Comparison

Music Understanding vs TempoKey

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

Head to head
About

Music Understanding

Features
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Music Understanding reveals what is inside a songβ€”and makes its structure visible. Import an audio file, make a live recording, or identify music playing around you. The app analyzes the audio and presents the results clearly on your iPhone or iPad. SIX MUSICAL DIMENSIONS β€’ Rhythm: beats, meter, BPM over time, and pauses β€’ Structure: sections, segments, and phrases on one timeline β€’ Key: overall key, harmonic regions, and detected key changes β€’ Pace: perceived speed and energy throughout the song β€’ Instruments: activity of vocals, drums, bass, and other sound elements β€’ Loudness: LUFS values, peak levels, and separate stereo-channel readings A modern waveform shows the entire song at a glance. The movable Music Cursor connects playback position with the analysis values at that moment. YOUR MUSIC SCORE The six dimensions contribute to a detailed Music Score from 0 to 10,000 points. The score is designed to assess musical coherence and refinement across genres. You decide whether to submit your result to the worldwide Kurenz Music leaderboard. Nothing is transferred without your explicit consent, and the audio file itself is never uploaded. PDF ANALYSIS REPORT Create a clear PDF report of your results. Preview the complete document in the app before saving or sharing it. Music Understanding is a universal app designed for iPhone and iPad.

About

TempoKey

Features
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Know every song's tempo before you walk on stage. TempoKey analyzes an audio file you already own and returns its BPM in seconds β€” and it always shows two readings, the primary tempo and its half-time or double-time alternative, because that ambiguity is real in almost every library. You choose the one that matches how you count the song. From there it goes straight into a setlist you can reorder, annotate, and read from the stage. WHAT'S INSIDE β€’ Automatic BPM analysis β€” Import a local audio file through the Files picker or drag and drop, and an on-device engine returns the tempo: Apple's Music Understanding framework on iOS 27, or the built-in DSP engine on earlier systems. Your audio is never uploaded or copied β€” it stays on your phone. β€’ Dual reading, by design β€” Every result shows a primary BPM next to its half-time or double-time alternative, for example "87 Β· or 174". One tap swaps them, and you can type a value in by hand when you disagree with both. β€’ Song Map and auto key on iOS 27 β€” See the song's structure at a glance: sections, bar grid, where vocals, drums and bass enter, and overall loudness. The detected key is shown with an honest alternate reading; a key you type yourself always takes priority. On earlier systems the key field is typed in by you. β€’ Tap tempo β€” Tap along four or more times and watch the tempo settle live. Made for rehearsal rooms, live counts, and anything you cannot import as a file. β€’ Setlist library β€” Build ordered setlists with song title, BPM, a musical key, and your own notes. Drag to reorder until the running order is right. β€’ Home screen widgets β€” An extra-large widget shows the next song in your setlist with tempo and key, readable from across the stage (iOS 27; medium size on earlier systems). β€’ Performance Mode β€” A large-type card built for a dark stage: title, tempo and key readable at a glance, swipe left and right to move through the set, screen stays awake. β€’ Transpose and tempo math β€” Capo and semitone transposition, BPM to milliseconds for delay and echo, and 75% / 50% practice-speed references. Pure arithmetic, no audio processing. β€’ Spotlight and Siri β€” Your songs and setlists are searchable from the system search and openable by Siri (iOS 18.4 or later). β€’ Works offline β€” No account, no sign-in, no cloud sync, no ads. WHAT TEMPOKEY IS NOT β€’ Not a metronome. The app makes no sound at all. β€’ Not a player. There is no playback, no now-playing screen, no media library browsing. β€’ Not a tuner, not a notation app, not an audio editor. β€’ No subscription, no advertising, no account. FILE SUPPORT Local, DRM-free audio only β€” MP3, WAV, M4A, AIFF and FLAC, imported from Files or dropped in. DRM-protected downloads cannot be analyzed, and the app says so plainly instead of failing quietly. Tempo detection covers 50–210 BPM; outside that range you get an explicit message rather than a wrong number. PRIVACY Your audio is decoded in memory for the length of the analysis and then released. TempoKey never copies, caches or uploads a file. Only the results β€” tempo, alternative reading, confidence, file name and duration β€” along with your setlists and notes are stored on the device. The app requests no microphone, no media library, no location, no contacts and no photos. PAY ONCE TempoKey opens and works without a purchase: tap tempo and every calculator are always free, and so are your first three analyses and one setlist of up to five songs. A single Lifetime unlock removes the limits β€” unlimited analyses, unlimited setlists and songs, and Performance Mode. One payment, no subscription. Built for the ten minutes before you go on.

Screenshots

Music Understanding4 screens
TempoKey4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Music Understanding at none against TempoKey's 1. TempoKey's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 27.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. TempoKey sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Music Understanding asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Music Understanding versus TempoKey: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMusic UnderstandingTempoKey
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Weekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS27.018.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size6 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKurenz Music GbRZcode

In-app purchases

None

Music Understanding

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

TempoKey

One-time1
  • Lifetime Unlock$3.99

Questions

Is Music Understanding free?
Music Understanding is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TempoKey free?
TempoKey is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Music Understanding or TempoKey have ads?
Neither Music Understanding nor TempoKey shows ads.

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