Spelling StreamHelp Center
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Subscription & billing
How much is Pro, and is there a free trial?
Pro is US$19.99 a year or US$1.99 a month. The yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, one per Apple or Google account, and if you cancel before the trial ends you're never charged.
The monthly plan has no trial.
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How do I cancel my subscription?
Apple or Google hold the subscription, not us, so cancelling happens in their settings. Parent Center › Subscription › Manage Subscription opens the right one, or go straight there: on iPhone and iPad it's Settings › your name › Subscriptions, on Android Play Store › your profile › Payments & subscriptions.
Pro keeps running until the end of the period you paid for, and nothing on the device is deleted when it stops.
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How do I get a refund?
Apple and Google handle refunds, because they took the payment and we never see your card. On iPhone or iPad go to reportaproblem.apple.com, on Android use Google Play's refund page.
If the store turns you down and you think it shouldn't have, email us and we'll help you push it.
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I paid for Pro but the app still says Free
Open Parent Center › Subscription and tap Restore Purchases. It asks the store to look again, and it only finds a plan bought with the App Store or Google account this device is signed in to.
If you bought Pro on the other kind of device, an iPhone plan for an Android tablet say, it reaches this one with an activation code instead.
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Can one subscription cover the whole family?
Yes. One plan covers the phones and tablets in your house, iPhone, iPad and Android together, on up to 5 devices connected with an activation code.
On Apple devices, Family Sharing carries it as well, so an iPad in your family group can simply restore it.
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What happens to my lists if Pro ends?
They stay on the device. Anything past Free's 1 list of 10 words and 1 profile is locked until Pro comes back, and the extra profiles are saved, so nothing has to be typed in again.
The cloud copy is different: it's deleted 30 days after the subscription ends unless you resubscribe.
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Subscription says "Managed on your other device"
The plan was bought through the other store, so this device can't change it. Open Spelling Stream on the phone or tablet you bought it on and go to Parent Center › Subscription.
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I have a promo code. Where do I enter it?
Codes apply to the yearly plan. On iPhone or iPad, open the App Store, tap your Apple ID, then Redeem Gift Card or Code.
On Android the code goes on Google's own payment screen: pick the yearly plan in the app, tap your payment method, then choose Redeem code.
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Devices & sync
How do I get Pro onto my child's tablet? PRO
On the device that already has Pro, open Parent Center › Activate Another Device and pick the kind of device you're setting up to get an eight-digit code. On the tablet, open Parent Center › Activate This Device and type it in.
A code lasts 5 minutes and connects one device, and nobody signs in on the tablet.
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What does Cloud Sync sync? PRO
Spelling lists, profiles, stars, stickers and progress, so every device your family uses shows the same thing. Sign in with the same account on each one.
Voice recordings, photos and the PIN stay on the device that made them and are never synced.
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Should I sign in with Apple or Google?
Google, if you have both kinds of device, because Sign in with Apple only syncs between Apple devices. A device that can't sign in at all, like a child's tablet, joins with an activation code instead.
Either way it's one account, and you can add the other sign-in to it later from Parent Center › Cloud Sync.
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The activation code didn't work
The app isn't told which check failed, so go through them in order: the digits were mistyped, more than five minutes passed, a newer code was made on the other device (only the newest one works), or this code already set up a device (each works once).
If the other device's plan has lapsed, or the plan already covers 5 devices, no code will work until that changes. Free a slot under Parent Center › Cloud Sync › Connected Devices.
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How do I disconnect a device I no longer have?
Go to Parent Center › Cloud Sync › Connected Devices and tap Disconnect on it. That device goes back to Free and stops syncing, its lists stay on it, and connecting it again needs a new code.
Two iPads show as two identical rows, so if you're not sure which is which, disconnect one and see which device drops to Free.
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"Some Pro features are paused on this device"
The red box means the App Store or Google Play hasn't confirmed with a parent that the age on this account was set on purpose. Nothing has been deleted, and Cloud Sync and Enhanced Voice come back on their own once a parent or legal guardian confirms it.
The steps for iPhone, iPad and Android are on the age settings page below, and the reason we check at all is under Why does the app check the age on the account?
