Parents' Guide to Co:Writer Universal

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Chromebook Free to try Education
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Common Sense Media Review

Ashley Kemper By Ashley Kemper , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 7+

Assistive keyboard has specific suggestions, wrong guesses.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 7+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Co:Writer Universal App Screenshot #1
  • Co:Writer Universal App Screenshot #2
  • Co:Writer Universal App Screenshot #3
  • Co:Writer Universal App Screenshot #4
  • Co:Writer Universal App Screenshot #5

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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Unclear whether personal information are shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays personalised advertising.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information 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?

Kids begin typing words, and the CO:WRITER UNIVERSAL keyboard guesses which word they're trying to type. Then kids can swipe over the suggested words to hear each one read aloud. The specialty dictionaries help the device anticipate content-specific words. At the end of each typed line, the keyboard reads the line aloud. This can be adjusted to read each word or character aloud, based on the age and needs of each child. For kids who typically struggle to spell words or become frustrated with the guesses of the built-in autocorrect, this app will help. Users can either type directly into the Co:Writer Universal notepad and save or share their sentences, or they can use the assistive keyboard in a word-processing application or web browser.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

The specialty dictionaries and read-aloud feature may make word prediction easier for some kids, but it doesn't always offer the right words. The read-aloud tools alone can be game changers for many reluctant readers and writers. As kids type, the read-aloud feature will vocalize by word, sentence, or paragraph, depending on user settings. Although some words aren't always predicted appropriately (see last screenshot for example), kids can have the app read the words aloud to find their errors. Though the subscription cost and inaccurate suggestions make this an imperfect tool, it's a solid resource for kids who get caught up in spelling errors or finding the right word when writing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how technology can help them learn. Does this app make writing easier? Why, or why not?

  • Families can also talk about how different words should be used for different types of communication. How is writing for school different from texting friends? Why is it different?

App Details

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

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