Microtonal Ear Trainer vs Hoverophone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Microtonal Ear Trainer
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Can you hear the difference between a note that's perfectly in tune and one that's just slightly off? Microtonal Ear Trainer builds the listening skills many musicians never develop. Designed by a musician, for musicians. This app focuses on one thing and does it well: training your ear to detect microtonal pitch differences that many people can't even hear yet. Each round plays two tones in sequence. Your job is simple: is the second note flat or sharp? The deviation is random, anywhere from a subtle 1 cent to a wide 100 cents, and the difficulty is yours to control. With consistent practice, you'll start hearing pitch inflections that used to be invisible to you. Whether you're a vocalist trying to lock into a chord, a guitarist chasing pure intonation, or a composer working with microtonality, this app trains the one skill no instrument lesson covers. FEATURES • Pure sine wave tones, no distractions, just the pitch relationship • Adjustable cent range, start wide and narrow it as you improve • Configurable note range, train across two octaves (C2-C6) • Adjustable timing, control tone duration, gap, and result display • 60-day progress chart, see your accuracy trend over time • Instant feedback, correct or wrong, and by exactly how many cents • Swipe or tap, answer flat or sharp your way HOW TO USE IT 1. Listen to the reference tone 2. Listen to the second tone 3. Answer: flat or sharp? 4. See the result and your running score Five minutes a day is enough to see real improvement within weeks. HONEST. SIMPLE. YOURS. • No ads, ever. Not now, not after you pay. • No data collected. We don't track you, analyze you, or store anything about you. What you do in this app stays on your device. • No b.s. subscription. Pay once, own it forever. • 30-minute free trial. Try the full app before spending a cent. No feature limits, no paywalled content during the trial. • One small purchase. A cheap, one-time unlock. That's the whole business model. WHO IS THIS FOR? • Musicians developing relative pitch and intonation awareness • Singers and string players working on pitch accuracy • Music producers and sound engineers training their critical listening • Music students supplementing ear training courses • Anyone curious about how well they can actually hear pitch Train your ears. Hear more.
Hoverophone
This app reimagines the theremin for your iPhone, allowing you to play music by waving your hands in the air without touching the screen. It offers a polyphonic synthesizer with various sound options and microtonal capabilities for unique musical exploration.
- Air-based theremin playing with front camera hand tracking
- Polyphonic synthesizer with multiple voice options
- Microtonal keyboard with 12-TET or 24-TET quarter tones
- Stack up to twelve notes by pinning voices
- Continuous pitch glide and volume control
- Fully offline functionality
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The theremin, reinvented on your iPhone. Play it in the air with your hands, no touch. Hoverophone is a theremin you actually play by waving your hands in the air. Point the front camera at your hand and move; there is no touch, no controller, no tapping glass. Raise and lower your hand to glide the pitch, spread your thumb and finger apart to swell the volume, slide left to right to pan. It is the eerie, sci-fi theremin sound, played with a wave of the hand. Wondering how to play the theremin, or whether the theremin is hard to play? This is the easiest way to start: raise a hand and you are already playing. A REAL SYNTH, AND POLYPHONIC Continuous synth voices, sine, triangle, saw and square, with drive and ring modulation in stereo, from a soft ambient pad to a metallic, otherworldly drone. It tracks up to four hands at once, so a theremin can finally play chords, and you can pin voices in place to hold up to twelve notes ringing together. Tune the sound with one hand while you play with the other. MICROTONAL, PLAYED IN THE AIR Turn on the note grid and your in-air pitch snaps to a scale: 12-TET, or 24-TET quarter tones for real microtonal play. It is an isomorphic, honeycomb hex keyboard you play in the air, not by tapping glass, so every note lands in tune while your hands stay above the camera. Explore microtonal music, quarter tones and xenharmonic scales the moment you raise a hand, or leave the grid off and glide freely for the pure continuous theremin. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Play a real theremin in the air, front-camera hand tracking, no touch - The classic continuous theremin glide, the sci-fi movie sound - An in-air microtonal keyboard: 12-TET or 24-TET quarter tones on an isomorphic hex grid, or fully continuous - Polyphonic: up to four hands live, and pin voices to stack up to twelve - Synth voices with drive and ring modulation, stereo panning as you move - Plays through the speaker or headphones, even on silent - Fully offline: no account, no network, no data collected, the camera is processed on device and never leaves it No presets, no wall of knobs, just your hand and the air. Fill a room with an ambient drone, improvise a generative soundscape, or conjure the spooky whine of a sci-fi movie. Works best in a bright room where the camera can see your hands.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hoverophone at none against Microtonal Ear Trainer's 1. Microtonal Ear Trainer's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads 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. Microtonal Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hoverophone asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Microtonal Ear Trainer | Hoverophone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wheels and Bones Pty Ltd | Maxim Oransky |
In-app purchases
Microtonal Ear Trainer
- Full Access$4.99
Hoverophone
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Microtonal Ear Trainer free?
Is Hoverophone free?
Do Microtonal Ear Trainer or Hoverophone have ads?
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