Comparison

HamStudy.org vs Battle Staff

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

Head to head
About

HamStudy.org

This app offers an intelligent study mode that tracks your progress and focuses on areas where you struggle. It allows you to tailor your study to specific chapters and topics from license manuals, with explanations for difficult questions. Practice exams are also available.

Highlights
  • Intelligent study algorithms
  • Vetted user-submitted explanations
  • Infinite practice exams
  • Study all US Amateur Radio question pools
  • International question pools
  • Multi-user support
  • Cross-device progress sync
Features
Read full description

HamStudy is not your typical study app. Most study apps focus on practice exams, which is like studying for your math test by trying 20% of the questions on repeat. Study smarter with HamStudy. Instead of taking practice tests with random questions over and over, our intelligent Study Mode tracks your progress as you move through the questions—what you’ve seen, what you haven’t, and where you’re struggling—and focuses your study on the questions you need to see most. Full statistics are provided along the way, giving you insight into how many times you’ve gotten a question right or wrong as well as your overall study progress. Don’t worry, you can still take practice exams whenever you want. You won’t find a better tool to use alongside your favorite learning material. Through collaboration with some of the most recognized names in amateur radio, HamStudy allows you to simply choose from a selection of license manuals, then instantly adapts so you can match your study to the chapters, topics, and sections you’re used to†. Want to study just the questions from chapters 4 and 5? No problem. And when a question trips you up, just tap the Explain button to understand what you missed, review formulas, and read helpful study tips. Features: • HamStudy's intelligent study algorithms work with you to ensure you learn the questions, tracking your progress and adjusting the pace to keep you challenged but not frustrated. • Vetted user-submitted explanations help you avoid the pitfall of just memorizing answers. • Infinite practice exams. Fun fact: it takes around 70 practice exams before you’ll see every Technician question just once. Study more, test less! • Study all current US Amateur Radio question pools: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra. Updates are downloaded automatically, and new pools are always included free when they are revised every four years. • English and Spanish translations included for US Amateur Radio pools. • Includes an ever-growing selection of international question pools, such as Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Argentina. • Supports multiple users on the same device, each with independent study history. • Sync your progress across all devices and study online with a free hamstudy.org account. • Share your progress with friends, instructors, or other HamStudy.org users and help each other keep progressing towards that next license exam! HamStudy is proud to be sponsored by Icom. † Disclaimer: HamStudy does not contain the actual instructional material from linked books, but works great with the book sitting on the table next to you! Images, names, and trademarks used with permission.

About

Battle Staff

Learn to read musical notes across various clefs with engaging game modes and adjustable difficulty levels. Features a helpful toggle to highlight note names and customizable note ranges for personalized practice.

Highlights
  • Multiple game modes
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Lines and spaces toggle
  • Customizable note ranges
  • Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor clef practice
  • Sharps and flats challenges
Features
Read full description

As an active music educator, I wanted to create a simple app to help anyone learn to read the notes of the treble, bass, alto, and tenor clef's. As soon as you open the app you are welcomed with multiple game modes to help improve your ability to learn to read music. Even if you do not know how to read a single note of music, the "lines and spaces" toggle switch will highlight all of the letter names of the notes on the staff for you. There are three difficulty levels in the app, which are, normal, hard, and insane. "Normal" gives the user 10 seconds per note to guess the correct note out of 4 choices. "Hard" gives the user 6 seconds per note to guess the correct note out of 4 choices. "Insane" gives the user 3 seconds per note to guess the correct note out of 4 choices. The game modes are: Treble Clef- test's the knowledge of the user's ability to read the treble clef. Bass Clef- test's the knowledge of the user's ability to read the bass clef. Battle Mode- This mode mixes questions from both the treble and bass clef Sharps and Flats- This mode adds sharps and flats to each note from both clef's to give the user a challenge. Alto Clef- This mode gives the user their ability to learn the notes of the Alto Clef Tenor Clef- This mode gives the user their ability to learn the notes of the Tenor Clef. Additionally, users will be able to access a game mode called "Triple Threat" mode where they will have to identify two and three notes at a time! In Battle Staff" users will also be able to customize their experience by choosing the note range they will play/practice in!

Screenshots

HamStudy.org4 screens
Battle Staff3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: HamStudy.org at 2.7K against Battle Staff's 6. HamStudy.org also leads on chart position (#3 vs unranked). Battle Staff's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $3.99). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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

HamStudy.org costs $3.99 and Battle Staff $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for HamStudy.org against 5.0 for Battle Staff. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HamStudy.org has 2.7K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 94% of HamStudy.org's written reviews are positive against 100% of Battle Staff's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HamStudy.org ships an update every 3 weeks, Battle Staff every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
HamStudy.org versus Battle Staff: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHamStudy.orgBattle Staff
Price$3.99$2.99 — better
Rating4.9 (2.7K ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.7K — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank#3 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.415.5 — better
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSignal StuffJOSHUA W MEADE

Customer experience

HamStudy.org

All ratings2,655 ratings
Positive98.5%
Neutral0.6%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews191 reviews
Positive93.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative3.7%

Battle Staff

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

HamStudy.org

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Email support not working
  • Occasional freezing or crashing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Ability to clear test history
  • More detailed performance analytics
  • Spell out acronyms and define technical terms

Battle Staff

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HamStudy.org

No in-app purchases

None

Battle Staff

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HamStudy.org free?
HamStudy.org costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Battle Staff free?
Battle Staff costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HamStudy.org or Battle Staff?
Battle Staff is rated higher. HamStudy.org averages 4.9 out of 5 from 2.7K ratings, while Battle Staff averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do HamStudy.org or Battle Staff have ads?
Neither HamStudy.org nor Battle Staff shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HamStudy.org or Battle Staff?
HamStudy.org ships an update every 3 weeks, and Battle Staff every 4 weeks. Most recently, HamStudy.org was updated on November 13, 2026 and Battle Staff on October 31, 2026.

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