Piano Designer vs Henle Library
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Piano Designer
This app allows Roland piano owners to deeply customize their instrument's sound. Adjust parameters like pitch, tone, and resonance to fine-tune the audio experience, or select pre-made settings from professional technicians. Connect via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to easily transfer your personalized sound profiles to your piano.
- Personalize piano sound parameters
- Adjust pitch, volume, and tonal characteristics
- Control lid position, string, and hammer resonance
- Utilize ready-to-play custom sound settings
- Edit and transfer sound profiles to piano
- Graphical touchscreen interface
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Compatible Models: LX708, LX706, LX705, HP704, HP702, RP701, F701, FP-90X, FP-60X, FP-30X, HP701(Region Limited Model), RCP800(Region Limited Model), GP-9M, GP-9, GP-6, GP609, GP607, LX-17, LX-7, HP605, HP603, HP603A, HP601, KF-10, LX-15e, HP508, HP506, HP504, DP603, DP90Se, DP90e, FP-90, FP-80, FP-60 Introduction: The Piano Designer app helps you to personalize the sound of your Roland piano. Inside the instrument are many parameters that allow you to finely adjust the sound elements of the piano, much in the same way that an experienced piano technician fine-tunes an acoustic piano for a particular artist or musical style. These parameters include pitch, volume, tonal characteristics, the extent to which the virtual “lid” is open, states of resonance from the strings and cabinet, and so on. With the Piano Designer app, you can easily control these many elements from the graphical touchscreen on your mobile device. In addition, the app includes many ready-to-play settings, allowing you to enjoy custom sounds created by world-class piano technicians. - Parameters related to lid position, strings, and hammers are listed at a glance, and can be edited and transferred to the piano easily. - Enjoy playing your Roland piano with sounds fine-tuned by famous piano technicians. - Graphically adjust the pitch, level, and tonal character independently for each of the piano’s 88 notes. Notes: * Make sure your Roland piano model is updated with the most current system program. The latest system program and setup instructions can be found at the support pages at www.roland.com. * You can connect your iPad/iPhone to your piano via following connecting ways. : ・Connection via Bluetooth. (Compatible model : LX708, LX706, LX705, HP704, HP702, HP701(Region Limited Model), GP609, GP607, LX-17, LX-7, HP605, HP603, HP603A, HP601, KF-10, DP603, FP-90, FP-60) ・Connection via Wireless LAN, by inserting the WNA1100-RL Wireless USB Adapter (sold separately) or Onkyo UWF-1 into the USB Memory port. (Compatible model: LX-15e, HP508, HP506, HP504, DP90Se, DP90e, FP-80) ・Connection via USB Cable. Lightning-USB Camera Adaptor or Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit for your iPhone/iPad and USB cable are required. (Compatible model: LX708, LX706, LX705, HP704, HP702, HP701(Region Limited Model), GP609, GP607, LX-17, LX-7, HP605, HP603, HP603A, HP601, KF-10, LX-15e, HP508, HP506, HP504, DP603, DP90Se, DP90e, FP-90, FP-80, FP-60)
Henle Library
Access high-quality digital Urtext editions of classical music scores on your tablet. Practice, rehearse, and perform with a range of interactive features designed for musicians of all levels. Enjoy annotations, metronome, playback, and more.
- Digital Urtext editions
- Customizable score purchases
- Print and export PDFs
- Score modification and annotations
- Metronome and recording
- Part and score switching
- Explanatory notes access
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“With the Henle Library app a new era begins for classical musicians.” Daniel Hope An indispensable app for professional musicians, amateurs, students and teachers. The Henle Library app delivers G. Henle Publishers’ reliable Urtext editions straight to your tablet. You can practise, rehearse and make music – whenever and wherever you like. And you can enjoy the many unique features of Henle’s digital scores. Features: - Filter Henle Urtext according to your individual needs and purchase as required (individual part, single movement, bundles etc.) - Free version available for music students (licences for music colleges) - Print, export PDFs, share - Modify the score to suit your needs - Superimpose alternative professional fingerings (or choose “No fingerings”) - Unlimited possibilities for your own annotations - Easily switch between the part and the score at exactly the same measure - Open explanatory notes (footnotes, Critical Report etc.) at the appropriate place in the score - Record and play back your own recordings - Use the integrated metronome - Navigate extremely rapidly - Create and use playlists Do you like our app? Please consider writing a review. Thank you!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Piano Designer at none against Henle Library's 10. Piano Designer also leads on iOS requirement (9.3 vs 15.0). Henle Library's advantage is ratings volume (94 vs 11). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Henle Library sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Piano Designer asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.0 for Piano Designer against 3.0 for Henle Library. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Henle Library has 94 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 33% of Piano Designer's written reviews are positive against 35% of Henle Library's.
Piano Designer ships an update every 4 months, Henle Library every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Piano Designer | Henle Library |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (11 ratings) — better | 3.0 (94 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 34.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 94 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 54 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roland Corporation | Guenter Henle Verlag |
Customer experience
Piano Designer
Henle Library
Bugs and requests
Piano Designer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Henle Library
Reported bugs
20 issues- Annotations deleted after app updates or restarts
- Eraser function fails to remove marks consistently
- Marks don't record when crossing between staff lines
- App crashes when opening purchased scores
- Purchased scores disappear from library
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- Blank pages appear when turning pages
- App freezes during export to PDF
- Infinite loading screen in online store
- Confirmation emails for credit purchases don't arrive
- App takes 40+ seconds to start
- Scores don't load immediately after purchase
- Annotation dots appear randomly when lifting pen
- Fingering annotations shrink in upper ledger lines
- Score skips to random pages during performance
- Export PDF quality is low resolution and fuzzy
- Annotation layer prevents writing in certain areas
- Zoom function jumps back to start of page
- Eraser requires tapping far from annotation to delete
- Palm rejection fails with Apple Pencil
- Print layout produces single-line pages for multi-movement pieces
Requested features
20 requests- Undo/redo functionality for annotations
- Ability to print entire multi-movement pieces together
- Half-page turning option for performers
- Playlist or collection grouping system
- Individual score parts (not just full scores)
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- Better annotation layer management
- Improved Apple Pencil support and sensitivity
- Customizable eraser behavior
- Page turn animation or visual cues
- Ability to hide specific staves or parts
- Microphone-activated page turning commands
- Difficulty ratings visible before purchase
- Digital-physical score bundling/discounts
- Better search and filtering in store
- Support for foot pedal page turners
- Ability to import scores from other sources
- Multiple annotation layers with visibility toggle
- Customizable metronome settings
- Landscape orientation improvements
- Persistent user settings and preferences
In-app purchases
Piano Designer
No in-app purchases
Henle Library
- 10 Credits$0.99
- 22 Credits$1.99
- 55 Credits2 variants$5.99
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- 100 Credits$9.99
- 200 Credits2 variants$19.99
- 300 Credits$29.99
- 500 Credits$49.99
- 1000 Credits$79.99
Questions
Is Piano Designer free?
Is Henle Library free?
Which has better reviews, Piano Designer or Henle Library?
Do Piano Designer or Henle Library have ads?
Which is updated more often, