Comparison

iWriteMusic SE vs Cornelius Composer for Schools

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

Head to head
About

iWriteMusic SE

Create professional-quality sheet music efficiently, even on small screens. This app offers intuitive interfaces and powerful tools for musicians of all levels, from beginners to professionals. Easily compose, edit, and share your musical ideas.

Highlights
  • Intuitive and simple user interface
  • Highly efficient input systems (One-Flick & Traditional)
  • Professional quality sheet music creation
  • Supports major notation elements
  • Useful playback options for practice
  • Data and sheet music sharing (PDF, JPG, MIDI)
Features
Read full description

Music Writing is easy and fun when you use iWriteMusic! Ever wished you could quickly create sheet music in your small free time? Ever thought smartphones were too small to create sheet music? iWriteMusic enables efficient sheet music creation even on small smartphone screens. Unlike other cramped and cumbersome apps, it is designed meticulously for small screens,comprehensive suite of essential tools for concerts, lessons, and music classes! Best fit for professional musicians, music teachers and students. For songwriters, composers and arrangers. For both singers and instrumentalists (piano, violin, cello, guitar, flute, saxophone, trumpet, drums, etc.). Great for writing down ideas, creating lesson materials, creating lead sheets, or creating scores and parts for chorus groups, choirs, chamber orchestras, jazz bands, Latin bands, orchestras, and more. For daily practice, rehearsals, concerts, iWriteMusic will help you enrich your musical life! Check out 8 reasons to choose iWriteMusic SE (Special Edition) 1. You can understand this app almost instantly! Because of Truly Intuitive and Extremely Simple user interface, you barely need to read pages of manuals nor watching numbers of instruction videos. Unlike Finale, Sibelius and other similar apps, you just have a few things to learn to be able to use this app pretty well. 2.Double your productivity with our Highly Efficient Input System. If you’re already familiar with notation apps and looking for faster & more efficient entry system, try our innovative One-Flick Entry System along with Traditional Entry System to get your job done in no time! What is Traditional Entry System? - The choices will appear with ToolBox. - Select a value and the location separately. - Recommended to those who are not yet familiar with any music notation apps. What is OneFlick Entry System? - The choices will appear when you touch the screen. - Select a location and the value at once. - The selection will change as you slide your finger to left/right. - Recommended to those who are familiar with music notation apps and looking for faster and more efficient entry system. 3. Creates beautiful sheet music - absolutely professional quality! - rich options for page layout adjustment - easy parts creation - easy score/parts management - direct print-out via AirPrint 4. Supports most of major notation elements - multi-track writing - multi-voice writing - percussion/drums notation - chord symbols and lyrics - multi-bar rest - time change - key change - clef change - tempo change - grace note - articulations and dynamics marks - easy song transpose - partial transpose and many more! 5. Useful playback options for practice - mixer with solo, mute and voice select - loop and swing options 6. Data & sheet music sharing - exports/Imports iWriteMusic data file - exports PDF or JPG - exports Standard MIDI file which can be imported by other apps such as GarageBand 7. Extremely Compact Size (15 MB) You can save your device storage space for photos and other apps. 8. Best of all, it's Free! Yes, it's Free and Over 1.4 Million people all over the world has created music with this app family. Let's get started now! Note: This is for iPhone (iPad version sold separately) ATTENTION:  Latency during playback and drawing may occur by device capacity or number of tracks and background applications. Limitations on SE (Special Edition): 1. Water mark appears on page views and printouts. 2. Can’t save more than 5 songs. 3. Can't play more than 30 seconds at a time. 4. Can't import iWriteMusic data file. (export only) 5. Can't export Standard MIDI file.

About

Cornelius Composer for Schools

This app simplifies music composition for educators and students, allowing creation on various devices. It introduces users to music theory through interactive features and customizable notation, with export options for further use.

