BOOOST PRO – New Version, Coming Soon

Booost Pro is the spelling app where children write whole German words by hand, instead of just tapping or tracing letters. An AI recognizes their handwriting and gives instant feedback. Booost Pro is the successor to the Booost App and was developed on the basis of an interdisciplinary BMBF research project.

Most learning apps let children tap or choose. In Booost Pro they write every word themselves, with a finger or a stylus, just like at school. The child hears the word, sees a picture and a sentence, and writes. If the word is correct, there is instant positive feedback. If it is wrong, the child can try again right away.

That is the core of the method: spelling mistakes are caught as early as possible, before they become a habit.

NEWS

Nominated for TOMMI 2026
Booost Pro is nominated for TOMMI 2026, the German children’s software award, in the Education category. A children’s jury is currently testing the nominated titles in libraries. The winners will be announced on 16 December 2026.

Startup Day at Leibniz Universität Hannover, 15 October 2026
We will present Booost Pro at the Startup Day of Leibniz Universität Hannover on Thursday, 15 October 2026, from 3 pm to 9 pm in the Lichthof of the Welfenschloss (Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover). Come by and try the app. Admission is free.

DOWNLOAD

Booost Pro is already available as a test version:

Android (open test version in the Google Play Store)

iPhone and iPad (test version via TestFlight)

The iOS test version requires Apple’s free “TestFlight” app. The link guides you through the installation step by step.

The regular version is coming soon to the Apple App Store. The link will appear here as soon as it is available.

WHAT MAKES BOOOST PRO DIFFERENT

• Handwriting instead of tapping: real spelling practice with whole words
• AI handwriting recognition with instant feedback. It also recognizes imperfectly written characters, so the app works for children with hard-to-read handwriting
• Simple design and easy handling: children choose how much they want to practice today and pick a difficulty level
• Words are played back clearly, with a picture and an example sentence
• Create, import and share your own practice content (words and sentences), tailored to the classroom or the child
• Error analysis for parents and teachers: which types of mistakes does the child make most often?
• Tabi, the little dragon, keeps children motivated with levels and rewards
• Interface in German and English. Practicing in English is also possible

HOW IT WORKS

No registration or login is required.

1. “Probier’s aus!” (Try it out) is a short practice round that shows how the app works. “Starten” (Start) begins regular practice.
2. Each task shows a picture and a sentence with a missing word. Tap the ear button to hear the word.
3. Write the word by hand on the practice line, with a finger or a stylus.
4. Tap “Überprüfen!” (Check) to have the handwriting checked. In word mode you write the whole word; in letter mode each letter is checked separately.
5. Tap “Weiter” (Next) to continue.

User Guide (English, PDF)
Anleitung (Deutsch, PDF)

GROUNDED IN RESEARCH

Booost Pro grew out of research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF projects FELICS & HOT-T) at Leibniz Universität Hannover and the University of Lübeck. An interdisciplinary team from neuroscience, German linguistics and learning research developed the method. It follows the principle of errorless learning and builds on current neuropsychological findings on the effectiveness of early error feedback in learning to write. The acceptance and effectiveness of the tablet-based spelling training that Booost Pro builds on were examined in a study with primary school children (Mühlpforte, Hwang, Heldmann, Münte, Schmitz & Effenberg, 2023, Lernen und Lernstörungen, Hogrefe).

PRIVACY

Handwriting recognition runs on the device. No handwriting data is sent to a server.
Privacy Policy: https://sonification-online.com/booost-app-privacy-policy/

HELP AND CONTACT

If you get stuck or have questions, write to us. We are happy to help:
Alfred.Effenberg@Sportwiss.Uni-Hannover.de
Tonghun.Hwang@Sportwiss.Uni-Hannover.de

NOTE ON THE BOOOST APP

The previous Booost App remains available in the App Store and the Google Play Store for now. It is no longer being developed and will be discontinued soon. We recommend switching to Booost Pro.

SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS

Heldmann, M., Wagner-Altendorf, T., Baumung, L., Effenberg, A. O., & Münte, T. F. (2024). Event-related brain potentials to typing errors in transparent and intransparent German words. Neuroscience Research, 1-9. In press.

Mühlpforte, N., Hwang, T. H., Heldmann, M., Münte, T. F., Schmitz, G., & Effenberg, A. O. (2023). Akzeptanz und Wirksamkeit eines Tablet-basierten Orthografietrainings mit Grundschulkindern. Lernen und Lernstörungen, 1-14.

Lueckehe, D., Muehlpforte, N., Effenberg, A. O., & von Voigt, G. (2018). Multi-Stage Deep Learning for Context-Free Handwriting Recognition. Proceedings of the Conference „Lernen, Wissen, Daten, Analysen“, LWDA, Mannheim, Germany, 239 – 250.

Heldmann, M., Puppe, S., Effenberg, A. O., & Münte, T. F. (2017). Development of sensitivity to orthographic errors in children: An event-related potential study. Neuroscience, 358, 349-360.

Effenberg, A. O., Schmitz, G., Baumann, F., Rosenhahn, B., & Kroeger, D. (2015). SoundScript-Supporting the acquisition of character writing by multisensory integration. Open Psychology Journal 8 (2015), Nr. 1, 8(1), 230-237.

Reinders, C., Baumann, F., Scheuermann, B., Ehlers, A., Mühlpforte, N., Effenberg, A. O., & Rosenhahn, B. (2015). On-the-fly handwriting recognition using a high-level representation. In Computer Analysis of Images and Patterns: 16th International Conference, CAIP 2015, Valletta, Malta, September 2-4, 2015 Proceedings, Part I 16 (pp. 1-13). Springer International Publishing.