I spent three evenings testing kids dictionary apps so you don't have to. I am not a hero. I am a parent with a child who mispronounced "library" as "lie-berry" for two years while I smiled and said nothing, and I am trying to fix that.
Here is my completely scientific review of the App Store landscape.
App #1: "WordKids! — Fun Learning Vocabulary"
I opened this one with genuine optimism. The icon was cute. The load screen played a jingle that I immediately internalized and cannot remove from my brain to this day. The first word it showed me was "Ambiguous."
Ambiguous.
For, presumably, small children.
I checked the age rating. 4+. I checked the definition. It was the actual dictionary definition, word for word: "Open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning."
My six-year-old read it out loud, looked at me, and said "I don't understand it." I said that was valid. We moved on.
App #2: Something with "Learning" in the Title and a Lot of Ads
This one opened with an ad for a mortgage refinancing service. An ad. On a children's vocabulary app. I closed it immediately and spent a few minutes thinking about choices I had made in life that led me here.
Look, I understand that free apps need to make money somehow. But an ad for mortgage rates on a kids learning app is like putting a job board in a sandbox. The content and the audience genuinely do not match.
App #3: The One That Required an Account
It wanted my email, a password, my child's name, their birth date, and "learning goals." I had to agree to three separate documents. The terms of service was longer than most novels I've read this year.
I typed in a fake birthday and immediately felt like a criminal. The app itself was fine but required a subscription to access anything beyond ten words. Ten words. Technically "aardvark" was one of them, which is a fun word, but that is not sufficient vocabulary for any purpose.
App #4: The One With the Duck
This one had a duck. It appeared after every correct answer. My kid spent twenty minutes trying to get the duck to appear by answering questions without reading them — gaming the reward system at age six. I am equal parts proud and concerned.
The duck aside, the words were reasonable and the definitions were written for actual children rather than professional lexicographers. But it crashed twice in one session and the words topped out around fifty, which isn't much to work with.
App #5: The One With Stock Photos That Didn't Match the Words
The word "vibrant" was illustrated with a photo of a grey office. The word "gentle" was illustrated with what appeared to be a stock photo of a handshake at a business conference. At no point did any image clarify what any word meant. I have questions about the editorial process here.
What I Noticed After Eight Apps
After testing approximately eight apps (I genuinely lost count), the good ones share a few things in common:
- Pictures that actually match the words. This sounds obvious and yet.
- Audio pronunciation. Reading "anemone" and hearing "anemone" are very different experiences for a six-year-old.
- Definitions written for kids, not pasted from Merriam-Webster. "A round fruit that grows on trees" is better for a child than "the edible fruit of a rosaceous tree."
- No popup asking me to rate the app after 30 seconds. I cannot explain how much I hate this.
- No mortgage ads. Non-negotiable.
Kids Dictionary, which is the one we built and also the reason I'm writing this, hits those marks. The words come with images, you tap to hear pronunciation, definitions are written in plain language for young learners, and the word count goes well above ten. Also no mortgage ads. You're welcome.
Free to download. No ads. No accounts. Just words and pictures.
Download Kids Dictionary Free