# Kalimba Real — Play your Kalimba tabs

> Kalimba simulator app with real audio, tab creation, and sharing features. (iPhone/iPad app by Son Truong Ngoc.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-real/id1447240841 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Son Truong Ngoc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1447240720)
- Category: Music, Games, Music, Simulation
- Price: Free
- Rating: 4.60/5 from 1,047 App Store ratings · 143 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 10.0 · 92 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2018-12-29
- Data updated: 2026-08-24
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-real/id1447240841/reviews.md

## What is Kalimba Real?

The Kalimba is an African musical instrument consisting of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs. The mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellaphone family and part of the idiophone family of musical instruments.

Members of this broad family of instruments are known by a wide variety of names. The kalimba is also known as marímbula and mbria in the Caribbean Islands.

6 Kalimba Simulator (Thumb piano/ an African musical instrument) with real audio, with #, b, adjustable UI:
- Five Treble: 17 keys
- One Alto: 15 keys

More offline and online songs (Kalimba Tabs) for practice

Play simulator or Connect to real Kalimba (play multi-pitch) with mode:
- Melody & Chord
- Melody Only
- Melody (Auto Chord)
- Real Time
- Autoplay

Two view mode for beginner and professional

Build my own tabs and export pdf (similar KTabS): build, pre-play and save, open Kalimba tabs

Import & export midi file. Use this app for creating Standard Midi File (SMF)

Share your tabs to world. Download tabs from world

Record feature: record, play back and share

Export .wav file for better sound quality than recording by microphone. You can use it as ringtone or share it to your friends

Kalimba Tabs with songs:
- Yesterday once more
- Heart and Soul
- Heal the World
- When you believe
- My love
- You are my sunshine
- Happy birthday
- Kiss the rain
- ...
** Kalimba Tabs is updated regularly

## Key features

- Real Kalimba audio simulation
- Multiple Kalimba instrument types
- Offline and online song tabs
- Create and export custom tabs (PDF)
- MIDI import/export
- Audio recording and export (.wav)
- Tab sharing and downloading

## What do users think of Kalimba Real?

Overall sentiment: positive

**Pros**

- 👍 Great sound quality
- 💡 Helpful tutorials and lessons
- 🎶 Charming and fun to play
- 👍 Easy to learn for beginners
- 💡 Ability to create and share custom music

**Cons**

- 🐛 Connectivity issues with external apps
- 🔋 Battery draining quickly
- 🔍 Unintuitive user interface
- 💰 Intrusive advertisements
- 🔇 Sound quality issues

**Commonly reported bugs**

- App crashes frequently
- No sound output on some devices
- Buttons/UI elements blocked by ads

**Most requested features**

- Save frequently played tabs
- Add support for triplets
- Display full song notation
- Improve responsiveness on larger devices

## Recent user reviews (10 of 143)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-real/id1447240841/reviews.md

### 1/5 — 広告多い。反応が悪すぎる

*2026-01-15*

広告が多すぎる。そして肝心なカリンバが押しても反応しない、反応がめっちゃ悪くてストレスになります

### 5/5 — Sounds great

*2025-10-12, version 2.8.1*

Sounds great. Has different treble settings. It’s like the real thing without scraping your fingers. Great to learn on.

### 5/5 — Очень круто спасибо большое пожалуйста

*2025-06-08*

У меня. Егодня день рождение спасибо очень круто

### 5/5 — Ophb

*2025-05-30, version 2.8.1*

Sds

### 5/5 — Loved It

*2025-05-04, version 2.8.1*

It is so good for practicing and it is really helpful for people who wants to learn how to play kalimba and learn new music. I absolutely love it.

### 3/5 — ，

*2025-04-21*

全是英文看不懂😓

### 2/5 — Nice sounds but no connectivity

*2025-03-17, version 2.8.1*

Great sounding app but without connectivity to AUM it’s all but useless to me and way too many adverts!

### 5/5 — 非常好！

*2025-02-01*

很不错的一个软件！很好！！！

### 5/5 — 真的超推荐

*2025-01-17*

拇指琴手感超好，真的很棒呀！🌈好到真是没话说，非常满意！🆗开心开心😃

### 4/5 — Apps kalimba thực sự ổn hơn apps này

*2024-07-16, version 2.8.1*

K có hướng dẫn

## Frequently asked questions about Kalimba Real

### What is this app?

This app is a Kalimba simulator that allows you to play a virtual African thumb piano with real audio. It provides various Kalimba types, a library of songs with tabs for practice, and tools for creating and sharing your own musical arrangements.

### What are the key features of this Kalimba app?

Key features include real Kalimba audio, multiple instrument sizes (17 and 15 keys), a large collection of online and offline song tabs, the ability to build and export your own tabs in PDF format, MIDI file import/export, and audio recording with .wav export.