Highlights
  • Multiple staves support
  • Import MusicXML and MIDI scores
  • Export scores to MusicXML, MIDI, and PDF
  • Customizable colorful music notes
  • Sheet editing during playback
  • Colorblindness accessibility options
Features
Read full description

With Cornelius Composer, teachers and students can easily compose music without complex and difficult-to-use special software. The compositions can be created on a computer, tablet or mobile phone. NOTE: This is the version for schools and teachers looking to buy in bulk (volume purchase). For other users, please search the store for the normal version instead (i.e. not ""for Schools""). Please note: NEW FEATURES: Multiple staves supported! Colorblindness acessibility options available! Pupils unfold their musical creativity without hindrance and at the same time are carefully and didactically introduced to the topic of music composition. The coloured notation can be conveniently changed at any time and adapted to the most diverse instrument sets. Compositions can be exported at any time for further processing in other notation software or for printing in PDF format. You can also import existing sheets in MusicXML format. Features: • (NEW) Multiple staves supported • Import scores (MusicXML and MIDI). • Export scores (MusicXML, MIDI, and PDF) (only PDF in the trial). • If you zoom in, the music notes will be transformed into animated creatures. • Melodic and rhythmic sheet view. • Customizable colourful music notes. • Playback using Solfège-voices (do, re, mi) or instruments. • Sheet editing while reproducing (loop while you edit!). • Available in English, Portuguese and German. • (NEW) Colorblindness accessibility options • Part of the World of Music series.

Screenshots

iWriteMusic SE4 screens
Cornelius Composer for Schools4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cornelius Composer for Schools at 100% against iWriteMusic SE's 57%. Cornelius Composer for Schools also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). iWriteMusic SE's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 4 weeks, Cornelius Composer for Schools every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
iWriteMusic SE versus Cornelius Composer for Schools: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriWriteMusic SECornelius Composer for Schools
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (148 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings148 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB166 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiWriteMusicProjectInsignio Labs

Customer experience

iWriteMusic SE

All ratings148 ratings
Positive85.1%
Neutral4.7%
Negative10.1%
Written reviews139 reviews
Positive56.8%
Neutral18.0%
Negative25.2%

Cornelius Composer for Schools

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

iWriteMusic SE

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • App crashes when adding rests at beginning of measure
  • App crashes when adding/removing notation
  • App freezes when entering notes on certain pitches
  • App randomly quits during composition
  • Note placement inaccuracy on iPhone with retina display
Show 15 more
  • Notes appear in wrong location despite correct placement
  • Playback cuts off after 30 seconds
  • Playback audio not working despite phone not being muted
  • Incorrect note playback (different octave than entered)
  • Lyric input not functioning
  • Crashes after large file operations
  • Data loss when closing without saving
  • Crashes when using multiple staves
  • Crashes during save operation
  • Crashes when reinstalling after purchase
  • Watermark reappears after reinstall
  • App becomes laggy over time
  • Staccatos, crescendos, and accents not played back
  • Ritards and accelerandos ignored in playback
  • Trill notation not functioning properly

Requested features

20 requests
  • Auto-save functionality
  • MusicXML file transfer support
  • Guitar tablature (TAB) notation
  • Ability to change time signature mid-composition
  • Better grace note controls
Show 15 more
  • Slur and tie playback support
  • Crescendo and diminuendo playback
  • More instrument templates (duets, trios)
  • Audio sharing/export capability
  • Arpeggio playback support
  • Individual grace note value assignment
  • Pianissimo (ppp) dynamic marking
  • Bracket notation for grouped instruments
  • More percussion instruments (Baritone, Euphonium, Mellophone)
  • Text formatting (bold, italic)
  • Customizable bottom navigation bar
  • iPad-native version
  • MIDI export to Logic Pro and Sibelius
  • Searchable help guide with index
  • Ability to extend bar lines across measures

Cornelius Composer for Schools

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iWriteMusic SE

No in-app purchases

None

Cornelius Composer for Schools

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iWriteMusic SE free?
iWriteMusic SE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cornelius Composer for Schools free?
Cornelius Composer for Schools is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do iWriteMusic SE or Cornelius Composer for Schools have ads?
Neither iWriteMusic SE nor Cornelius Composer for Schools shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iWriteMusic SE or Cornelius Composer for Schools?
iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 4 weeks, and Cornelius Composer for Schools every 3 months. Most recently, iWriteMusic SE was updated on October 26, 2026 and Cornelius Composer for Schools on October 17, 2026.

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