Comparison

Ron Block Banjo Workshop vs Purple Vision

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

Head to head
About

Ron Block Banjo Workshop

Learn banjo from a Grammy-winning musician with comprehensive courses, mini-lessons, and song tutorials. Develop your skills from beginner to advanced with practical techniques and creative exercises. Access exclusive content and live Q&A sessions to enhance your playing.

Highlights
  • Beginner to advanced banjo courses
  • Mini-lessons for practice concepts
  • Song and tune tutorials
  • String bending techniques
  • Developing new licks
  • Live Q&A sessions
Features
Read full description

The Ron Block Banjo Workshop is a banjo instruction app designed for every level. Whether you’ve just bought a banjo, or you’re intermediate, or even if you’re an advanced player, there is plenty of material in the app for you. Ron has been playing banjo for over three decades with Alison Krauss & Union Station and has been encouraging and inspiring students in the U.S. and the U.K. for years. All material is designed to create a solid foundation and yet enhance your own creativity on the banjo. Courses: Beginning Banjo is designed to take you from knowing nothing about playing the banjo through chords, rolls, and a tune. Developing New Licks and Ideas shows how to take licks and change them around to make new variations. Creating Melody-Based Solos will give you tools to learn to find melodies quickly. Bending Strings in a Bluegrass Context explains Ron’s string-bending techniques. Mini-Lessons are short clips to give you solid concepts and ideas for practicing and playing. Song/Tune Lessons: “Man of Constant Sorrow,” from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack “Clinch Mountain Backstep,” from Ron’s banjo instrumental album Hogan’s House of Music. Explore syncopation, string-bending, and other core aspects of Ron’s banjo style. “Foggy Mountain Special,” Ron’s solo from the Earl Scruggs tribute album. “The Old Hometown,” Earl Scruggs-style solo from Flatt & Scruggs. “You Don’t Know My Mind,” J.D. Crowe-style solo from a live J.D. Crowe & the New South recording. Banjo Music Videos “Foggy Mountain Rock” - a live video of the tune from Hogan’s House of Music. “Happy Chappy/Marinie’s Melody” – from Banjophonics, Ron second album with Irish tenor banjo wizard Damien O’Kane - Bluegrass blended with Irish/Celtic and other influences. “You Are My Sunshine” – a live video of the tune from Hogan’s House of Music. “’65 Mustang Blues” - a live video of the tune from Hogan’s House of Music. “Trip to Portugal/Giuseppe’s” – from Banjophony, Ron’s first album with Irish tenor banjo wizard Damien O’Kane - Bluegrass blended with Irish/Celtic and other influences. “Hogan’s House of Boogie” - a live video of the tune from Hogan’s House of Music. “Phoebe’s/The Banjo Strikes Back” “Clinch Mountain Backstep” - a live video of the tune from Hogan’s House of Music. And more! The Traditional Banjo Workbook All the Scruggs-style and Crowe-style tablatures from Ron’s long out-of-print The Traditional Banjo Workbook. Banjo Inspiration One-page thoughts designed to keep you moving forward in your playing and practice. Question & Answer Livestreams Regular livestreams in the app will get your banjo questions answered. INFORMATION ABOUT THE APP AND PURCHASE OPTIONS The download of Ron Block Banjo Workshop is free of charge. There is no free trial. Should you use Ron Block Banjo Workshop app, we offer one of the following options: Payment will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account after the trial period and when a subscription renews. A subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the subscription period. There is no increase in price when renewing. One Time Payments will only be charged one time initially. Subscriptions can be managed and auto-renewal turned off in Account Settings in iTunes after purchase. Once purchased, refunds will not be provided for any unused portion of the term. Readout full Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy: https://passion.io/terms-of-service https://passion.io/privacy-policy

About

Purple Vision

Access and enjoy all your purchased video, music, and eBook content from partner platforms. Stream instantly or download for offline playback, ensuring smooth viewing even with poor internet connections.

Highlights
  • One-tap access to purchased content
  • Stream instantly
  • Download for offline playback
  • Supports video, music, and eBooks
  • Optimized for slow/intermittent internet
Features
Read full description

The all new Purple Vision app has been designed with your user experience in mind and we hope you love the new app as much as we do! Purple Vision gives you easy, one-tap access to any video, music or eBook product you’ve purchased from any Purple content partner. Stream instantly, download your products when you have a decent connection, or choose to download videos to get perfect playback even with a slow or intermittent internet connection, or even when completely offine!

Screenshots

Ron Block Banjo Workshop4 screens
Purple Vision3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ron Block Banjo Workshop at 75% against Purple Vision's 0%. Ron Block Banjo Workshop also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.9). Purple Vision's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Ron Block Banjo Workshop sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $15.95 per month. Purple Vision asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ron Block Banjo Workshop holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 9 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Ron Block Banjo Workshop's written reviews are positive against 0% of Purple Vision's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ron Block Banjo Workshop ships an update every 2 months, Purple Vision every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Ron Block Banjo Workshop versus Purple Vision: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRon Block Banjo WorkshopPurple Vision
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (9 ratings) — better1.9 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings99
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.113.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRon BlockPlatform Purple, Inc.

Customer experience

Ron Block Banjo Workshop

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Purple Vision

All ratings4 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Ron Block Banjo Workshop

Subscriptions2
  • Beginner Banjo Workshop$15.951 Month
  • All Banjo Workshops$21.951 Month
None

Purple Vision

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ron Block Banjo Workshop free?
Ron Block Banjo Workshop is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Purple Vision free?
Purple Vision is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Ron Block Banjo Workshop or Purple Vision?
Ron Block Banjo Workshop is rated higher. Ron Block Banjo Workshop averages 4.4 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Purple Vision averages 1.9 from 9 ratings.
Do Ron Block Banjo Workshop or Purple Vision have ads?
Ron Block Banjo Workshop shows ads; Purple Vision does not.
Which is updated more often, Ron Block Banjo Workshop or Purple Vision?
Ron Block Banjo Workshop ships an update every 2 months, and Purple Vision every 3 months. Most recently, Ron Block Banjo Workshop was updated on November 3, 2026 and Purple Vision on November 4, 2026.

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