Absolute Ear vs Pocket Looper
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Note recognition
- Melodic dictation
- Interval training
- Intelligent practice
- Multiple instrument timbres
- Detailed statistics
- Session history and streak tracking
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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
Pocket Looper
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The phrase you just played becomes a loop. Pocket Looper is a loop station built for one thing: practising guitar and bass. Tap the big button in the middle to start recording. Tap it again and the phrase loops. Tap once more and you are overdubbing on top of it. That single button is the whole interface. ONE BUTTON FOR EVERYTHING Record, overdub, stop, resume. Every state change happens on the centre button, so you can drive it the way you would stomp a pedal on the floor. You never have to hunt for a small control while your hands are on the instrument. SEE WHAT YOU ARE LAYERING Your loop is drawn as a waveform with a playhead showing exactly where the playback is. You can see which beat you are overdubbing onto, which makes it much easier to come in on time. Undo and redo let you take back a bad take instantly. BE YOUR OWN BACKING BAND Record a chord progression, let it loop, and practise your solo over it. You get accompanied repetition without booking a rehearsal room or waiting for a band. It works just as well for writing riffs and for singer-songwriter practice. BUILT FOR DRILLING (PREMIUM) - Slow practice: drop the speed to 0.5x while keeping the original pitch, so you can take a fast lick apart and rebuild it - A-B section loop: mark A and B on the waveform and repeat only that stretch - Save and recall loops: name a phrase and come back to it tomorrow - Export your recordings to other apps - All in-app ads removed TEN LANGUAGES The interface follows your device language automatically: English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean. WHO IT IS FOR - Guitarists and bassists who drill the same phrase every day - Players who want to build their own backing track and improvise over it - Anyone who would rather just record and layer than learn a large app first Premium is a one-time purchase. There is no subscription and no expiry. The free tier lets you record and overdub loops of up to 30 seconds. https://tenmais.jp/?lang=en
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Absolute Ear at none against Pocket Looper's shown. Absolute Ear also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 days). On price, in-app purchases, 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. Absolute Ear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Pocket Looper sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Absolute Ear ships an update every 3 days, Pocket Looper every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Absolute Ear | Pocket Looper |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 117 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | David Ashworth | Kenichi Ando |
In-app purchases
Absolute Ear
- Monthly$4.991 Month
- Yearly$29.991 Year
- Lifetime$49.99
Pocket Looper
- Premium Unlock$2.99
Questions
Is Absolute Ear free?
Is Pocket Looper free?
Do Absolute Ear or Pocket Looper have ads?
Which is updated more often, Absolute Ear or Pocket Looper?
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