Comparison

Trombone Trainer vs Horn Darts

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

Head to head
About

Trombone Trainer

This app helps brass players improve their trombone slide technique and sight-reading skills. It offers interactive exercises, real-time scoring, and a unique arm slide feature to simulate playing a real instrument. Practice scales, etudes, and various musical styles with play-along tracks.

Highlights
  • Interactive slide position chart
  • Real-time scoring and feedback
  • Arm slide control simulation
  • Endless sight-reading exercises
  • 24 musical styles and genres
  • Progress tracking and stats
  • Transcribe music by ear
Features
Read full description

Trombone Trainer is a trombone slide position chart, sight-reading trainer and practice game for brass players. Read the music, move to the correct slide position as each note sounds, and the app scores you in real time, so you build the link between what you see on the staff, what you hear and where your slide goes. New in 4.0 — Sight-Read: • Endless new trombone music to read at sight in bass clef, written fresh each time you tap New song, so you never play the same exercise twice. • 24 styles: etudes, jazz, bebop, bossa nova, blues shuffle, ballads, rock, funk, baroque, Balkan, samba, marches, waltzes, klezmer, salsa, Irish folk, ragtime, tango and more, plus technique drills and rhythm reading. • You choose the length (4 to 32 bars), the rhythm level (quarters, eighths, or triplets and dotted figures) and the tempo. A count-in starts you off, and chords and a bass line play along. • Play with touch or the arm slide. Every note turns green, amber or red as you play; tap a note to see what happened: wrong position, late, or missed. Built for trombonists: • Arm slide — play it like a real trombone. Hold the phone in front of you and move your arm: the front camera reads how far the phone is from your face, and the on-screen slide follows, position for position. Fit it to your own reach in two taps, then fine-tune any position. It’s optional — touch still works — and nothing is recorded or leaves your device. • Interactive slide position chart — the on-screen chart shows the right slide position for every note (all seven), and real-time scoring gives you credit for holding it as the note plays, with every note marked green, amber or red and a clean-run detector that rewards mistake-free passes. • Learner mode — no metronome: each note sounds only when you place the slide on it, so you can work out a passage at your own pace. • Transcribe by ear — play a passage on your instrument and the app writes it onto the staff, note by note, in your key. • Bass-clef staff — everything is written and read in bass clef, the way trombone music actually looks. • Play-along loops — eight measures on the staff, played back with a piano-style chord under each measure, so you train positions in a musical context, not in silence. • Alternate positions — set your own preferred slide position for notes that can be played in more than one place. • Swipe to control — swipe left/right to change tempo. • Trombone scales and studies — built-in libraries of major and minor scales, chromatics, arpeggios and technical etudes for daily practice. • Track your progress — daily, weekly and monthly trends (Sight-Read included), streaks and unlockable badges, plus a stats screen for every song with an accuracy-over-time chart. Read music your way: • Note names in letters (C D E), German (H / B) or fixed-do solfège (Do Re Mi) — switch independently of the app language. • Available in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian and Chinese. Free to start: • The free version includes seven major scales, fully scored, and Sight-Read etudes of 4, 8 or 12 bars. • Upgrade to Standard to unlock every song and every Sight-Read style and length, import songs and libraries, and share songs; Pro adds creating, deleting and exporting whole libraries. Standard comes as a yearly subscription with a 7-day free trial or as a one-time purchase; Pro is a one-time purchase. Whether you're a beginner learning where the slide positions are or an advancing player learning to read whatever lands on your stand, Trombone Trainer keeps your practice focused, musical and measurable. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://trumpettrainer.com/privacy-policy

About

Horn Darts

This app offers an endless practice mode for a specific accuracy exercise, adaptable to various instruments and challenge settings. It's designed to help users improve their skills through repeated practice.

Highlights
  • Infinite practice mode
  • Configurable for different instruments
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Accuracy exercise
  • Skill improvement tool
Features
Read full description

An infinite version of the Farkas accuracy exercise, configurable for different instruments and difficulty levels.

Screenshots

Trombone Trainer4 screens
Horn Darts3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Horn Darts at none against Trombone Trainer's 3. Trombone Trainer's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume 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. Trombone Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Horn Darts asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Trombone Trainer against 5.0 for Horn Darts. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Trombone Trainer ships an update every 5 days, Horn Darts every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Trombone Trainer versus Horn Darts: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrombone TrainerHorn Darts
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size109 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEdmund TrujilloPHILIP HAYWOOD KOONCE IV

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Trombone Trainer

Subscriptions1
  • Standard — Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time2
  • Standard — All Songs$19.99
  • Pro — Author & Export$29.99
None

Horn Darts

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Trombone Trainer free?
Trombone Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Horn Darts free?
Horn Darts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Trombone Trainer or Horn Darts?
Trombone Trainer and Horn Darts are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Trombone Trainer or Horn Darts have ads?
Neither Trombone Trainer nor Horn Darts shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Trombone Trainer or Horn Darts?
Trombone Trainer ships an update every 5 days, and Horn Darts every 3 weeks. Most recently, Trombone Trainer was updated on November 10, 2026 and Horn Darts on October 29, 2026.

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