Comparison

learnFORTH vs HarmoniQ

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

Head to head
About

learnFORTH

Learn the compact, stack-based Forth programming language through structured daily lessons and interactive exercises. Explore its history and applications in embedded systems and retro computing.

Highlights
  • 90 structured daily lessons
  • Interactive REPL with syntax highlighting
  • Hands-on exercises with hints
  • Progress tracking and daily streaks
  • Reverse Polish Notation primer
  • Historical notes on Forth dialects
Features
Read full description

It's time to learn Forth, the compact stack-based language that powered navigation computers, embedded systems, and a generation of hands-on hackers - and still runs the boot firmware on some retro Sun and Apple hardware. If you ever saw a Jupiter ACE home computer, now is your change to learn about what made it special. This app teaches you to think in words and stacks with 90 short, structured daily lessons, a live REPL you can experiment in right on your phone or iPad, and hands-on exercises with hints (not answers) so you actually learn the ideas. WHAT'S INSIDE • 90 guided lessons across 7 topics: the data stack, words & variables, control flow, loops & recursion, advanced words, data structures, and advanced topics. • A built-in REPL with syntax highlighting so you can type real FORTH and see the stack respond immediately. • Exercises for every lesson, graded on output, with an optional hint if you get stuck. • Daily streaks and per-category progress tracking to keep you moving. You'll learn, promise! • A plain-English primer on Reverse Polish Notation and stack manipulation (DUP, DROP, SWAP, OVER, ROT) for complete beginners. • Historical notes on FORTH's dialects - fig-FORTH, Forth-79, Forth-83, ANS Forth - and which one this app's interpreter follows. • A tip-of-the-hat to the Jupiter ACE, the British home computer from the 1980s that was based on Forth. • A recommended reading list of classic FORTH books, including Starting FORTH and Thinking Forth by Leo Brodie. • Light, dark, and automatic themes. No prior programming experience required. If you've ever wondered how a language with almost no syntax can still get real work done, learnFORTH will show you, one word at a time. Note: This app is free, with all features always available. If you enjoy it, please use the tip feature to thank the author and encourage future development.

About

HarmoniQ

This app provides advanced ear training for musicians, focusing on relative pitch. It analyzes your unique musical profile to create personalized lessons for intervals, chords, scales, and rhythms, helping you identify and improve your weak spots.

Highlights
  • Personalized ear training lessons
  • Interval, chord, and scale identification
  • Rhythmic and melodic dictation
  • Detailed ear profile analysis
  • Dynamic difficulty adjustment
  • Real instrument recordings
Features
Read full description

A conservatory-grade relative pitch trainer that measures your ear's unique profile and dynamically builds lessons to eliminate your weak spots. POWERED BY EAR-IQ Ear-iQ measures every answer in musical terms. Interval distances, chord-tone geometry, scale degree differences, notes shared in the key, and per-note pitch and rhythm differences tell you far more than a simple right or wrong. YOUR EAR, IN DIMENSIONS YOU ALREADY USE - Intervals: perfect consonant, major, minor, simple lower, simple upper, imperfect consonant, dissonant, and compound - Chords: triads, open, major, minor, diminished, augmented, dominant, 6ths & 7ths, 9ths, 11ths & 13ths, altered - Scales: major & minor, diatonic modes, pentatonic & blues, dominant, symmetric, jazz modes, exotic, bebop - Scale degrees and melodies: tonic chord, tendency tones, major key, minor key, and chromatic - Chord progressions: tonic, predominant, dominant, major, minor, diminished, triads, sevenths, secondary dominants, modal mixture - Rhythmic dictation: note values, placement, syncopation, rests, tuplets, and meters - Melodic dictation: pitch, scale degree, interval, contour, and rhythm - Harmonic dictation: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass See each skill with its strengths and weaknesses SMART RECOMMENDATIONS Ear-iQ tracks the pairs you confuse and draws them back onto the answer grid, weighted by how often you confuse them, letting them drift back out as you improve. Every lesson targets what you need most, and the difficulty rises when your performance says you're ready. No configuration required. MELODIC DICTATION Transcribe an infinite stream of melodies on an interactive staff. The engine uses real cadences, harmonic functions, and voice-leading rules to create natural, resolving melodies in real keys, meters, and clefs, and grades pitch, scale degree, interval, contour, and rhythm separately. HARMONIC DICTATION Transcribe harmonies in two, three, or four parts on an interactive staff, including treble, bass, alto and tenor clefs. RHYTHMIC DICTATION Transcribe rhythmic patterns on an interactive staff. The engine tests precise note placement, rests, ties, syncopation, and tuplets across simple, compound, and asymmetric meters. INTERVALS Every interval from a perfect unison to a major thirteenth, ascending, descending, and harmonic. CHORDS Triads, sixths and sevenths, extended and altered chords, with enharmonic spellings graded by chord-tone geometry. SCALES Major, minor, diatonic modes, pentatonic and blues, symmetric, jazz, and bebop scales. SCALE DEGREES AND SCALE DEGREE MELODIES Learn harmonic functions inside a key, diatonic and chromatic, in major and minor, one note at a time or as whole melodies. CHORD PROGRESSIONS Identify chord progressions by their Roman numerals, in major and minor, including secondary dominants and borrowed chords. PRACTICE YOUR WAY Build a custom lesson from exactly the material you want, or start from a preset for any skill. Save custom lessons and shape your own learning path. Once you choose the skills you're working on, or define your own, your recommendations will follow. REAL INSTRUMENTS Recordings of real instruments across seven octaves: piano, violin, viola, cello, flute, oboe, clarinet, English horn, trumpet, French horn, and trombone, plus a pure sine tone. Every one is free in custom practice. FOR MUSIC STUDENTS, CASUAL LEARNERS, AND PROFESSIONALS Start with the fundamentals and let the engine raise the challenge as your ear improves, up to the advanced material tested in college placement and conservatory exams. Free lessons every day, no account required. Privacy Policy: https://harmoniqmusic.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

learnFORTH4 screens
HarmoniQ4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: learnFORTH at none against HarmoniQ's 6. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. HarmoniQ sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. learnFORTH 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 learnFORTH against 5.0 for HarmoniQ. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 5 and 7 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

learnFORTH ships an update every 5 days, HarmoniQ every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
learnFORTH versus HarmoniQ: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterlearnFORTHHarmoniQ
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings57 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 6 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJohn KennedyMatthew James Clower

Customer experience

learnFORTH

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

HarmoniQ

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

learnFORTH

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

HarmoniQ

Subscriptions2
  • HarmoniQ Pro7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • HarmoniQ Pro$29.991 Year
One-time4
  • Tiny Bundle of Diamonds$0.99
  • Small Bundle of Diamonds$1.99
  • Medium Bundle of Diamonds$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Buy me a coffee$5.99

Questions

Is learnFORTH free?
learnFORTH is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HarmoniQ free?
HarmoniQ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, learnFORTH or HarmoniQ?
learnFORTH and HarmoniQ are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 7 ratings respectively.
Do learnFORTH or HarmoniQ have ads?
Neither learnFORTH nor HarmoniQ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, learnFORTH or HarmoniQ?
learnFORTH ships an update every 5 days, and HarmoniQ every 6 days. Most recently, learnFORTH was updated on October 24, 2026 and HarmoniQ on October 25, 2026.

Other comparisons