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It says "Not syncing yet" and asks which copy to keep
This device already had lists and progress on it before you signed in, and the app can't tell whether they belong to the account. So it asks you.
Keep what's on this device adds them to the account and your other devices. Use what's in the account replaces them with the account's copy, and that can't be undone.
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I signed in and my lists are gone
You've signed in to a different account, and a different Apple or Google account is a separate, empty one. Sign out under Parent Center › Cloud Sync and sign back in with the one you used first.
Two accounts can't be merged, so the lists are wherever the original sign-in is.
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Does signing out delete anything?
No. Your lists, stars and stickers stay on the device and sync again the next time you sign in.
The one change is on a device that was set up with a code: signing out turns Pro off there, and it needs a fresh code to come back.
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Can I sign in with an email and password?
Yes. Open Parent Center › Cloud Sync › Link another way to sign in and add an email and password to the account you already have.
We email a link to confirm the address, so use one you can reach. It's how a forgotten password gets reset.
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Getting started
How do I add my child's spelling list?
Open Parent Center › Spelling Lists › Create list. Type the words, say them out loud and let dictation catch them, or hold the camera over the sheet that came home and let it read them.
All three are free, and you can fix any word afterwards.
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Where is the Parent Center and how do I unlock it?
Tap the cog tile on the home screen. Until you set a PIN it asks a math problem a young child can't solve, and after that it's your PIN or Face ID, Touch ID or fingerprint.
It locks itself again the moment the app goes back to a kid screen. The reason there's a gate at all is under Why does the app ask a math question before settings?
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Does it come with word lists?
No, on purpose. The words come from your child's teacher, so the list in the app is whatever came home this week, and your child practices the words they'll be tested on rather than a generic word bank.
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What's free and what needs Pro?
Free gets you one list, with its first 10 words in tests and games, one profile, every game and test, your own voice recordings, the common stickers and the Ocean theme.
Pro adds up to 100 lists of 50 words, a profile for each child, Cloud Sync, Focus Words, Letter Distractors, real-world prizes, and all the stickers and themes. It's US$19.99 a year or US$1.99 a month.
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What ages is it for?
Elementary school, roughly 5 to 12. You type in the list yourself, so the difficulty is whatever your child is working on this week rather than a fixed grade level.
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Which phones and tablets does it run on?
iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets, on iOS 17 or Android 11 and newer. On a tablet the layout spreads out to use the room.
Amazon Fire tablets aren't supported yet. If that's what your child uses, tell us, because how soon we get there depends on how many families ask.
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Does it work without internet?
Yes, for everything your child does: practice, tests, games, the word lists and your recordings all run on the device with no signal at all.
A connection is used for Cloud Sync if you've turned it on, crash reports, anonymous usage if you've turned that on, dictation while you're using it, and on Android some of the spoken voices.
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How do I set up a profile for each child? PRO
Open Parent Center › Profiles and tap Create profile. Each one keeps its own stars, stickers, progress and assigned list, while the spelling lists themselves are shared.
The active profile is chosen per device, so a tablet and a phone can be on different kids. Free keeps one profile, and Pro saves the rest.
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Lists & words
Why does my child only see 10 words?
Free uses the first 10 words of one list in tests and games. Pro opens the whole list, up to 50 words, and up to 100 lists, so a longer list is ready the moment you subscribe.
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How do I record a word in my own voice?
Open the list in Parent Center › Spelling Lists, tap the mic beside a word, and say it. That recording is what your child hears for the word in every test and game, and it's free and unlimited on every plan.
Recordings stay on the device that made them and are never uploaded, even with Cloud Sync, so record again on another device if you want your voice there too.
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How do I change the voice that reads the words?
Open Parent Center › Voice Settings, pick a Standard Voice and tap Preview. Phones ship with a basic voice, and Apple and Google both give away better ones. The page has a button to the setting where you download them.
On Android, a "network" voice sends the text of each word to Google to be spoken, and an offline voice sends nothing.
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The voice says a word wrong
Record it yourself. Tap the mic beside the word in Parent Center › Spelling Lists, say it, and your recording plays instead of any voice, in every test and game.
For the rest of the list, a better downloaded voice under Parent Center › Voice Settings helps.
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How do I assign a list to my child?
Each profile uses one list at a time. Open the list in Parent Center › Spelling Lists, tap Assign, and pick the profile.
A list assigned to nobody shows up for nobody, which is the usual reason a new list isn't appearing on your child's device.
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How do I edit or delete a list?
Open Parent Center › Spelling Lists and tap the list to add words, fix a spelling or record one. The list's menu has Delete list, which removes its words and their recordings with it.
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What are Focus Words and how do I turn them on? PRO
Words your child keeps missing come first in practice and games, until each one is spelled right three times in a row. Turn it on under Parent Center › Focus Words, where Focus Words with Repeat also brings a hard word back later in the same session (never in a test).
It's off until you turn it on, and the record of misses stays on the device.
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What are Letter Distractors? PRO
In games where your child picks the next letter, the wrong letters on offer are the ones children genuinely mix up for that word, rather than random ones, so the answer can't be found by ruling things out.
There's nothing to switch on. It comes with Pro, and grading doesn't change.
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Stars, stickers & prizes
How do real-world prizes work? PRO
Open Parent Center › Real World Prizes, name the prize (extra screen time, a trip to the park) and set how many stars it costs. Your child buys it with the stars they earn.
Once they do, it shows as claimed. Mark it fulfilled after you've handed it over and it can be earned again.
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How does my child earn and spend stars?
Stars come from finishing tests and games. Your child spends them in the reward shop on stickers and themes, and on any real-world prizes you've set up.
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Can I lock the sticker board until they pass the test?
Yes. Open Parent Center › Sticker Board › Grade requirement and pick the Final Test score they need.
It applies to every profile, and your child sees a friendly locked screen on the board until they reach it.
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How do I turn off celebrations or sounds?
Two switches. Parent Center › Celebrations turns off the end-of-game animation (stars and completion messages still show), and Parent Center › Sounds silences the taps and chimes everywhere in the app.
The voice that reads the words has its own page, Voice Settings, and isn't affected by either.
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Which stickers and themes are free?
The common stickers and the Ocean theme come with Free. Pro adds the uncommon and rare stickers and the Galaxy and Candy themes.
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How we protect your family
Why does the app ask a math question before settings?
Apple and Google require every kids' app to put a grown-ups-only check in front of settings, purchases, and anything that leads outside the app, and children's privacy law is the reason those rules exist. The math question is that check until you set a PIN.
Nothing you type at the gate is collected. Set a PIN under Parent Center › Security and the math question goes away.
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Why are profiles, purchases and settings locked away from my child?
The same rules that require the gate say nothing that costs money or leads out of the app can be reachable from a screen a child uses. So the kid side has no links out, no ads and no chat, and profiles, prizes, settings and the subscription all sit behind the Parent Center.
It also means a five-year-old can't delete this week's list by accident.
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Why do I sign in with my account and not my child's?
Consent has to come from a parent, so Cloud Sync signs in with your own Apple or Google account and never a child's. A child's account can't sign in at all.
Your child's tablet joins with an eight-digit code from your device instead, so nothing is typed on it and no account is created for them.
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Why does the app check the age on the account?
The App Store and Google Play tell the app the age range set on the account and whether a parent confirmed it, which is what app-store age laws like Texas's require them to pass along. When the account is set to a child's age and no parent has confirmed that, Cloud Sync and Enhanced Voice pause rather than move a child's data anywhere without confirmed consent.
Nothing is deleted, and the fix is a confirmation rather than a birthday. The age settings page walks through it for iPhone, iPad and Android.
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Does Focus Words track my child? PRO
It remembers which words your child got right and wrong, and uses that for one thing: putting the shaky words first. It's off until you turn it on, subscribing to Pro doesn't turn it on, and you're asked once, in plain words.
The record stays on the device unless you use Cloud Sync, and it's never used for advertising.
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Why don't my voice recordings sync?
A recording of your voice counts as biometric data under the updated COPPA rule, so it stays on the device that made it, even with Cloud Sync on. We'd rather not hold it at all than hold it carefully.
If you want your voice on the tablet too, record the words there.
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Why are there no ads, chat or leaderboards?
The app is built for kids, so there's nothing from other users, nothing sold to a child, and nothing on a kid screen that leaves the app. The only thing that costs money is Pro, and it sits behind the parent gate.
A spelling list from school is the whole feed.
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What does Spelling Stream collect about my child?
Nothing to advertise to them or build a profile: no name, no email, no advertising identifiers. Lists, recordings and progress stay on the device.
Crash reports are always on and carry technical data only. Anonymous usage counts are off until you turn them on, and Cloud Sync is optional, Pro, and switched on by you.
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Is it COPPA compliant?
Yes. In practice that means no ads, no data sold or shared for marketing, a parent gate in front of anything that costs money or leaves the app, and consent through your own account before anything about your child leaves the device.
The privacy policy spells out each service we use and what it sees.
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Are voice recordings or photos ever uploaded?
Never. Your recordings and any photo of a list stay on the device that made them, and Cloud Sync leaves them alone even when everything else syncs.
A photo is read on the device and dropped once the words are in.
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How do I set a PIN or Face ID?
Open Parent Center › Security › Set PIN and choose four digits. Then turn on Face ID, Touch ID or fingerprint on the same screen, and you won't type anything at all.
Until a PIN exists, a math problem guards the Parent Center.
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Is usage analytics on, and how do I change it?
Off, unless you turned it on. The switch is Parent Center › Legal & Privacy › Share anonymous usage, and it counts which features get used, never names or spelling words.
Crash reports stay on for everyone so the app stays stable, and they carry technical data only.
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How do I delete everything?
Open Parent Center › Delete All Data. It wipes every profile, list, star, sticker and recording on this device, and the cloud copy too if you sync.
Other devices keep their own copies, so run it on each one. It doesn't cancel the subscription, which you cancel in the App Store or Google Play separately.
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How do I delete my cloud account?
Open Parent Center › Cloud Sync, scroll to Danger Zone and tap Delete Account. It deletes the cloud account and everything synced to it, signs this device out and returns it to Free.
Device-only settings like your PIN stay, and you may be asked to sign in again first to confirm it's you.
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Troubleshooting
I forgot my PIN
Tap Forgot PIN on the lock screen. A harder math problem lets you in (grab a calculator, it's meant to be hard).
Then open Parent Center › Security, remove the old PIN and set a new one.
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The microphone isn't working
Check the app has permission. On iPhone or iPad that's Settings › Spelling Stream › Microphone, on Android Settings › Apps › Spelling Stream › Permissions › Microphone.
If it's allowed and still nothing, restart the app. If that doesn't do it, email us the device and its OS version.
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Photo scan can't read my list
Hold the camera directly above the page in good light, and crop to just the list. Printed text scans far better than handwriting.
Before you shoot, check the two options: Capital letters and One word per line. Whatever comes through, every word can be fixed by hand afterwards.
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The app crashed
Restart the app, and if it happens again, restart the device. Crash reports reach us automatically, so it's already on our list.
If it keeps happening, email us what you were doing, the device and its OS version, and the app version from Parent Center › Legal & Privacy.
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Subscription options won't load
The App Store or Google Play didn't answer, which usually passes in a minute. Try again, and make sure the device is signed in to its store.
If it stays that way, email us and say which device it is.
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My child's device shows no words
The list isn't assigned to the profile that's active on that device. Open Parent Center › Spelling Lists, open the list, tap Assign and pick the profile.
Then check the active profile under Parent Center › Profiles, since it's chosen per device.
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Progress isn't showing on my other device
Open Parent Center › Cloud Sync on both devices and look at Sync Status, then tap Sync Now. Both need to be signed in to the same account with the subscription confirmed, and if it says it couldn't confirm, tap Restore Purchases.
A device that's offline catches up on its own once it's back on Wi-Fi.
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Restore Purchases finds nothing
Restore only finds a plan bought on the same App Store or Google account this device is signed in to. That's normal when the plan was bought on the other kind of device.
In that case, get an activation code from the device that has Pro, under Parent Center › Activate Another Device, and type it here under Activate This Device.
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Still stuck?
Email us and a person replies. Include your device, the app version from Parent Center › Legal & Privacy, and what you expected to happen.
Email support Replies in 1–2 business days, Monday to Friday