 1 second of sound when it is asking you to repeat after the recording. I checked the setting and everything but it is still like that.
I am having issues with some of the lessons not fully loading as in when it has them write their letters it will not load the bottom of the activity.
Emotionally manipulative reminder emails creep parents out
A distinct, unexpected gripe: the daily reminder emails are cloying and guilt-trip the child («please put my heart at ease», «when you skip your lesson, I spiral»). Parents find it utterly inappropriate for a kids' product.
The emails are intensely cloying and appear to be intended to guilt her into practicing, saying things like "please put my heart at ease"
I think this creepy because I saw the owl out of my window and he have a knife head on the knife so I do not trust it for kids