Indian taditional-style rhythmic puzzles
I have always been drawn to the idea of studying Indian classical music because of the secure rhythmic sense I know I would attain from the practice. Obviously, playing this game is not the same as actually studying the tradition, but it gives you a little taste of it. What you do is learn to play tihai-s, which are rhythmic cadences based on playing the same phrase three times, in different metric orientations, landing ultimately on the “one.” These are really tricky and fun to learn. Like learning tongue-twisters. Every day, the app offers you a new selection of tihai-s to try: easy, medium, and hard. It is not clear whether there will be a an unlimited number of new ones issued daily, or if at some point they will start repeating. (This would be good to know, before investing in a year-long subscription!)
The rhythmic cycle is represented with a polyhedron which you travel around—“follow-the-bouncing-ball” style. It is very nice, super clear. I believe in traditional music apprenticeship, you learn to count the rhythmic cycle on your fingers. This is a graphical representation of that. It works well.
As you learn to tap the pattern on your phone, the app measures your rhythmic accuracy in milliseconds. It is surprising how far off you can be, when you think you are “on”—particularly on the off-beats.
I will say that I have noticed my iPhone sometimes has trouble registering taps accurately when I use two fingers instead of one. It seems to need to register all the taps in the same place. I imagine that a major challenge for this app resides in the hardware. Phones aren’t designed for ultra-accurate rhythmic registry. Nonetheless, it seems to work well, provided you tap with one finger in the same spot.
The rhythmic cycle is represented with a polyhedron which you travel around—“follow-the-bouncing-ball” style. It is very nice, super clear. I believe in traditional music apprenticeship, you learn to count the rhythmic cycle on your fingers. This is a graphical representation of that. It works well.
As you learn to tap the pattern on your phone, the app measures your rhythmic accuracy in milliseconds. It is surprising how far off you can be, when you think you are “on”—particularly on the off-beats.
I will say that I have noticed my iPhone sometimes has trouble registering taps accurately when I use two fingers instead of one. It seems to need to register all the taps in the same place. I imagine that a major challenge for this app resides in the hardware. Phones aren’t designed for ultra-accurate rhythmic registry. Nonetheless, it seems to work well, provided you tap with one finger in the same spot.
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AWESOME concept, waiting for it to be better
This is a super cool app! Unfortunately, on my device, the taps seem out of sync. Every time I would calibrate in the app, I would get a different result. Mind you, I’m a classically trained pianist who studies music at university—been playing for twelve years. Who knows, it could be just a quirk on my device or maybe my screen protector is too think hahaha. Will definitely try again in the future but for now it doesn’t seem to work great :(
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Response from developer
Hi! Thanks for the feedback. There is a natural variation of a few milliseconds in auto-calibration that’s completely natural. You can also manually adjust the calibration under settings menu. If you feel your taps are consistently out of sync, there might be something else going on. Can you reach out to us at info@thetimeseer.com so that we can investigate this issue further?
Does not correctly show where I tapped
Does not correctly show where I tapped
Tapping on the phone is wildly inconsistent on iPhone 16
Not a tool for learning precise rhythm, sorry. Calibrating ranges +\- 50ms which is…simply not good enough. Haptic doesn’t work at all.
Great concept, but plays like a video game
Lovely look and feel, with different challenge levels each day. Rhythm input is by tapping the screen, which really made the whole thing feel like a video game instead of a training tool. I feel like I have it a fair shot during the free trial period, and seriously considered paying the ($$$) price of the app despite my qualms about all the tapping, but within a few days the interface seemed to degrade, tap timing accuracy getting worse and worse, which defeats the purpose of the app, and the calibration function would not work. Tried restarting my phone and even removing/ reinstalling the app, but kept having the same problem. Ultimately I was already feeling like the tapping play input was more of a time suck and a distraction from real rhythm practice that I want doing on my instrument while I sat in a chair tapping on my phone, and gave up on the calibration issues. I feel like this app could be extremely useful and worth the $$$ if it could work with a microphone input, and I’ll surely be back if that is added.
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Very bad subscription team!!
I have sent several emails and reached out to customer service because I was charged for the subscription $100 for the year and I still have yet to be able to activate my subscription and benefit from it and that was two months ago
Great game! Can’t justify the cost…
I love this game, honestly, I have struggled allot with rhythms within my musicianship and this has been helping me quite allot. It also fostered and furthered my interest in traditional Indian rhythms.
I loved the game during the free trial period and even still play it daily with the unpaid version.
