Comparison

Flashnote Derby vs NoteWorks

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

Head to head
About

Flashnote Derby

This app transforms music note learning into an engaging game for young musicians. It offers various ways to practice and play, with customizable drills to suit any student's level. Track progress and make learning fun, whether at home or in lessons.

Highlights
  • Gamified note recognition races
  • Practice mode with no timer
  • Play notes on instrument or MIDI
  • On-screen piano keyboard input
  • Customizable clefs and note ranges
  • Multiple engaging themes
  • Teacher tools for assignments and progress tracking
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Flashnote Derby is a fun, effective way for kids to learn to read music through fast-paced note flashcard games. Perfect for piano, guitar, band, orchestra, and general music students, this teacher-created app turns note recognition into an engaging game that works equally well at home or in music lessons. ———— Learn to Read Music — Fast Each race is a fast-paced challenge: identify notes correctly as you learn to read music faster and speed your horse toward the finish line. Missed or slow answers allow the other horse to catch up. After each round, students can review the notes they missed— turning every race into a meaningful learning opportunity. ———— New! Practice Mode (No Timer, No Stress) Students can now choose a relaxed 'practice mode' with unlimited time for each note. Perfect for beginners, this mode builds accuracy and confidence before racing competitively. ———— Multiple Ways to Answer Players can answer flashcards in a variety of ways: • Play the note on any instrument. Flashnote Derby listens and recognizes what you play (including transposing instruments). • Use a MIDI instrument • Tap on-screen letter names • Or play notes on the on-screen piano keyboard ———— Fully Customizable for Any Student Tailor each drill to match your student’s level: • Treble, bass, alto, or tenor clef • Select specific note ranges or individual notes • Add sharps, flats, or full key signatures • Adjust time limits (or remove them entirely in Practice Mode) • Expand difficulty all the way up to five-and-a-half ledger lines above and below the staff. As skills grow, you can increase the challenge. Higher difficulty earns higher scores—keeping students motivated. ———— Multiple themes keep practice fresh In addition to the classic horse race, students can take flight with the whimsical Pretty Pegasus course, blast through an arcade-style space challenge in Ecliptic Encounter, or switch to the seasonal Reindeer Race during the holidays. ———— Built for Teachers, Loved by Students Flashnote Derby is designed to fit easily into lessons: • Quick to set up and perfect for a 1–2 minute warm-up • Send homework assignments directly to students • Track progress automatically • See which notes need more review Teachers see real improvement. Students stay engaged. Parents appreciate the progress. ———— Why Flashnote Derby Works Many students struggle because drilling note names feels boring and difficult. Flashnote Derby turns this essential skill into a game—one they’ll want to keep playing. A little daily practice adds up quickly, and students learn to read music with confidence. ———— Get on the road to confident music reading today! Download Flashnote Derby and help your young musician master notes with joy—not frustration.

About

NoteWorks

This musical game teaches note recognition and sight-reading skills through interactive gameplay. Players guide a character to catch notes, combining education with entertainment for all ages and skill levels. It offers adjustable difficulty and progress tracking for personalized learning.

Highlights
  • Note recognition game
  • Sight reading practice
  • Adjustable difficulty
  • Multiple clef support
  • On-screen piano input
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

NoteWorks is a musical game, designed to teach note recognition and improve sight reading skills. Hungry Munchy is eager to swallow elusive blue notes. Your goal is to help Munchy catch each note as quickly as possible. The game combines learning and fun into a single gratifying experience. The app is both educational and entertaining, with an intuitive and visually appealing interface. NoteWorks was created for: • Players of all ages. • Beginners to advanced music students. • Families with multiple players. • Music teachers with multiple students. Game design features include: • A funny animated character. • User-friendly menus. • Superb graphics. • Engaging sound effects. • MIDI Note reading options: • On-screen piano keyboard input. • "A, B, C" note naming. • "Do, Re, Mi" note naming. • Treble clef. • Bass clef. • Grand staff. • Tenor clef. • Alto clef. Educational features: • Students learn by playing a game and having fun. • In practice mode, students are helped with hints. • In challenge mode, students play for points and stars. • Students learn to recognize notes instantly, on sight. • The game can adjust and progress automatically for each player. • For beginners, the game starts by teaching a limited range of notes. • Note range gradually increases as students advance. • After mastering accidentals, students learn key signatures. • Game speed is easily adjusted to increase or decrease difficulty. • Students can use custom game settings to stay in full control. • Sharing of game progress: ability to share game results with teachers. While music teachers persistently stress the importance of sight reading, most teachers prefer not to spend valuable lesson time on basic note recognition skills. Thus, NoteWorks helps music teachers concentrate on more interesting aspects of their art, such as technique and musicality. Serious music students can take advantage of the game to learn clefs outside of their own instruments, as well as prepare for music theory exams. In addition, non-musicians could use NoteWorks as an interesting memory game, to help keep their minds sharp and quick. NoteWorks was created for people who like to learn by playing and having fun. It was designed with the objective of neither being too easy nor too hard, and never boring. We hope you'll find NoteWorks both useful and entertaining, and we would greatly appreciate it if you could share your thoughts and opinions about the game by rating it.

