Comparison

Chess Tempo vs Ask Lyra

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

Head to head
About

Chess Tempo

Enhance your chess skills with tactical training, online play, and opening/endgame practice. Solve over 100,000 puzzles, play against others, and analyze your games with powerful engines. Premium features offer personalized training and advanced analysis.

Highlights
  • Tactics training with 100,000+ puzzles
  • Online chess play (live & correspondence)
  • Opening repertoire training
  • Endgame practice
  • Guess the move master games
  • Post-game analysis
Features
Read full description

The Chess Tempo app provides a mobile and tablet friendly interface for Chesstempo features. Supported features: - CHESS TACTICS TRAINING - Improve your tactics by solving tactical problems, with over 100,000 puzzles available. - Both winning and defensive problem types. - For premium members, solve against sophisticated custom sets that target your weaknesses, for example: - Sets that target a particular tactical motif such as pin, fork, discovered attack etc. - Sets that target your previous mistakes, repeating problems until correct. - Spaced repetition sets. - Note, custom sets can be used on the app, but need to be created on the Chesstempo website. - PLAY ONLINE - Play chess against other Chesstempo users. - Supports both live and correspondence games - Get a full post game analysis after every rated game played. Analysis is spread out over our cluster of hundreds of instances of stockfish, allowing high quality results to be returned in a few seconds. - For premium members, have tactics problems extracted from your games, available for solving in the tactics training UI, and selected via the advanced custom sets feature. - OPENING TRAINING - Create multiple black and white repertoires. - Import repertoires from PGN or by entering the moves on the board. - Train your repertoires using spaced repetition. - Limit training to a branch of a repertoire, a single repertoire, or all repertoires of a colour. - Option to restrict training to a limited depth. - Ability to train against the moves that are proving the most resistant to spaced repetition learning. - Comment on each position or move, and read the comments others have chosen to make public. - Add engine evaluations or annotations such as +=, ?! etc to each move in the repertoire. - Export repertoire and your comments and annotations to PGN. - Graphs showing learning status and progress over time. - Use the opening explorer to choose moves for your repertoire (limited to a depth of 10 moves for free members). - For premium members, the ability to use the cloud engine to ask for analysis on any position. - ENDGAME TRAINING - Practice endgames from 3, 4, 5 , 6 and 7 piece endgame positions extracted from real games. - Over 14000 different positions. - 2 positions per day for free members. - For premium members: - More positions available per day. - Custom sets that can target a particular endgame type, endgames you keep getting wrong, or utilise spaced repetition for training. Note: Some custom sets types need to be created on the Chesstempo website before being used on the app. - GUESS THE MOVE - Learn by playing through master games and get scored on how well you match the master's moves. - ANALYSIS BOARD - Analyse positions using our cloud engines (requires premium membership). Cloud engines allow you to run high quality analysis without using up your own device's battery. Diamond members can request up to 8 analysis threads, analysing many times more positions per second than an engine running on your device could provide. - Setup positions from FEN or by arranging the pieces on the board with the board editor. - Analyse tactics problems after completion to better understand the solution. - PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTIONS - Monthly auto-renew subscriptions are provided via in app purchases for Silver, Gold and Diamond memberships, providing access to more powerful training features. Details of features provided are shown within the app. - Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at the confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your App Store account settings after purchase. Terms of Service: chesstempo.com/tos.html

About

Ask Lyra

Features
Read full description

Ask Lyra: The Math Engine From Algebra homework to university-level proofs — Lyra is the AI math tutor built for serious students. Most "math AI" apps spit out an answer and call it a day. Lyra is different. She's a dual-engine math tutor: a fast Standard Engine for everyday Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry, and a high-rigor Undergrad Engine that switches on automatically when you tackle Calculus, Linear Algebra, or formal proofs. You get the right tool for the right problem, every time. SNAP & STUDY Point your camera at any worksheet, textbook problem, or test review. Lyra reads it, identifies the topic, and walks you through every step — no skipped logic, no hand-waving. TWO ENGINES, ONE TUTOR • Standard Engine — Lightning-fast help for Algebra 1/2, Geometry, basic stats, and unit conversions. • Undergrad Engine — Activates automatically for Limits, Derivatives, Integrals, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, and "Prove that…" problems. Formal notation, cited theorems, full rigor. LYRA'S VAULT Save every solved assignment and one-on-one lesson to your personal vault, organized by subject — AP Calc AB, Statistics, Trigonometry, Algebra, and more. Revisit any solution, or ask Lyra to build you a custom practice lesson modeled on the questions you struggled with. ONE-ON-ONE LESSONS Chat with Lyra for as long as you need. Ask follow-up questions, request a different approach, or have her teach a concept from the ground up. Save any lesson straight to your vault for later review. BUILT FOR HIGH SCHOOL & COLLEGE • Pre-Algebra · Algebra 1 & 2 · Geometry · Trigonometry • Pre-Calculus · AP Calculus AB/BC · Statistics • Linear Algebra · Differential Equations · Discrete Math • Formal proofs with LaTeX-rendered notation Apple's End User License Agreement (EULA) applies and is located at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Chess Tempo4 screens
Ask Lyra4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Chess Tempo at 13.0 against Ask Lyra's 18.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Chess Tempo sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Ask Lyra sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Tempo ships an update every 2 months, Ask Lyra every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Chess Tempo versus Ask Lyra: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess TempoAsk Lyra
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (113 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews58.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings113 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size30 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess TempoAtkins Media, LLC

