iImprov vs ScalePlay
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
iImprov
This app helps jazz musicians of all levels master modal improvisation. It offers detailed explanations of theory, scale relationships, and practical exercises with audio and JAM-A-longs in various keys and styles. Tailored for modal tunes, it covers minor modal, 7 sus 4, and Major 7#4 progressions.
- Modal improvisation theory
- Scale and chord relation explanations
- Pentatonic scale usage
- Audio and visual scale examples
- Interactive JAM-A-longs
- Adjustable tempo and instrument balance
- Transposition selection
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iImprov-Modal is the 2nd release from Jazz Apps Mobile LLC. It is part of a series created for jazz musicians of all levels to help them take on specific challenges that any improvising musician will encounter. Each one contains a full explanation of all the concepts and theory involved as well as written and audio examples and exercises. Each app contains JAM-A-longs in all keys with adjustable tempo and control of instrument balance. Each iImprov app also allows you to select the correct transposition for your instrument. iImprov-Modal specifically provides the tools for confidently playing over modal tunes. The main focus of the app is playing over minor modal tunes, however we have also covered playing over 7 sus 4 modal tunes and Major 7#4 tunes. Exercises and JAM-A-longs specific to each of these types of tunes are included. Features- Full explanation of the concepts involved. Detailed theory of note to chord relations and use of modal scales. Detailed theory of how to use pentatonic scales, including how to play “outside.” Audio and visual representation of the related scales. Audio playback of the scales played over the appropriate chords. Exercises that include live audio examples from saxophonist Tony Bray. JAM-A-longs for Minor Modal (Swing and Funk). JAM-A-longs for 7 sus 4. JAM-A-longs for Major 7#4. Each JAM-A-long was recorded individually in order to give variation for each key. Mixer control for the JAM-A-Long instruments. Tempo control for each JAM-A-long. Unlimited JAM-A-long loop length.
ScalePlay
This app generates intricate musical patterns and sequences using complex scale theory. It's a powerful tool for both music production and education, offering scale references, virtual instruments, and interactive playback features.
- Generates intricate ostinatos and sequences
- Applies complex scale patterns
- User-defined songforms and chord changes
- Scale references for hundreds of scales
- Nine virtual instruments and 128 sounds
- Visualizes scale relations
- Interactive playback with generated patterns
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ScalePlay is a generative music app capable of producing the most intricate ostinatos and sequences by applying complex scale patterns over user defined songforms and chord changes. It can be used in music production and is also a fantastic tool for music education. It includes scale references for hundreds of scales, nine virtual instruments and 128 instrument sounds. Its unique set of features allows the musician to visualize scale relations and to play along with generated patterns. Modern musicians often practice playing scales according to organizing principles like thirds. What is meant by that is to play a scale tone, then its third, then the second scale tone, the third on top of that one and so forth. The exercise would result in the scale tones 1, 3, 2, 4, 3, 5, etc. Not an easy feat at first, because before even getting started, one has to know the base scale. Playing patterns through different keys and scale types finally is a demanding task even for advanced musicians. ScalePlay constructs patterns like these and much more complicated ones by using two simple grids. Grids have been around in music apps for years, but they are based on half-tone steps and include all available notes of the spectrum. That leaves one difficulty on the table, namely that of correctly identifying the notes of a scale. These grids also don’t easily allow for patterning as in our scale in thirds. So a different solution is called for and ScalePlay provides just that and so much more. In the application songs are used as metaphor to organize different scale types into a harmonic context. They are constructed with chords which in turn determine what scale types are available at a given time. During playback the app then cycles through these virtual chords or as with TouchPlay allows to call them up at will. This architecture is very helpful for superimposing ScalePlay patterns over existing pieces and even practicing improvising over changes. For practicing ScalePlay shows a pattern's progression on the built-in instrument and also provides a music notation reference. One can slow things down to need and play along. With the pattern lock feature all patterns can be kept in the same general vicinity. So instead of raising all scale tones when a base chord moves from C to G for example, patterns stay in place. This allows guitarists to practice scale patterns over changes while remaining in the same position. ScalePlay is also a fabulous generative music app. That is because of the magic that happens when these self-repeating scale structures are put in motion. Fantastic music occurs. Since ScalePlay supports virtual MIDI and can be recorded into any iOS based DAW. It also features TouchPlay for advanced looping. With TouchPlay scale structures can be looped endlessly and out of order. The TouchPlay environment is superimposed over ScalePlay's main interface and allows live switching between different scale types with the tap of a finger in continuous or full pattern mode. Of course ScalePlay supports multi-app multitasking as well as split-view and split-screen to make this feature even more useful. Instruments • Banjo, Bass, Cello, Double Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Piano, Viola, Violin Some other Features: • 211 scale types • Virtual MIDI • Advanced looping with TouchPlay • Full general MIDI instrument library
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ScalePlay at 4.9 against iImprov's 3.0. ScalePlay also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 28 months) and ratings volume (10 vs 2). iImprov's advantage is price ($3.99 vs $9.99) and device support (3 vs 1). On review sentiment, 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
iImprov costs $3.99 and ScalePlay $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ScalePlay holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ScalePlay has 10 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of iImprov's written reviews are positive against 71% of ScalePlay's.
iImprov ships an update every 28 months, ScalePlay every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | iImprov | ScalePlay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) | 4.9 (10 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.4% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 10 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 28 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jazz Apps Mobile LLC | RoGame Software |
Customer experience
iImprov
ScalePlay
In-app purchases
iImprov
No in-app purchases
ScalePlay
No in-app purchases









