Comparison

Tongo Circus vs iRhythm Random

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

Head to head
About

Tongo Circus

Explore a magical circus world through interactive games designed for children. This app playfully introduces young learners to classical music and its emotional expressions through engaging circus scenes and animations. It's a joyful, ad-free experience crafted by music and education experts.

Highlights
  • Interactive circus scenes
  • Introduction to classical music
  • Playful learning without explanations
  • Focus on musical moods and expressions
  • Animations illustrating musical structures
  • 15 minutes of curated music
Features
Read full description

The magical world of the circus, interactive and set out in games specially for children. After the worldwide success of Tongo Music (Apple App of the Year 2016, Parents’ Choice Gold Award), Tongo Circus now follows with more music for children. Little Tongo introduces us to his ringing circus world. His companions are a powerful lion, a clumsy clown, foolhardy acrobats, skilful artists, a sounding popcorn machine, and many more. The circus is an emotional world where children cheer, rejoice, laugh and are amazed. They focus on the artists, hold their breath - and that's exactly the same with music. Especially for smaller children Tongo has selected beautiful music. Very playfully, Tongo manages to introduce children to the music. And so in this lovely app they learn without any explanations and with much joy. Our team of experienced musicians, pedagogues and illustrators stands for learning with fun. Made with love, without advertising, in-app purchases or data usage. 11 circus scenes to play with: - Tongo conjures from his magic hat - A strong lion jumps through the ring - The penguin family is balancing on the ball - Dancers to dream - The monkeys show their acrobatic art - A mouse is running on the rope - A bear plays the circus clown - A juggler practicing - The circus band ensures the best mood - A sounding popcorn machine - A sounding starry sky The music The Tongo Circus features 15 minutes of music for children of selected compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georges Bizet, Johannes Brahms, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka, Charles Gounod, Edvard Grieg, Joseph Haydn, Modest Mussorgsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nikolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Johann Strauss and Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky. +++ More about our concept for interested parents +++ HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN IN THE APP? We completely dispense with explanatory texts in the app. The learning on the smartphone or tablet is fun and playful. To do this, we actively involve the children in the design of the circus performances in small games. In doing so, children unconsciously experience how music can reproduce a variety of moods and expressions. The ears become pointed and abstract structures such as polyphony, musical phrases and motifs become visible. FIGURE OF MOOD The circus is an emotional world where children cheer, rejoice, laugh and are amazed. They focus on the artists, and hold their breath - and that's the same with music. In the lovingly illustrated circus scenes, very different pieces of music are played. The variety of moods and expressive possibilities of music can be experienced here. If the clown comes on stage, the music becomes fun, as soon as the lion is standing in the arena, the music sounds noticeably large and majestic, and everything changes to a tender tone, when the mouse stands on the rope. STRUCTURES OF MUSIC In many small animations children learn structures and building blocks of music. Complex terms such as polyphony, musical phrases or motifs become very clearly and intuitively comprehensible: when the penguins balance on the ball or the skilful monkey rocks on the trapeze. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS As a continuation of the app "Tongo Musik" Tongo introduces further musical instruments. The timbres and pitches of the instruments become audible as they sound individually and together in the circus band. RHYTHMS The popcorn machine becomes a rhythm machine. Children playfully hear many rhythms - from simple to complex rhythm sequences. THE MUSIC Tongo circus is an invitation to listen. All pieces have been carefully selected for children. In the app, we attach great importance to sound quality and high quality recordings of the classic label NAXOS.

About

iRhythm Random

Features
Read full description

iRhythm Random is designed for musicians, students and teachers who want to improve rhythm reading in a practical, immediate and customizable way. The app generates random rhythm exercises and displays them clearly on the staff, allowing you to read, listen and play rhythms with precision. You can adjust the BPM, choose the reference sound, enable the metronome, use drum loops and adapt each practice session to your level. This new version introduces a completely renewed experience, with a modern interface, more intuitive controls and new features created to make daily rhythm practice more effective. Main features: • Random generation of rhythm patterns • Catalog with 197 rhythmic forms • Two-round mode for progressive exercises • Adjustable metronome • Drum loop styles for practicing with rhythmic accompaniments • Sound selection including voice, snare, claps and cowbell • Timer for focused practice sessions • Presets to save custom configurations • Color themes to adapt the interface to your style • PDF export to create customized exercises iRhythm Random is ideal for training precision, reading, listening and rhythmic independence, both for individual study and for lessons or teaching activities.

Screenshots

Tongo Circus4 screens
iRhythm Random4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: iRhythm Random at every 10 days against Tongo Circus's every 19 months. Tongo Circus's advantage is price ($2.99 vs $6.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Tongo Circus costs $2.99 and iRhythm Random $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tongo Circus ships an update every 19 months, iRhythm Random every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Tongo Circus versus iRhythm Random: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTongo CircusiRhythm Random
Price$2.99 — better$6.99
Rating3.7 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews91.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB300 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFirstconcert ProductionsMaurizio Salvi

In-app purchases

None

Tongo Circus

No in-app purchases

None

iRhythm Random

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Tongo Circus free?
Tongo Circus costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is iRhythm Random free?
iRhythm Random costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Tongo Circus or iRhythm Random have ads?
Neither Tongo Circus nor iRhythm Random shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tongo Circus or iRhythm Random?
Tongo Circus ships an update every 19 months, and iRhythm Random every 10 days. Most recently, Tongo Circus was updated on September 28, 2026 and iRhythm Random on October 11, 2026.

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