Roarly: read it loud, reveal the picture

Our story

Why a dad built Roarly

When my youngest turned five, I went looking for a good reading app. Most of what I found was built to keep kids on the screen as long as possible: ads between levels, sign-ups asking for their details, and endless rewards designed to make them tap "just one more."

That's the opposite of what a five-year-old learning to read needs. So I built the tool I wanted for my own kids.

No ads, no accounts, no tracking. There's nothing to sign up for and nothing to sell.
Your child's progress stays on your device. We don't have a database of children, and we don't collect names, voices or reading data.
A step-by-step phonics path. Sounds first, then words, then sentences, so they learn in the right order, at their own pace.
Little and often, then screens off. One sentence earns one puzzle piece. Ten minutes a day is plenty. Then close the tablet and read a real book together.

Roarly isn't a big company. It's a small project made by a parent, for parents, and every Family unlock keeps it ad-free.

BabarDad, and the maker of Roarly

How it works

Every round has four steps, and each one teaches something

Read it out loud
Your child taps the microphone and reads one word, phrase or sentence. Each word turns green the moment the game hears it, and a rocket shows if their voice is loud enough.
Get gentle help
Missed words are underlined so they know exactly what to try again. Tapping any word plays it in a clear, friendly voice.
Prove they understood
They pick the picture that matches what they read. The wrong choices look alike on purpose, so guessing doesn't work.
Earn a puzzle piece
A right answer flies a piece into the hidden picture. Nine sentences finish a picture and unlock the next stage.

"Use your big voice! Make the rocket touch the star.""Great voice! Keep reading like that."

New: the voice meter

A rocket that teaches a clear, confident reading voice

Many young readers mumble or whisper when a word feels hard. While your child reads, a rocket rises with their voice. When they read clearly and loudly enough, it touches the star and the star lights up. If they go quiet, the rocket sinks and a friendly nudge reminds them to use their big voice.

It turns "speak up!" into a game they can see. A clear voice also helps the game hear every word, so fewer words get missed.

✓A big voice, not a shouting voice. The star lights up at a clear classroom voice. Shouting isn't needed.
✓Hold the device at arm's length. About as far as a book. Too close sounds muffled, too far sounds faint.
✓Find a quiet spot. The meter measures the room first and asks for a little more voice where it's noisy.

Why it works

Built on phonics, the best-evidenced way to teach early reading

+5months of extra progress, on average, from phonics teaching

Strong evidence. The US National Reading Panel found that systematic phonics is significantly more effective than teaching with little or no phonics, from kindergarten through 6th grade. The UK's Education Endowment Foundation reviewed 228 studies and reached the same conclusion.
Little and often wins. The most successful programs run short sessions four or five times a week. One stage takes about ten minutes.
One-on-one helps most. Children practicing one-on-one gained around eight months on average. Reading aloud to the game, with you nearby, is exactly that.
A step-by-step order. Stages follow the classic sequence: short vowel sounds, then blends, sound teams like ee and ai, magic e, and on to whole stories.

What we can and can't promise

Those figures come from research on phonics teaching in general, not from tests of this game. Phonics mainly builds reading accuracy, so the game also asks children to match each sentence to a picture, and the later stages move into stories. The biggest difference still comes from you: sit with them, listen, and talk about what they read.

Sources: National Reading Panel (2000), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Education Endowment Foundation, Teaching and Learning Toolkit, "Phonics".

The stages

Start where your child is. Move up when they're ready.

There are 35 stages in 14 steps. You can pick any stage at any time, and each one draws from a bank of 15 items, so a repeat brings new sentences.

Steps 1 to 4, stages 1 to 15

First sounds

a fox in a box

Short vowels: cat, hen, dog
Blends: frog, drum, nest
Sound teams: sh, ee, oo, ai
Magic e: cake, kite, bone

Steps 5 to 9, stages 16 to 25

Growing words

The farmer drives a red tractor.

Long sounds: night, rainbow
Bossy r: shark, bird, turtle
Endings: jumping, fastest
Silent letters: knife, lamb

Steps 10 to 14, stages 26 to 35

Real reading

"Time for lunch!" called Mom.

Questions and speech marks
Rich describing sentences
Two-sentence stories
Short paragraphs

A daily routine

Ten minutes a day is enough

Minute 1Pick the stage togetherChoose one that's easy to start with and has a word or two that stretches them.
Minutes 2 to 8Let them read, you listenResist reading for them. Point at the underlined word and let the game play it if they're stuck.
Minutes 9 to 10Talk about the pictureAsk what happened in a sentence or what they think comes next. That builds understanding.

Made for families

Simple, safe, encouraging

No ads, no chat, no links out

Nothing to tap that leads away from reading.

No sign-up

Progress saves on your device, separately for every stage.

A voice that cheers them on

Over 1,500 recorded lines, from "Boom, you got it!" to clear, slow word help.

A voice meter that coaches volume

A rocket shows whether they're reading loud enough to be heard.

Works without the microphone

If the mic isn't available, a grown-up taps "I read it" instead.

Pricing

Start free. Unlock everything once.

No subscription to remember to cancel.

Free

Steps 1 and 2: stages 1 to 7
Short vowels and first sentences
Full voice, puzzles and voice meter

Start reading

Most families

Family

$19 one time

All 35 stages, plus new ones as they're added
One licence key for up to 4 devices
Pay once, no subscription

Unlock all stages

Classroom

$59 per year

Everything in Family
Use on every classroom device
Purchase orders accepted

Ask about schools

Have a discount code or a Groupon voucher? Enter it when you unlock. A voucher for a free unlock shows a total of $0 at checkout.

Questions

What parents ask

What age is it for?

Ages 4 to 8, roughly pre-K through 2nd grade. A child who knows most letter sounds can start at stage 1. Confident readers can jump straight to the later steps.

What do I need?

A phone, tablet or computer with Chrome or Safari. The microphone is optional but makes it much more fun.

What happens to my child's voice?

We don't collect any personal information from children: no accounts, names, ads or tracking, and the game doesn't record or store anything. The microphone only turns on when your child taps the microphone button, and it switches off again after each sentence. To recognise words it uses the speech service built into your browser. In Chrome that service is run by Google, and in Safari by Apple, so your child's speech is processed under their privacy policies. If you'd rather not, turn the microphone off and tap "I read it" instead.

Will it work for my child's accent?

Yes. Matching is forgiving: close sounds count, and small words like "a" and "the" are optional. The picture question is what checks real reading.

How do discount codes and Groupon vouchers work?

Tap a locked stage, answer the grown-up question, and type your code into the code box before you buy. It's applied at checkout. If you opened our site through a link with a code in it, the code is already filled in for you. A Groupon voucher for a free unlock brings the total to $0, and you still get a licence key by email.

Can siblings share it?

Yes. Each stage keeps its own progress, and one Family licence key works on up to four devices.

Your child reads out loud. Roarly cheers them on.