Comparison

NoteHound vs Accelerating Metronome

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

Head to head
About

NoteHound

Features
Read full description

NoteHound is the music practice app for musicians who learn by ear. Slow any song to 0.1× without dropping the key. Loop the trickiest bar with sample-accurate A-B markers and a count-in click. Transcribe what you hear onto a piano roll, a 4-to-8-string guitar tab, or a live fretboard. Export to MIDI, PDF, MusicXML, plain-text tab, or a ZIP bundle for your teacher. No subscription. No account. Your audio and your transcriptions stay on your device. FEATURES SLOW DOWN MUSIC • 0.1× to 3.0× variable speed • Pitch-preserving time-stretch — the key never changes, even at the extremes • Speed ramp: automatically walk a loop from slow to performance tempo over n repetitions • Tap tempo and BPM detection • Tempo-map aware — handles songs that change tempo A-B LOOPING & PRACTICE TOOLS • Sample-accurate loop boundaries on the waveform • Count-in beats and pre-roll bar so you join the loop on the downbeat • Per-loop speed settings • Named sections (verse / chorus / solo / bridge) painted onto the waveform • Audio notes — pin a voice memo anywhere on the waveform (a fingering cue, a practice reminder, a note from a teacher) and the recording auto-plays when the playhead reaches that point • Practice tracking with mastery stages: learning → practising → up-to-speed → mastered • Per-loop attempt history with max-speed-reached PIANO ROLL EDITOR • Tap notes onto a quantised grid; drag, multi-select, group, draw • Audio sync — your transcription follows the recording bar by bar • Independent display transpose so you can read in any key • Plays through nine built-in synth voices LIVE FRETBOARD VIEW • Tap a note, see exactly where it lives on the neck • Multi-string highlighting for chord shapes • Adapts automatically to the project's tuning (standard, drop D, drop C, DADGAD, baritone, 7- and 8-string) • Full-fingerboard or focused-range display • Pairs with the tab editor — every note tapped on the tab lights up on the fretboard, and vice versa GUITAR TAB EDITOR • 4 to 8 strings, any tuning • 25+ articulations: bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, harmonics, palm mutes, ghost notes, dead notes, vibrato, trills, grace notes, tied notes, let-ring • Automatic fret-position suggestions based on the previous and next notes • Audio sync with the recording so the tab cursor tracks playback • Works for guitar, bass, baritone guitar, 7- and 8-string electric, ukulele 9-INSTRUMENT MULTI-TOUCH KEYBOARD • Acoustic piano, electric piano, Rhodes, organ, synth pad, strings, bass, guitar, vibraphone • Velocity-sensitive on supported devices • Doubles as a real-time MIDI-input target MIDI • Class-compliant USB and Bluetooth MIDI controllers — plug in, no drivers, no setup • Learn-mode mapping for any control to any parameter (foot pedal → play/pause, knob → speed, pad → loop toggle) • Real-time note input straight to the piano roll • MIDI file import preserves notes, tempo map, and section markers EXPORT • MIDI, PDF, MusicXML, plain-text tab, .tab, or a ZIP bundle of all of them • Hand a transcription to any DAW or notation app: Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Sibelius, Dorico, MuseScore, Finale, Guitar Pro FREE vs PRO Free includes two starter projects, basic A-B looping, the on-screen keyboard, and the 0.25× to 1.5× speed range. NoteHound Pro is a one-time $4.99 unlock — no subscription, restore on every device with the same Apple ID. Pro adds: • Unlimited projects • Full 0.1× to 3.0× speed range • Piano roll editor • Guitar tab editor + live fretboard view • MIDI input and MIDI file import • Every export format • Speed ramp, named sections, audio notes per section DESIGNED FOR Self-taught guitarists, pianists, and bassists. Music students. Music teachers preparing materials. Producers reverse-engineering a sample. Drummers learning fills. Anyone who learns songs by ear. Requires iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or later. No account needed.

About

Accelerating Metronome

This metronome gradually accelerates tempo during practice sessions, logging every minute played. It features customizable practice ramps, peak speed tracking, and visual progress reports to help musicians build consistency.

