2023-08-01
Rubbish - no sound
I downloaded this app today and shouldn’t have bothered. It doesn’t work - there’s no sound in the app so it’s a complete waste of £2.99
I’ve requested a refund from apple already. Avoid!
Updating
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
Learn the names and sounds of each letter with the Hairies.
AWARD WINNING APP! Education Resources Award
• Trace the letter shape onscreen with your finger.
• Play games to build letters into simple words.
• Letter sounds come to life with animated characters.
• Learn to blend sounds into words.
• Includes upper case letter names.
• Multisensory learning by UK specialist teachers.
• Letters are introduced in six colour-coded stages
Designed for 4-6 years.
British English.
Nessy apps have no advertisements or in-app purchasing.
What's New in Version 2.6.8
Updated letter animations.
Seller
Name
Nessy Learning Limited
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
2.6.8
Size
539.1 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated: 4+
Compatibility
iOS 9.3.5 or later
Devices
iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16Plus, iPhone 16Pro, iPhone 16ProMax, iPhone 16e, iPad 2 (Wi-Fi), iPad 2 (3G), iPad (3rd Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad (3rd Generation) (4G), iPad (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad (4th Generation) (4G), iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (Wi-Fi), iPad mini (4G), iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad A16, iPad A16Cellular, iPad Air11M3, iPad Air11M3Cellular, iPad Air13M3, iPad Air13M3Cellular, iPad MiniA17Pro, iPad MiniA17ProCellular, iPod touch (5th generation), iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
3.1 of 5 (43 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2021-02-03
Noice
So, firstly, I want to clarify, i am a grade 4 playing this. No, im not actually learning anything, i just remembered this from when i was 5 and installed it either way. It’s pretty good, teaching kids how to write and read with small, little hairballs. (i guess thats what imma call them) I dont have much to say, since ya know, grade 4 over here.. but im gonna recommend this to my 6-year-old cousin. (She’s in Poland, where you start school at the age of 7, and she doesn’t practice letters or maths so.. that’s kinda explainatory)
Update: i did uninstall it, but the only reason is my memory. I wasn’t learning either way. But still recommended to 3-5 year olds
2020-11-15
Sound has stopped working
Sound on the app stopped working after 3 months. Have tried everything - deleting, reinstalling the app. Even reset the iPad but no luck. The other apps work just fine, an issue with this one only and other users have written about it too. Yet no solution.
Very poor!!
2020-06-01
Simple fun
Boy likes it. Success. Had issue with the sound but was just the mute button - which doesn’t silence other apps. Weird
2020-05-16
Drawn the attention of a letter hater!
My 3 year old daughter, who loves numbers and is totally disinterested with every avenue I try regarding letters, has been brought round by Hairy Letters.
Giggling away and not wanting to stop until she’d tried every letter.
Completely worth the money.
2019-11-13
Hangs so often daughter won't use
Simplistic app and doesn't even work. Waste of time money and motivation.
2019-10-22
Hairy Letters
Great App which I’ve used before. I would say one of the best for pre-scroll and early school to learn sounds and formation of letters. But the App won’t animate the letters any more on my I-phone 8 plus!!!! Help please!!!
2019-10-15
Great idea but doesn’t deliver!
My son uses the main desktop at school and he enjoyed the app but it wouldn’t load so every time you have to leave the app and re-open! I’d like my money back please
2018-10-28
No sounds no support
Can’t get sounds on. Have reinstalled and still not working. Emailed support and no response. How do I get a refund? Do not waste your money
2018-08-17
Rubbish
Doesn’t work on iPad! Seems a bit ridiculous that it wouldn’t.
2018-02-17
Don’t waste your money on this game
My son did it one morning and it was finished. The idea is very good It’s just too short.
2017-03-30
Great App!
Fun, engaging, great value! Well worth downloading!