Bugs and requests

Chess Tempo

Reported bugs

42 issues
  • Cannot connect to server
  • Connection issues when opening the app
  • Bug makes engine take ~5 seconds to make its move
  • App quits whenever tactics page is opened
  • Data loss
Show 37 more
  • Engine takes too long to make moves
  • Tactics page crashes
  • Bug in solving history (last 50 tactics not showing)
  • Endgame training seems buggy, cannot make moves
  • Registration process has issues (username/email taken)
  • Loading times are very long
  • Misclicks are not correctable
  • Difficulty levels are inconsistent after a while
  • App is not a native app, feels like a website
  • Board and pieces are too small/large on different devices
  • Does not accept alternate right moves
  • Game aborted/resigned frequently
  • Missing endgame feature in app
  • Doesn't show number of problems done
  • UI is awkward and slow
  • Misclicks are hard to correct
  • Tapping opponent's pieces is problematic
  • Buttons are too close together (skip/retry)
  • Tactics page crashes
  • Engine move takes too long
  • Misclicks are not correctable
  • No clear instructions
  • Difficulty levels are the same after a while
  • Loading times are very long
  • Tactics are too computer-like
  • Puzzles are overrated/underrated
  • UI is horrible and alien-like
  • Puzzles are too difficult for average person
  • Rating of puzzles is questionable
  • Punished for solving correctly but too slowly
  • UI is awkward and slow
  • Not as user-friendly as others
  • Game aborted/resigned frequently
  • Missing endgame feature in app
  • Doesn't show number of problems done
  • Board and pieces too small/large
  • Does not accept alternate right moves

Requested features

19 requests
  • Move buttons to improve usability
  • Add a takeback option to correct misclicks
  • Improve UI for better bullet play
  • Make UI more intuitive and user-friendly
  • Provide explanations for icons and functions
Show 14 more
  • Add a dark mode
  • Improve board and piece sizing for different devices
  • Allow alternate right moves
  • Add an abort option for games
  • Fix bug in tactic history
  • Allow viewing and creating comments for problems
  • Improve endgame training functionality
  • Show number of problems done
  • Make registration process smoother
  • Allow users to select a comfortable difficulty range
  • Improve the spaced repetition intervals
  • Add a feature to customize intervals
  • Make the app feel more like a native app
  • Improve the UX significantly

Ask Lyra

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess Tempo

Subscriptions3
  • Silver membership - 1 month$2.991 Month
  • Gold membership - 1 month$3.991 Month
  • Diamond membership - 1 month$8.991 Month
7 purchases

Ask Lyra

Subscriptions4
  • Ask Lyra Weekly Pro3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Ask Lyra Monthly Pro3 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Ask Lyra Semester Pro3 Days trial$34.993 Months
Show 1 more
  • Ask Lyra Annual Pro3 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time3
  • Spark — 5 Fire Ups$4.99
  • Blaze — 15 Fire Ups$12.99
  • Inferno — 40 Fire Ups$29.99

Questions

Is Chess Tempo free?
Chess Tempo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ask Lyra free?
Ask Lyra is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chess Tempo or Ask Lyra have ads?
Neither Chess Tempo nor Ask Lyra shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Tempo or Ask Lyra?
Chess Tempo ships an update every 2 months, and Ask Lyra every 3 months. Most recently, Chess Tempo was updated on October 24, 2026 and Ask Lyra on October 7, 2026.

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