Comparison

Better Ears Beginner vs Functional Harmony

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

Head to head
About

Better Ears Beginner

Enhance your musical skills and hearing with this comprehensive ear training app. It offers 13 diverse exercises, from interval recognition to chord progressions, with customizable training routines and instrument options. Track your progress and sync across devices for a seamless learning experience.

Highlights
  • 13 music theory and ear training exercises
  • Customizable training routines
  • User-created chords, scales, and progressions
  • Six instrument sound options
  • Pitch detection for vocal or instrument answers
  • Virtual keyboard and guitar fretboard
  • 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

Functional Harmony

This music theory app helps users spell chords and scales by entering a root note. It also identifies intervals when two notes are provided. Learn music theory concepts quickly and easily.

Highlights
  • Spell chords
  • Spell scales
  • Identify intervals
  • Enter root note for chords/scales
  • Enter two notes for interval identification
Features
Read full description

Functional Harmony is a fast music theory desk for players and students. Build chords and scales from a root and quality. Identify harmony from notes. Or just Ask—type a chord, scale, or note stack in plain English and jump straight to the answer. SCALE FINDER • Choose a root and scale quality—major, minor, modes, pentatonic, and more • See every degree spelled clearly for practice and ear training • Perfect when you need a quick scale finder without flipping textbooks CHORD BUILDER & CHORD ID • Spell major, minor, sevenths, suspended, augmented, diminished, and more • Stack notes in the Notes tab to identify chords and intervals (reverse lookup) • Piano-friendly note entry with accidentals—great as a chord identifier ASK • Natural-language queries: “C major 7”, “F# dorian”, “C E G” • Live preview before you open Chords, Scales, or Notes • Built for homework, rehearsals, and songwriting sessions WHY FUNCTIONAL HARMONY • Chords, scales, and note identification in one app • Clean, bottom-anchored controls designed for one-handed practice • No accounts, no clutter—just theory when you need it Whether you call it a scale finder, chord identifier, or harmony lab, Functional Harmony keeps tonal music theory at your fingertips.

Screenshots

Better Ears Beginner4 screens
Functional Harmony4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Functional Harmony at none against Better Ears Beginner's 1. Functional Harmony also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (83% vs 67%). Better Ears Beginner's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. Better Ears Beginner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Functional Harmony asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Functional Harmony holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 35 and 24 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Better Ears Beginner's written reviews are positive against 83% of Functional Harmony's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Better Ears Beginner versus Functional Harmony: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter Ears BeginnerFunctional Harmony
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (35 ratings)4.9 (24 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.8% of reviews83.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35 — better24
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHDylan Shade

Customer experience

Better Ears Beginner

All ratings35 ratings
Positive88.6%
Neutral5.7%
Negative5.7%
Written reviews217 reviews
Positive66.8%
Neutral8.3%
Negative24.9%

Functional Harmony

All ratings24 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral4.2%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Better Ears Beginner

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Reverts to beginner version after phone update
  • Audio stops working after some time
  • Keyboard unresponsive on iPad
  • Chord spellings are incorrect

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more instruments
  • Include rhythm training
  • Provide more customization options
  • Implement a game-like format
  • Add support for reading sheet music

Functional Harmony

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Better Ears Beginner

One-time1
  • Unlock all functions$4.99
None

Functional Harmony

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Better Ears Beginner free?
Better Ears Beginner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Functional Harmony free?
Functional Harmony is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears Beginner or Functional Harmony?
Functional Harmony is rated higher. Better Ears Beginner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Functional Harmony averages 4.9 from 24 ratings.
Do Better Ears Beginner or Functional Harmony have ads?
Neither Better Ears Beginner nor Functional Harmony shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears Beginner or Functional Harmony?
Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, and Functional Harmony every 6 months. Most recently, Better Ears Beginner was updated on September 14, 2026 and Functional Harmony on September 6, 2026.

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