2016-12-09
Needs an option to use cursive script for writing
My daughter enjoys this app but she is meant to write her letters in the cursive script. Other phonic games give parents this option to change the writing style to cursive or keep it as just printing. As it only lets her print and shows her cursive letters up as wrong, it is undoing and or confusing all the letter work she's doing at school. Such a shame and something that the app developers could easily sort out.
2016-11-29
No sound
Complete waste of money. Sound does not work despite installing multiple times and rebooting phone then trying to install. Cannot recommend at all - very disappointed especially as there seems to be no help on the website
2016-10-13
Sound works
Couldn't get the sound on my iPad Air 2. Turned out it was on mute! After switching the sound on everything worked fine. My 4 year old likes it a lot.
2016-10-09
Incorrect pronounciations
Lovely interactive app but the sound are not all correct. 'P' is pronounced puh which would make the word puhenguin instead of penguin. Get the precise pronounciations & this app could be 5 stars.
2016-09-19
No sound
I downloaded this app for my four-year-old daughter a while ago. It worked well and she loved it. However, over the past few months, the sound hasn't worked. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it a couple of times without success. It is quite frustrating and makes the app a lot less fun. Unsurprisingly, my daughter no longer asks for it. What a shame. What a waste.
2016-07-14
Neat app
This app allows to develop fine motor control and covers initial sounds. One of a series of solid apps by this company
2016-05-20
Sound broken
The volume is at maximum, mine is not on.
2016-02-11
This a good game for handwriting
Any schools should get this👍🏽And it is good but if you have a stylus use it because using your finger wouldn't work using a pencil
2015-11-29
Useless
This app was great when I first downloaded 3 years ago for my now 7 year old. Updated it and trying to use it with my 4 year old and it crashes before it starts up properly 😁. No obvious way of contacting the makers either which is super annoying considering I had to pay for the app.
2015-11-15
Rubbish
All it did was crash!!:(!
2015-11-12
Doesn't work on iPad
I downloaded this after it being recommended by my daughters teacher. I paid £3.99 and it won't run. It just crashes. I've tweeted nessy several times and they just ignore my messages. What a rip off
2015-10-22
App crashes for iPad mini
Don't buy this until app is updated
2015-10-18
Poor
Have used with eldest child and was great. Recent update makes it impossible to trace the letters!!! Please sort it out as this use to be a tremendous app.
2015-10-17
Waste of £4
Awful Iam so disappointed I only bought it as my sons school recommended it so highly complete waste of £4!!!!!
2015-10-14
M
Waste of money. App runs up to sounding the first letter and associated word. Then closes the app entirely. Tried to delete and upload again and same problem.
Shocking!!!
2015-10-11
Crash
5 hairy letters the developers need to understand. Was a great app. Now it doesn't work. Re-installed and latest OS. I WONT BE PURCHASING THE PHONEME VERSION (sadly).
2015-09-25
no sound iOS9
I just purchased this ipad app which I'm sure would be great if the sound worked but it doesn't for some reason that is not the case so pretty useless at the moment really. No way to email the developers either which is even more dissapointing.
2015-09-16
Hairy letters
App does not work. A waste of money and disappointing.
2015-09-09
Rubbish
Would be good if it didn't crash constantly! Tried the suggestions and still nothing changed. Poorly made and worst it cost me £4! Expensive for an unusable app!
2015-08-31
Worse after update
This used to be a great app. After the update its now laggy (black screens whilst sections load) and it is no longer necessary to properly trace a letter before the app considers it to be correct.
2015-08-06
Shame
Just updated what was an excellent app and now feel disappointed. You can only trace the letter correctly once before returning to the main menu and the interface is now slow and clunky.
Please sort out what was and still can be a great educational tool.
2015-07-13
Amazing!
Was amazing to start with and my 3 year old loved it! Then the sound stopped working and when I realised that the rotation lock needed to be off when launching app it was fine! Would thoroughly recommend as a mum and teacher, the letter sounds are accurately pronounced too which is something I'm fussy about.
