PBPhonics 1 to 32.4 - App Store

PBPhonics is for adults and young adults studying basic English literacy, including those learning English as a second language. It offers students the opportunity to:

1. Hear the phonemes that make up a word
2. Hear those phonemes run together to make the word
3. Hear the whole word
4. Record themselves speaking the word and compare their recording with PBPhonics
5. Take tests matching word sounds to their written form

Instruction is provided through animated gestures, with no dependence on written or spoken instructions. The vocabulary and test complexity start simply and automatically adapt as the student passes tests and gains confidence. Teachers may also choose appropriate levels and review student progress on the ⓘ screen.

PBPhonics 1 to 3 contains 18 phonemes in 3 sets (S,A,T,I,P,N; CK,E,H,R,M,D; and G,O,U,L,F,B). These are used to build 278 words. Some words have pictures and others have spoken sentences to provide context. The words and phonemes have an Australian accent, and have been recorded with multiple voices for variety. Teachers may replace word and phoneme sounds with their own recordings.

When students have mastered all 18 phonemes, they may move to PBPhonics 1 to 7. This more than doubles the material, for a total of 42 phonemes and 619 words. PBPhonics 1 to 7 is a separate app; PBPhonics 1 to 3 does not ask for any In-App Purchases.

Version History - iPhones were playing sounds as though the iPhone were being used as a phone and held up to the user's ear. Fixed so sounds play at normal speaker volume on iPhones.
- Sounds will play through external speakers, if connected.
- Improved compatibility with more recent iOS versions. 2.4 09/18/2023 - Edited audio for better clarity
- Better fit on screens with curved corners
- Application launch is more stable 2.3 04/15/2021 - Improved stability on iOS 13. 2.2 04/18/2020 - Improved feedback when completing a test unlocks more words.
- Makes full use of all iPad, iPhone and iPod touch screen sizes.
- Improved use of landscape orientation on iPad.
- Allows Split View on supporting iPads.
- Can switch to landscape on iPhone and iPod touch. 2.1 01/06/2017 - Adds speech practice: say a word, then hear it played back in sequence with the PBPhonics recordings.
(On the first launch after installing this update, PBPhonics will request permission to use the microphone.)
- Screens have more contrast and more space between buttons.
- Updated for iOS 8.
- Updated for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus screen sizes. 2.0 11/18/2014 - Updated screen layout for iOS 7.
- Revised the vocabulary to replace words that weren't truly phonetic.
- Replaced most phonemes that ended with a "schwa" sound.
- Fixed sounds that were too short, too long, too quiet or too indistinct.
- Early tests are shorter. (In previous versions, tests always took 12 words to fill. Now, they may fill in 6 or 9 words.)
- New administrator control panel. Teachers may review recent performance, limit the vocabulary, or change the test size. 1.5 10/25/2013 - More pictures (92 of 293 words have pictures)
- More detailed help gestures
- Removed non-phonetic word "solid"
- Fills iPhone 5 screen 1.4 05/18/2013 - More voices
- More pictures (70 of the 294 words have pictures)
- Descriptive phrases (134 of the 294 words have phrases) 1.3 05/04/2012 - Words appearing in early tests are more diverse ('an' and 'Ann' no longer appear in the first 'a' test)
- More voices
- Option to change the time between tutorial finger appearances, or hide it completely
- Tutorial finger points to test sooner 1.2 10/06/2011 - More variety in tests
- More consistent speech volume
- The word "salt" has been removed (not truly phonetic)
- Allows custom speech files
- Typeface updated from Andika Basic to Andika 1.0 1.1 08/10/2011 1.0 07/11/2011