Comparison

Windy vs Sheet Music Scanner

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

Head to head
About

Windy

This app transforms your device into a playable musical instrument. Learn to play songs interactively by blowing into your device's microphone and using its tilt controls for different notes and octaves. Enjoy playing along with guided songs or improvising freely.

Highlights
  • Play like a real instrument
  • Interactive song playback
  • Tilt controls for notes
  • Octave control
  • Guided songs
  • Device microphone input
Read full description

Windy is a fully functioning musical instrument. Play Happy Birthday and other songs in a fully interactive way on your iPhone and iPad—no musical experience or talent necessary! To play, simply hold down the keys on the screen and blow lightly into the microphone at the same time. - Tilt your device to the left to play flat notes - Tilt your device to the right to play sharp notes - Tilt your device up and down to play across three successive octaves Play through the list of guided songs, or whatever you want! Make sure to unmute your iPhone or iPad and turn up the volume. Play over your device's speakers, wireless headphones, regular headphones, or REALLY LOUD over wireless Bluetooth-enabled speakers! Enjoy!

About

Sheet Music Scanner

Instantly listen to scanned sheet music with this app. It recognizes musical notation and plays it back on your device with various instruments and adjustable speeds. Learn music by hearing it come alive from the page.

Highlights
  • Scan printed sheet music with camera
  • Playback from photo library or PDF
  • Tap to play specific measures
  • Recognizes melody, harmony, and rhythm symbols
  • Supports multiple instruments and voices
  • Adjustable playback speed
  • Export as MIDI, MusicXML, and audio
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Scan sheet music and instantly listen with music with Sheet Music Scanner. Sheet Music Scanner makes it easy for you to scan or upload printed sheet music. Listen to the music printed on the page in a number of different formats and instruments, directly on your device. Ever wanted to know how that interesting-looking piece of sheet music actually sounds? Now you can know instantly. Just point your iPhone or iPad at the sheet and let it play the notes for you. Listen to the notes and help yourself learn along the way. Sheet Music Scanner lets you scan and playback from any part of the song, just tap the measure and listen to your sheet music. You can even choose the instrument, pick the speed and enjoy! Download Sheet Music Scanner and scan your sheet music today! 2 for 1 universal iOS app: iPhone / iPod touch and iPad - you get Sheet Music Scanner for all your iOS devices for the price of one. SHEET MUSIC SCANNER FEATURES - Scan the whole sheet instantly using your built-in camera - Scan and playback from any image in your Photo library or from a PDF * - Playback from anywhere in the song - simply tap the measure, the notes and symbols are highlighted as they're played - Reads and recognizes the following symbols of musical notation pertaining to melody, harmony, and rhythm: treble, bass, and alto (viola) clefs, notes, duration dots, rests, accidentals, note ties, triplets and other tuplets, repeat signs * - Support for voices played in tandem, e.g. both piano hands at the same time, or all the choir voices - Support for playing individual staffs separately, e.g. right or left piano hand - Support for multiple pages - Accommodates speeds between 50 and 330 beats per minute - Cloud synchronization. Access your music library on any iPhone, iPad, or Mac with iCloud Drive. * Some limitations apply - please see at the bottom of the page. EXPORT OPTIONS - Export as MIDI, MusicXML, audio (M4A / AAC, MP3, WAV), PDF to cloud storage, directly to other apps or via AirDrop - All major cloud storages supported: iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, etc. Note that the appropriate cloud storage client app has to be installed for this to work. INSTRUMENTS - Accordion, Acoustic Bass, Alto Sax, Bagpipes, Banjo, Bass Guitar, Celeste, Cello, Choir, Clarinet, Double Bass, Flute, French Horn, Guitar - Classical, Clean, Distortion, Glockenspiel, Harp, Mandolin, Marimba, Oboe, Organ (Percussive, Pipe, Reed, Rock, Tonewheel), Piano, Recorder, Tenor Sax, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Vibraphone, Viola, Violin, Xylophone - Supports actual instrument pitch for transposing instruments - Change your pitch standard based on instrument, from standard 440Hz to 380-480 Hz SUBSCRIPTIONS - The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Limitations - Reads printed sheet music, not handwritten or mimicking handwriting, tablatures, etc. - Reads standard oval note heads only, no special symbols like shape notes. - The following symbols are not currently supported: codas, percussion notation, dynamics, double sharps, double flats, and grace notes. These are planned to come in the future updates. - Use high-quality printed sheet music and take photos under good enough light, when scanning from your camera, for optimal results. For scanning from a file, the recommended resolution is 300 DPI or 8-12 MPx per page. - Some older prints and unusual fonts may not be recognizable. If you experience any problems, please contact support at support@sheetmusicscanner.com Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Windy4 screens
Sheet Music Scanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sheet Music Scanner at 4.5 against Windy's 4.0. Sheet Music Scanner also leads on ratings volume (6.5K vs 40) and chart position (#144 vs unranked). Windy's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and iOS requirement (11.3 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Windy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sheet Music Scanner sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sheet Music Scanner holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sheet Music Scanner has 6.5K ratings behind it against 40, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Windy's written reviews are positive against 61% of Sheet Music Scanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Windy ships an update monthly, Sheet Music Scanner every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Windy versus Sheet Music Scanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWindySheet Music Scanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (40 ratings)4.5 (6.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.9% of reviews61.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings406.5K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank—#144 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.3 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKindred, Inc.App Sub 1 LLC

