The Shape Factory vs Baritone Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Shape Factory
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Shape Factory is an educational learning environment for primary school children (ages 7–10) that promotes algorithmic thinking, problem-solving, and spatial reasoning through an engaging factory simulation. Designed by Prof. Dr. Günter Krauthausen and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Christian Urff, the app combines educational expertise with child-friendly design. In a virtual factory, children configure machines that transform colored geometric workpieces step by step: drawing lines, punching holes, and rotating shapes. Through visual representation and immediate feedback, children directly experience how their decisions affect the outcome. FIVE GAME MODES FOR DIVERSE LEARNING • Experiment – Freely explore machines and their effects through discovery learning • Predict – Mentally predict the result of a production line, then verify • Make – Design production lines to create ordered workpieces and find different solutions • Optimize – Identify redundant machines and achieve the same result more efficiently • Repair – Analyze, diagnose, and fix faulty production lines EDUCATIONAL FEATURES • Four difficulty levels per mode with optional expert mode • Adaptive difficulty that automatically adjusts to the learner's level • Warehouse for saving, comparing, and sorting production lines • QR code exchange for sharing configurations between devices • Add notes to saved configurations • PDF export and photo saving of production lines COMPREHENSIVE TEACHER SETTINGS • Show or hide individual game modes to match the classroom situation • Control difficulty levels and adaptive adjustment • Individually configure counters, warehouse, and QR code features • Enable or disable automatic task progression • Built-in information about task formats and classroom use LEARNING GOALS The app fosters algorithmic thinking, spatial reasoning (mental rotation, orientation, symmetry), problem-solving skills, logical reasoning, optimization thinking, and systematic approaches. It is ideal for mathematics, science, and computer science education. TEACHING GUIDE A comprehensive didactic guide with lesson scenarios, research questions, differentiation tips, and methodological recommendations is available free of charge at www.urff.app/formen-fabrik. PRIVACY & SAFETY • No ads • No tracking • No in-app purchases • No internet connection required • No registration needed • All data stays on the device Shape Factory – built for children, designed for the classroom.
Baritone Trainer
This app helps brass musicians practice baritone fingerings with interactive charts and real-time scoring. It offers play-along loops, ear transcription, and progress tracking to improve musicality and accuracy. Users can customize settings and choose from multiple note-naming conventions.
- Interactive fingering chart with real-time scoring
- Play-along musical loops
- Transcribe music by ear
- Progress tracking and stats
- Customizable valve buttons and metronome
- Multiple note-naming conventions
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Baritone Trainer is a baritone fingering chart and practice game for brass players. Pick an exercise, hit play, and hold the correct valve combination as each note sounds — the app scores your baritone fingerings in real time and highlights the note you're on, so you build the link between what you see, what you hear, and what your fingers do. Read it your way: treble clef in Bb or bass clef at concert pitch. Tap the clef on the staff to switch — even in the middle of a song — and the fingering chart and alternate fingerings show both. The valve fingerings are the same as the trumpet's, so if you play a treble-clef euphonium, it fits your fingerings too. Designed for the way you actually practice: • Interactive baritone fingering chart — every note on the staff shows the valves to press, scored as you play, so it's a fingering chart you drill, not just read. • Play-along loops — eight measures on the staff, played back with a piano-style chord under each measure, so you train fingerings in a musical context, not in silence. • Transcribe by ear — play a passage on your instrument and the app writes it onto the staff, note by note, in your key, so you can build or fix a song without tapping each one. • Real-time scoring — get credit for holding the right valves as each note plays, with a clean-run detector that rewards mistake-free passes. • Swipe to control — swipe left/right to change tempo, up/down to transpose to any key. • Baritone scales and studies — built-in libraries of major and minor scales, chromatics, arpeggios, and technical etudes for daily brass practice. • Track your progress — daily/weekly/monthly trends, streaks, and unlockable badges, plus a full stats screen for every song with an accuracy-over-time chart. Your best score, average, and attempt count show right in the song list. • Make it yours — alternate fingerings, metronome, chord volume, and valve-button size. Read music your way: • Note names in letters (C D E), German (H / B), or fixed-do solfège (Do Re Mi) — switch independently of the app language. • Available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Chinese. Free to start: • The free version includes seven major scales, fully scored, so you can practice fingerings right away. • Upgrade to Standard to unlock every song, import songs and libraries, and share songs; Pro adds creating, deleting, and exporting whole libraries. Standard comes as a yearly subscription with a 7-day free trial or as a one-time purchase; Pro is a one-time purchase. Whether you're a beginner learning your first baritone scales or an advancing brass player pushing tempo, Baritone Trainer keeps your brass fingering practice focused, musical, and measurable. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://trumpettrainer.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: The Shape Factory at none against Baritone Trainer's 3. On price, 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
Both are free to download. Baritone Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per year. The Shape Factory asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | The Shape Factory | Baritone Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 2.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 53 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christian Urff | Edmund Trujillo |
In-app purchases
The Shape Factory
No in-app purchases
Baritone Trainer
- Standard — Yearly7 Days trial$4.991 Year
- Standard — All Songs$9.99
- Pro — Author & Export$19.99
Questions
Is The Shape Factory free?
Is Baritone Trainer free?
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