Parent App of the Week: Hardbound – Stories For Curious Minds

Parent App of the Week: Hardbound – Stories For Curious Minds

What It’s About

Every Thursday, a new, original illustrated story is produced that teaches readers something fascinating about the world. It’s an app that’s perfectly suited to our current lifestyles, where mobile-based storytelling is the new way to learn and be entertained at the same time.

The Good Bits

The app is easy to navigate and gives a great introductory run-through the first time you use it. The story topics are varied, and virtually all of them sparked my curiosity enough to want to read them.

I also loved the way they tell you how many people have already viewed each story, and approximately how long it will take you to read (usually stated as 4 or 5 minutes per story, but in my experience they can be flicked through a lot faster while still taking in all the information).

Each story consists of a series of ‘pages’ (screens) with a small amount of text and a photo/illustration/animation to accompany it that helps tell the story. The stories are cute, interactive, quirky and interesting, and easy to navigate at your own pace.

There’s also a separate section called ‘The Nightcap’, which is a handy nightly visual roundup of the day’s news – exactly what busy people need when they have the desire to stay connected with the world but not the time to sit and watch the news.

The Not So Good Bits

Older stories are ‘locked’ and can only be access by agreeing to become a monthly subscriber (costs range from $2.99/month to $30.99/month depending on how generous you wish to be).

What it Teaches

You’ll learn lots of random facts that you would never have otherwise known – it’s the stuff awesome dinner party conversations are made of! Want to impress with your knowledge of ‘How Sushi Became A Thing’ (hint: it didn’t originate in Japan), ‘Why People Like Music’ or ‘The Secret History of Salt’? This is the place to gather your intel!

Tech Info

As an app, Hardbound is currently only available for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users (requires iOS 9.0 or later) but you can read the stories via their website if you are an Android device user.

Most Suitable Age Range

Ages 12 and above

How much: Free, but with options to pay per month for access to the back catalogue of stories.