Customer experience

Windy

All ratings38 ratings
Positive68.4%
Neutral10.5%
Negative21.1%
Written reviews52 reviews
Positive51.9%
Neutral7.7%
Negative40.4%

Sheet Music Scanner

All ratings6,456 ratings
Positive88.8%
Neutral4.0%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews539 reviews
Positive61.0%
Neutral8.5%
Negative30.4%

User reviews

Windy

From 40 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use and make music
  • 💡 Clever and innovative concept
  • ✨ Attractive interface
  • 🤩 Fun and entertaining
  • 🚀 Seamless design

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes after update
  • 🐛 Stops working after first minute
  • 🐛 Keeps closing when tilting phone
  • 🐛 No sound output
  • 🐛 Sound not working

Sheet Music Scanner

From 6.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Game changing app
  • 👍 Helpful for learning music
  • 💡 Useful for singers and musicians
  • 🚀 Accurate scanning and playback
  • 👍 Great value for the price

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Misses notes, rhythms, and symbols
  • 🐛 Struggles with complex music
  • 🔒 Requires subscription to fully use
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance

Bugs and requests

Windy

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App crashes after update
  • App stops working after first minute
  • App closes when phone is tilted
  • No sound output from the app
  • Sound not working at all
Show 5 more
  • App does not work as intended
  • Notes do not prolong
  • Notes play randomly or not at all
  • Poor recognition of microphone input
  • App not set up for iPad, defaults to iPhone position

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add more instruments (harmonica, clarinet, oboe, french horn)
  • Allow resizing and moving buttons on screen
  • Add dynamic range (volume) for each note
  • Add reverb
  • Prevent sound dropout when changing fingers
Show 5 more
  • Add chromatids
  • Compress buttons on iPad display
  • Make sounds better
  • Make app less complicated
  • Add ability to play eighth notes on one note

Sheet Music Scanner

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Misses key signatures and accidentals
  • Struggles with handwritten or low-quality sheet music
  • Separates hands/voices incorrectly in multi-staff scores

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to manually edit scanned music
  • Improve support for repeats, codas, and complex rhythms
  • Allow selecting/isolating individual instrument/voice parts
  • Add count-in and metronome features
  • Improve export options (e.g. separate instrument tracks)

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Windy

One-time1
  • Windy Plus$1.99
10 purchases

Sheet Music Scanner

Subscriptions10
  • Notation Scanner$4.991 Month
  • Notation Scanner$9.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$14.991 Year
Show 7 more
  • Notation Scanner$17.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$22.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner14 Days trial$22.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$24.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$29.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner$34.991 Year
  • Notation Scanner7 Days trial$34.991 Year

Questions

Is Windy free?
Windy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sheet Music Scanner free?
Sheet Music Scanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Windy or Sheet Music Scanner?
Sheet Music Scanner is rated higher. Windy averages 4.0 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while Sheet Music Scanner averages 4.5 from 6.5K ratings.
Do Windy or Sheet Music Scanner have ads?
Neither Windy nor Sheet Music Scanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Windy or Sheet Music Scanner?
Windy ships an update monthly, and Sheet Music Scanner every 3 weeks. Most recently, Windy was updated on November 1, 2026 and Sheet Music Scanner on November 6, 2026.

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