Viola by Ear vs Melody Scanner
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Viola by Ear
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Learn to express yourself with this beautiful instrument in DAYS and WEEKS instead if YEARS. With our unique learning method you will accomplish just that! This is a very powerful ear training and learning tool for musicians who want a shortcut to fluency on the viola. With this tool you will be able to play the viola it is meant to be played by ear, any melody or solo, you will gain a very deep understanding of chords and the notes they consist of and are surrounded by, they tell you all about this in lessons, but you never actually get to ingrain it. Yet this is the most important skill there is for mastering the viola and play any music by ear. The app allows you to practice with just the smartphone or with your real viola. This exercise might look a little bit tedious, but trust us, you will see very powerful results in your music within days of using the app. You could call it hacking the viola. Provided you possess the basic note playing skills (youtube will teach you that very easily), you will learn to play the viola by ear in DAYS with Viola by Ear, something other musicians struggle for YEARS for and still not everyone gets there. You will. During the first month. How much money would you pay to obtain such a skill? Consider this your lucky day, because you are on your way for real musicianship whether it is your hobby or you want to pursue career in music, this app sets you up for the best results. Even if you prefer to play looking at the notes, this app will greatly enhance your ability to see music, hear the written music in your mind, understand music more easily and even remember music much more easily.
Melody Scanner
Convert audio recordings and YouTube videos into musical scores. View transcriptions as classical scores, piano rolls, or guitar tabs, and play them back. Download your creations in various formats or share them with friends.
- Transcribe audio to sheet music
- Support for piano, flute, violin, and guitar
- Multiple transcription views (score, piano roll, tab)
- Playback functionality
- Download sheet music (PDF, MIDI, MusicXML)
- Share compositions
- Desktop version synchronization
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Transcribe piano music recordings to scores and edit them online. SUPPORTED INSTRUMENTS: Piano, Flute, Violin (beta), Accoustic Guitar (beta) Currently only solo instruments are supported, no bands or orchestras. FUNCTIONS » Transcribe YouTube song covers, microphone recordings and audio files to sheet music » View the transcribed music as classical score, piano roll or guitar tab » Playback the sheet music and listen to the result » Download sheet as PDF, MIDI, or MusicXML » Share your compositions with your friends » Synchronize with the desktop version WHAT THIS APP DOESN'T OFFER » Separation of multiple instruments: The note recognition can't separate multiple instruments. If you record multiple instruments playing simultaneously you will get bad transcription results! » Live note recognition: This app is not able to show you live note recognition results. Instead, it will take some time to perform the frequency analysis and show you the results. » 100% match percentage: This app won't detect 100% of the played notes and there will also be wrong detections. But depending on the quality of the input signal, it will give you useful suggests! WHY DO I NEED AN ACCOUNT? You create an account to ensure that only you can access your created sheet music! A lot of computing power is necessary to generate the scores from the audio, so it needs to run on a powerful server in the cloud. Also, you can access your sheets from the desktop version, too, by signing in using the same account. FREE AND PREMIUM » Transcribing audio to sheet music is a computation expensive process and needs to be run on a powerful server in the cloud. Your PREMIUM purchase supports us paying our checks and developing new features for the app. » The FREE version of this app covers Microphone and YouTube transcriptions. Uploading your own files is a PREMIUM feature. » In the FREE version sheets are limited to 40 bars (about 2 minutes). Upgrading to PREMIUM will unlock the full sheet. » PREMIUM subscriptions can be cancelled at any time and you will continue to use PREMIUM features until the end of the subscription period. » All with PREMIUM transcribed songs will stay unlocked forever. REQUIREMENTS » Internet: active internet connection for server connectivity » Microphone (optional) DESKTOP VERSION » There is a desktop version of this app available, which you can access in your browser. » The desktop version covers even more features like editing your sheets, since there is more space available on a bigger screen » You can login with the same account and synchronize your scores between multiple devices Give music your personal note! SUMMARY Transcribe music recordings from YouTube, MP3 or microphone to sheet music and edit them online. With the Melody Scanner App you can create on-the-go recordings of your instrument. Those are uploaded to your personal cloud songbook and transcribed to score. You can record your instrument, import YouTube videos or upload MP3 files. It has never been so easy to create sheet music! CONTACT US We're always happy to hear from you. No matter what comes to your mind, we want to hear it. Would you like another feature? Does something not work as expected? Send us an e-mail at: support@melodyscanner.com This app is actively developed and there are updates on a regular base The Apple Terms of Use apply: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Melody Scanner at Free against Viola by Ear's $4.99. Melody Scanner also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 25 months). Viola by Ear's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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
Melody Scanner is free to download; Viola by Ear costs $4.99 up front. Melody Scanner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Viola by Ear asks for nothing beyond the download.
Viola by Ear ships an update every 25 months, Melody Scanner fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Viola by Ear | Melody Scanner |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | — | 1.6 (36 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 27.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 36 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 25 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 13.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 166 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Oleg Sokolov | Klangio GmbH |
Bugs and requests
Viola by Ear
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Melody Scanner
Reported bugs
20 issues- Upload function not working
- App doesn't recognize stave lines/notation
- App gives too many notes at once or notes octaves apart
- Errors when generating sheet music
- Premium features not unlocked after payment
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- No sound from transcriptions
- App jams on recording
- White screen when uploading from YouTube
- Cannot log back in after first use
- Transcription errors
- App doesn't detect volume/sound
- Cannot open YouTube to transpose
- Transcription not accurate
- App doesn't work after payment
- Record function jams
- Errors prevent music creation
- Doesn't transcribe music correctly
- Doesn't work at all
- App doesn't recognize simple melodies
- Audio quality is lousy and scratchy
Requested features
10 requests- Single instrument mode on app
- Full song transcription (not just 1 min)
- Ability to export full transcriptions
- More accurate transcription for complex music
- Improved MIDI playback accuracy
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- Ability to add YouTube songs
- More instrument options (e.g., drums)
- Better sound quality for transcriptions
- Full song playback without blocking
- Option for one-time purchase instead of subscription
In-app purchases
Viola by Ear
No in-app purchases
Melody Scanner
- Melody Scanner Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
- Melody Scanner Premium Yearly$44.991 Year
Questions
Is Viola by Ear free?
Is Melody Scanner free?
Do Viola by Ear or Melody Scanner have ads?
Which is updated more often, Viola by Ear or Melody Scanner?
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