Riddiments vs GrooveSmith
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Riddiments
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Riddiments is a rhythm instrument for your pocket — a practice tool with the precision of a metronome and the expressiveness of a drum machine. Most metronomes give you one click. Riddiments gives you up to four independent rhythmic voices, each with its own time signature, sound, and feel — all locked to a single tempo. Different time signatures don't drift apart; they interlock into polyrhythm. It's the difference between counting along and actually hearing how the parts fit together. SEE THE BEAT, NOT JUST HEAR IT Four visualizations, one tap to switch between them: • Circular — a beat wheel with a playhead sweeping the ring. The signature view. • Waterfall — notes rise toward a NOW line, so you can read what's coming. • Timeline — every voice as gems on one lattice. Tap to edit, even while playing. • Notation — real single-line percussion notation with sticking letters, accents, flams, and drags. STICKINGS YOU CAN TRUST The built-in library covers the PAS International Drum Rudiments plus hybrid rudiments, rolls, grooves, and ostinato exercises — every sticking verified against published sources. Flams and drags play as true grace notes, on the correct hand. BUILD REAL TECHNIQUE • Practice mode: timed sessions, count-in, gap click, and automatic tempo progression to push your speed up gradually. • Tempo Lock, lead-hand flipping, and Alternate Lead each bar. • 18 built-in percussion voices — snare, kick, hi-hats, toms, claves, and more. • Per-lane swing, volume, and mute. Every control is live — changes land instantly, without stopping. MADE TO LIVE ON A STAND Every control works while you play. Tempo, transport, session time, and mute state stay readable from drumstick distance. Light and dark appearance. Save your own patterns, and your last session is always waiting when you reopen the app. Designed in the spirit of good tools: useful, honest, and quiet until you need it. Universal — one app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
GrooveSmith
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You sit down at the kit — and play the same three beats you always play. GrooveSmith solves the hardest part of practising alone: deciding what to play. Tap once and you get a fresh practice sheet — a groove flowing into a fill — written out properly, with the audio to match. Not a random note generator: every combination is checked so it sounds like real drumming. YOU DON'T HAVE TO READ MUSIC If you read charts, this is a chart. If you don't, turn on labels and the notes tell you which drum to hit — so you're learning real notation from day one, not a simplified version you'd have to unlearn later. IT GROWS WITH YOU Ten levels, from your very first beat to material you'll have to work at. Each one adds a single new idea instead of a wall, so the next level always feels like the next step — not a cliff. BUILT FOR PLAYING ALONG, NOT WATCHING Hit play and the drums, the click and a moving cursor stay locked together. Change tempo without stopping. Count yourself in. Mute the kit and keep the click, or the other way round. FILLS, AND THE RUDIMENTS YOU KEEP MEANING TO WORK ON Short pickups or a full bar, with the sticking written in so you're never guessing which hand leads. Paradiddles, flams, rolls — properly notated. FITS THE WAY YOU ALREADY PRACTISE Play something once or twenty times. Slow it right down, stop halfway, come back tomorrow. There's no course to work through and no streak to keep — you decide what counts as progress. Rock and pop, straight, half-time or shuffle — and 6/8 and 12/8 when you want them. Works offline. No account, no ads, nothing to sign up for. Made by a drummer who got bored of his own practice routine.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: GrooveSmith at every 3 weeks against Riddiments's every 2 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Riddiments ships an update every 2 months, GrooveSmith every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Riddiments | GrooveSmith |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | JORGE HAZAEL ANAYA | Blackshift s.r.o. |
In-app purchases
Riddiments
No in-app purchases
GrooveSmith
No in-app purchases









