Functional Ear Trainer vs Intonote
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Functional Ear Trainer
Develop your musical ear by learning to recognize tones within the context of a specific musical key. This app helps you understand the function of each note, improving your ability to transcribe, improvise, and play music by ear. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, with just 10 minutes of daily practice.
- Recognize tones in musical key context
- Understand note function
- Improve transcription skills
- Enhance improvisation
- Develop perfect pitch
- Daily 10-minute practice
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Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.
Intonote
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Music is a language. You learned to speak by listening, long before you read a word — Intonote teaches music the same way: hear it, sing it, then read it. It's built on the ideas behind the Kodály method and Gordon's Music Learning Theory: sound before symbol, singing as your instrument, and audiation — hearing music in your mind before you ever see it on a page. HEAR IT Recognise intervals, scale degrees, chords, and progressions the way they appear in real music — inside melodies and harmony, not as isolated flashcards. You learn each note by its role in the key, so you can finally pick out a tune you've never seen written down. SING IT This is where most ear-training apps stop — and where Intonote keeps going. Recognition proves you can tell sounds apart; singing proves — and builds — that you've internalised a sound well enough to generate it yourself. That's the skill every real use of your ear depends on, from playing by ear to improvising to singing harmony. So after you hear it, you sing it back, with live pitch feedback tuned to your own vocal range. You can guess a button; you can't fake a note in tune — every rep turns a sound you can spot into one you own. READ IT Reading isn't where you start — it's where you arrive. When you're ready, a focused Read & Sing track teaches you the staff from the ground up, then has you sight-singing short melodies — pitch and rhythm — in the clef that fits your voice. BECOME A BETTER MUSICIAN, YOUR WAY • Guided curriculums — ear training and sight-singing, each a step-by-step path that tells you what to learn next. Best if you want structure. • Skill Paths — focus on one skill at a time and master it. • Train — free practice on demand: drill chords, scale degrees, melodic dictation, singing, and more — just pick a difficulty or customise it to your needs. KNOW WHERE YOU STRUGGLE Intonote tracks what you mix up and tells you what to work on next — including an on-device AI coach (iOS 26+) that reads your trends and tells you exactly what to drill next. Whether you're hearing your first interval or sight-singing in bass clef, Intonote teaches you the language of music the way it should be learned: by ear, in your voice, and on the page. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Intonote at weekly against Functional Ear Trainer's every 7 months. Functional Ear Trainer's advantage is chart position (#199 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Intonote sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Functional Ear Trainer ships an update every 7 months, Intonote weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Functional Ear Trainer | Intonote |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (3.8K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 96.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.8K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #199 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 41 MB | 52 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Serhii Korchan | ARTEM AVERIN |
Bugs and requests
Functional Ear Trainer
Reported bugs
2 issues- Keyboard display issues when selecting all chromatic notes
- Inconsistent note resolutions in some exercises
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for multiple notes/chords at once
- Implement a mode for training key recognition
- Provide more customization options for exercises
- Include voice input to play the notes
- Add support for German/Norwegian key names
Intonote
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Functional Ear Trainer
- Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
Intonote
- Intonote+ Monthly$3.991 Month
- Intonote+ Annual$29.991 Year
- Intonote Pro$9.99
- Intonote Drills$19.99
Questions
Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Is Intonote free?
Do Functional Ear Trainer or Intonote have ads?
Which is updated more often, Functional Ear Trainer or Intonote?
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