That all being said, I cannot justify the amount that the subscription costs. For how much you get, I don’t think it’s worth the money.
Perhaps if it were more robust, or you could review previous days, or if there were lessons on the traditional rhythms, I would be able to justify it, but in its present state, just being daily rhythms and the ability to talk to other app users. It’s not worth it.
Great concept! And can’t wait to see how they expand on the app! But for now, I would say just use the free version until they adjust prices or seriously upgrade the app.
I loved the game during the free trial period and even still play it daily with the unpaid version.
That all being said, I cannot justify the amount that the subscription costs. For how much you get, I don’t think it’s worth the money.
Perhaps if it were more robust, or you could review previous days, or if there were lessons on the traditional rhythms, I would be able to justify it, but in its present state, just being daily rhythms and the ability to talk to other app users. It’s not worth it.
Great concept! And can’t wait to see how they expand on the app! But for now, I would say just use the free version until they adjust prices or seriously upgrade the app.
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They actually want to charge 99 per Device ? That’s day light robbery
I paid when I downloaded on my iPhone.. now my iPad using the same Apple ID says I am not subscribed.
Great idea
I’ve started using this as a practice tool. I would love to see an implementation using the mic. I’d want to clap or play notes on my bass rather than tapping the phone.
Very helpful
This is a great introduction to Indian time cycles . Fun app and is helping me as I dive into this wonderful music. Also great for meditation
i like it! but…
Just wish it wasn’t a subscription, I’d rather deal with ads :P love the concept and how nice and clean the UI is. great job.
App is free to download, Requires subscription to actually pay
Overpriced metronome. Not worth it.
Pay to Play
Gotta love games that are free to download but you need a subscription to play, who is gonna pay for a subscription for a random mobile game; or go through the effort to put in their card info and cancel a whole trial cycle to play a rhythm game that is just Fire and Ice with a different UI.
Decent concept, bad execution. Putting out Ads for a game like this is irresponsible.
Decent concept, bad execution. Putting out Ads for a game like this is irresponsible.
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Beautiful app, annoying distractions when you make mistakes in the game
All of the positive reviews are well earned. But I couldn’t keep going with this thing for one reason – every time you don’t nail the rhythm, every single cycle that that happens, the device annoyingly vibrates (not perfectly in time) and things pop up on the screen that distract you from the next cycle that has already begun, taking you out of focus. It was way too distracting and annoying, especially when you’re trying to drill complex rhythms.
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Response from developer
Hello, thank you for providing the feedback. Based on your input, we’ve now added an option to disable haptic feedback in the game settings screen. Please give it a try.
Just so you know, you can only use the app if you purchase it
I can’t stand when apps are free, say “in app purchases” but then actually mean you have to get a subscription to do literally anything on the app. I should at least be able to get the basic level daily so I can see if I actually like it. Imo the app is priced way too high and is a barrier of entry for people that actually wanna improve their rhythm. Tons of free and low cost options
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Response from developer
Thanks for trying Time Hero. We offer a free trial so users can experience the app fully before deciding if it’s the right investment for their practice. Unlike static apps, Time Hero is a unique rhythm tool built for millisecond accuracy. It relies on live servers to deliver fresh, non-repeating rhythm challenges daily—an evolving experience that requires ongoing costs to maintain. We understand this won't be for everyone, but we're committed to this level of precision for those who need it. If you ran into any issues, please reach out to info@thetimeseer.com — we’d be happy to help.
May as well just charge for the game outright.
So if you don’t feel like signing up for the free trial, you’re not getting past the tutorial.
Yeah
Amazing app to understand the music and the beats.
Insanely expensive metronome
$20/ month for what amounts to an interactive metronome is laughable. Honestly an insulting price.
Great concept, too expensive
I really wish this game was a one time purchase or at least give you some free play without signing up for a trial that will end. Just too expensive. I feel like more people would buy into it if it were affordable.
23€/mois ou 100€/an
Aucune version gratuite. Des tarifs d’une app premium++ pour un jeu de rythme. Bien joué les gars
Response from developer
Thanks for trying Time Hero. We offer a free trial so users can experience the app fully before deciding if it’s the right investment for their practice. Unlike static apps, Time Hero is a unique rhythm tool built for millisecond accuracy. It relies on live servers to deliver fresh, non-repeating rhythm challenges daily—an evolving experience that requires ongoing costs to maintain. We understand this won't be for everyone, but we're committed to this level of precision for those who need it. If you ran into any issues, please reach out to info@thetimeseer.com — we’d be happy to help.
