Comparison

inTone Basic vs Hearing

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

Head to head
About

inTone Basic

This app assists musicians with real-time tone and note identification for instrument tuning and vocal accuracy. It offers a customizable dashboard and supports numerous instruments with various tunings. Additional companion packages are available for purchase to enhance practice.

Highlights
  • Real-time tone/note identification
  • Instrument tuning wizard
  • Vocal accuracy training
  • Customizable dashboard
  • Support for 15 instruments and 55 tunings
  • In-app companion packages
Features
Read full description

========= "I really love this App... A Killer App!" (Apps4iDevices) ========= inTone – The iPad, iPhone and iPod touch music companion for beginners as well as professional musicians with features such as real-time tone/note identification usable for instrument tuning, intonation accuracy, Circle of fifths and more. inTone can also be used to identify vocal accuracy and is an excellent companion for vocal training. inTone presents the identified tones/notes on a companion dashboard (up to four simultaneous companions on the iPad and up to two on iPhone/iPod touch). You can easily arrange your dashboard as you wish. You can select any of the 15 instruments (Guitar, Bass guitar (4, 5 and 6-stringed), Violin, Viola, Cello, Contra bass/Double bass, Balalaika, Banjo (4, 5 and 6-stringed), Mandolin, Ukulele and Piano) with a total of 55 different tunings/types. inTone comes with a free of charge intuitive tuning wizard that helps you to tune your selected instrument without knowledge of tuning. It also comes with a frequency graph and a vocal/singing range finder. In addition to that, the in-app store contains four different companion packages (where each companion presents the played tone/note in different ways): + Fingerboard/fretboard package with a fingerboard presenter, a fingerboard scale trainer showing any of the 12 major and 12 minor keys (plus the harmonic and melodic minor scale variants) and a fingerboard interval trainer. + Note sheet package with a note accuracy presentation of identified note on the note sheet, a presentation of a flowing note sheet of the notes played during the last 10 seconds as well as a note sheet scale trainer. + Tuning package with a more detailed frequency and accuracy presenter as well as the traditional tuning meter. + Circle of fifths and intervals where the last two identified notes are presented in the circle of fifths as well as in the note sheet (with interval size in cents). More information about the free and in-app store companions can be found on http://intoneapp.se/ inTone is currently available in three languages (English, German and Swedish). We hope that you will enjoy inTone.

About

Hearing

Develop your musical ear with ear training exercises and melodic dictations. Practice identifying notes and transcribing music using various instruments and notation systems. Improve your sight-reading and singing skills to become a better musician.

Highlights
  • Ear training exercises
  • Melodic dictations
  • Note identification
  • Sight-reading practice
  • Multiple instrument support
  • Various musical notations
Features
Read full description

How to identify musical notes by ear? Want to transcribe or play music by ear? Want to improve your hearing skills? Do ear training exercises. A well-developed relative or absolute pitch is necessary for every musician. Practice melodic dictations. Train sight reading to read sheet music and music notes. Learn to sing according to notes. Develop musical hearing with us. You can practice musical ear using following instruments: - vocals - piano - guitar - bass-guitar - violin - cello - double bass Types of musical notations: - C D E F G A B - C D E F G A H - Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si - До Ре Ми Фа Соль Ля Си - Ντο Ρε Μι Φα Σολ Λα Σι - ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト イ ロ - 다 라 마 바 사 가 나 - स रे ग म प ध नि - ด ร ม ฟ ซ ล ท

Screenshots

inTone Basic4 screens
Hearing4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Hearing at 4.6 against inTone Basic's 1.6. Hearing also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (120 vs 20). inTone Basic's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months). On price, review sentiment and device support 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

Both are free to download. inTone Basic sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Hearing asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Hearing holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hearing has 120 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of inTone Basic's written reviews are positive against 40% of Hearing's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

inTone Basic ships an update every 3 weeks, Hearing every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
inTone Basic versus Hearing: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterinTone BasicHearing
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.6 (20 ratings)4.6 (120 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews40.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings20120 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size50 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperILLOMAlexey Ovod

Customer experience

inTone Basic

All ratings20 ratings
Positive15.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.0%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative58.3%

Hearing

All ratings120 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive40.4%
Neutral15.2%
Negative44.4%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

inTone Basic

One-time4
  • Tuner package$0.99
  • Note sheet package$1.99
  • Fingerboard package$1.99
Show 1 more
  • Circle of fifths/Intervals package$3.99
None

Hearing

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is inTone Basic free?
inTone Basic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hearing free?
Hearing is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, inTone Basic or Hearing?
Hearing is rated higher. inTone Basic averages 1.6 out of 5 from 20 ratings, while Hearing averages 4.6 from 120 ratings.
Do inTone Basic or Hearing have ads?
Hearing shows ads; inTone Basic does not.
Which is updated more often, inTone Basic or Hearing?
inTone Basic ships an update every 3 weeks, and Hearing every 6 months. Most recently, inTone Basic was updated on October 2, 2026 and Hearing on October 10, 2026.

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