2015-06-07
Great fun app
Really enjoy this app with my 4yo, no problems with sound or bugs.
2015-06-06
No sound
Who do I contact when an
App
Doesn't work!?! No
Sound so pointless
2015-06-04
No Sound
Just downloaded the app however as others have reported the sound doesn't work. Very disappointing. Don't bother with this app.
2015-05-12
Great app
My son wasn't interested in phonics so I got him this app. He loves it, his teacher was shocked how quickly he picked up the sounds. I just wish there were more blending games so he could get used to spelling and reading. A great app to get used to the phonics sounds.
2015-05-06
Brilliant
Fantastic app, well worth the cost.
2015-04-29
Sound fix
Just purchased to use on an iPad running IOS 8.3 and the sound didn't work despite mute off and volume up. For some reason the app doesn't like iPad rotation lock on. Turn it off and the sound works fine. Kids now enjoying it.
2015-03-01
Disappointing
Downloaded this for my 5 1/2 year old as he plays it at school. Was great for half an hour until he completed it.. So quite a waste of money really! Very simple and easy, no higher stages to reach so very disappointed.
2015-02-19
Great for letter formation
Bought this for my 5 year old daughter to help with phonics. She quickly learnt her letter sounds and loved the animations. Sound works perfectly (as long as my toddler hasn't fiddled with the settings!) Best feature is that when writing letters if they are correctly or incorrectly formed a noise and animation give instant feedback. Teachers have said she has excellent handwriting for her age- she won't listen to my advice but does follow the app, so it must be helping.
2015-01-24
No sound. No point.
Would love to use this app but alas there is no sound. So it looks like wasted my money.
2015-01-08
Good app
All my children loved it. It helped them learn the letter sounds and read first words. I found that if I started the app with the screen locked then it caused the iPad mute to come on. I unmuted it and took off screen lock and had no more problems. I've tried a lot of kids phonics apps and this was one of the best.
2014-11-22
No sound .... Very disappointing
Have reloaded a few times to try to fix the ,no sound issue, but sadly not working, very disappointing
2014-11-07
No sound!
My little boy enjoys using this app at nursery so I downloaded it for home but there's no sound. Please fix this!
2014-09-24
A must have app
Our 5 year old was struggling with letters - this app has turned that around...the best purchase I've made on the App Store ever!
2014-08-20
Excellent app but crash now
It was excellent app i purchased this app but right now there is no voice plz fix this it is really frustrating for my child too
2014-08-09
Bit buggy
My preschooler loves drawing the letters on the app. It's very good all in all but I've noticed quite a lot of bugs in it... It crashes quite often and resets itself which is frustrating because my preschooler doesn't understand why he has to redo the levels. The capital letters stick and freeze the screen. It would be nice to have something to do with the capital letters too. Some of the cartoons are very odd...
2014-05-17
Great until the sound breaks
After about a week, the sound stopped working. All my other games and apps have sound, but not this one. Useless!!
2014-02-15
Have to say this is very good :)
My child's just turned 4, she knows the letters of the alphabet and has taught herself through other apps and looking at pre-school cbeebies most of the phonic alphabet. This app is better than others we've tried. The accent is a clear accent with British pronunciation. It also reiterates the phonics several times. The animation is also fun and keeps her engaged. However the very best bit is that with this app is my daughter is now spontaneously sounding out the letters and combining them to spell words, which she is then rewarded by the app opening other parts of the app, which is very motivating. So far we've only had it a few days and she's asked to play it everyday. Would recommend :)
2014-02-02
Love it!
My four year old has loved this. Wish we had found it sooner. She has flown through it and we want more apps please!
Also my six year old was a slow starter with reading and school used a nessy programme. It has brought her right back up and now she is a fabulous confident reader.
