This app was mentioned in 3 comments, with an average of 1.67 upvotes
Start with this one and all the same ones made by the same company: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.originatorkids.EndlessReader
Honestly reading has been a tough one, I haven't found any kind of silver bullet app that takes the work off the parent.
We typically start with letter names and sounds at 2, using Endless Alphabet and Endless Reader (iOS, Android) especially since it does lowercase letters and uses sight words. We also let them watch Leapfrog Letter Factory around then, and make sure that they're singing along with "The B says buh" parts so they know what to focus on while watching.
Around 3 and a half we've found Poio (iOS, Android) to be a decent introduction to sounding out words and phonics, while being fun enough to keep a kid hooked.
Unfortunately though, I haven't found a good app that really can act as a standalone tool for teaching phonics, at 4 we start them using the book The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, but luckily with the prior apps, we can usually skip all of the letter names and sounds and with Poio they have a sense of how to sound out words already.
We also used a series of apps called Hairy Phonics, but I didn't find them particularly impressive.
For writing as young as 3 we like to use Writing Wizard (iOS, Android) with a stylus to practice initially on tablets, I create custom word lists with like 5-6 letters of the alphabet per word, for uppercase, lowercase, and numbers, along with the kid's first and last name. Outside of that we do typical letter worksheets typically around 4 and a half, but I really feel like this varies by kid a ton.
Word Wizard (iOS, Android) was great for spelling practice, as it has all of the Dolche sight words built in, although I'm currently considering replacing it since we don't like how it sounds out words (even when we turn off the setting) and how the child can guess until they get it right, without needing to put in the right answer and submit it. Spelling Shed is looking like a potentially superior alternative.
As far as other reading apps go:
Honestly, I'm quite dissatisfied with my apps for teaching phonics to kids, I've tried like 10 different apps for it, but haven't found any other than Poio that actually seem to grab a kid's attention, and Poio simply doesn't get very far into phonics. If anyone has recommendations, I'd love to hear them. I'd probably even be willing to do some with subscriptions, although it's worth noting none of the apps I've listed so far except SplashLearn are subscription-based.
Endless Reader | 4.4 rating | Free with IAP | 500,000+ downloads | Search manually
> As a follow-up to Endless Alphabet, set the stage for early reading success with Endless Reader! This app introduces "sight words", the most commonly used words in school, library, and children's books. Kids need to ...
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