Ear Drone vs Drone Wheel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ear Drone
Master musical intervals, chords, and scales with interactive exercises and reference drones. Learn solfege hand signs and practice with various instrument sounds or MIDI controllers. This app offers customizable training for musicians of all levels.
- Interactive ear training exercises
- Reference drones for pitch accuracy
- Multiple instrument sounds
- MIDI instrument support
- Customizable exercises
- Solfege hand sign learning
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Master your musical ear with the ultimate ear training app! Elevate your musical skills with our powerful and intuitive ear trainer application, designed to help musicians of all levels improve their ear training through immersive, interactive exercises and reference drones. Whether you're learning scales, modes, triads, or solfege hand signs (also known as Kodály or Curwen hand signs), this app has everything you need to master your musical ear with precision. Three Interactive Modes: Input mode: Dive deep into ear training with full user interaction. Listen to intervals, chords, and scales, then test yourself by inputting your answers. Listen mode: Improve your ear training without lifting a finger! Simply listen to the exercises and absorb the musical information hands-free. Great for passive learning, this mode is ideal for training your ear while you're on the go or in situations where interaction isn’t possible. Free play mode: Unleash your creativity with Free Play Mode! Choose your preferred instrument and explore its range of sounds in the app’s instrument views. Experiment with melodies, harmonies, and scales, using this mode for both practice and inspiration. Key Features: Background Reference Drones: Develop pitch accuracy and tonal memory using customizable reference drones. These steady tones provide a constant pitch foundation, improving your ability to match and recognize notes across exercises. Multiple Instrument Sounds: Train your ear in a wide range of musical environments by choosing from different instrument sounds, including keyed, stringed, wind, and synth instruments. MIDI Instrument Support: Expand your learning experience by integrating external MIDI instruments. Whether you prefer a digital keyboard or a MIDI controller, this feature allows you to practice ear training with the tactile feedback of your instrument of choice. Customizable Ear Training Exercises: Design your own ear training sessions to focus on specific intervals, scales, modes, or triads. The app supports a wide range of musical scales, from basic major and minor scales to more advanced scales such as Lydian, Phrygian, and Mixolydian. Build exercises that cater to your unique needs and push your ear training to the next level. Learn Solfege Hand Signs (Kodály/Curwen): Perfect your ability to visualize and sing pitches using solfege hand signs, an excellent method for enhancing sight-singing, pitch recognition, and tonal awareness. Who is This App For? - Musicians and music students who want to sharpen their ear for intervals, chords, scales, and modes. - Teachers looking for a comprehensive tool to assist students in learning music theory and solfege. - Instrumentalists who wish to improve their pitch recognition and tone matching skills. - Singers who want to master solfege hand signs and enhance their sight-singing abilities. - Producers and composers aiming to sharpen their tonal awareness across different instrument sounds, from piano and guitar to synths and wind instruments. Keywords: ear trainer, ear training, music practice, drones, instrument, piano, guitar, synth, MIDI, triads, scales, modes, solfege Hand Signs, Kodály, Curwen, hand signs, musical ear development. Download the app today and start your journey toward mastering your musical ear. Whether you're practicing with hands-on exercises, passively listening, or engaging in free play, you'll have all the tools you need to become a well-rounded musician!
Drone Wheel
Create sustained tones and chords in any key for practice, meditation, or songwriting. Offers a variety of sounds and scales, with a free version and an optional Pro upgrade for more features.
- Hold pure drones in 12 keys
- Play chords and inversions
- Deep sound library with synth and instrument tones
- Lock intonation against reference pitch
- Set scales and modes
- Build grooves with beat engine
- Metronome for timekeeping
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Drone Wheel is a looping studio built on a wheel. Hold a perfectly tuned drone, finger drum a beat, chop a sample, loop your voice, or mix a song. Five decks share one clock, so everything stays in time. • Drone in any key, with chords and scales • Drums with pitch and level on every pad • Chop any sound or video into twelve pads • Loop your mic right on the beat • Mix any song: sync it to your tempo and split out the vocals, drums or bass • Launch clips, mix, add effects, and record the session Your projects sync to your account and across your devices automatically. Free includes the drone, chords, a drum kit, the mic deck, SampleWheel with a starter library, and cloud backup. Pro adds every sound and kit, all scales and modes, your own samples and video, the Pro effects, and recording with export. Drone Wheel Pro: 3 day free trial, then $4.99 a month or $34.99 a year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store settings. Questions? support@wheelverseaudio.com Privacy Policy: https://dronewheelprivacy.netlify.app/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ear Drone at 100% against Drone Wheel's 50%. Ear Drone also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.7) and monetization model (free vs freemium). Drone Wheel's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (6 vs 1). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Ear Drone sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Drone Wheel sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ear Drone holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drone Wheel has 6 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Ear Drone's written reviews are positive against 50% of Drone Wheel's.
Ear Drone ships an update every 2 months, Drone Wheel weekly. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.
| Parameter | Ear Drone | Drone Wheel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 3.7 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.2 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 919 MB | 300 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jason Fleischer | JOSEPH LEE ALLEN |
Customer experience
Ear Drone
Drone Wheel
In-app purchases
Ear Drone
- Fully Unlocked$1.99
- Generously Fully Unlocked$3.99
- Very Generously Fully Unlocked$6.99
Drone Wheel
- Pro Monthly3 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Pro Yearly3 Days trial$34.991 Year
Questions
Is Ear Drone free?
Is Drone Wheel free?
Which has better reviews, Ear Drone or Drone Wheel?
Do Ear Drone or Drone Wheel have ads?
Which is updated more often, Ear Drone or Drone Wheel?
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