# Piano Apprentice vs Piano Sim

The clearest difference is rating: Piano Sim at 5.0 against Piano Apprentice's 3.4. Piano Apprentice's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (17 vs 5). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

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

Piano Sim holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 5 respectively.

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, Piano Sim every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Piano Apprentice | Piano Sim |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.4 (17 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-apprentice/id456471024/reviews) | **[5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-sim/id6744600306/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **17** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | 46.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 75 MB | 130 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) | [Alper Kahriman](https://appshunter.io/developer/1054578352) |

## 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


### Piano Sim

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-sim/id6744600306)

This app brings the piano experience to your device with high-quality sounds and versatile play modes. Explore different piano types, shape your sound with effects, and customize the layout for an immersive musical journey. Record and share your performances easily.

**Highlights:** Three distinct piano types, Multiple flexible play modes, Expressive real-time effects, Customizable key width and note display, Microtonal tuning and transpose function, Record, share, and screenshot performances

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Get Premium | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Piano Apprentice free?

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

### Is Piano Sim free?

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

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

Piano Sim is rated higher. Piano Apprentice averages 3.4 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while Piano Sim averages 5.0 from 5 ratings.

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

Piano Sim shows ads; Piano Apprentice does not.

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

Piano Apprentice ships an update every 5 weeks, and Piano Sim every 2 months. Most recently, Piano Apprentice was updated on October 8, 2026 and Piano Sim on October 9, 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.*