Guido vs Otso
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Guido
Learn to read music notes step by step with this interactive application. It gradually unlocks new notes as you master them, tracks your progress with an experience system, and offers motivational features like daily goals and unlockable successes. Practice by playing notes on your piano, with the app listening via your device's microphone.
- Step-by-step note learning
- Progress tracking with experience system
- Daily goal setting and achievements
- Adaptive difficulty
- Piano note recognition via microphone
- Focus on weak notes
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The advantages of Guido: - Guido will help you learn to read music notes step by step: - You start by learning with only two notes. - When you master the first two notes, the application unlocks a new one. - And so on until you have unlocked all the available notes. - The application monitors your progress: - Thanks to an experience system, the application will not unlock new notes until the previous ones are correctly assimilated. - A correctly read note increases your experience. - An incorrectly deciphered note reduces it. - When you have enough experience, a new note is unlocked. - If you lose some, a note will lock again so that you can strengthen your foundations. - Guido motivates you: - You have the possibility to set a daily objective. - Chain up the most consecutive days in a row! - Some successes are to be unlocked (50 notes in a row...). - Unlock them all! - Guido is easy to use and intelligent: - No complex settings required. - The application adapts the difficulty according to your level. - The application has been designed to allow you to practice as soon as the application is launched. - Guido calculates the scores for which you have difficulties and displays them more often. - Play the notes directly on your piano: - What is the point of learning to read notes if you can't find them on your piano to play them? - Guido listens to your piano through the microphone of your device. - Guido has an interface that allows you to find the notes on your piano. - Continue your progress: - Break your records (number of notes in 10 seconds, number of notes in a row). - Correct your weaknesses: - Guido's algorithm focuses on the notes for which you have the most difficulty. - Support in english : - Do you have a problem, a question, a suggestion for functionality? Guido support can be contacted from the application. Solfeggio allows you to read the notes of piano scores. When you master note reading you can use the unlimited and free resources available on the internet (downloadable scores) or read the score collection of your favorite composers. This will allow you to no longer be dependent on youtube applications or videos to learn how to play the song you want to play.
Otso
This app provides a visual countdown timer that uses a shrinking colored wedge instead of numbers. It offers various aesthetic designs and tactile feedback, making time management intuitive for all ages. The app is designed for privacy with no accounts or data collection.
- Visual countdown wedge
- Customizable faces and sounds
- Dynamic Island and Lock Screen integration
- No ads or subscriptions
- Private by design
- Tactile feedback and animations
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A colored wedge shrinks as time runs down. See how much is left at a glance, without having to read the numbers or do the math. Buy once and use it on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. No ads, no subscriptions, no account. No tracking or data collection. MAKE IT YOURS • Choose a dial maximum of 5, 10, 15, 30, 60, or 120 minutes • Count clockwise or counterclockwise • Adjust sound and haptic feedback on supported devices ON iPHONE AND iPAD • Drag the dial to set a timer; tap to start, pause, or resume • Smooth dialing at up to 120 Hz on ProMotion displays • Swipe beside the dial to change faces, or swipe up for settings • Check the countdown on the Lock Screen and, on supported iPhones, in the Dynamic Island • Keep the screen awake while the timer is running in the foreground • Receive a finish notification in the background when notifications are enabled ON APPLE WATCH All fifteen faces, right on your wrist. Turn the Digital Crown to set the time, tap to start or pause, swipe left or right to change faces, and swipe up for settings. The Watch timer works independently of the iPhone timer. ACCESSIBILITY VoiceOver labels and timer actions, keyboard controls on Mac and iPad, and animations that adapt to Reduce Motion. DETAILS YOU CAN FEEL Each face has its own sounds: Wood knocks, Glass chimes, and LCD clicks like a watch button. Flick the dial and it spins on, clicking past each mark as it slows to a stop. On iPhone and iPad, tilting the device changes the reflections. On Mac, they follow the pointer. Party celebrates with confetti, while Aurora adds a soft shimmer. Motion effects are reduced when Reduce Motion is on. FIFTEEN FACES Each has its own character. • Classic — charcoal body, glass lens, red disc • Pastel — soft candy colors and a textured knob • Rainbow — lilac, with an arc that shrinks color by color • Neumorph — soft, sculpted, quiet • Glass — translucent, on a light wall • Flat — pure, bold, no chrome • Paper — warm stationery, an ink needle • Wood — turned walnut, terracotta wedge • LCD — dot matrix on a backlit sage screen • Rugged — machined blades behind thick rubber • Midnight — black with a hot coral glow • Halo — a glowing amber ring • Neon — a magenta glow against the dark • Aurora — a curtain of light over a starfield • Party — a frosted cake that bursts into confetti Otso takes its name from the bear of Finnish folklore. A timer should sit quietly in the room and be understood at a glance. For lessons, workshops, exams, focused work, homework, and cooking — whenever it helps to see time passing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Otso at 100% against Guido's 56%. Otso also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.8) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). Guido's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Guido costs $1.99 and Otso $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Otso holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Guido's written reviews are positive against 100% of Otso's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Guido | Otso |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 2.8 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 82 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yannis RICHARD | SIMON HEUSCHKEL |
Customer experience
Guido
Otso
In-app purchases
Guido
No in-app purchases
Otso
No in-app purchases









