Comparison

Absolute Ear vs Improvy

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

Head to head
About

Absolute Ear

Master note recognition, melodic dictation, and interval training with a structured course. Progress at your own pace through over 60 units, with intelligent practice focusing on your weakest areas. Supports multiple instrument timbres and detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Note recognition
  • Melodic dictation
  • Interval training
  • Intelligent practice
  • Multiple instrument timbres
  • Detailed statistics
  • Session history and streak tracking
Features
Read full description

ABSOLUTE EAR - EAR TRAINING Want to hear a melody and know exactly what notes it is? That's what Absolute Ear teaches. This is a structured ear training course that takes you from recognizing your first three notes all the way to mastering all 12 chromatic pitches, melodic sequences up to 5 notes long, all 13 musical intervals, chord recognition by function, and real chord progressions - at whatever pace works for you. WHAT YOU TRAIN NOTE RECOGNITION Hear a piano note. Name it. That's the foundation of playing by ear. Start with just C, E, and G. Unlock new notes as you demonstrate mastery. By the end, you'll identify all 12 chromatic notes across three octaves - including sharps - without needing a reference pitch. MELODIC DICTATION Identify sequences of 2, 3, 4, and 5 notes in a row. This is where note recognition becomes real musical memory. Each unit introduces new notes progressively, so you're never thrown in the deep end. INTERVAL TRAINING Master all 13 intervals: unison, minor 2nd, major 2nd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, tritone, perfect 5th, minor 6th, major 6th, minor 7th, major 7th, and octave. Three tiers of difficulty: • Tier 1: Fixed C as your tonic - build the foundation • Tier 2: Random root per session - start to generalize • Tier 3: Root changes every question - true interval hearing CHORD RECOGNITION Hear a chord and identify it by its function in C major - not just its name. Every question starts with the I chord to anchor your ear, then you identify the target chord by scale degree. Five modules take you from the Big Three (I, IV, V) through all seven diatonic chords. You'll learn to hear the difference between the lift of IV, the tension of V, and the darkness of vi. CHORD PROGRESSIONS Once you know the chords, learn to hear how their order changes everything. A four-chord loop plays and you tap the degrees in sequence. Five modules cover the most common progressions in popular music - from the classic I-IV-V-I to the pop loop I-V-vi-IV - training you to recognize the patterns behind the songs you hear every day. HOW IT WORKS 60+ structured units span five exercise types across six chapters: single notes, note sequences, interval training, chord recognition, and chord progressions. Units unlock as you hit 80% accuracy - you move forward when you're actually ready. Each session is 30 focused questions. Listen. Answer. Get immediate haptic feedback. The app tracks exactly where you struggle and weights practice toward your weakest notes, intervals, and chords - so every session is time well spent. If you're flying through a session, an early-completion prompt lets you move on early. FEATURES • 60+ course units across five exercise types • Chord recognition by function - hear harmony, not just names • Chord progression training - recognize the loops behind real music • Intelligent practice: weak spots appear more often • Multi-octave training - notes across three octaves • 60+ badges to earn - including some hidden surprises • Detailed stats: per-note accuracy, confusion matrix, accuracy trends, daily practice time • Session history and streak tracking • Apple Sign In - progress saved to your account • Haptic feedback on every answer • No subscription required to get started WHO IT'S FOR • Musicians who want to play by ear without sheet music • Piano and guitar players who want to transcribe what they hear • Music students building aural skills for exams • Anyone who hears a melody and wants to know its notes • Songwriters who want to hear chord progressions by ear • Experienced players sharpening pitch, interval, and harmony awareness Start with three notes. Build from there. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.absoluteear.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.absoluteear.com/privacy

About

Improvy

Features
Read full description

You want to improvise without thinking about it. Not scales. Not the licks you already own. The line you actually hear, played the moment you hear it. Your ear is not what is stopping you. You can hear where the phrase wants to go. What stops you is the half second in between: the one where you work out that the note you want is the flat three, while the chord underneath has already moved on. Fluency is not knowledge. It is speed. And speed only comes from repeating exactly the right thing, thousands of times. That is all Improvy is. A degree appears, you tap the note. Two seconds. Again. Until the number, the sound and the note stop being three thoughts and become one. It works in all 12 major keys, and it spells every one of them the way a musician actually writes it. In Eb the flat two is Fb, not E. Most apps quietly get that wrong, and the habit you build on top of it is wrong too. Train it in both directions, because they are two different skills. Number to note. Note to number. Then the one that turns a melody into changes: this note is the sharp eleven, so what is the chord? There is a Daily Challenge every morning, and Pocket Mode runs with the screen off, so a walk counts as practice. This is not for beginners. It is for players who already know the theory and are tired of being a beat behind it. No ads. No account. Pro is a one-time payment. Stop counting. Start playing!

Screenshots

Absolute Ear4 screens
Improvy4 screens

Verdict

The call

Absolute Ear and Improvy are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Absolute Ear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Improvy sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Absolute Ear versus Improvy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbsolute EarImprovy
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 3 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid AshworthLorenzo Ballestrazzi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Absolute Ear

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$49.99
2 purchases

Improvy

One-time2
  • Improvy Pro Creator$14.99
  • Improvy Pro$17.99

Questions

Is Absolute Ear free?
Absolute Ear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Improvy free?
Improvy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Absolute Ear or Improvy have ads?
Neither Absolute Ear nor Improvy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Absolute Ear or Improvy?
Absolute Ear ships an update every 3 days, and Improvy every 3 days. Most recently, Absolute Ear was updated on October 2, 2026 and Improvy on October 8, 2026.

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