Comparison

ToneDetector vs Mandolin Chords by Ear

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

Head to head
About

ToneDetector

Master Mandarin tones with this intuitive app. Practice pronunciation, compare your pitch contours to samples, and receive immediate visual feedback to improve your speaking accuracy without a tutor. Covers all Mandarin tonal syllables for effective self-assessment.

Highlights
  • Instant tone judgment
  • Visual pitch contour comparison
  • Practice all Mandarin tonal syllables
  • Self-assessment of tone perception
  • Sample sounds for comparison
  • Intuitive practice interface
Features
Read full description

How to know if you pronounced a Mandarin tone correctly without human tutors? The 12 years old tone detector app lets you make a judgement by yourself instantly. It is very intuitive for you to practice your tones. The Chinese tones are the most difficult part for a foreign language learner to speak Chinese. How to get rid of strong non-native accent and misunderstanding caused by tone issues? Using this app, practice to be right in every Mandarin tonal syllable first! Hear sample tonal syllables, practice tonal syllables and see their pitch shapes immediately. By comparing your pitch contours with the sample pitch contours directly, you can make a judgement easily by yourself. From the visual intuitive feedback, you may improve your tones quickly. This app basically covers all the possible Mandarin chinese syllables with lexical tones. They are 407 base syllables and 1259 tonal syllables. This app provides a sample sound for each tonal syllable for you to compare. By following the sample sounds, you can practice all the Mandarin tonal syllables and learn Chinese pronunciations. You can self-assess your tone perception ability too. This app is essential to all Chinese learners to master Chinese tone quickly. It could be used for tone lecture demonstration purpose too.

About

Mandolin Chords by Ear

Master mandolin chords and progressions quickly with a unique learning method. Learn to play songs in days or weeks, not years, with realistic musical context and a rich, inspiring mandolin sound.

Highlights
  • Unique learning method
  • Learn chords and progressions
  • Realistic musical context
  • Fast learning curve
  • Inspiring traditional sound
Features
Read full description

Mandolin is a wonderful instrument that came to us from Italy. It retains that sublime musical character few other instrument can be compared to. Learn express yourself with this beautiful instrument in DAYS and WEEKS instead if YEARS. With our unique learning method you will accomplish just that! With this app we present to you the easiest, most fun and seamless way to learn mandolin chords and most prominent chord progressions in a realistic musical context. Part of the revolutionary ‘..by Ear’ series, this app provides you with the fastest way to learn all the chords and become fluent in playing the mandolin, also being able to transcribe real songs and their chord progressions on the fly, with all that in a matter of a week or two instead of years of practice. And many people after decades of playing still don’t possess this skill so no matter which level you are, you will be able to gain powerful results from this app. You will learn all the chords and all the most frequent chord progressions in one sweep, all that in a matter of days. This kind of skill takes many hours with a tutor and many hours of homework to master yet this app provides you with the most streamlined way to achieve that with powerful results in a matter of days. The good age-old Italian-made mandolin that is used for the sounds is very rich sounding and is very hard to come by so as a bonus you get this lash sound in your pocket and it is a very inspiring way to practice on your instrument in dialog with this beautiful traditional instrument.

Screenshots

ToneDetector4 screens
Mandolin Chords by Ear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ToneDetector at 5.0 against Mandolin Chords by Ear's 1.0. ToneDetector also leads on price ($9.99 vs $12.99). Mandolin Chords by Ear's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 29 months) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). On ratings volume, 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

ToneDetector costs $9.99 and Mandolin Chords by Ear $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ToneDetector holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ToneDetector ships an update every 29 months, Mandolin Chords by Ear every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 5, 2026 and September 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 5 level
ToneDetector versus Mandolin Chords by Ear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterToneDetectorMandolin Chords by Ear
Price$9.99 — better$12.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 29 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJian ChengOleg Sokolov

Customer experience

ToneDetector

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Mandolin Chords by Ear

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

ToneDetector

No in-app purchases

None

Mandolin Chords by Ear

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ToneDetector free?
ToneDetector costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Mandolin Chords by Ear free?
Mandolin Chords by Ear costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ToneDetector or Mandolin Chords by Ear?
ToneDetector is rated higher. ToneDetector averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Mandolin Chords by Ear averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do ToneDetector or Mandolin Chords by Ear have ads?
Neither ToneDetector nor Mandolin Chords by Ear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ToneDetector or Mandolin Chords by Ear?
ToneDetector ships an update every 29 months, and Mandolin Chords by Ear every 5 months. Most recently, ToneDetector was updated on September 5, 2026 and Mandolin Chords by Ear on September 7, 2026.

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