Comparison

Better Ears vs Ear training

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

Head to head
About

Better Ears

Enhance your musical abilities with a comprehensive ear training application. It offers 13 diverse exercises, from interval recognition to chord progressions, suitable for all skill levels. Customize your learning path with user-defined levels and instruments.

Highlights
  • 13 ear training exercises
  • Customizable chords, scales, and progressions
  • 6 instrument sound options
  • Virtual keyboard and fretboard
  • Vocal or instrument input
  • Preset and custom training levels
  • Cross-device synchronization
Features
Read full description

Better Ears is the complete ear training and sight‑reading workout for musicians, students and teachers. Train your musical ear and master music theory — from interval recognition all the way to chord progressions and rhythm training. 15 exercises take you from absolute beginner to pro, at your own pace, with no rules and no pressure. NEW: RHYTHM TRAINING Sharpen your sense of timing with two brand‑new exercises. Hear a rhythm and clap or tap it back, or read rhythmic notation and perform it in time — with count‑in, metronome, triplets and time signatures like 3/4, 4/4 and 5/4. Clap straight into your device's microphone and Better Ears listens. YOU DECIDE HOW TO TRAIN There are no rules to follow. You decide when to start, what to practice and how often. 15 EXERCISES INCLUDED • Interval recognition • Scale recognition • Chord recognition • Chord progressions • Pitch recognition • Melodic dictation • Tempo recognition • Key signature recognition • Music reading • Interval music reading • Scale music reading • Chord music reading • Melody music reading • Rhythm recognition (new) • Rhythm reading (new) ANSWER WITH YOUR VOICE OR A REAL INSTRUMENT Built‑in pitch detection lets you answer by singing or by playing a real instrument (e.g. piano or guitar). Just sing or play the notes when the microphone button lights up red. CUSTOM CHORDS, SCALES & CHORD PROGRESSIONS The built‑in editor lets you add your own chords, scales and chord progressions. FOUR PRESET LEVELS + UNLIMITED CUSTOM LEVELS Start at Beginner, Easy, Normal or Professional — then build your own levels to focus exactly where you need to: church modes, those two pesky intervals, custom rhythms, whatever you like. 6 INSTRUMENTS & CUSTOM SOUNDFONTS Train with Acoustic Grand, Bright Acoustic Piano, Electric Grand, Drawbar Organ, Nylon and Steel Acoustic Guitar — or extend Better Ears with your own sounds via SoundFonts (.sf2). KEYBOARD & FRETBOARD Answer on a virtual piano keyboard or a virtual guitar fretboard. MIDI SUPPORT Route sound through an external MIDI device and even control Better Ears with a connected master keyboard. SYNC ALL OF YOUR DEVICES Keep your Mac, iPhone and iPad in sync via Dropbox. You choose what to sync: your own levels, your statistics, your settings — or all of it. STATISTICS Better Ears tracks your progress for every exercise and every question — right and wrong answers at a glance. WIKIPEDIA INTEGRATION The matching Wikipedia article is shown for each exercise, so the theory is always one tap away. REFRESHED DESIGN A modern, fully redesigned interface on iPhone, iPad and Mac — with full Dark Mode and crystal‑clear music notation.

About

Ear training

Develop perfect pitch and recognize notes, chords, and melodies by ear. This app offers a series of exercises to train your aural skills, with explanations and hints to help you learn at your own pace. Improve your ability to play along with songs or guess melodies.

Highlights
  • Develop perfect pitch
  • Recognize notes and chords
  • Identify intervals and chord progressions
  • Learn major and minor scales
  • Instrument-specific practice
  • Hint function
Features
Read full description

Would you like to be able to guess melodies by hearing them or be able to play accompaniment to your favorite songs on the guitar or piano? Ear training is the perfect app for you! This app will help you develop perfect pitch, and train your ear to recognize notes and chords in any key. The app consists of a series of exercises, which will gradually introduce you to all the notes and chords in the major and minor scales. You can also practice identifying intervals and chord progressions. Each exercise is accompanied by a clear and concise explanation, so you can understand the theory behind it. And if you get stuck, the app includes a handy hint function. The exercises are tailored to help you improve your aural skills, so you can develop at your own pace. You can also choose to practice in a particular key, or with a particular instrument. So why wait? Start training your ear today!

Screenshots

Better Ears4 screens
Ear training4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Ear training at Free against Better Ears's $4.99. Ear training also leads on ratings volume (247 vs 79). Better Ears's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 33%) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, update cadence, 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

Ear training is free to download; Better Ears costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Better Ears against 4.5 for Ear training. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 79 and 247 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Better Ears's written reviews are positive against 33% of Ear training's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, Ear training every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Better Ears versus Ear training: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter EarsEar training
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (79 ratings) — better4.5 (247 ratings)
Positive reviews70.8% of reviews — better32.6% of reviews
Number of ratings79247 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.6
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHAlexey Ovod

Customer experience

Better Ears

All ratings76 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews236 reviews
Positive70.8%
Neutral12.3%
Negative16.9%

Ear training

All ratings245 ratings
Positive86.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative7.3%
Written reviews129 reviews
Positive32.6%
Neutral14.7%
Negative52.7%

Bugs and requests

Better Ears

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Note recognition issues on lower strings
  • Inconsistent behavior when customizing lessons
  • Dropbox sync feature not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add chord inversions and progressions
  • Include melodic and rhythmic dictation exercises
  • Provide more instrument sound options
  • Improve statistics tracking and personalization
  • Add support for bass clef and multiple clefs

Ear training

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Better Ears

No in-app purchases

None

Ear training

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Better Ears free?
Better Ears costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ear training free?
Ear training is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears or Ear training?
Better Ears is rated higher. Better Ears averages 4.6 out of 5 from 79 ratings, while Ear training averages 4.5 from 247 ratings.
Do Better Ears or Ear training have ads?
Ear training shows ads; Better Ears does not.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears or Ear training?
Better Ears ships an update every 5 months, and Ear training every 8 months. Most recently, Better Ears was updated on October 29, 2026 and Ear training on October 30, 2026.

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