Comparison

Quiztones vs Functional Ear Trainer

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

Head to head
About

Quiztones

This app helps music producers and engineers develop their critical listening skills for audio mixing. It offers a unique, ear-focused training system to identify and address frequency issues quickly, improving mixes in just minutes a day. Users can train with their own music and see significant improvements in just two weeks.

Highlights
  • Identify and remove problem frequencies
  • Develop critical listening skills
  • Eliminate frequency sweeping
  • Train ears without visual cues
  • 450+ frequency-based quizzes
  • Import own audio for training
  • Multiple training modes and levels
Features
Read full description

Join 475,000+ producers & engineers who trust Quiztones to improve their mixes — in just 3 minutes a day! Here’s how it works… TAKE THE GUESSWORK OUT OF MIXING Quiztones will help you trust your ears, save valuable time in the studio, and leave everyone speechless when you suddenly start pinpointing problem frequencies with complete confidence. IT’S THE FASTEST WAY TO… - Identify and remove problem frequencies - Eliminate the need to sweep for frequencies in a mix - Develop intuition for which frequencies to boost or cut - Develop critical listening skills for better mixes - Prevent noise buildup in your mixes and recordings NO MORE SWEEPING Been mixing for a while but still don’t trust your ears? It’s not your fault. Quiztones eliminates the need to sweep for frequencies, cutting years off your learning curve TRAIN YOUR EARS, NOT YOUR EYES! Unlike other apps, Quiztones uses no visual cues, training your brain to actually HEAR critical balance issues in your mix 450+ QUIZZES Using our proprietary training system of frequency-altered loops, instruments and tones, you won’t run out of quizzes any time soon! FOR NEWBIES & PROS In a hurry to level up your mixing skills? With hundreds of quizzes, multiple training modes and levels, you’ll start to see results quickly, even if you have no experience PREMIUM LOOPS Unlock a growing library of loops, instruments, and genres to help you nail every mix EASY AUDIO IMPORT Train with the music you love, including songs from your own device and music library BETTER MIXES IN 2 WEEKS OR LESS You’ll be amazed at how quickly using Quiztones for just a few minutes a day will improve your mixes, recordings, and productions GET STARTED FOR FREE It doesn’t have to take years to train your ears! Get started with Quiztones for FREE today! ===== Real reviews from real users: "Turns out, this app offers everything offered in that Berklee class of mine… in an app!" — Damian E., No Treble “The Quiztones app is far and away the best app I've purchased. It's an incredible tool for all audio engineers and musicians ... My mixing has improved by leaps and bounds after just a few weeks with Quiztones.” — Austin M. “I love this app. Has taken my ability to hear frequencies to heights I never imagined was possible at this point in my career. This app is a game changer. Be consistent with it and it will change the way you hear music.” — JayAllDay “This is fantastic. I’m a bit of a workaholic, and blind, audio engineer. This is like the holy grail of an iOS game for me. It’s simultaneously fun and productive. I can play on the go to have better ideas of what I’m hearing on my phone for later correction in Pro Tools, or plug into one of my monitor sets at home to test my instinct... and it’s a game, with categories and scores. Much respect.” — justmikeaf “Trained me up well! This app helped me become MUCH faster with EQ, and helped me know with greater precision what I'm hearing all around .” — MarkBvllock ===== Quiztones Terms: https://theproaudiofiles.com/quiztones/terms/ Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Functional Ear Trainer

Develop your musical ear by learning to recognize tones within the context of a specific musical key. This app helps you understand the function of each note, improving your ability to transcribe, improvise, and play music by ear. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, with just 10 minutes of daily practice.

Highlights
  • Recognize tones in musical key context
  • Understand note function
  • Improve transcription skills
  • Enhance improvisation
  • Develop perfect pitch
  • Daily 10-minute practice
Features
Read full description

Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.

Screenshots

Quiztones4 screens
Functional Ear Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Functional Ear Trainer at 96% against Quiztones's 64%. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (3.8K vs 356). Quiztones's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 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. Quiztones sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.8K ratings behind it against 356, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Quiztones's written reviews are positive against 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Quiztones ships an update every 3 months, Functional Ear Trainer every 7 months. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Quiztones versus Functional Ear Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuiztonesFunctional Ear Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (356 ratings)4.9 (3.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews64.3% of reviews96.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3563.8K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Pro Audio FilesSerhii Korchan

Customer experience

Quiztones

All ratings351 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.4%
Negative6.6%
Written reviews182 reviews
Positive64.3%
Neutral14.3%
Negative21.4%

Functional Ear Trainer

All ratings3,749 ratings
Positive98.1%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews627 reviews
Positive96.2%
Neutral1.9%
Negative1.9%

User reviews

Quiztones

From 356 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Solid, navigable UI
  • 🚀 Easy to repeat tests
  • 👍 Lots of different sounds to train with
  • 👍 Great for improving ear frequency recognition
  • 👍 Helpful for mixing and live sound engineering

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription-based model
  • 🔒 No option to own the app outright
  • 🐛 Issues with restoring purchases
  • 🐛 Compatibility problems with iOS 8
  • 🔒 Locked features behind paywall

Functional Ear Trainer

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Effective ear training
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💡 Customizable exercises
  • 🎉 Noticeable improvement with regular practice
  • 🎨 Visually appealing design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional audio glitches
  • 💡 Lack of support for other instruments besides piano
  • 💡 Desire for more advanced features (e.g. chord recognition)

Bugs and requests

Quiztones

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • iTunes library integration not working
  • EQ boost/cut not audible in some cases

Requested features

8 requests
  • Progress tracking and statistics
  • Ability to select specific frequency ranges
  • More varied quiz types (e.g. compression, panning)
  • Competitive leaderboard or social features
  • Tone generator with multiple waveforms
Show 3 more
  • Tutorials and explanations for beginners
  • Option to use full songs instead of short clips
  • Feedback on wrong answers to aid learning

Functional Ear Trainer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Keyboard display issues when selecting all chromatic notes
  • Inconsistent note resolutions in some exercises

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for multiple notes/chords at once
  • Implement a mode for training key recognition
  • Provide more customization options for exercises
  • Include voice input to play the notes
  • Add support for German/Norwegian key names

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Quiztones

Subscriptions3
  • Quiztones Pro — Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Quiztones Pro — Annual$19.991 Year
  • Quiztones Pro — Annual7 Days trial$19.991 Year
1 purchases

Functional Ear Trainer

One-time1
  • Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99

Questions

Is Quiztones free?
Quiztones is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Functional Ear Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Quiztones or Functional Ear Trainer?
Functional Ear Trainer is rated higher. Quiztones averages 4.6 out of 5 from 356 ratings, while Functional Ear Trainer averages 4.9 from 3.8K ratings.
Do Quiztones or Functional Ear Trainer have ads?
Neither Quiztones nor Functional Ear Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Quiztones or Functional Ear Trainer?
Quiztones ships an update every 3 months, and Functional Ear Trainer every 7 months. Most recently, Quiztones was updated on October 26, 2026 and Functional Ear Trainer on October 26, 2026.

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