# DronePlayer

> Interactive practice assistant for musicians to improvise over sustained drone tones. (iPhone/iPad app by tingjing.com.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/droneplayer/id442007897 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [tingjing.com](https://appshunter.io/developer/442007900)
- Category: Music, Education
- Price: $4.99
- Rating: 1.80/5 from 5 App Store ratings · 8 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.6 · 57 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-06-11
- Data updated: 2026-07-04
- Monetization: paid
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/droneplayer/id442007897/reviews.md

## What is DronePlayer?

DronePlayer is a fun, interactive practice assistant for improvising musicians. Playing over extended tonalities is a great way to develop your ears as well as your musical ideas.

Long, sustained tones are generally known as drones. Drones have proven themselves quite useful for practicing. Many people use them to assist with intonation. Some enjoy playing scales over them. I personally have found them useful for practicing improvisation and improving my ears.

Muting one of the drone voices is a great way to play with just a fundamental pitch. You can then improvise over this and focus on hearing how what you are playing relates. Adding a second drone voice just adds to the fun.

## Key features

- Improvisation practice tool
- Extended tonality practice
- Ear training development
- Muteable drone voices
- Multiple drone options

## Chart rankings

- #187 in Top Paid · Music (US App Store)

## Recent user reviews (8 of 8)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/droneplayer/id442007897/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Was good. Now rubbish.

*2019-06-16*

I have had this on my phone and have used it for guitar and bass practice. It was good and easy to use. Now it has very small knobs to control and what used to be a good sound  is now rubbish. From a musical drone it is now an electrical interference noise - or cheap mouth organ. When you’re on a good thing stuff it up completely.

### 1/5 — Totally useless

*2016-06-29*

Ripoff

### 1/5 — Avoid

*2015-09-05*

All the "drones" are more like repeated whole notes. They are short samples that pause and restart every few seconds, even on the infinity setting. The samples are also extremely low quality. The only way I could say that you get what you pay for is if the price was "Get".

**Developer response:** The early version was an experiment but version 2.0+ introduced a proper, high quality audio engine and I hope you were able to upgrade to enjoy it. It's far better.

### 5/5 — Great practice tool!

*2013-07-06*

This app is a great way to expand your musical imagination. I find it very useful when practicing how to navigate between chords in a musical way.

### 1/5 — Pulsing, not constant.

*2012-08-09*

Pretty useless for me. The drone wavers and pulses, no matter what you do -- even if you put it on infinite play and turn off the percussion. If you're trying to tune a musical instrument, practice scale intonation or the like, it's not what you need. I'm not a pop music person, so perhaps this app has applications in that field. But I'm sure I do not know what they are.

### 5/5 — Improv Improvement

*2012-01-03*

Practicing with drones is a great way to exercise a wide variety of musical skills. I've spent hours jamming with this app and you will too.

The app is easy to use and that makes it easy to reach for. Anything that gets me on my piano practicing improv (for hours on end) is welcome in my routine, and droneplayer does reliably and enjoyably.

The drum patterns are useful and evocative. I even spent some time with my kids teaching them the love of improv with droneplayer. We took turns 'scatting' over droneplayer and we had a great time.

Bottom line: droneplayer is day to use and it puts me in the right mood to jam-- I don't have to sequence anything, or rifle through lists of mixer-routing-insutment to stay on the right mood. Start droneplayer and start having fun.

### 5/5 — Great Practicing Tool!

*2011-10-07*

Few apps come along that I would deem valuable and essential for the improvising musician. Droneplayer is one of those apps!  This is a fun way to jam and it will play as long as you want. Controls work flawlessly. Thanks for a great app!

### 1/5 — Are u kidding me?

*2011-06-30*

Unusable controls, buggy! Not ready for prime time. Don't waste your money!

## Frequently asked questions about DronePlayer

### What is DronePlayer used for?

DronePlayer is a practice assistant for musicians. It helps users develop their ears and musical ideas by improvising over sustained tones called drones.

### How does DronePlayer help with improvisation?

You can mute drone voices to focus on a fundamental pitch and hear how your improvisation relates. Adding more drone voices can enhance the practice experience.

### What devices does DronePlayer support?

DronePlayer is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.

### What is the price of DronePlayer?

DronePlayer costs $4.99 and is a one-time purchase.

### How often is DronePlayer updated?

The latest version of DronePlayer is 2.91, and it was last updated on October 22, 2025. This indicates a relatively active update schedule.

### What is the age rating for DronePlayer?

DronePlayer has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users.

### Does DronePlayer have ads?

No, DronePlayer does not contain advertisements. It is a paid application without any ad interruptions.

### What is the user rating for DronePlayer?

DronePlayer has a rating of 1.8 stars based on 5 ratings. This suggests that current users have had a mixed to negative experience with the app.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.91 — 2025-10-22

Upgraded audio system and minor bug fixes.

### 2.9 — 2022-06-22

Upgraded the audio engine and minor bug fixes.

### 2.7.1 — 2019-06-19

Improved the way the adjust knob works (now able to transpose a drone sequence up or down an octave). A few minor bug fixes as well. If you enjoy DronePlayer, please give us a review. Thank you!

### 2.7 — 2019-06-18

We added more sound options and fixed a few minor bugs.

### 2.6 — 2018-11-20

Minor improvements to the audio engine and smoothed out some of the synth patches.

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## More apps by tingjing.com

- [Scalar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scalar/id494295192)
- [Chord Rotator](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chord-rotator/id1077507001)
- [Scale Assistant](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scale-assistant/id1312639203)
- [Dronometer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dronometer/id1358112227)
- [Clustering](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/clustering/id1469460016)

All apps by tingjing.com: https://appshunter.io/developer/442007900

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-04.*
