Comparison

Recess vs Name That Key

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

Head to head
About

Recess

This app uses your study materials to create flashcards and quizzes, blocking distracting apps until you complete them. Earn your scroll time by answering questions and building study streaks. It's designed to turn idle phone usage into productive learning sessions.

Highlights
  • AI flashcard generation from notes, PDFs, and slides
  • Study gate to block distracting apps
  • Quiz Me and Practice Test modes
  • Daily study goals and streaks
  • Exam ramp with test date reminders
  • Spaced repetition scheduling
  • Web companion for computer uploads
Features
Read full description

Study first, then scroll. Recess puts your flashcards in front of the apps stealing your focus. Instagram, TikTok, and the rest wait behind a study gate until you have done the work. Then your recess is earned, and you can scroll guilt free. HOW IT WORKS 1. Send Recess your notes, a PDF, or your slides. Recess builds a clean deck of flashcards and quizzes in seconds, with multiple choice, true or false, and fill in the blank questions. 2. Pick the apps that pull you away and set a daily study goal. 3. When you open a gated app, a flashcard appears first. Answer it to get through. 4. Build a streak. Watch your recall climb. Turn dead scroll time into real reps. WHAT YOUR SUBSCRIPTION KEEPS RUNNING Recess Pro is a study service, not a one time download. Your subscription pays for work that happens every time you use it: - AI deck generation that runs on our servers, turning new notes, PDFs, and slides into flashcards all semester long - An exam ramp that reschedules your reps as each test date gets closer, so the work builds early instead of piling up the night before - A web companion at studyrecess.com/create for sending files from your computer straight into the app - Spaced repetition scheduling that keeps adapting to whatever you keep forgetting WHY RECESS IS DIFFERENT Willpower is not enough, and you already know it. Recess is the external force you actually needed. It takes the app you cannot put down and puts your studying in front of it, so the thing that used to wreck your focus now protects it. Recess is on your side. It is not a lecture, not a punishment, and not a productivity guru yelling at you. It is a warm nudge that gives you permission to relax once you have earned it. MADE FOR STUDENTS Whether you are cramming for a midterm, grinding pre med or nursing prereqs, keeping a 4.0, or just learning something new, Recess fits the way you already use your phone. High school, college, and self learners use it to turn idle scrolling into study time. WHAT IS INCLUDED - AI flashcards from your notes, PDFs, and slides - Three question types: multiple choice, true or false, and fill in the blank - Quiz Me and Practice Test modes to check your recall - The study gate: distracting apps wait behind your flashcards - Soft and Hard gate modes, so you choose how hard the gate pushes back - Daily study goals and streaks - Stats, a study heatmap, and weak spot drills - Test date reminders and the exam ramp - The web companion for sending decks from a computer - Private by design, your study material stays yours SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED Recess requires an active Recess Pro subscription to use. There is no free tier. Eligible new subscribers can start with a 7 day free trial. Recess Pro is an auto renewable subscription: $12.99 per month, or $39.99 per year with a 7 day free trial (US pricing; local prices shown in the app). Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://studyrecess.com/privacy Terms of Use: https://studyrecess.com/terms Study first. Then scroll. You earned it.

About

Name That Key

Develop your musical ear by learning to identify song keys and understand music theory. This app offers structured lessons, interactive exercises, and a game to test your skills with real music. It provides tools for tuning, rhythm, and chord analysis.

