StaffWars Live vs DroneTones
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StaffWars Live
Enhance instrumental practice with this engaging game. Play notes as they appear on the staff to score points and improve your skills. Customize your practice experience with various instruments, scales, and key signatures.
- Instrumental practice aid
- Customizable instrument, key, and scale
- Adjustable note range and speed
- Score tracking
- Transposition practice
- MIDI device support
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Built on the success of the original 'StaffWars', StaffWars Live offers game play designed to aid students in instrumental practice. Choose your instrument, key signature, scale and note range, then play the notes that appear on the staff with your instrument to destroy them before they damage you clef. Notes get faster with every ten correct and you get three lives. Press the "Settings" button to change your instrument, scale, key signature and adjustable note range. All notes are in the instruments' written pitch (i.e. Clarinet in C major would be concert Bb Major) All your scores are saved when exiting the game, so you can track your improvement. Scales include Major, Major Blues, Minor Blues, Chromatic Need to practice transposition? StaffWars Live has got you covered. All notes are in the instruments’ written pitch, so you can be a french horn player and select ‘Trumpet' to practice transposing to Bb. Connect any MIDI device to trigger the game with MIDI. Note range = from 4 Spaces Below to 4 Spaces Above Clef Start speed adjustable. ***NOTE*** - Make sure your instrument is in tune prior to playing StaffWars Live. Always play with good attacks and good tone. Game sounds may trigger the pitch detection so it is a good idea to turn your iPhone\iPad volume down while playing with the sound turn on.
DroneTones
Enhance your musical improvisation and practice sessions with sustained drone sounds. This app offers a wide range of keys and an intuitive interface to help musicians of all levels find the right notes and elevate their performances.
- Sustained drone sounds
- Expanded range of keys
- User-friendly interface
- Improvisation tool
- Practice enhancement
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A steady, warm cello drone to help you play in tune. Pick a note, press play, and tune your ear to a rock-solid reference pitch — for any instrument or voice. Practicing with a drone is the fastest way to fix intonation. Instead of chasing a needle on a tuner, you train your ear against a continuous reference tone and learn what "in tune" actually feels like. Scales, long tones, improv, warm-ups — a drone makes all of it sharper. DroneTones gives you a rich, natural cello timbre across all 12 chromatic notes, so the drone sits comfortably under whatever you play or sing. WHO IT'S FOR • Strings — violin, viola, cello, bass intonation • Voice & choir — match pitch and hold a tonal center • Brass & woodwinds — tune long tones to a reference • Any musician working on playing in tune FEATURES • Warm, natural cello drone tones • All 12 chromatic notes • Clean, distraction-free interface • Completely free — no time limits, no lock-outs • Optional tip jar if it helps your practice No ads. No subscription. Just a clean reference pitch whenever you need one.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DroneTones at Free against StaffWars Live's $2.99. DroneTones also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 58%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.4). StaffWars Live's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (880 vs 10). On ads, monetization model, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
DroneTones is free to download; StaffWars Live costs $2.99 up front. DroneTones sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. StaffWars Live asks for nothing beyond the download.
DroneTones holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: StaffWars Live has 880 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of StaffWars Live's written reviews are positive against 100% of DroneTones's.
StaffWars Live ships an update every 4 months, DroneTones monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StaffWars Live | DroneTones |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (880 ratings) | 4.8 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 58.1% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 880 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | #65 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 123 MB | 153 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TMI Media, LLC | Thanh Nguyen |
Customer experience
StaffWars Live
DroneTones
Bugs and requests
StaffWars Live
Reported bugs
4 issues- Notes not registering correctly
- Bass clef not working as expected
- App crashing on launch for some users
- Misalignment of note graphics
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more instruments, including piano
- Implement a speed/difficulty slider
- Add an option for the grand staff
- Improve bass clef and transposition accuracy
DroneTones
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
StaffWars Live
No in-app purchases
DroneTones
- Grace Note$1.99
- Crescendo$4.99
- Standing Ovation$9.99
Questions
Is StaffWars Live free?
Is DroneTones free?
Which has better reviews, StaffWars Live or DroneTones?
Do StaffWars Live or DroneTones have ads?
Which is updated more often, StaffWars Live or DroneTones?
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