Comparison

Ear Trainer vs Interval Ear Training

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

Head to head
About

Ear Trainer

This app is designed to enhance your musical listening skills. It offers a comprehensive set of over 260 exercises across nine study areas, plus custom exercise creation. Suitable for all levels, it helps musicians and students improve their ear training.

Highlights
  • Over 260 built-in exercises
  • Nine areas of musical study
  • Custom exercise creation
  • Interval, chord, and scale identification
  • Melody and chord progression training
  • Progress tracking and statistics
  • Virtual piano and note view
Features
Read full description

With an overall 4.8 out of 5 rating in it is a must to try out this ear training app. What our users says: Awesome ear training app ***** One of the most in depth apps out there for ear training and a easy to use interface. You can even make your own exercises. I wish you could undo a note entry in the melodic exercises, a lot of the times iv just pressed the wrong note because of my fat fingers but I guess it’s part of the challenge to not make a mistake(wish you could change it in the settings or something). Still a must buy for ear training. Guy ***** You guys deserve 1000000 stars thank you Everything You Need **** It took a while for me to appreciate this app. It wasn't until I had a bit of ear training done that I could see the limitations in other apps and how this one would take me further and teach more of what I could actually use versus simpler apps. Once I could hear intervals up to an octave and major vs minor chords, this app had plenty more for me to study. Great app. ---- Listening is the most important skill in music, and this app will help you to listen better. Ear Trainer is an educational tool designed for musicians, music students and anyone interested in improving ones musical ear. It has over 260 individual exercises that are conveniently placed into nine different areas of study. It is also possible to create custom exercises so that you can practice exactly what you need. No need to be an expert, Ear Trainer is suitable for all users from beginner to very advanced. No matter what level your musical hearing skills are, Ear Trainer will help to hone them. * Built-in Exercises * - Interval Comparison (48 different exercises) - Interval Identification (30 different exercises) - Chord Identification (48 different exercises) - Chord Inversions (24 different exercises) - Chord Progressions (25 different exercises) - Scales (24 different exercises) - Note relative to chord (18 different exercises) - Relative Pitch (12 different exercises) - Melody Exercises (38 different exercises) Each exercise has a short description of its purpose and optional preview. A virtual piano keyboard and note view 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 work 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. * Custom Exercises * Users can create their own custom exercises to match their desired areas of study and/or skill level. The following areas are available for custom exercises: - Interval Comparison - Interval Identification - Chord Identification - Chord inversion - Chord Progression - Scale Identification - Note after chord * Share Custom Exercises * Custom exercises can be shared with friends and class mates through Email, AirDrop and iMessage. What our users says: ------ ***** Must Have!!! This is the best Ear Trainer of all I tried in App Store, everything works just perfectly. If you are interested in improving your musical hearing you must have it. ------ ***** Amazing I have been using this app every day for just about a year now and the result are simply amazing. ------ **** I'm in my second third semester as a music major and I have to say, this is a great app for any music major, or anyone looking for ear training. I like that I'm able to switch between different instruments, it makes hearing the notes on the instrument you're use to a bit easier for me. ------ For more information please see: www.dev4phone.com

About

Interval Ear Training

Develop your musical ear with this interactive piano game. It helps improve interval recognition, pitch sense, and transcription skills through engaging exercises. Suitable for both beginners and experienced musicians.

Highlights
  • Interval recognition practice
  • Sense of pitch development
  • Transcription skill improvement
  • Improvisation skill enhancement
  • MIDI keyboard integration
  • Customizable tempo and keyboard range
Features
Read full description

***** Highly addictive piano game. ***** A fun way to develop a better musical ear! Great for experienced musicians and beginners. Music students love this app. ---- Interval Ear Training can help improve: • Interval recognition • Sense of pitch • Transcription skills • Improvising skills • Self esteem --- How to Play: • Tap "play" to hear the interval • To hear the interval again, tap "replay" • Use the piano to play the interval yourself • Play often to improve your score! --- MIDI In – Plug in your MIDI keyboard to enhance the experience! (Core MIDI compatible) MIDI Out – If you have a music instrument app (such as a synth) that can run in "background mode" and accepts virtual Core MIDI, you can play Interval Ear Training using the sounds of that app. --- Tips for the Beginners: Use the + and - keyboard range control to set the keyboard to a small range such as "C, D" or "C, D, E". Keep practicing, and as you progress you'll want to make the range larger. --- Tips for the Pros: Set "Feedback" to "Never" and turn on "Autoplay" to play continuously without ever missing a beat. Crank up the tempo to see how fast you can go! For more advanced ear training features, you'll want to Unlock Pro Settings. --- Interval Settings: Tempo – 60 to 320 BPM Keyboard Range – Starting at 2 notes in a major scale (ex. “C, D”) and up to 12 notes in a major scale (ex. “C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G”) with the ability to change octaves. Feedback – Set to "Never" to stop all messages. Set to "Wrong" if you only want messages for incorrect intervals. Sound – Set to "Piano" to hear the built-in piano sound. Set to "MIDI Out" to hear the sound of a music instrument app (such as a synth) that can run in "background mode" and accepts virtual Core MIDI. Autoplay – Turn on to always play the next interval immediately. Turn off if you want to play the keyboard freely between intervals. Key Labels – Turn off to remove note names on white keys. Allow Unison – Turn off if you don't want the same note to be played twice in a row. --- Pro Settings (requires in-app purchase): Scale – 13 major scales Difficulty - Diatonic, Random Tonic, Chromatic Length – 2 to 6 notes --- About the Difficulty Setting: "Diatonic" uses notes from a major scale. This setting is recommended. "Random Tonic" uses notes from a random major scale each time. "Chromatic" mode is the "extreme mode" where any combination of notes is possible. As a result, strange intervals like the Augmented 2nd (ex. F to G#) are possible. --- About the Score: Interval Ear Training is all about self progression. Tap the score to reset at any time. The game goes on forever and the music never ends! --- Can you guess the next note? Download the app to find out!