Highlights
  • Learn to identify song keys
  • Interactive music theory lessons
  • Real music song game
  • Tune by ear exercises
  • Metronome with multiple meters
  • Circle of Fifths tool
  • Chord progression player
Features
Read full description

Every song is in a key. Most people can hear it long before they can name it. Name That Key teaches you to name it — and unlike the detection apps, it tells you why. THE PATH — FREE, AND IT NEEDS NOTHING Five stages, in order, each adding one thing to your ear. All of it generated on the device: no account, no connection, no Apple Music. FIND HOME. Four chapters that start with Do, Mi and Sol and end with you picking the tonic out of a phrase with no help at all. From chapter two a real I-IV-V-I cadence sets the key first, the way a band would. IN TUNE. Two notes, one slightly off — which way? Four settings, down to six cents, which is roughly where a section stops sounding like several people. You learn to hear the beating rather than guess. TWO NOTES APART. Every interval from the unison to the octave, each with what it actually sounds like. The minor 2nd is menace. The tritone is unfinished business. ONE NOTE MOVED. Major, natural minor, the five modes, harmonic minor, both pentatonics and the blues scale — eleven in all, each with the records you already know it from. REAL MUSIC. Then you take it to the game. THE KIT SONG KEYS. A thousand recordings, searchable by title, artist or genre. Each gives the key and a written reason — the tuning the band used, the chord that gives it away, the phrase the tonic sits under. Where two answers are defensible, it says so. Works with no connection. TUNE BY EAR. A held reference pitch on any note, across three octaves. Match it by ear, then tap Check me and the microphone tells you how many cents off you were — after you've committed, not before. METRONOME. Seven meters including 5/4 and the compound ones, counted properly: 6/8 is two dotted beats, not six clicks. Three swing feels, downbeat-only mode, tap tempo. CIRCLE OF FIFTHS. Not a poster. Tap a key and hear it, hear its neighbours, hear I-IV-V-I, or walk all twelve fifths the whole way around. CHORD PLAYER. I-IV-V-I, I-V-vi-IV and ii-V-I, in any key. TRANSPOSE. Concert key to written key for the common transposing instruments, and where the capo goes. SING IT BACK. Home plays, you're asked for a degree, and you sing it. The microphone hears whether you found the note — any octave counts. THE GAME A few seconds of a real record. The room names the key. Then you turn it over and find out why. Choose your genres, set the length, and add your own songs when you know a key the app doesn't have. WHAT'S FREE The entire Learn path — every chapter, every stage — free and permanent. The song game is free. The Kit is a membership, and it starts with a free week. MEMBERSHIP Name That Key Membership is an annual subscription, $12.99 per year, free for the first week. Pricing may vary by region and is shown in the app before you buy. The membership unlocks the Kit — exactly the seven tools above: Song keys, Tune by ear, Metronome, Circle of fifths, Chord player, Transpose and Sing it back. Nothing else is behind it. The Learn path, the song game, Scales and Any interval are free and stay free. The free week is available once per Apple Account. Payment is charged at the end of it and renews automatically unless turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://namethatkey.com/privacy APPLE MUSIC The song game streams excerpts from Apple Music and needs an active subscription. Songs are matched to the catalogue when a set is built, so availability can vary by region. The Learn path and every tool in the Kit are synthesized on the device. They work with no Apple Music, no account and no connection.

Screenshots

Recess4 screens
Name That Key4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Name That Key at freemium against Recess's subscription. Name That Key also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 10 days). Recess's advantage is ratings volume (8 vs 1). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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

Both are free to download. Recess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month and Name That Key sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Recess against 5.0 for Name That Key. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Recess has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Recess ships an update every 10 days, Name That Key every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Recess versus Name That Key: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRecessName That Key
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (8 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFreemium — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTHOMAS JOHN GIRGASHBarry Bernau

Customer experience

Recess

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Name That Key

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Recess

Subscriptions2
  • Recess Pro Monthly$12.991 Month
  • Recess Pro Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
1 purchases

Name That Key

Subscriptions1
  • Name That Key: Kit Membership7 Days trial$12.991 Year

Questions

Is Recess free?
Recess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Name That Key free?
Name That Key is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Recess or Name That Key?
Name That Key is rated higher. Recess averages 4.9 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Name That Key averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Recess or Name That Key have ads?
Neither Recess nor Name That Key shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Recess or Name That Key?
Recess ships an update every 10 days, and Name That Key every 2 days. Most recently, Recess was updated on October 17, 2026 and Name That Key on October 17, 2026.

Other comparisons