Parents' Guide to ABCya Animate

App iPad Paid Education
ABCya Animate Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Amanda Bindel By Amanda Bindel , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 7+

Easy for beginner animators, but kids can't add narration.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 7+?

Any Positive Content?

  • ABCya Animate App: Screenshot #1
  • ABCya Animate App: Screenshot #2
  • ABCya Animate App: Screenshot #3
  • ABCya Animate App: Screenshot #4
  • ABCya Animate App: Screenshot #5

Parent and Kid Reviews

See all
 

 

age 6+

Based on 1 kid review

 

 

See all 1 kid review

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What's It About?

ABCYA ANIMATE lets kids easily create their own animated movies. Starting from a white screen, kids can draw using four pencil sizes and 36 colors or add images from the categories of transportation, landscape, animals, foods, people, and fun objects. They can move and size objects, flip them, or arrange them in front of or behind other objects. To save a frame and add it to the film roll, kids hit "copy frame" and then add to the next frame -- up to 99 frames. They can set the background, also creating their own or using one of the preloaded backgrounds, view the previous frame, and clear a frame easily. There's no way to record voice-overs or add custom music, although the background tune can be changed in the parent/teacher section. Movies can be played once or on a loop. Animations can only be saved to the gallery on the device or exported to the camera roll.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 1 ):

Kids wanting to dip their toes into animation will have fun, but some key features are missing. The drawing interface is easy to navigate, and all the commands are visible on-screen. Kids have plenty of room in the 99 frames to build a short animated film, and the dozens of included images provide the versatility to incorporate lots of elements. Unfortunately, kids can't add their own narration, which limits the versatility and storytelling element. The video tutorial is very helpful to show kids how to create animations, though, so consider the app a good introduction to how animation is created and a way for kids to successfully create their own basic animations.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how old animation compares to today's. How does it look different, and how is it the same?

  • Have kids tell you their animated stories and encourage them to write them down.

App Details

  • Device : iPad
  • Subjects : Arts : drawing
  • Skills : Creativity : imagination , making new creations , Tech Skills : digital creation , using and applying technology
  • Pricing structure : Paid
  • Release date : April 16, 2014
  • Genre : Education
  • Topics : Arts
  • Publisher : ABCya.com
  • Version : 1.4
  • Minimum software requirements : iOS 5.0 or later
  • Last updated : October 1, 2025

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

ABCya Animate Poster Image

You May Also Like...

See all

Animation Apps, Games, and Websites

See all

Drawing Games

See all recommended app lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate