I’m a huge fan of Sparkle Stories and so is my 5-year-old. We use this app daily on my iPhone 6 with very few issues. Navigation, once you get the hang of it, is ok. We listen exclusively almost exclusively to Martin and Sylvia right now, so I wish there were an easy way to browse ALL of those series under a main M&S heading. But! I know where to find things when I need them, now that I’ve been using it for awhile. I can adapt. :)My main issue is with the “offline” / storybox mode, which, with an upcoming car trip, is bugging me. For example: if we are at home, with wifi, stories load right away and stream with no problem. But if I put a story in our storybox and try to play it in the car, it takes just as long to load as if I were streaming from the car - several minutes. Which, when you think of what was possible just 10 or 15 years ago or even 25, when I was a child? It’s amazing. But what’s not amazing is waiting and waiting for something you’ve supposedly synced (or is it synced? I’m not clear on the logistics) to load. My biggest hope is for an improvement in this area.We’ve never had an issue with the app crashing or starting stories over or anything else. They play beautifully once loaded. Thank you for all the work you’ve put into this app!!

Sparkle Stories are my favourite source of stories for my children and have been since they were little. The stories mesmerize ages 4 and continue to hold the interest of my 11-year old. I recommend starting with the Martin and Sylvia series for most children. Then as attention spans develop moving to some of the other stories, including Saturday Sparkle (a great alternative to cartoons! or a foundation for a main lesson if you homeschool). My 11-year-pld engjoys the Violet Crown series and still enjoys some Martin and Sylvia. My favourite, favourite are the By Thistle By Thimble which read like modern-day fairytales with lots of powerful female characters and adventure without violence. You are always safe to know that the Sparkle Stories world will take care of your children: never violent, aggressive, or exploitive, the characters find their way through real-life and bigger-than-life adventure to satisfying endings. At the end your children will be calmer and happier and nicer from listening.The app leaves a few things to be desired: Searching and sorting are the big ones. It's hard to find and set-it-up so that series (particularly the older kids series) are searchable and then play, in order. The connectivity isn't great (but where I live it's never great) and it's impossible to download most of the stories too. It's worth it though because once the kinks are worked out, you are left with thousands of the best, riches, and most enjoyable stories you could every want for a family.

The most wonderful app that has been written in my life time even know what’s been on the each year has passed when my life time has been gloomy sparkle stories bring wonder to the world from young kids to old kids to grown-ups to grandparents I think this is a wonderful app for all ages no matter how old you are you are going to love this app some problems but they are tiny I love this app and to David himself I say you have a beautiful voice and I love your stories this is a wonderful app I am only eight years old but I believe that I will continue loving this app for as long as I live so thank you so much for making it is an absolute wonder and well that’s about it so goodbye thanks for listening to my review sincerely Estelle!

No reviews have been posted since they updated the app in late 2025 early 2026. We are long time listeners (10+ years). We’re sad to say the new app update has made a once wonderful family experience into some of the most frustrating moments.The update removed the ability to listen to a single story at a time, adding a timer feature (which is a great concept), and would have been amazing in tandem with single play mode.The search feature hardly works anymore, often turning up the most irrelevant story suggestions, and when you do get the correct story or chapter of stories, they are listed out of order, which means when playing via a timer or continuous mode the stories then play out of order.We can also no longer tell what stories have been played or listen too.The history feature lacks actual story history or correct history, when clicking into a story from the history section you can no longer click through to the chapter or book of stories that go with it. If you’re a Sonos user this update is much like the Sonos 2024 debacle. I really hope repair and reversal is in the works for this app and its creators. I’d hate to see this major update that they were so proud of turn into the downfall of over a decades worth of creation. Please please, just give us the old app back!I’ll happily update this review if fixes are made :)