Parents' Guide to Puppet Pals HD

App iPad Free Entertainment
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Common Sense Media Review

Christopher Healy By Christopher Healy , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 6+

Free but limited animation app; full experience costs money.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 6+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Unclear whether personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is not 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.

What's It About?

Simply tap "Press to Start" and choose up to eight actors from the available theme packs (depending on in-app purchases). Next, select up to five backgrounds. Swipe and pinch to place, resize, and move characters. Tap the red button to record audio, tap the yellow button to pause, and tap the white square to stop. Tap a tassel to change backgrounds. Give the performance a title, and save. To replay, tap "Saved Shows" from the main menu and "Play." There's easy, themed storytelling through movable images and voice recording.

Is It Any Good?

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

As an animation app, PUPPET PALS offers a simple and easy interface that could work well for kids, but it also lacks many of the bells and whistles that similar apps, such as Toontastic and PlayTime Theater, feature. Here, you can change the size of a character, flip the image, move it around, and, of course, record voiceover -- and that may be enough for most people. The app does allow you to record and save several shows, though, and even export them, which is a very nice feature. But the one limited character set is not really enough to have much fun. To get truly creative, you'd need to buy more with the in-app purchases option.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Offer to be one of the characters in your kid's story, adding a different voice to the script or improvising the scenes.

  • If your kid really loves storytelling on this app, consider purchasing the Director's Pack so they can mix and match characters from different themes and eras.

App Details

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