2013-10-29
Not for complete beginners
Great app, but kids can't do a lot with it until they have learned the letter sounds. it is better for teaching kids to write letters and to blend sounds to make simple words. It is not so good if you want something to help them at the very beginning, to learn letter sounds. There isn't really a lot in there to teach the letter sounds - an animation to press and that's it. Straight off, they really need the motor control to trace the letter shape in order to get to the games where you spell out simple words. This is really stage 2 of learning to read, not stage 1.
2013-03-15
Best letter learning app
I've tried a lot of letter learning apps and this one has definitely been the best at holding my son's attention. Just one suggestion for a future update- I think it would be good to be able to randomise the order of the letters. My son is learning which animation is under which letter, so if I could randomise the order it would be an extra challenge- he wouldn't just be able to do this from the order of the letters. Great app though.
2013-02-18
Great British-English letter-learning app
I tried a few apps with my 4-year old daughter. This one was the best for keeping her interested, teaching her to write her alphabet (upper and lower case) and form simple words.
It's done a good job in supporting her foundation stage learning, because she's now grown out of it.
I may have to try some of their other apps now, like the times-tables one.
2013-02-17
Makers please review..would be better if...
This is a fab app. The only problem I have is I have 2 children at different stages who both like this and if one plays, it moves the progress on, so when the other picks it up they have missed a chunk of letters: if there was some way for the child to choose their name and follow their own progress it would be the perfect app.
2013-02-04
Great
This is a great app. My daughter thinks it is fantastic and funny. It follows (at least as far as we have been in it) the same sequence for introducing letters and sounds as the gov program Letters and Sounds. Only thing that would make it better would be if the game allowed incorrect spelling as my daughter quickly figured out that letters won't stay if she puts them in the wrong order.
2012-11-13
The best phonics app
I purchased this for my autistic son, it takes something special to keep his attention and this certainly does! The animations are fantastic, they are a great incentive, he finds them very amusing! One addition that would make it perfect would be a window in one corner showing a real persons face saying the letter sounds so that the child can see how to do it, just an idea!!
2012-10-29
SarahJaneP
Hairy Letters is really well structured and motivates young children to write and learn letter sounds. I like the way it is broken into stages and that each stage needs to be mastered before moving on to the next. The characters are endearing and carry out modelling of correct letter formation well. Only one little quibble - one or two letter sounds are incorrect. All in all though a great tool. I use to support children that need lots of repetition to master phonics and it is a great asset.
2012-10-12
Hairy letters
We got this for our 3 yr. old boy on recommendation from a friend. I must say he loves it. If we are waiting to start swimming class or have a few min spare I put it on for him and was surprised just how well this little and often approach has worked. He knew his phonics but only with this app has he started to "spell". I have tried to get him to sound out letters in his books before but he tended to guess or learn the word. Doing them out of the context of a book has enabled him to apply the sounding out of words in a book. In short, my friend was right to recommend it and I have recommended it to others. This is the first review I have done and i have only done it because I am convinced this is a good buy.
2012-08-09
Alphabulous!
What a great introduction to letters and reading. My son is learning and playing at the same time. The little animations are fun and the challenge of drawing the letter shapes is pitched just right for my pre-schooler, it's great that there is the next level (forming words) once he's got the alphabet sorted. As it uses phonics this will give him a good knowledge base for when he tackles reading at school.
2012-07-16
Brilliant
I had been looking for an app for my 3 year old daughter to help her with letters and how to write them. I had pocket phonics for some time but she did not see it as fun and struggled to stay interested. She absolutely loves hairy letters and when she is not using it she is telling people about it. It is not that much different from pocket phonics in the way it gets children to use letters and construct simple words. The thing seems to make the difference is how it incorporates little monsters and some fun animations. This app will get your pre schools kids interested in writing without you feeling like a pushy parent. A lot of similar apps are American and don't use phonics. This one does use phonics as they are taught in schools.
2012-05-30
UK Phonics + compelling play !
My 4 year old daughter absolutely loves this app. It holds her interest and the annimations make her laugh. It's her best used app by far for phonics and yes UK phonics too! My daughter has fun with Hairy Letters and in no way needs to be coerced into using this fantastic app unlike other phonics apps we have.
