# Piano Apprentice vs Colossus Piano

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Colossus Piano at 65 against Piano Apprentice's 17. Piano Apprentice's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Piano Apprentice sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Colossus Piano sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.4 for Piano Apprentice against 3.3 for Colossus Piano. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 65 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of Piano Apprentice's written reviews are positive against 54% of Colossus Piano's.

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, Colossus Piano every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Piano Apprentice | Colossus Piano |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.4 (17 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024/reviews)** | [3.3 (65 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/colossus-piano/id1122637899/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 17 | **65** |
| Positive reviews | 46.5% of reviews | **54.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 75 MB | 384 MB |
| Requires iOS | **8.0** | 12.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [ION Audio](https://appshunter.io/developer/456471027) | [Christian Schoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte](https://appshunter.io/developer/428367741) |

## What reviewers say

### Piano Apprentice

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024)

Learn piano with video lessons from a professional instructor. Follow along with visual cues on a compatible keyboard or learn to read sheet music. Practice songs at your own pace or simply enjoy improvising.

**Highlights:** Video piano lessons, Interactive keyboard lighting, Sheet music tutorials, Adjustable playback speed, Piano jam mode

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Holiday Song 3-Pack | $0.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👨‍🏫 Excellent instructor (Piano Guy) with patient, friendly teaching style
- 🎹 Works well with ION keyboard and other MIDI keyboards
- 📚 Sheet music feature helps with music reading
- 🆓 Free app with no paywall for core content
- 🎯 Effective for beginners learning basic songs quickly

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Video playback controls broken - cannot rewind/fast-forward
- 📥 Frequent download failures and missing content
- ⚡ App crashes and compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- 🎬 No video display in lessons (audio only)
- ⌨️ Keyboard keys unresponsive or not lighting up

**Reported bugs**

- Video seek/scrub functionality resets to beginning on iOS 6.1+
- Lessons fail to download or download incomplete
- Video displays blank screen with audio only
- Keys not lighting up during playback
- App fails to update or gets stuck on update screen

**Requested features**

- Add more songs to the library
- Implement proper video scrubbing/seek functionality
- Slow down instructor playback speed
- Add pause and rewind controls for videos
- Include left-hand chord notation in sheet music


### Colossus Piano

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/colossus-piano/id1122637899)

Experience incredibly realistic piano sounds with a vast library of acoustic and electric piano models. This app offers advanced features like multi-velocity layers, pedal support, and MIDI integration for a professional playing experience.

**Highlights:** 13 high-quality piano models, 24 velocity layers per key, Sustain, Sostenuto, and Soft pedal support, MIDI integration (In/Out), Audio Unit v3 and Inter-App Audio support, Low latency disk streaming, Adjustable tuning options

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (9)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vintage Upright | $9.99 | one-time |
| Historic S Grand | $9.99 | one-time |
| Pianino | $12.99 | one-time |
| Japanese Grand | $12.99 | one-time |
| Classic B Grand | $15.99 | one-time |
| Upright Piano | $19.99 | one-time |
| Colossus E-Piano Set | $19.99 | one-time |
| Baby Grand Piano | $26.99 | one-time |
| Colossus Concert Grand | $49.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎶 Amazing piano sound quality
- 🎹 Realistic and detailed samples
- 🎧 High-fidelity audio
- ✨ Professional-grade instrument
- 💡 Inspiring and expressive

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
- 🚫 No free trial or demo sounds
- 💸 Overpriced for some users
- 💾 Large storage requirements
- 🐌 Slow download times

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when exporting to WAV/M4A in GarageBand
- App crashes when switching piano models
- Audio Unit extension crashes
- No sound when exporting to GarageBand
- Plugin crashes in DAWs during export/freeze

**Requested features**

- Add chorus effect
- Global EQ
- Release control
- Tap tempo for modulation speed
- Save velocity curves


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Piano Apprentice free?

Piano Apprentice is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Colossus Piano free?

Colossus Piano is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Piano Apprentice or Colossus Piano?

Piano Apprentice is rated higher. Piano Apprentice averages 3.4 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Colossus Piano averages 3.3 from 65 ratings.

### Do Piano Apprentice or Colossus Piano have ads?

Neither Piano Apprentice nor Colossus Piano shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Piano Apprentice or Colossus Piano?

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, and Colossus Piano every 2 months. Most recently, Piano Apprentice was updated on October 8, 2026 and Colossus Piano on September 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*