Screenshots

Flashnote Derby4 screens

Verdict

The call

Flashnote Derby and NoteWorks both sit at 3.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 83% of NoteWorks's written reviews are positive against 71% of Flashnote Derby's. NoteWorks also leads on iOS requirement (7.0 vs 16.6). Flashnote Derby's advantage is chart position (#23 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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

Flashnote Derby costs $4.99 and NoteWorks $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.8 for Flashnote Derby against 3.9 for NoteWorks. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 105 and 155 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Flashnote Derby's written reviews are positive against 83% of NoteWorks's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flashnote Derby ships an update every 6 months, NoteWorks every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 6, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Flashnote Derby versus NoteWorks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlashnote DerbyNoteWorks
Price$4.99$4.99
Rating3.8 (105 ratings)3.9 (155 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.7% of reviews83.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings105155 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#23 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS16.67.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size110 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuke BartolomeoAzati Corporation

Customer experience

Flashnote Derby

All ratings105 ratings
Positive64.8%
Neutral11.4%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews133 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral6.0%
Negative23.3%

NoteWorks

All ratings155 ratings
Positive71.6%
Neutral9.0%
Negative19.4%
Written reviews236 reviews
Positive83.5%
Neutral7.6%
Negative8.9%

User reviews

Flashnote Derby

From 105 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Engaging gamified learning experience with racing themes
  • 🎵 Effective tool for learning note reading and music literacy
  • 🎨 Customizable themes and visual designs
  • ⚙️ Highly customizable settings for notes, speed, and difficulty
  • 👨‍🏫 Teacher-friendly features with student tracking and presets

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and app freezing issues
  • 🔊 Harsh negative feedback sounds (booing) discourages learners
  • 🎵 Inaccurate note detection, especially for E note and lower instruments
  • 📱 Poor mobile responsiveness and slider controls on phones
  • ⚠️ Data loss after updates without warning

NoteWorks

From 155 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helps with piano practice and note memorization
  • 🎨 Fun and engaging game-like interface
  • 🔍 Good for beginners and advanced users
  • 🔗 Works well with MIDI keyboards
  • 📚 Useful for learning note reading

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔊 Annoying background music
  • 🔍 Keyboard too small on iPad
  • 🔧 Difficulty customizing note range

Bugs and requests

Flashnote Derby

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App crashes on launch or during use
  • White screen on startup that auto-closes
  • Note recognition fails, particularly for E note
  • Low instrument octave recognition issues
  • Data and student names lost after updates
Show 10 more
  • Settings menu disappears or becomes inaccessible
  • Speed selection buttons unresponsive
  • Email preset sending feature non-functional
  • Password reset system broken
  • Master device cloning feature not working
  • Audio detection marks answers before notes are played
  • Incorrect display scaling on iPad and tablets
  • Slider controls difficult to use on mobile devices
  • App incompatible with Safari and some browsers
  • Family sharing not recognized despite being enabled

Requested features

16 requests
  • Restore previous speed options (Walk, Trot, Canter, Gallop)
  • Option to customize number of test notes (return 10/20 options)
  • Remove or tone down negative feedback sounds
  • Add more theme options (animals, seasonal themes)
  • Untimed mode without racing element
Show 11 more
  • Two-octave keyboard display for better note differentiation
  • Support for sharps and flats
  • Alto and tenor clef options
  • Female jockey character option
  • Combined treble and bass clef exercises
  • Better search visibility in app stores
  • Family sharing support improvements
  • External audio interface compatibility
  • Improved mobile responsiveness for sliders and controls
  • Better instructional videos with audio/visual note examples
  • Personalized high scores for multiple users

NoteWorks

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when connecting to MIDI keyboard
  • Doesn't always register correct note input
  • Settings not saving properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow selecting specific note ranges to practice
  • Add support for other instruments like guitar
  • Provide option to disable sound effects
  • Improve keyboard size and responsiveness

In-app purchases

None

Flashnote Derby

No in-app purchases

None

NoteWorks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flashnote Derby free?
Flashnote Derby costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is NoteWorks free?
NoteWorks costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Flashnote Derby or NoteWorks?
NoteWorks is rated higher. Flashnote Derby averages 3.8 out of 5 from 105 ratings, while NoteWorks averages 3.9 from 155 ratings.
Do Flashnote Derby or NoteWorks have ads?
Neither Flashnote Derby nor NoteWorks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flashnote Derby or NoteWorks?
Flashnote Derby ships an update every 6 months, and NoteWorks every 5 months. Most recently, Flashnote Derby was updated on October 6, 2026 and NoteWorks on October 6, 2026.

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