Kalimba Real vs Kalimba Flows
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Kalimba Real
This app simulates playing a Kalimba, an African thumb piano, with real audio. It offers multiple instrument types, song tabs for practice, and various playing modes. Users can create, import, export, and share their own Kalimba tabs, and record and export audio.
- Real Kalimba audio simulation
- Multiple Kalimba instrument types
- Offline and online song tabs
- Create and export custom tabs (PDF)
- MIDI import/export
- Audio recording and export (.wav)
- Tab sharing and downloading
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The Kalimba is an African musical instrument consisting of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and plucking the tines with the thumbs. The mbira is usually classified as part of the lamellaphone family and part of the idiophone family of musical instruments. Members of this broad family of instruments are known by a wide variety of names. The kalimba is also known as marímbula and mbria in the Caribbean Islands. 6 Kalimba Simulator (Thumb piano/ an African musical instrument) with real audio, with #, b, adjustable UI: - Five Treble: 17 keys - One Alto: 15 keys More offline and online songs (Kalimba Tabs) for practice Play simulator or Connect to real Kalimba (play multi-pitch) with mode: - Melody & Chord - Melody Only - Melody (Auto Chord) - Real Time - Autoplay Two view mode for beginner and professional Build my own tabs and export pdf (similar KTabS): build, pre-play and save, open Kalimba tabs Import & export midi file. Use this app for creating Standard Midi File (SMF) Share your tabs to world. Download tabs from world Record feature: record, play back and share Export .wav file for better sound quality than recording by microphone. You can use it as ringtone or share it to your friends Kalimba Tabs with songs: - Yesterday once more - Heart and Soul - Heal the World - When you believe - My love - You are my sunshine - Happy birthday - Kiss the rain - ... ** Kalimba Tabs is updated regularly
Kalimba Flows
Experience the soothing sounds of a kalimba with this virtual instrument app. It offers a realistic simulation and tuning capabilities for musicians of all levels. Explore melodies and practice your skills anytime, anywhere.
- 17-key kalimba simulation
- Instrument tuner
- Realistic sound
- Practice tool
- User-friendly interface
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17-Key Kalimba Simulator & Tuner
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Kalimba Real at 73% against Kalimba Flows's 0%. Kalimba Real also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Kalimba Flows's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, monetization model 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. Kalimba Flows sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Kalimba Real asks for nothing beyond the download.
Kalimba Real holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kalimba Real has 1.1K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Kalimba Real's written reviews are positive against 0% of Kalimba Flows's.
Kalimba Real ships an update fortnightly, Kalimba Flows weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Kalimba Real | Kalimba Flows |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.1K ratings) — better | 4.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.9% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1.1K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 92 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Son Truong Ngoc | Yongan City Jisi Network Technology Studio |
Customer experience
Kalimba Real
Kalimba Flows
Bugs and requests
Kalimba Real
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes frequently
- No sound output on some devices
- Buttons/UI elements blocked by ads
Requested features
4 requests- Save frequently played tabs
- Add support for triplets
- Display full song notation
- Improve responsiveness on larger devices
Kalimba Flows
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Kalimba Real
No in-app purchases
Kalimba Flows
- Monthly Plan$0.99
- Kalimba Flows Premium$1.99
- Kalimba Flows Premium$3.99
Questions
Is Kalimba Real free?
Is Kalimba Flows free?
Which has better reviews, Kalimba Real or Kalimba Flows?
Do Kalimba Real or Kalimba Flows have ads?
Which is updated more often, Kalimba Real or Kalimba Flows?
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