2012-05-25
Very. Engaging if a little short
Keeps my 5year old engaged but once he finished going through all his letters the follow on puzzles were not as good or engaging he soon got bored and wanted to return to the letter forming-which in turn then didn't hold his attention because he had done them all before.
2012-05-19
Use it every day
This app is fantastic...my 3 year old son uses it most days (usually when his older brother is doing his homework!) He's very confident with his alphabet and phonics sounds. Nursery keep commenting how good he is with letters and ask what he does at home. We don't have the crashing mentioned by others. :)
2012-02-28
Hairy letters
Got this for our 7 year old who has had learning difficulties and speech problems and since downloading we have noticed a marked improvement. Our 3 year old also uses it and loves it. Highly recommend.
2012-02-19
Wonderful
Haven't even showed my 5 yr old it yet- as I'm too busy playing it myself! I can't imagine a better way of learning first letters and their phonics, with the added bonus of first words too A+
2011-12-09
Hairy Letters
My two daughters 4 & 5 are enjoying this & getting valuable practice in a fun way.
I think it's excellent except that it says you have written the letter correctly even if you go the wrong way round but stick to the dots, eg you can do the circle of the p first and then the stick and still get a 'well done'. That means I have to watch the children do it all the time.
Another problem is that I have to reset it for the two of them to have their own turn and then you have to start again from scratch. Some form of multi-player option would be better.
Finally - one of my daughters is left handed but can use the iPod with both hands. That means that I have to nag her to use the left otherwise she's not practising letter formation in a way that will really help her when she goes back to using a pencil.
2011-11-01
Good app but
Would be much better if 4 and 5 letter words were introduced earlier or you were given the option to choose earlier on. Also it would be useful if it gave you the option of multiple players so that each child could keep track of their progress. Finally it would be even better if it included digraph sounds that are regularly taught for example ai, oa, ie, ee, ay etc. otherwise I would have rated 5 stars.
2011-09-20
Great Learning Aid
If you have a 3 year old like mine who loves technology and clicking buttons, they'll love this app. An alternative to the phonics books, and much more engaging. It also means they can learn alone while having fun if Mum or Dad doesn't have the time to sit down with them.
2011-08-17
Great!
I am a teacher, but also a parent. My 3 year old has fallen for this app - the first time she has ever used an iphone app - and she spent an hour each day for 3 days playing. She was already learning her letters quite well but this app has really helped her with forming her letters correctly, and also blending the phonics sounds to make words. Thoroughly recommend this app as part of an approach to learning to read.
2011-07-06
great educational app
This is the first time I've bothered to rate an app - but this is great. I'm an infant teacher and I've been recommending it to everyone. It's got many positive features, most importantly is that the voice is in english not american. My 4 year old loves it.
2011-05-19
Fabulous
Fantastic sound effects - although my daughter thinks the sound for getting it wrong is so funny she deliberately does extra curly writing .... Please please can we have a next stage app focusing on sounds pairs of letters make and blending. Really think this app shows you have the potential to make a great one!!!!
2011-05-06
Great for UK phonics
This is one of the few available apps which uses English speaking phonics. My 3 year old loves this and I feel it is money well spent. He can practise his phonics, most of which teach the jolly phonics method used in schools (a shame that a few of the letters differ to this) He is learning to write the letters and also 8 different levels of spelling too. He has gradually unlocked all the levels to reveal a funky dance by the funny characters but recently found the 'reset' button so he is having to unlock all the levels again. That would be my only other criticism - to make the reset a bit more difficult. Highly recommended :-)
2011-03-25
Fantastic
My son is 9, but with a learning disability and he loves this app, he plays it going to school in the car and when he gets home ... it must be good :-)
He doesn't even realise he is learning when he's playing it - I love the way it sounds the letter, you can watch a catchy little clip, which he loves and it also shows you how to form the letter and the user can then try themselves - brilliant