Comparison

Interval Ear Training vs Play By Ear

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

Head to head
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!

About

Play By Ear

Develop your musical ear with this call-and-response ear training app. It uses pitch recognition, allowing you to play notes back on your instrument instead of pressing buttons. Practice melodies, chords, and intervals in a way that mirrors real musical performance.

Highlights
  • Pitch recognition for instrumental interaction
  • Hands-free, continuous play
  • Interval, chord, and melody exercises
  • Customizable tempo
  • Multiple key centers
  • Microphone calibration
Features
Read full description

Play By Ear is a call-and-response ear training application that helps you develop the ability to hear pitches and play them back on your instrument by ear. Unlike other applications which force you to press buttons to indicate the notes you've heard, Play By Ear uses pitch recognition so you can play the notes back on your instrument (piano, guitar, trumpet, etc). Using your instrument to play the notes allows you to practice ear training in a method that most closely matches how you'll actually play music. ---------------------- APPLICATION FEATURES: ---------------------- - Pitch recognition so you can use your instrument to interact with the ear trainer - Hands-free, continuous play - Interval exercises - Chord exercises - Random melody exercises - Scale pattern melody exercises - Jazz lick melody exercises - Melodic and harmonic note sequences - Ascending and descending note sequences - Microphone calibration - Customizable tempo - Ability to show or hide the first note - C, Bb, Eb, F, G, and D key centers to match your instrument ---------------------- Note: Your device needs a microphone to fully enjoy Play By Ear's pitch recognition features. iPads, iPhones, and the latest iTouch all have microphones built-in, however older iTouch devices will need a headset or similar external microphone.

Screenshots

Interval Ear Training4 screens
Play By Ear1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Play By Ear at none against Interval Ear Training's 1. Play By Ear also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 19 months). Interval Ear Training's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (355 vs 79). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Interval Ear Training sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Play By Ear asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Interval Ear Training holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 355 and 79 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Interval Ear Training's written reviews are positive against 82% of Play By Ear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Interval Ear Training ships an update every 19 months, Play By Ear every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Interval Ear Training versus Play By Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInterval Ear TrainingPlay By Ear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (355 ratings) — better4.4 (79 ratings)
Positive reviews88.2% of reviews — better81.7% of reviews
Number of ratings355 — better79
Update frequencyEvery 19 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size295 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer262HzSuperNonstop.com, Inc.

Customer experience

Interval Ear Training

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

Play By Ear

All ratings79 ratings
Positive87.3%
Neutral5.1%
Negative7.6%
Written reviews104 reviews
Positive81.7%
Neutral10.6%
Negative7.7%

User reviews

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

Play By Ear

From 79 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for ear training
  • 👍 Helps learn to read music
  • 👍 Excellent for musicians
  • 👍 Good for piano teachers
  • 👍 Pitch recognition accuracy

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inconsistent pitch detection
  • 🐛 Issues with low notes
  • 🐛 Glitchy chord recognition
  • 🐛 False errors reported
  • 🐛 Not ideal for beginners

Bugs and requests

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

Play By Ear

Reported bugs

29 issues
  • No audio output
  • App crashes frequently
  • Pitch detection not working
  • Plays single tone only
  • Loses sound with timer/calls
Show 24 more
  • Currently broken, plays back unison only
  • Not working with iOS 9
  • No audio on iPhone 6+
  • Does not work with iOS8
  • Doesn't save calibration
  • Calibration only works sometimes
  • Problems detecting notes below bottom 'A' on guitar
  • Doesn't hear low octave notes
  • App crashes after one or two exercises
  • Does not play pitch as it should
  • App keeps crashing after one exercise
  • Pitch detection issues with voice
  • Over-sensitive pitch detection
  • App crashes after OS4 upgrade
  • Phone doesn't pick up keys played on keyboard
  • Tendency to crash randomly
  • App crashes after one exercise
  • Pitch detection too sensitive for wind instruments
  • Doesn't pick up electric guitar
  • Only picks up half notes on acoustic guitar
  • App crashes, especially on interval section
  • Mic issues with iPod Touch (not new version)
  • App crashes after OS4 upgrade
  • Phone doesn't pick up keys played on keyboard

Requested features

21 requests
  • Repeat option for phrases
  • Limit scale patterns to selected scales/keys
  • Profiles for multi-instrumentalists
  • Test from the same root note sometimes
  • Sign in and save practice data
Show 16 more
  • Vary rhythms of melodies
  • Add bass clef option
  • Option to randomize ascending, descending, melodic, and harmonic intervals
  • Add inversions for triads/chords
  • Add more chord types
  • Add a playable keyboard
  • Setting to prevent sleep mode
  • Ability to mix ascending and descending intervals/chords
  • Input own phrases for practice
  • Add rhythm feature
  • Super-imposed pitch graph for feedback
  • More forgiving pitch setting for wind players
  • Option to force exercises in a chosen key
  • Change clef in which notes are displayed
  • Super easy version with delayed answer feedback
  • Keyboard option for public places practice

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Interval Ear Training

One-time1
  • Pro Settings$9.99
None

Play By Ear

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Interval Ear Training free?
Interval Ear Training is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Play By Ear free?
Play By Ear is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Interval Ear Training or Play By Ear?
Interval Ear Training is rated higher. Interval Ear Training averages 4.7 out of 5 from 355 ratings, while Play By Ear averages 4.4 from 79 ratings.
Do Interval Ear Training or Play By Ear have ads?
Neither Interval Ear Training nor Play By Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Interval Ear Training or Play By Ear?
Interval Ear Training ships an update every 19 months, and Play By Ear every 2 months. Most recently, Interval Ear Training was updated on September 21, 2026 and Play By Ear on September 16, 2026.

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