Highlights
  • Gradual tempo acceleration
  • Practice logging
  • Customizable practice ramps
  • Peak speed tracking
  • Visualized practice progress
  • Tap tempo functionality
  • Tuning reference
Features
Read full description

Most metronomes only keep a tempo. This one accelerates gradually while you play, and remembers every minute you practice. Accelerating Metronome is a practice instrument, built by a working musician in Seattle over forty years of daily practice. This is not what a product committee would have asked for. It is a cross between a Stairmaster and Duolingo. Designed to motivate you to keep going and growing in your practice. ACCELERATOR Choose a beginning tempo, a target, and how long you want to practice. It climbs the Ramp in steps, so you invest your time playing rather than reaching for the Dial. When it reaches the target it keeps going at that tempo, and extra time is counted separately as Play Time. Practice and playing are not the same thing. And are not counted as if they were. Save and name your own Custom Ramps. PEAK SPEED Mark the tempo where you hit a wall so you have a visual record of your limits. We graph your Peak Speed(s) so you can see your progress. SPIN THE METRONOME Press this and let the Universe choose a tempo for you. Practicing only at the tempos you like is how blind spots appear. And this is the cure. Spin the Metronome before a Group Rehearsal to bring everyone into listening and warming up together beginning with a cue from the Muse. YOUR PRACTICE, VISUALIZED OVER TIME Every session is documented: when, how long, which tempos, and what you were working on. Name your own Categories and each one has its own color. The Calendar shows a month at a glance, with Celebrations and Gold after you have completed a full hour of practice. STREAKS and CELEBRATIONS A Streak counts the days in a row you practiced. Momentum may motivate you to pick up the instrument on an evening you had decided not to. And practice more than an hour every day from Sunday to Saturday and the whole week is celebrated in Gold. THE METRONOME Tempo from a rotary dial you drag with your thumb, the way a hardware tempo wheel works. Three default voices with five alt Sound Banks deliver a wide variety of sounds. Select a Time Signature, and the downbeat gets its own sound. An integrated Tuner and Tuning references from 432 to 445. TAP TEMPO + TYPE TEMPO Tap the BPM Window, and the tempo changes to what you tap. Press and hold to type in a tempo. MIXING The click plays over (or under) your other app's sound, music, podcasts, or a backing track without interruption. The iPhone silent switch does not mute the Metronome. It keeps going when you switch apps or the screen locks, and so does the Accelerator. The Beats align with the audio hardware's clock rather than on a timer, so nothing drifts while you are not looking. Optional Haptics help you feel the Beat through the phone. The screen stays awake while it plays. A Loudness Booster setting doubles the click volume. YOURS, PRIVATE No account, no login, no shared analytics, no advertising, no tracking, no subscription. You buy it once. Your Practice History is only on your phone. Only two features send data, all of it safe, and both are optional and OFF unless you turn them on: 1. Leaderboard, where you choose the name that appears, and 2. Find Quotes online, which sends a name of a musician or artist you type to Wikiquote. You can back up your practice history to your own Files or iCloud Drive whenever you like, in a plain file you can read. It works offline. You can import your history back onto a new device. Portrait or landscape. English and Spanish. This is a motivating, accelerating practice tool you can use to expand and visualize your work over time. * * *

Screenshots

NoteHound4 screens
Accelerating Metronome4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: NoteHound at Free against Accelerating Metronome's $4.99. Accelerating Metronome's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

NoteHound is free to download; Accelerating Metronome costs $4.99 up front. NoteHound sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Accelerating Metronome asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NoteHound ships an update every 9 days, Accelerating Metronome fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
NoteHound versus Accelerating Metronome: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNoteHoundAccelerating Metronome
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB114 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFrancesco FarruggiaSteve Ball

In-app purchases

1 purchases

NoteHound

One-time1
  • NoteHound Pro$9.99
None

Accelerating Metronome

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NoteHound free?
NoteHound is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Accelerating Metronome free?
Accelerating Metronome costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do NoteHound or Accelerating Metronome have ads?
Neither NoteHound nor Accelerating Metronome shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NoteHound or Accelerating Metronome?
NoteHound ships an update every 9 days, and Accelerating Metronome fortnightly. Most recently, NoteHound was updated on October 8, 2026 and Accelerating Metronome on September 29, 2026.

Other comparisons