BabySparks - Development App

As a stay at home mom of a 5 month old and a 2 1/2 year old, this app helps add fun and learning into our days. It also makes me feel like I am able to bond with each of my girls individually where they are at developmentally. I love that you can mark your favorite activities or tell the app when an activity is either too easy or to difficult for your child. If you mark an activity as being too easy it will take it out of the rotation. If you mark an activity as too difficult it will add it back into the rotation in 3 weeks. As a sleep deprived, busy mom who also wants to engage with her children, this app does all the thinking for me. When we have some free time all I have to do is go to today’s program and there is a list of fun, amazing ways to use that time while also fostering growth and development. I also love how it breaks down each activity into categories of Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognitive, Speech, Self Care and Social/Emotional activities. Keep up the great work BabySparks!

BabySparks is great! No new parent needs to pressure themselves too much because most of these activities simulate normal day-to-day interaction and play that most great parents do with their baby. However, I’m one of those people who will get stuck in a rut and end up doing the same 5 activities with baby over and over every day. This app provides a wide range of activities to vary your playtime. I love that the activity descriptions are clear, the link to the various developmental milestones is described right there in the activity and every activity has an accompanying video. The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because of a very slight misstep in the UI. It is mildly annoying that when you look at an activity it stops you on your way back to the main list to ask how the activity was. I like to look at the daily activities first thing in the morning and get an idea of what we’re going to try that day and again would be nice not to have to click extra times to get back to the main list. It’s an unnecessary step. It’s a small thing but over time feels cumbersome. Slightly more thought on how much button pushing is required in this app would make it a 5-star treat for every new parent!

First time mommy here. I was at lost with what to do with my newborn. Initially, I YouTubed things to do, but I was looking for a convenient app that would give day by day exercises in both motor skills and brain development. Also, I wanted to be able to track what was completed or not. I was shocked to discover this app. The instructions are clear and easy to follow with a video demonstrating each activity. I wish I had this from the day she was born, and not at 7 weeks. I saw a difference after a couple days in her motor skill after doing the exercises suggested. I love how you can archive a skill as too easy once your child masters it, or to difficult if she is not ready for it. Yes this app is expensive, but I think it's worth the lifetime membership. You can use it for multiple children if you plan on having another.

ask user to change the rating

Update: The developer did respond to my email by telling me to delete and download the app again. I was able to access the paid videos. However I still have to log in every time I try to use it and logging in requires typing in your full email and password. When you have a baby ready to play it’s incredibly inconvenient and prevents me from using it much. For an almost $40 app (I have never paid this much for an app), it is not worth it. Despite paying the lifetime subscription, the subscription videos are locked and when I click on them, I am told to purchase a subscription again. When I look in the app to see my purchase history, it had no record of my purchase. However, I have an Apple receipt for the subscription and when I purchased it, it worked for a few days. In addition, I am constantly signed out and there is no option to save log in info or use fingerprint log in. As result I have to type my email and password every time. I have contacted the developer but so far I have received no response. There should be option to refund apps that do not work.

Overall, it is a useful app; it helps with your child development and gives you idea what you can actually do with them. There’s a couple things that annoy me though. A new day starts at 12am, after which you can’t add or change anything in the previous day (check any completed exercises for instance). Often, I don’t have time for it before 12am. Thus, at the end of the day it is as if we’ve done nothing... and then at the end of the week, when they send you a report, they kind of rebuke you (in a very delicate form) for not doing enough with your child. The other thing, it would’ve been so great if you could substitute exercises. Let’s say you can’t do this particular one today (you don't have the right equipment, your child is not in the mood, or you just don’t like the idea of doing it, etc.), and you do something else instead. You want it to count. Since you can’t, again it looks like you’ve accomplished nothing.