Magic Spell - ABC

Fun personalization plus letter-learning is a solid use of screen time, but there are some shortcomings with this app. Just as kids are drawn to those silly stands where you can stick your head in an oval-shaped hole and take a picture of your face on an illustrated body, there's sure to be some kid appeal here. Add the alphabet piece, and kids are getting exposure to letters and letter sounds as they play. Yet, overall, Magic Spell - ABC doesn't quite manage to deliver a stellar experience. Some of the letter choices are creative, like the hot dog for the letter H. Others aren't great choices for beginning learners, like the sheep for S which starts with a "sh" sound rather than an "s" sound. It's a little odd that kids start at a randomly chosen place in the alphabet when they open the app, but it is nice that they can also choose whichever letter they want by tapping on the "ABC" on the top left of the screen. Most of all, it's disappointing that kids can't choose a different photo for each letter. For little kids, navigation exploring the letter and taking a picture is a little complicated. Also, it's frustrating that videos get automatically saved to the camera roll and that there's no option to turn off the background music. Magic Spell - ABC may allow kids a few moments of delightful exploration, but it also has some significant drawbacks.