Tone Scope Lab vs Spectrum
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tone Scope Lab
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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.
Spectrum
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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
Verdict
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
Both are free to download. Spectrum sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Tone Scope Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
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.
| Parameter | Tone Scope Lab | Spectrum |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 8 days |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 89 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yosuke Ouchi | SEONYONG LEE |
In-app purchases
Tone Scope Lab
No in-app purchases
Spectrum
- Remove Ads$4.99
Questions
Is Tone Scope Lab free?
Is Spectrum free?
Do Tone Scope Lab or Spectrum have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tone Scope Lab or Spectrum?
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