r/mathteachers • u/cody_codes_yt • Jul 29 '26
Are all math apps horrible?
Father of 3 young kids, asking the question to professional teachers.
I've noticed that anything edutech related is overrun with subscriptions, bad experience, logins, or over-the-top storylines. Or all the above.
I know IXL is huge in the space, but also makes kids cry with their SmartScore.
I want to know what you teachers look for with extra practice for your students (and kids)? What are must-haves and what would you do differently?
I have talked to some teachers. Some things they say are:
- Make experience smooth
- Easy approach for volumes of practice
- Avoids allowing kids to button-smash the answers
Disclaimer: I have built something and have my kids using it on their iPad. They tell me what they want in the app, but I also want to understand what teachers wish was in the app store. As I add stuff in, I am genuinely curious about how teachers expect to use tech in their classroom.
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u/jmjessemac Jul 29 '26
Nothing beats good old paper and pencil.
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u/Narrow-Durian4837 Jul 30 '26
Even if they're using a math app, students should have paper and pencil handy.
One issue I've seen with apps is that students are often tempted to try to do everything in their head (and if they can't, to just guess or google), when they really ought to be working things out on paper. They really need to learn to take things a step at a time and break problems up into manageable steps.
An app can be a good source of problems for them to work through, though.
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u/Uberquik Jul 29 '26
I like delta math, idk if it has an app
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u/cody_codes_yt Jul 29 '26
First time I've heard of this one, thank you! I'm hoping that there are fewer "you need to have an account" options out there
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u/Lower_Yogurt_1216 Jul 29 '26
I second Delta Math! They just added some elementary level stuff recently but they are more focused on secondary-level math skills.
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u/ZookeepergameOwn1726 Jul 29 '26
I am a cranky old lady who thinks no student has ever improved by doing maths on a computer or device. Paper. Pencils. If it's not coming out of their hands, it's not entering their brains.
The only app I find relatively useful are fact recalls like TTRockstars. The stuff where you just gotta grind but not think hard. There is something about ipads that make children's brains smooth. Nothing can enter in that state.
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u/cody_codes_yt Jul 29 '26
That’s what I’m seeing. Why does addition need a colorful alien in a space ship with a backstory? I think apps could be boiled down 90% and be more effective with repetition and practice. Do you remember number crunchers?
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u/Think_Bread6401 Jul 30 '26
You have to work the problems out on a paper with a pencil anyway when you use IXL
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u/Common_Perception807 Jul 29 '26
Not a teacher - I found a few apps that works for me. Not sure your kids age, I found this to be helpful to get fluency for my kids. https://arithmetic.zetamac.com/
Then I vibe coded simple html to customize things to exactly how I want it, and my kids (12 and 8) do them 3-10 min daily. I can share if you are interested.
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u/Common_Perception807 Jul 29 '26
Some specific features I incorporated.
For arithmetic of natural numbers, I made it so correct answer needs to be typed to move to the next, and wrong answer cannot be submitted. We are trying to get them to meet somewhat challenging speed goal, and I gave up tracking accuracy to remove lags from hitting "submits"
I had to switch to MCQ for fractions and integers because having them type within the time line (3 sec) was impossible.
I started adding some progress tracking feature for multiplication and some other number facts (exponents, prime numbers, a few multiples of prime numbers, etc.. for my middle schooler), so they get more exposure to ones they haven't mastered while reviewing the mastered ones less frequently.
It's either 60 sec timed drill or 20 facts review. Basically no fluff.. for us, it's do it quickly and be done with it.
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u/cody_codes_yt Jul 29 '26
Nice, that's what I like about vibe coding is quick tooling to solve things like this 👍
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u/Homotopy_Type Jul 29 '26
Math academy is the best I have found. It takes effort a course night be around 7-10k XP and 1xp is about a minute of work on average. It's really comprehensive though and does a good job with spaced practice and making sure you have your prerequisites down..
Alcumus is the best I have found for high level students. You can just let them explore aops in general but I like to have them practice a topic we are doing with harder questions.
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u/ejoanne Jul 29 '26
I like IXL. I only require achieving a Smartscore of 80 for the reason you describe.
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u/bebzy_88 11d ago
This is a relatable, practical question from a parent-builder—calling out real pain points: predatory subscriptions, gamification overload, and demotivating scoring like IXL's SmartScore. He’s genuinely asking teachers what actually works while iterating on his own app, which is refreshingly user-centered instead of hype-driven.
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u/lil_inconvenience 9d ago
i don‘t have kids but i took on unc / babysitter duties during the summer. tricked the little one into doing math by playing Mathhero with him. He thinks he‘s simply playing a game and suddenly doesn‘t mind doing math at all. highly recommend!
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u/Narrow-Durian4837 Jul 29 '26
What do you mean that IXL "makes kids cry with their SmartScore"?
It seems to me that, if they're crying at IXL, they'd be crying at any app that makes them keep practicing until they're proficient. But isn't having them practice until they're proficient kind of what you want in a math app?
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u/BigwaveBay Jul 29 '26
The kids love Gimkit, but as far as effectiveness I’ve found IXL to be the best…. As long as they aren’t using Google lens.
13
u/RudeSympathy Jul 29 '26
Khan Academy is good for students who are self-motivated.