Alpha English support
How the app works, how to print the cards, and what to do when something is not behaving. If the answer is not here, write and ask.
The first session
- Download and open There is no account to make and no email to enter. The app is usable the moment it finishes downloading, with or without a connection.
- Set the app language On first launch, choose the language the grown-up reads: English, Español, Tiếng Việt or ไทย. The letters, words and audio stay English. You can change this later in the For parents area.
- Start at Stage 0 Sight words come before letters. Six of them, and they take a few minutes. Do not skip ahead to Stage 1 on a first sitting.
- Sit beside them, at least at first Say each sound with the child. Ask what sound does it make?, never what letter is that? Letter names do not blend into words.
- Stop when they want to stop Progress is saved as you go, on the device. A stage picks up where it was left.
What is in a stage
Every stage runs the same four parts in the same order, so a child knows what is coming: Learn, Match and trace, Say, then a Story built only from sounds already taught.
A wrong tap marks the tile red for well under a second, then the stage carries on. Nothing is blocked, no attempt is failed, and nobody is sent back to the start.
- Stage 0 · sight wordsI a the is to we
- Stage 1s a t p i n
- Stage 2c k e h r m d
- Stage 3g o u l f b
- Stage 4j v w x y z q
That is World 1, the alphabet. Letters are grouped by how many words they unlock, not by the order they sit in the alphabet.
The For parents area
Everything meant for a grown-up sits behind one arithmetic question, with the numbers spelled out in words so a pre-reader cannot pass it. There is no password to set or remember.
Which sounds are secure and which need another look, printed on the page as soon as it opens. Nothing to generate, no dashboard to learn.
The card decks, in A4 or US Letter. See the section below.
English, Español, Tiếng Việt or ไทย for the grown-up facing screens. The teaching content stays English.
Turn the app's audio on or off. With sound off the app cannot teach sounds, so this is meant for quiet rooms, not permanent use.
A4 or US Letter, applied to every deck you export.
Controls the Say step. Optional: every other part of the app works with it off.
Clears progress and the child's name, and returns the app to a first launch state. It cannot be undone, and there is no copy anywhere else to restore from.
Printing the cards
The decks are generated from the same source the app teaches from, so the letters, the example words and the letterforms on paper match the screen exactly.
- Open the For parents area Answer the arithmetic question, then choose Printable cards.
- Set the paper size A4 or US Letter, before you export. Changing it afterwards means exporting again.
- Tap a deck iOS opens the share sheet. Save to Files, mail it to yourself, or send it straight to an AirPrint printer.
- Print at 100% Turn off Fit to page or Scale to fit in the print dialog. Scaling shrinks the letterforms, which is the one thing the cards exist to get right.
Card stock or plain paper both work. Teachers and schools: the decks are free to copy and use in class, and you do not need to ask. If you want a deck that does not exist yet, or a different paper size, write and ask.
When something is not working
Check the silent switch on the side of the device first, then the volume, then Sound in the For parents area. If the device is connected to headphones or a speaker it may be playing there.
Open iOS Settings → Alpha English and turn Microphone on. If you would rather not, turn the microphone off in the For parents area instead and the app will stop asking. Everything else still works.
A stylus, a glove, or a screen protector with a lifted edge can all interrupt touch. Try a bare finger on a clean screen.
Exporting needs a little free storage to write the file. If the device is nearly full, iOS cancels it silently. Free some space and try again.
Progress lives only on the device. Deleting the app, resetting in the For parents area, or moving to a new device all clear it, and there is no backup to restore from. That is the same decision that keeps the app account free.
For parents → App language. If the teaching content looks English and you expected a translation, that is deliberate: the words and audio are the subject being taught.
Write to support@codingphantom.com with the device, the iOS version, and what happened just before. A real person reads it.
Common questions
Is it really free?
Yes. No price, no subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads, and no stages held back behind a payment. The families this was built for are the ones least able to pay for it.
Does it need an internet connection?
Only to download. After that the audio, artwork, stories and card decks all live inside the app, and it makes no network requests at all.
What age is it for?
It is rated 4+ and built for young children first, which is why the pictures and voice are simple and friendly. The method underneath, hear the sounds then blend them, is how reading is taught at any age, so an older learner is not doing the wrong thing by using it.
Does my child need to speak English already?
No, and that is the point. Every word comes with a picture, because guessing a word from the sentence around it is not available to a learner who does not have the vocabulary yet. Meaning arrives with the spelling.
Why not teach A, B, C in order?
Alphabetical order is for looking things up. It has never been a teaching order. The first six sounds, s a t p i n, make more real words than any other six, so a child reads a real word in the first session rather than waiting for the letter T.
My child says "ess" instead of the s sound.
That is the letter name, and it does not blend into anything: read as names, cat becomes see ay tee. Ask what sound does it make? rather than what letter is that? The app never says a letter name aloud, so hearing it usually means it came from elsewhere.
Is the voice a real person?
Yes. Every sound is recorded by a human. Text to speech mangles sounds in isolation, and asked for s a synthesiser says ess, which is the exact habit the app exists to prevent.
Does the app judge my child's accent?
No. The Say step checks that they spoke, never how closely they matched a native speaker. An accent is not a mistake.
Can I use it on more than one device?
Yes, but progress does not travel between them, because there is no account holding it. Each device keeps its own.
Can two children share one device?
Not with separate progress, at the moment. The app tracks one learner per device. If sharing would help you, write and say so, since that is how features get prioritised here.
Can I use it in a classroom?
Yes. Nothing needs a licence, nothing needs sign-in, and the printable decks are free to copy for class use. It works on a school iPad with no Wi-Fi, and on a shared device passed between children.
What data does the app collect?
None. No account, no email, no analytics, no crash trackers of our own. A child's first name can be typed in to personalise the screens, and it never leaves the device. The privacy policy spells this out in full.
Still stuck?
Write to us. Every message is read by a person, usually answered within two working days.
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