CATCHY WORDS AR

Twice. (2018). Catchy Words AR (Version 1.6) [Mobile application software]. Retrieved from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/catchy-words-ar/id1266039244

Price: Free

Rubric Score: 11 /22

Age and intended audience: 6+, the app requires moving around a room

Review: Users must find and pop bubbles floating around their own environments in this augmented reality app. The bubble contains letters that are then released into the room and need to be collected to form a word. The position of the bubble is often in a difficult to reach position in the room and young children will have a difficult time reaching to pop the bubble. The letters also float away into hard to reach places, posing a danger to young children that may be using this app without parental supervision. The device is used to pop the bubble by moving it in a tapping motion towards the bubble. It took several tries to pop the bubble and young children may drop the device while attempting to complete this activity. Augmented reality is a hot topic right now and this could be a great tool for a literacy app, but Catchy Words AR needs to offer options to adjust the height settings for the bubbles and letters in order to make this app more user friendly for the younger (shorter) audience. There are no personalization features or parental controls available with Catchy Words AR. The words are assigned at random and cannot be added by a parent in order to support school vocabulary lists.