SmartScore NoteReader vs MobileSheets®
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SmartScore NoteReader
Transform sheet music into playable audio. This app recognizes printed music from images and PDFs, allowing you to hear it played back instantly. It supports multi-page scores and offers advanced playback controls with various instrumental sounds and drum tracks.
- Image and PDF sheet music recognition
- Instant audio playback
- Multi-page score processing
- Adjustable instrumental sounds
- Karaoke view with scrolling lyrics
- Export to email and cloud (Premier version)
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Click and play. Capture images of printed sheet music and hear the song play back in seconds. Processes multiple-page scores including PDF files and images saved to the device. NOTE: Recognition accuracy is directly releated to the quality of the captured image. For example, our tests indicate that accuracy is improved almost 30% with iPhone 6 images compared to those from the iPhone 5. All iPad users should note that their 5MP cameras are below NoteReader's recommended resolution of 8MP. Unlocked version (NoteReader Premier) allows SmartScore, MIDI, MusicXML and image files to be sent to any e-mail address or to the cloud. MusicXML or MIDI files can be imported to a host of compatible mobile and desktop music applications. Download the free SmartScore Player from www.musitek.com/smartscore-player.html then open SmartScore files from NoteReader. All recognized musical symbols including articulations, dynamics, lyrics, text, chord symbols, guitar fret diagrams and endings appear on-screen. Playback is fully-controllable. Select various instrumental sounds for each part and/or contrapuntal voice. Drum tracks can be added for more realism. There's even a Karaoke view with scrolling lyrics and bouncing ball. Owners of the unlocked version (NoteReader Premier) are also eligible to purchase any of the full editions of SmartScore X2 desktop editions at a significant discount.
MobileSheets®
This app is a digital sheet music manager and viewer for musicians. It allows you to store, organize, and access your entire music library on your device, eliminating the need for physical copies. Features include hands-free page turns, annotation tools, and custom audio playback.
- Digital sheet music management
- Hands-free page turns
- Music annotation tools
- Custom audio player
- Library synchronization
- Metronome
- Setlist creation
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MobileSheets is the ultimate sheet music viewer for the iPhone, iPad and Mac. It frees you from having to lug around books and binders, and gives you the ability to access any score in your library in seconds. It also comes with a number of powerful features for musicians including: - Connect to other devices running MobileSheets on any platform, and easily share songs and setlists. - Synchronize device libraries using WiFi, bluetooth or the cloud - Multiple modes of operation including two pages side-by-side, half page turns, and vertically scrolling pages. - Hands-free page turns using any bluetooth or usb devices (including two and four pedal models), through the automatic scrolling feature, or by using face gestures such as an open mouth or smile. - Annotations for marking up music including support for freeform drawing, basic shapes, text and stamps - Connect multiple tablets over WiFi or bluetooth in book mode to display two pages at once - A custom audio player for playing audio tracks with your scores. Audio player supports a-b looping and multiple sizes. - Custom page ordering, making it easy to cut out unnecessary pages, repeat pages or change the sequence of pages without affecting the original document. - A metronome with multiple display modes and sound effects - Bookmarks for quick and easy access to sections in scores - Link points for handling repeats and quickly jumping between pages - Smart buttons that can be placed on a score to activate configurable actions when pressed - Support for multiple file types including images, PDFs, text files and chord pro files. - Support for importing CSV index files to break up large PDF songbooks - Support for communicating with MIDI devices over USB, Bluetooth and WiFi to load songs or trigger actions. - The ability to transpose chords in text and chord pro files. - Manual and automatic cropping to completely eliminate unnecessary margins - Support for setlists and collections to efficiently group songs for playback. - Powerful library management features with a huge list of supported metadata fields, giving you complete control over the data in your library - A free companion application for the PC that makes it a breeze to create and edit songs Give MobileSheets a try today and experience the freedom of having all your scores just a simple tap away. NOTE: This application does not include any sheet music - you must provide your own. This application can not play back PDFs, images or text/chord pro files. It can only display those files and play back audio files. The companion app is for your PC and is not included. You can download the companion app for free here: https://www.zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/companion.php Privacy Policy: https://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/privacy_policy_ios.html Terms of Use: https://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/terms_and_conditions_ios.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MobileSheets® at 81% against SmartScore NoteReader's 20%. MobileSheets® also leads on rating (4.6 vs 2.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). SmartScore NoteReader's advantage is price (Free vs $15.99) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, ads 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
SmartScore NoteReader is free to download; MobileSheets® costs $15.99 up front. SmartScore NoteReader sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MobileSheets® asks for nothing beyond the download.
MobileSheets® holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 31 and 66 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 20% of SmartScore NoteReader's written reviews are positive against 81% of MobileSheets®'s.
SmartScore NoteReader ships an update every 21 months, MobileSheets® every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SmartScore NoteReader | MobileSheets® |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $15.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (31 ratings) | 4.6 (66 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 19.6% of reviews | 81.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 31 | 66 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 21 months | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #64 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 123 MB | 129 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Musitek | Michael Zuber |
Customer experience
SmartScore NoteReader
MobileSheets®
Bugs and requests
SmartScore NoteReader
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
MobileSheets®
Reported bugs
19 issues- App not opening after update
- Slider bar gets stuck and glitches
- Menu bar not appearing when clicked
- Synchronization lag between devices
- First pages are black during sync
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- Titles disappear after backup
- App crashes when entering annotations
- App crashes after opening sheet music
- App not working after iOS 18 update (metronome, page turning)
- Syncing deleting files from computer instead of adding to iPad
- Two-way sync does not synchronize annotations
- App freezes on 'please wait' when exiting editing mode
- Annotations lost after app crashes
- Difficult to reconnect devices after crashes
- Import not working on iPad
- App crashes when downloading too many pages simultaneously
- Titles no longer available after recent updates
- Sheets covered with gray background after update
- Edit mode for .cho files is difficult to handle
Requested features
15 requests- Ability to adjust display and page turning options per song
- Save custom colors for annotations
- Shortcuts or faster access to sync button
- Display time during app usage
- Integrated tuner
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- Keyboard with transpose function
- Better PDF cropping and scaling
- Ability to set custom colors for drawing tools
- Button for direct start of scroll function
- Support for more file types (Word Docs, images)
- Move shortcut box to center bottom of screen
- Add more templates for blank pages
- Auto-sync option for cloud services
- iCloud file access support
- Tabs for multiple songs open simultaneously
In-app purchases
SmartScore NoteReader
- SmartScore NoteReader Premier$9.99
MobileSheets®
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SmartScore NoteReader free?
Is MobileSheets® free?
Which has better reviews, SmartScore NoteReader or MobileSheets®?
Do SmartScore NoteReader or MobileSheets® have ads?
Which is updated more often, SmartScore NoteReader or MobileSheets®?
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