# Piano Apprentice vs Ensemble Piano

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ensemble Piano at 100% against Piano Apprentice's 46%. Ensemble Piano also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.4) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Piano Apprentice's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 18.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Piano Apprentice sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ensemble Piano asks for nothing beyond the download.

Ensemble Piano holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 14 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Piano Apprentice's written reviews are positive against 100% of Ensemble Piano's.

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, Ensemble Piano every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Piano Apprentice | Ensemble Piano |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.4 (17 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024/reviews) | **[4.9 (14 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ensemble-piano/id6738069680/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **17** | 14 |
| Positive reviews | 46.5% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | **Every 4 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 75 MB | 118 MB |
| Requires iOS | **8.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [ION Audio](https://appshunter.io/developer/456471027) | [Ensemble Education](https://appshunter.io/developer/1746859300) |

## 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


### Ensemble Piano

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ensemble-piano/id6738069680)

Explore a realistic virtual piano keyboard with high-quality sound and MIDI input. This free application is perfect for practicing, improvising, or simply enjoying musical exploration.

**Highlights:** Realistic virtual keyboard, High-quality sound, MIDI input support, Ideal for practice, Improvisation tool, Free to use

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Piano Apprentice free?

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

### Is Ensemble Piano free?

Ensemble Piano is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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

Ensemble Piano is rated higher. Piano Apprentice averages 3.4 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Ensemble Piano averages 4.9 from 14 ratings.

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

Neither Piano Apprentice nor Ensemble Piano shows ads.

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

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, and Ensemble Piano every 4 weeks. Most recently, Piano Apprentice was updated on October 8, 2026 and Ensemble Piano on October 10, 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.*