ScoreLibrary vs Pure Score Reader
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ScoreLibrary
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ScoreLibrary is a music score reader built for daily practice rather than the concert stage. It's the first score app with a real time-machine view of your annotations. 【Time Machine】 Every pen stroke is auto-snapshotted hourly. The vertical slider in the PDF viewer lets you scrub the timeline: - See only what you wrote this morning - See only the conductor's notes from last week's rehearsal - "Pin this as current" promotes a past state without losing the future snapshots This is unique among score reading apps. 【Smart Japanese Instrument Detection】 When you import PDFs, on-device OCR picks out the instrument and part number, automatically renaming "15_Trumpet3.pdf" to "Murdoch's Last Letter_Tp_3rd.pdf" or your localized equivalent. - 90+ instrument patterns (Western and Japanese) - Composer / arranger detection - Both vertical and horizontal text 【Multiple Import Paths】 - Multi-PDF picker with batched import - Whole-folder import - Camera scan to high-quality PDF - "Open in ScoreLibrary" from Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox - Files app, Mail, LINE share sheet support 【Annotations】 - Apple Pencil pen input - Two page-turn modes: paper Page Curl and smooth Slide - Attach photos anywhere on the page 【Concert / Event Management】 - Per-event annotations (your notes for Concert A don't bleed into Concert B even on the same score) - Setlists with reordering - Add multiple flyer images per event (front, back, handouts), viewable full screen - Auto-generated mute lists for what to bring 【Practice Tools】 - Chord card with audible chord lookup - Score reading card for note name / interval reference - Built-in metronome with compound-meter support (6/8, 9/8, 12/8) 【Trilingual】 Japanese / English / 简体中文 with instant in-app switching. 【Pro Tier (one-time $4.99)】 Unlocks Time Machine slider operation, "Pin this as current," paw- shaped slider thumbs, an alternate paw-stamped app icon, and a faint paw-print decoration across the tab backgrounds. Snapshots are recorded in the background for everyone, so Pro can be purchased anytime later without losing your past practice history. One-time purchase. No subscription.
Pure Score Reader
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Your sheet music, always on stage. Pure Score Reader is a fast, distraction-free reader for your PDF scores. Import, annotate, and build setlists — then turn pages with a tap, a swipe, or a Bluetooth pedal. Everything a performer needs, and nothing in the way. ■ Distraction-free reading Read one page at a time or as a two-page spread. Smart zoom crops blank margins so the music fills the screen — nothing else gets in the way. ■ Effortless page turns Turn pages with a tap, a swipe, or a Bluetooth foot pedal — and pick up right where you left off. ■ Annotate in layers Mark up with a pressure-sensitive pen and highlighter. Keep fingerings, cuts, and cues on separate layers you can show or hide per performance. ■ Setlists Build a virtual score book — pages picked from any piece, in your running order. Jump straight to the next number. ■ Find any score fast Organize with labels and folders, and search by title or composer. Your whole library is one tap away. ■ Sync through your Drive Keep every device in sync through your own Google Drive. Your scores stay yours — there's no account to create. ■ Your library stays yours Works offline. No ads, no analytics profile, no selling your data. Just your music. ■ Simple, fair pricing Start free with up to 4 scores, 2 setlists, and PDFs up to 15 MB — annotations, layers, and Drive sync included. Unlock everything with a single one-time purchase (Essential): unlimited scores, unlimited setlists, any PDF file size, and all future updates. No subscription — pay once, keep it forever.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Pure Score Reader at every 3 weeks against ScoreLibrary's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. ScoreLibrary sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Pure Score Reader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ScoreLibrary ships an update every 2 months, Pure Score Reader every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ScoreLibrary | Pure Score Reader |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.4 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daisaku Seto | Sukodama Inc. |
In-app purchases
ScoreLibrary
- ScoreLibrary Pro$3.99
Pure Score Reader
- Pure Score Reader Essential$17.99
Questions
Is ScoreLibrary free?
Is Pure Score Reader free?
Do ScoreLibrary or Pure Score Reader have ads?
Which is updated more often, ScoreLibrary or Pure Score Reader?
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