Comparison

Better Ears Beginner vs Ear Trainer Lite

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

Ear Trainer Lite

Improve your musical ear with this free educational tool. It offers exercises for intervals, chords, and scales, with a virtual piano to help you learn. Track your progress with collected statistics.

Highlights
  • Interval comparison exercises
  • Chord identification exercises
  • Chord progression exercises
  • Scale identification exercises
  • Melody exercises
  • Virtual piano keyboard
  • Progress statistics
Features
Read full description

With an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars it is a must to try out this app. Did we mention that it is free? Listening is the most important skill in music, and this app will help you to listen better. Ear Trainer Lite is an educational tool designed for musicians, music students and anyone interested in improving ones musical ear. It has exercises covering intervals, chords, and scales. This is the LITE version with 32 exercises. The full version has over 260 exercises and the ability to create custom exercises. Ear Trainer Lite covers the following categories: - Interval Comparison (18 exercises) - Chord Identification (3 exercises) - Chord Progressions (3 exercises) - Scales (4 exercises) - Melody (4 exercises) Each exercise has a short description of its purpose and optional preview. A virtual piano keyboard in each exercise helps you visually understand and analyze the notes that have been played. To aid your progression you can compare the different options after answering. (You can even play the virtual piano if you like!) As you progress through the exercises, statistics are collected so that you can see your progress. The questions in the exercises are randomly generated so you can do them over and over again as many times as you like to continue to hone your skills. For more information please see the demonstration video at: www.dev4phone.com

Screenshots

Better Ears Beginner4 screens
Ear Trainer Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

Better Ears Beginner and Ear Trainer Lite both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 95% of Ear Trainer Lite's written reviews are positive against 67% of Better Ears Beginner's. Ear Trainer Lite also leads on ratings volume (343 vs 35) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.6). On price, rating, 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 and Ear Trainer Lite sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ear Trainer Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ear Trainer Lite has 343 ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Better Ears Beginner's written reviews are positive against 95% of Ear Trainer Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, Ear Trainer Lite every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Better Ears Beginner versus Ear Trainer Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBetter Ears BeginnerEar Trainer Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (35 ratings)4.7 (343 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.8% of reviews95.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35343 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.612.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB92 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperMAMP GmbHthoor software AB

Customer experience

Better Ears Beginner

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

Ear Trainer Lite

All ratings343 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive95.0%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.2%

User reviews

Better Ears Beginner

From 35 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Free beginner version
  • 🚀 Helpful for learning music theory
  • 💡 Useful for ear training and pitch recognition
  • 🎹 Ability to play piano-like keyboard

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes after purchasing add-on
  • 🔒 No Airplay support
  • 👎 Insufficient training functionality
  • 🔊 Poor sound quality
  • 🤔 Confusing for true beginners

Ear Trainer Lite

From 343 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Effective ear training
  • 💡 Helpful for improving music skills
  • 🎉 Fun and engaging exercises

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sound quality issues
  • 🔄 Repetitive exercises
  • 🤔 Limited features in free version
  • 🤷‍♂️ Difficulty progressing to harder levels

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

Ear Trainer Lite

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sound not playing
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More interval training options
  • Customizable difficulty levels
  • Support for different instrument timbres
  • Progress tracking and performance analytics

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Better Ears Beginner

One-time1
  • Unlock all functions$4.99
1 purchases

Ear Trainer Lite

One-time1
  • Upgrade to full version$7.99

Questions

Is Better Ears Beginner free?
Better Ears Beginner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ear Trainer Lite free?
Ear Trainer Lite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Better Ears Beginner or Ear Trainer Lite?
Ear Trainer Lite is rated higher. Better Ears Beginner averages 4.5 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Ear Trainer Lite averages 4.7 from 343 ratings.
Do Better Ears Beginner or Ear Trainer Lite have ads?
Neither Better Ears Beginner nor Ear Trainer Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Better Ears Beginner or Ear Trainer Lite?
Better Ears Beginner ships an update every 6 months, and Ear Trainer Lite every 4 months. Most recently, Better Ears Beginner was updated on November 3, 2026 and Ear Trainer Lite on November 1, 2026.

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