Screenshots

Ear Trainer4 screens
Interval Ear Training4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Interval Ear Training at Free against Ear Trainer's $7.99. Ear Trainer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 19 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads 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

Interval Ear Training is free to download; Ear Trainer costs $7.99 up front. Interval Ear Training sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ear Trainer asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Ear Trainer against 4.7 for Interval Ear Training. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.2K and 355 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Ear Trainer's written reviews are positive against 88% of Interval Ear Training's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ear Trainer ships an update every 4 months, Interval Ear Training every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Ear Trainer versus Interval Ear Training: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEar TrainerInterval Ear Training
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better4.7 (355 ratings)
Positive reviews94.8% of reviews — better88.2% of reviews
Number of ratings1.2K — better355
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.112.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size90 MB295 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerthoor software AB262Hz

Customer experience

Ear Trainer

All ratings1,200 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews386 reviews
Positive94.8%
Neutral3.6%
Negative1.6%

Interval Ear Training

All ratings355 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative2.0%
Written reviews76 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative9.2%

User reviews

Ear Trainer

From 1.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and effective
  • 🚀 Accessible and easy to use
  • 🚀 Customizable exercises
  • 🚀 Comprehensive training
  • 🚀 Steady progress and improvement

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Incorrect note/interval spellings
  • 🐛 Lack of melody dictation exercises
  • 🐛 Limited chord progression exercises
  • 🐛 Cumbersome note deletion in melody exercises

Interval Ear Training

From 355 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and intuitive user interface
  • 🎵 Effective ear training tool for interval recognition
  • 🎹 Visual keyboard display aids learning
  • 📊 Progress tracking with running success score
  • 🔊 High-quality audio output

Room to improve

  • 🖱️ Excessive clicks required between intervals
  • ⚙️ Limited customization options
  • 🎵 Fixed to C major key only
  • 🔄 Cannot fix first note for consistent practice
  • 📊 Cumulative score cannot be reset per session

Bugs and requests

Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Incorrect chord quality identification
  • Inconsistent note layout in some exercises

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add more chord types (diminished, half-diminished, etc.)
  • Include more modes and scale types
  • Implement MIDI connectivity for external instruments
  • Add a random exercise mode
  • Provide more detailed progress tracking and statistics
Show 2 more
  • Introduce a timed test mode
  • Offer a dark mode option

Interval Ear Training

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App freezes after first interval (iOS 8.1 compatibility issue)
  • App stops responding and doesn't progress to next interval
  • Sound fails after alarm interruption
  • Chromatic mode prevents sounds from playing
  • Delayed iOS support updates

Requested features

12 requests
  • Ability to fix first note and practice all intervals from one tonic
  • Customize intervals tested (major only, minor only, specific intervals like 2nd, 3rd, tritone)
  • Auto-play next interval without requiring additional clicks
  • Support for sharps and flats
  • Other musical keys beyond C major
Show 7 more
  • Chromatic mode option
  • Support for different instruments (guitar, etc.)
  • Option to play notes simultaneously
  • Ability to disable unison interval
  • Multiple attempts to answer with feedback on accuracy
  • Session-based score reset functionality
  • Ascending or descending intervals selection

In-app purchases

None

Ear Trainer

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Interval Ear Training

One-time1
  • Pro Settings$9.99

Questions

Is Ear Trainer free?
Ear Trainer costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Interval Ear Training free?
Interval Ear Training is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ear Trainer or Interval Ear Training?
Ear Trainer is rated higher. Ear Trainer averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.2K ratings, while Interval Ear Training averages 4.7 from 355 ratings.
Do Ear Trainer or Interval Ear Training have ads?
Neither Ear Trainer nor Interval Ear Training shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ear Trainer or Interval Ear Training?
Ear Trainer ships an update every 4 months, and Interval Ear Training every 19 months. Most recently, Ear Trainer was updated on September 28, 2026 and Interval Ear Training on September 26, 2026.

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