Comparison

iWriteMusic SE vs CGDA Tuner

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

CGDA Tuner

Features
Read full description

CGDA Tuner is a fast, friendly tuner built for string players. Play a string and the whole screen responds — green means you're in tune, warm colours mean you're sharp or flat. No cluttered dials, no guesswork. NINE MODES, ONE TUNER - Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass - Guitar, Bass Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin - Chromatic mode for everything else CLEAR, GLANCEABLE FEEDBACK - Full-screen colour that turns green when you're in tune - Note name, frequency (Hz), and cent offset at a glance - Fine-grained meter for landing exactly on pitch - Over-tension warning helps protect your strings TUNE BY EAR, TOO - Play a sustained reference tone for any string and match it — just like tuning to a piano ALTERNATE TUNINGS - Guitar: Drop D, DADGAD, Drop C, Open G, Open D, Half-Step Down - Bass Guitar: Drop D, Half-Step Down - Ukulele: standard high-G and low-G - Your last tuning is remembered for each instrument - Proper flat spelling (E flat, A flat …) where it belongs MADE FOR PRACTICE - Starts instantly and works completely offline - No account, no sign-up - All instruments and tunings are free — an optional Pro purchase simply removes ads Whether you're unpacking your cello before rehearsal or dropping your guitar into DADGAD, CGDA Tuner gets you in tune and back to playing.

Screenshots

iWriteMusic SE4 screens
CGDA Tuner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iWriteMusic SE at none against CGDA Tuner's 1. iWriteMusic SE also leads on ads (none vs shown). CGDA Tuner's advantage is update cadence (daily vs every 5 weeks). On price, device support and iOS requirement 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. CGDA Tuner sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. iWriteMusic SE asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 5 weeks, CGDA Tuner daily. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
iWriteMusic SE versus CGDA Tuner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriWriteMusic SECGDA Tuner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (148 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews56.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings148 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksDaily — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperiWriteMusicProjectSijun Yang

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

CGDA Tuner

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

iWriteMusic SE

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

CGDA Tuner

One-time1
  • CGDA Tuner Pro$2.99

Questions

Is iWriteMusic SE free?
iWriteMusic SE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CGDA Tuner free?
CGDA Tuner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do iWriteMusic SE or CGDA Tuner have ads?
CGDA Tuner shows ads; iWriteMusic SE does not.
Which is updated more often, iWriteMusic SE or CGDA Tuner?
iWriteMusic SE ships an update every 5 weeks, and CGDA Tuner daily. Most recently, iWriteMusic SE was updated on October 19, 2026 and CGDA Tuner on October 14, 2026.

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