Comparison

foobar2000 vs Notation Pad

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

foobar2000

An advanced audio player for mobile devices supporting a wide range of formats. Enjoy gapless playback, automatic volume adjustment, and customization options. Stream music from UPnP servers.

Highlights
  • Wide audio format support (MP3, FLAC, AAC, etc.)
  • Gapless playback
  • ReplayGain volume adjustment
  • UPnP media server streaming
  • Customizable appearance with skins
Features
Read full description

foobar2000 mobile is an advanced audio player for mobile devices. Main features: * Supported audio formats: MP3, MP4, AAC, Vorbis, Opus, FLAC, WavPack, WAV, AIFF, Musepack. * Gapless playback. * ReplayGain support - automatic playback volume adjustment. * Supports playback and downloading music from UPnP media servers. * Appearance can be customized with skin files (basic black and white themes inlcuded with the app).

About

Notation Pad

Create, edit, and play sheet music with this comprehensive notation editor. Compose original pieces, transcribe existing music, and even collaborate in real-time. Ideal for musicians of all levels, from beginners learning notes to experienced composers.

Highlights
  • Real-time collaborative editing
  • MusicXML, MIDI, PNG, and PDF export
  • High-quality playback sound
  • Support for up to 8 staves
  • Over 100 instrument sounds
  • Lyric editing
  • Multi-voice support
Features
Read full description

A sheet music creator and music notation editor on iOS. For any music lover or composer, Notation Pad gives you the ability to read, compose, edit, playback music scores and write lyrics. With it you can be a talented composer and great sheet music maker anywhere. As long as you have a little knowledge of sheet music, you can write music composition simply by touching and moving. You could use it as your songbook or scoresheet. It is also designed for a beginner who wants to learn music score, music notes and tablature. It can handle ensemble, choir or symphony score, also it supports for a single track piano score. With the help of it you could easily record the flashes of inspiration wherever they strike. Are you ready to compose music in a simple way? ----------------------- Features: -Realtime multi-person collaborative editing via SharePlay. -Export/Import the industry-popular MusicXML file format, allowing for exchanging sheet music with other software (Finale, Sibelius, Encore, MuseScore, etc). -Export MIDI file. -Export PNG image and PDF document. -High quality sound for playback. -Support editing up to 8 staff at the same time. -Support over 100 kinds of musical instrument. Piano, organ, guitar, violin, sax, flute, brass, bass, etc. -Support multi-voice. -A great lyric app. ----------------------- Supported notation: *A variety of music note types, from whole note to 128th note and dotted note *Chord, staff, track *Treble, alto and bass clef *Edit lyrics *A variety of time signatures *All standard key signatures *Adjustable tempo *All accidentals (sharps, flats, double sharps, double flats, and naturals) *Tie, slur, and tuplet *Many types of ornament *A wide range of dynamics ----------------------- UNLIMITED ACCESS SUBSCRIPTION - Support up to 8 staff - Config parts(add, delete, reorder) - Change key for each part - Change beat type and tempo - Config clef for each staff - Config sound for each part - No watermark image export - No Ads - Support 2nd voice part - Transpose instruments - Pickup bar - Import data file - Edit downloaded music score - Unlock all 100+ instruments - The subscription is $6.99 weekly with trial - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that service, where applicable - Terms of use: https://service.notationpad.com/terms_service.html

Screenshots

foobar20003 screens
Notation Pad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: foobar2000 at none against Notation Pad's 10. foobar2000 also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 56%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). Notation Pad's advantage is ratings volume (5.3K vs 187). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Notation Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. foobar2000 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

foobar2000 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Notation Pad has 5.3K ratings behind it against 187, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of foobar2000's written reviews are positive against 56% of Notation Pad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
foobar2000 versus Notation Pad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterfoobar2000Notation Pad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (187 ratings) — better4.3 (5.3K ratings)
Positive reviews79.4% of reviews — better55.9% of reviews
Number of ratings1875.3K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.1 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB162 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperResolute嵩 张

Customer experience

foobar2000

All ratings187 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral7.5%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews603 reviews
Positive79.4%
Neutral9.0%
Negative11.6%

Notation Pad

All ratings5,264 ratings
Positive81.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative12.9%
Written reviews465 reviews
Positive55.9%
Neutral8.6%
Negative35.5%

User reviews

foobar2000

From 187 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Good for offline use
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 💡 Customizable with skins
  • 👍 Plays a variety of audio formats
  • 👍 Convenient FTP transfer

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Lacking search functionality
  • 🔍 Difficult to manage playlists and delete songs
  • 🔍 Inconsistent UI and navigation
  • 🔍 Missing CarPlay support

Notation Pad

From 5.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎼 Good for basic music notation
  • 🎹 Helpful for piano/keyboard players

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Many features locked behind paywall
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
  • 📱 Limited functionality compared to desktop apps
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate and find features

Bugs and requests

foobar2000

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on startup for some users
  • Playback issues with certain audio formats
  • Network detection failures
  • SMB/DLNA server connectivity problems
  • Album art not displaying correctly

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add queue and repeat single track features
  • Improve playlist management and song deletion
  • Implement CarPlay support
  • Add more UI customization options
  • Improve search functionality
Show 3 more
  • Implement Last.fm scrobbling
  • Add tag editing capabilities
  • Provide sort options by artist, genre, etc.

Notation Pad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Subscription popup that cannot be closed
  • Instruments turning into drums unexpectedly
  • Inability to delete or modify certain elements

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instrument options
  • Improve editing capabilities
  • Allow changing key signatures and time signatures without premium
  • Provide better tutorials and documentation
  • Fix issues with note placement and playback

In-app purchases

None

foobar2000

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Notation Pad

Subscriptions2
  • Unlimited Access7 Days trial$6.997 Days
  • Unlimited Access Monthly$14.991 Month
One-time8
  • Guitar Instrument Group$0.99
  • Ensemble Instrument Group$0.99
  • Brass Instrument Group$0.99
Show 5 more
  • Reed Instrument Group$0.99
  • Pipe Instrument Group$0.99
  • Strings Instrument Group$1.99
  • All Instruments Pack$4.99
  • Extras Package$19.99

Questions

Is foobar2000 free?
foobar2000 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notation Pad free?
Notation Pad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, foobar2000 or Notation Pad?
foobar2000 is rated higher. foobar2000 averages 4.5 out of 5 from 187 ratings, while Notation Pad averages 4.3 from 5.3K ratings.
Do foobar2000 or Notation Pad have ads?
Neither foobar2000 nor Notation Pad shows ads.
Which is updated more often, foobar2000 or Notation Pad?
foobar2000 ships an update monthly, and Notation Pad monthly. Most recently, foobar2000 was updated on September 24, 2026 and Notation Pad on September 22, 2026.

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