### Is this app free to use?

The app is free to download and use, but it does contain advertisements. Additional features or content may be available through in-app purchases.

### Can I create my own Kalimba songs with this app?

Yes, you can build your own Kalimba tabs using the app's editor. You can then pre-play, save, and export these custom tabs as PDF files, similar to dedicated tab creation software.

### What are the different ways I can play the Kalimba in the app?

The app offers several playing modes, including Melody & Chord, Melody Only, Melody (Auto Chord), Real Time, and Autoplay. You can also connect to a real Kalimba for multi-pitch playing.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.8.1 — 2021-03-20

[2.8] NEW 2 Kalimba
- More New features:
    + Rotate vertical screen for tablet
    + In-game Recorder (without Microphone), Vibration, Pick out the Kalimba keys
    + Save settings feature
    + Show line, change painting scheme, retune in pdf file
    + Reverb presets
- Improves & Optimize
    + Reduce Audio Latency
    + Big improve for Connect Physic Kalimba feature
    + UI, Gameplay, Speed
    + Build tab feature
    + Export pdf feature
- Fix more bugs

[2.8.1] Fix bug

### 2.8 — 2021-03-10

[2.8] NEW 2 Kalimba
- More New features:
    + Rotate vertical screen for tablet
    + In-game Recorder (without Microphone), Vibration, Pick out the Kalimba keys
    + Save settings feature
    + Show line, change painting scheme, retune in pdf file
    + Reverb presets
- Improves & Optimize
    + Reduce Audio Latency
    + Big improve for Connect Physic Kalimba feature
    + UI, Gameplay, Speed
    + Build tab feature
    + Export pdf feature
- Fix more bugs

### 2.6.1 — 2020-04-16

[2.6.1] NEW features: Learning Kalimba, retune, reverb, background music feature
- New Time-Painting-Scheme
- Improve and Optimize UI, sound, gameplay, memory, record, connect Real Kalimba feature

* Fix bugs:
- No show video
- Small bugs

### 2.5.1 — 2019-07-17

[2.5.1] Add Triplet note
- Change UI
- Improve export .wav file
- Optimize gameplay

[2.4.2] NEW feature: change background
- Add more feature for building tab: Copy feature, Import, Export, Share midi file
- Add Sort feature for World
- Change UI minor
- Optimize search feature
- View tab's youtube in app

### 2.4.2 — 2019-07-01

[2.4.2] NEW feature: change background
- Add more feature for building tab: Copy feature, Import, Export, Share midi file
- Add Sort feature for World
- Change UI minor
- Optimize search feature
- View tab's youtube in app

[2.3.2] Add Search feature for World
Fix minor UI bug

[2.3.1] Export pdf for tabs from World
- New UI and server protocol for improving efficiency
Fix bug:
- Fix minor export .wav file bug

## Apps similar to Kalimba Real

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Kalimba Lessons: Learn & Play](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-lessons-learn-and-play/id1586385255) | 2.3 (42) | Free | Music |
| [Kalimba Tuner](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-tuner/id6739851143) | 4.7 (174) | Free | Music |
| [Real Kalimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/real-kalimba/id1533030138) | 4.3 (20) | Free | Music |
| [Kalimba App With Songs Numbers](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-app-with-songs-numbers/id6473744011) | 4.5 (92) | Free | Music |
| [Kalimba Master](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-master/id6444580074) | 2.2 (13) | Free | Music |
| [Keylimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/keylimba/id1522416953) | 4.8 (3,121) | Free | Music |

## More apps by Son Truong Ngoc

- [Marimba, Xylophone, Vibraphone](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/marimba-xylophone-vibraphone/id1455004243)
- [Xylophone Real: 2 mallet types](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xylophone-real-2-mallet-types/id1456142228)
- [Violin Real](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/violin-real/id1458880612)
- [Kalimba Royal](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kalimba-royal/id1459382070)
- [Viola Real](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/viola-real/id1478548805)

All apps by Son Truong Ngoc: https://appshunter.io/developer/1447240720

## Related topics

[kalimba real](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-real) · [thumb piano](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/thumb-piano) · [kalimba master](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-master) · [jooler kalimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/jooler-kalimba) · [kalimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba) · [cacimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/cacimba) · [kalimba tabs](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-tabs) · [kalimba songs](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-songs) · [smart kalimba](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/smart-kalimba) · [akimbo master](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/akimbo-master) · [kalimate](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimate) · [jsc mamba](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/jsc-mamba) · [kalimba tuner](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-tuner) · [kalimba thumb piano](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kalimba-thumb-piano)

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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 2026-08-24.*