Comparison

Tone Scope Lab vs Spectrum

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

Head to head
About

Tone Scope Lab

Features
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Tone Scope Lab is a real-time tuner and spectrum analysis tool designed for musicians who want to see pitch, not just read a number. At the center of Tone Scope Lab is its infinite circular pitch ruler, which provides a continuous visual view of pitch movement while you play. Real-time spectrum visualization lets you see the frequency components of your instrument’s sound, providing another visual perspective alongside the pitch ruler. The Transpose Ruler provides a quick visual reference for transposing instruments, helping you relate written and sounding pitches at a glance. Choose from three generations of analysis and display systems: • Gen-1 — a simple and direct tuning view • Gen-2 — enhanced analysis and visualization • Gen-3 — the latest generation, combining multiple stages of analysis for more focused pitch detection Tone Scope Lab also supports instrument presets. The built-in General preset provides flexible, all-purpose tuning, while additional instrument presets can be downloaded for more focused analysis ranges. Features: • Real-time pitch detection • Infinite circular pitch ruler • Real-time spectrum visualization • Transpose Ruler for transposing instruments • Frequency display • Three generations of analysis and display • Instrument presets • Downloadable additional presets • Adjustable spectrum display modes • Designed for instrument practice, tuning, and sound observation Tone Scope Lab is designed to make pitch behavior visible — from a simple tuning reference to a deeper view of how your instrument’s sound behaves.

About

Spectrum

Features
Read full description

Spectrum turns your phone into a modern real-time audio analyzer - the clean, fast tool that older spectrum apps never gave you. See sound the moment it happens: a live FFT frequency spectrum and a scrolling spectrogram (waterfall), with automatic peak detection and the matching musical note. Built for a phone screen, with a beautiful dark and light theme - not a cramped desktop port. WHY SPECTRUM • Modern, readable interface - designed for touch, dark & light themes • Save your measurements and revisit them anytime (most analyzers forget everything the moment you close them) • Export the spectrogram as a high-resolution image, or your data as CSV • Works on both iPhone and iPad • Real peak frequency + musical note readout, in cents FEATURES • Real-time FFT spectrum, log or linear frequency axis • Spectrogram (waterfall) view • Tap the chart for a frequency cursor with dB and musical note • Peak hold and peak-frequency tracking • Musical note detection (A4 = 440 Hz) • A-weighting for perceived loudness • Adjustable FFT size (2048 / 4096 / 8192) • Save, name and organize measurements • Image & CSV export • 8 languages SPECTRUM PRO - one-time purchase, no subscription • 1/3 octave RTA view with per-band peak hold - the classic real-time analyzer used for live sound and room tuning • Tone generator: sine tones, 20 Hz-20 kHz logarithmic sweep, white & pink noise for testing speakers and room acoustics • Peak list: the strongest peaks with harmonics tagged • Up to 4 frequency markers on the chart • Calibration offset (±20 dB) to match a reference meter • Extra-high resolution 16384 FFT • High-resolution image export and no ads, forever Everything is processed on your device - no audio is ever uploaded. Microphone access is the only permission needed. Perfect for musicians, audio engineers, students, DIY speaker builders, hum & noise hunters, and anyone curious about the sounds around them.

Screenshots

Tone Scope Lab4 screens
Spectrum4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Tone Scope Lab at none against Spectrum's 1. On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Spectrum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tone Scope Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tone Scope Lab ships an update every 5 days, Spectrum every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 13, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 5 level
Tone Scope Lab versus Spectrum: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTone Scope LabSpectrum
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 8 days
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB89 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYosuke OuchiSEONYONG LEE

In-app purchases

None

Tone Scope Lab

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectrum

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$4.99

Questions

Is Tone Scope Lab free?
Tone Scope Lab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spectrum free?
Spectrum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tone Scope Lab or Spectrum have ads?
Both Tone Scope Lab and Spectrum show ads.
Which is updated more often, Tone Scope Lab or Spectrum?
Tone Scope Lab ships an update every 5 days, and Spectrum every 8 days. Most recently, Tone Scope Lab was updated on September 13, 2026 and Spectrum on September 18, 2026.

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