I had the privilege today to get a sneak peek at a new site that’s going to make finding the best apps for kids so much easier. It’s a game changer for the way we find the best apps for our kids!
After spending a year talking to parents, teachers and specialists in special education, Siva from Technology in Special Education (already one of the leading sites in the category) will soon launch a new site called AppyMall.
AppyMall is a shopping mall for kids’ apps, with multiple “AppyStores” within it. And each AppyStore is stocked with apps that are appropriate for that store.
Apps Categorized by Age Level and Category
Most consumers don’t realize that Apple’s “4+” category isn’t an indication of age appropriateness. It’s actually an indication that the app content doesn’t include violence and bad language. So parents are often surprised when they download a “4+” app and it’s “too old” for their child!
AppyMall categorizes apps age appropriately and by age and category.
The mall will launch with 5 anchor stores or “AppyStores” including: the Preschool AppyStore, Elementary School AppyStore, Middle School AppyStore, Speech and Language AppyStore and Special Needs AppyStore.
Each AppyStore will have a comprehensive stock of apps and it will highlight select apps chosen by Siva and his expert team as being exceptional in a category.
Find Apps that Support IEP Goals and Beyond
But that’s not all. In addition to having the apps sitting within relevant AppyStores so they are easy to find, the apps are also categorized by education goals. Goals like comprehension, decoding, counting, and more.
Fantastic for parents of any child working on an education goal, whether they have special needs or not.
As the mother of a dyslexic child, this is really exciting for me because I’ll be able to go in and search for apps that will help him learn-play on decoding, comprehension, fluency, etc.
Search that Works
In addition to this, AppyMall makes searching for apps easier than ever. You know how when you type in an app name in the App Store, if you don’t type the spelling perfectly or don’t know the exact name of an app, you might not find it in the App Store? AppyMall has Smart Searching so you find what you are looking for.
This Site Becomes Your Personal Shopper
And that’s not all! You can also personalize your experience on the mall if you want by tagging apps as “I Like It” “I Own It” and “I want it”. And the beauty of “I Want It” is you create your own “watch list” so you’ll be notified if an app on your “I Want It” list goes on sale! How great is that?
Boutique Specialty Stores
Finally, I have to point out something else about another type of specialty stores in this mall that Siva is developing. He has expert curators creating lists of their favorite apps.
For example, hearing teacher, Tina Childress has curated a list of apps for people with hearing loss.
Doors Open – August 2, 2012
I can’t wait until this mall opens in August! Visit www.appymall.com Mark your calendars and check out this AppyMall!
“Digital Kid’s Author,” Karen Robertson writes, speaks and coaches about book apps for kids and she’s the author of the award-winning storybook app, “Treasure Kai and the Lost Gold of Shark Island.” http://www.digitalkidsauthor.com
This is a really excellent read personally, Must admit that you are one of the finest bloggers I ever saw. We truly stumbled about this on yahoo, and im happy Used to do. I’ll definitely be coming back again.
Thanks for this idea – as an SLP always getting questions about what apps are good and looking for resources!