Comparison

Note Names & Pitches vs WatsonMIDI

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

Head to head
About

Note Names & Pitches

Hear pitches for written musical notes or piano keys. Play intervals and chords, and see notation as you play. Ideal for musicians learning to read music across different clefs.

Highlights
  • Hear any written note or piano key
  • Play intervals and chords
  • Supports multiple clefs (Treble, Alto, Tenor, Bass)
  • See notation and note names
  • Interactive staff and piano keyboard
  • Chromatic up/down movement
Read full description

Provides a quick and easy way to hear pitches for any written notes or piano keys you need. Hear intervals and chords with up to 5 notes on the iPhone, 12 notes on the iPad. Support for Key Signatures to more easily find a pitch in the music you're working on. An indispensable tool for a cappella groups, and instrumentalists who often play in ledger lines or alternate clefs. If you don’t read music well and need to learn a melody or harmony part, you can simply match what’s written. (Including the key signatures.) This is exactly what you need if you would like to learn the relationship between notation in various clefs and the piano. • Play the piano and see the notation and note name for what you are playing • Choose between Treble, Alto, Tenor, and Bass clefs • Touch the staff and see and hear the piano keys play Selecting a Pitch: Using the Staff (transposed notation): Simply touch and slide up and down on the staff to select the note, slide to the right or left of the note for sharps and flats. Using the Piano (concert pitch): drag in the area below the keyboard to move the keyboard, touch to play notes, touch & slide to change the pitch. When you glissando up the keyboard, notes will be notated as a raised value (sharps), when you glissando down, notes will be notated as lowered values (flats). Use the up and down arrows to move chromatically up and down without touching the music staff or piano keyboard.

About

WatsonMIDI

Capture, organize, and share MIDI performances for pipe and electronic organs. Features include instant transposition, tempo adjustment, and service playlists. Protect your work with encrypted sharing options.

Highlights
  • MIDI recording and playback
  • Organized library with custom folders
  • Service playlist creation
  • Instant transposition and tempo adjustment
  • Encrypted sharing with usage controls
  • Universal compatibility with MIDI instruments
Features
Read full description

WatsonMIDI™ is the professional MIDI recording and playback app for pipe organ and electronic organ musicians. Developed with over 20 years of organist input, WatsonMIDI™ captures, organizes, and shares your musical performances. RECORD & PLAYBACK Capture performances with a single tap. Records all MIDI data including notes, expression pedal movements, and registration changes. Play back through any MIDI-connected organ exactly as performed, or route to virtual organ software like GrandOrgue and Hauptwerk. ORGANIZED LIBRARY Build a recording library with custom folders for each venue, season, or occasion. Search instantly across hundreds of recordings. Import existing MIDI files from other systems. SERVICE PLAYLISTS Create playlists for worship services, concerts, recitals, and special events. Arrange recordings in any order and play through them seamlessly. Perfect for substitute organists. HYMN BUILDER (Symphony) Assemble a complete hymn from your recordings. Record an introduction, verses, and an ending once, set the verse plan, and WatsonMIDI plays the hymn straight through on your organ. Reuse the same pieces across services. PROFESSIONAL FEATURES Instant transposition - shift playback up or down without re-recording Tempo adjustment - speed up or slow down for practice Loop playback - repeat recordings continuously Play-along mode - play live while a recording plays back Listening mode - hear playback through your device speakers MIDI Monitor - view incoming MIDI data in real-time PROTECT YOUR WORK Share recordings with military-grade AES-256 encryption. Set play limits and expiration. Your intellectual property stays protected — only WatsonMIDI™ can play your shared content. MAESTRO - FOR ORGANISTS & TECHNICIANS For musicians who play multiple instruments and technicians who service them: Organ Profiling - capture any instrument's complete stop list, divisions, and MIDI channel mapping. Build a profile library of every organ you play or maintain. Translation Engine - a first for the organ world. Record at one church, play back at another with stops mapped automatically. Tag your existing library with a profile, then translate to any profiled organ — a recording from a Rodgers digital organ can play back on a 43-rank pipe organ. Professional Tuning - chromatic strobe tuner with four display modes, real-time pitch detection, wireless remote tuning via Bluetooth from inside the chamber, historical temperament support, cents offset, chromatic walk, interval checks, and reference tone generation. UNIVERSAL COMPATIBILITY Pipe Organs - Peterson ICS, Syndyne, Matters, and MIDI-equipped consoles Digital Organs - Rodgers, Allen, Johannus, Viscount, Lowrey Digital Pianos - Yamaha, Roland, Kawai, Nord Theater Organs - Wurlitzer, legacy instruments with MIDI Virtual Organs - GrandOrgue, Hauptwerk via IAC Driver or virtual MIDI Keyboards & Synthesizers - any MIDI-capable keyboard FLEXIBLE PRICING All one-time purchases, no subscriptions: Practice ($1.99) - 5 recordings, 1 playlist Audition ($49.99) - 50 recordings, 5 playlists, folders Recital ($199.99) - Unlimited recordings and playlists Symphony ($499.99) - Encrypted sharing, audio recording, and Hymn Builder Maestro ($999.99) - Organ Profiling, Translation Engine, Professional Tuning, Apple Watch and Console Power Control CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth MIDI or wired USB/Lightning. Auto-reconnect remembers your last device. Separate MIDI Routing for virtual instrument setups. Whether you're a church organist, concert artist, substitute musician, or organ technician, WatsonMIDI™ is the essential tool for modern MIDI organ work. From Watson Pipe Organ Company - Music for Generations.

Screenshots

Note Names & Pitches3 screens
WatsonMIDI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Note Names & Pitches at none against WatsonMIDI's 4. WatsonMIDI's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 9 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and monetization model 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

Note Names & Pitches costs $1.99 and WatsonMIDI $1.99 up front. WatsonMIDI sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Note Names & Pitches asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WatsonMIDI holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 16 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Note Names & Pitches's written reviews are positive against 100% of WatsonMIDI's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Note Names & Pitches ships an update every 9 months, WatsonMIDI every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Note Names & Pitches versus WatsonMIDI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNote Names & PitchesWatsonMIDI
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating4.6 (16 ratings)5.0 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings16 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick Q. KellyDusti Watson

Customer experience

Note Names & Pitches

All ratings16 ratings
Positive81.3%
Neutral12.5%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral23.1%
Negative0.0%

WatsonMIDI

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Note Names & Pitches

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

WatsonMIDI

One-time4
  • Audition Tier$49.99
  • Recital$199.99
  • Symphony$499.99
Show 1 more
  • Maestro$999.99

Questions

Is Note Names & Pitches free?
Note Names & Pitches costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is WatsonMIDI free?
WatsonMIDI costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Note Names & Pitches or WatsonMIDI?
WatsonMIDI is rated higher. Note Names & Pitches averages 4.6 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while WatsonMIDI averages 5.0 from 8 ratings.
Do Note Names & Pitches or WatsonMIDI have ads?
Neither Note Names & Pitches nor WatsonMIDI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Note Names & Pitches or WatsonMIDI?
Note Names & Pitches ships an update every 9 months, and WatsonMIDI every 11 days. Most recently, Note Names & Pitches was updated on October 23, 2026 and WatsonMIDI on October 24, 2026.

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