Nova Tuner vs APTuner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Nova Tuner
A professional chromatic tuner designed for musicians, especially those in Early Music. It offers extensive temperament support, custom profile creation, and a clean interface for precise instrument tuning. No internet connection or data collection required.
- Extensive built-in temperaments
- Add and create custom temperaments
- User profiles for quick settings
- Sound and Auto detection modes
- Adjustable A4 pitch detector
- Multiple waveform options
- Light and dark mode support
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Written for professionals, especially those in the field of Early Music, Nova Tuner is a fully featured, accurate, chromatic tuner with extensive temperament support. A full demonstration of the app is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/egkAFaICdXY?si=peIM6QvGHLqXMqtD Nova Tuner was written by professional fortepianist and harpsichordist, Thomas Foster. MAIN FEATURES - Sound Mode (reference pitch) and Auto Mode (detect pitch) - Clean and simple interface - About 30 built-in temperaments (see www.thomasfoster.org/novatuner for full list) - Add/Create new temperaments. - Duplicate and edit built-in temperaments - Create profiles to quickly set pitch and temperament for frequently used settings. - A4 pitch detector to quickly determine an instrument's pitch level. - Quick selection of common pitch levels: 392, 415, 430, and 440 Hz (these are customizable). - Four waveforms for audible note: Sawtooth, Square, Triangle, Sine. - No data is collected, no internet connection is required. INTERFACE - All tuner information (pitch level, temperament, etc) clearly visible on main screen. - Standard, simple iOS appearance and controls. - Large and intuitive adjustment buttons (no fussy scroll wheels). - Light and dark mode. - Supports portrait and landscape orientations. - Note names in English, German, and Neo-Latin (do, re, mi) TEMPERAMENTS - Temperaments can be transposed - Add, duplicate and edit temperaments - Favorite frequently used temperaments - Filter by favorited and custom - Search entire list of temperaments by name or information (creator, type, year, etc.) - Hide unwanted temperaments so they don't appear in the list or search SPECIFICATIONS Transposition range: -11 to +11 semitones Detection range: A0 to C8 Reference tone: C2 to B7 Tuning modes: Sound, Auto, Auto with Sound Back Calibration range: A4=300-500 Hz, 0.1 Hz increments
APTuner
This application provides highly accurate chromatic tuning for a wide range of instruments. It features a clear interface, customizable settings, and the ability to detect note deviations with precision.
- Automatic note and cent deviation detection
- Accurate to 1/1000 semitone
- High contrast, high visibility UI
- Instrument presets
- User selectable noise threshold
- Settable A4 frequency
- Historical temperaments
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Features: + Automatically detects the note and cent deviation for a wide variety of instruments + Accurate up to 1/1000 semitone (0.1 cent) + High contrast, high visibility user interface + Instrument presets + User selectable noise threshold + Settable A4 frequency + Frequency table + Select and edit historical temperaments
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: APTuner at Free against Nova Tuner's $7.99. APTuner also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Nova Tuner's advantage is ratings volume (32 vs 6). On review sentiment, 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
APTuner is free to download; Nova Tuner costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
APTuner holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nova Tuner has 32 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
Nova Tuner ships an update every 5 months, APTuner every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Nova Tuner | APTuner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (32 ratings) | 5.0 (6 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas J Foster | Joseph Broms |
Customer experience
Nova Tuner
APTuner
In-app purchases
Nova Tuner
No in-app purchases
APTuner
No in-app purchases
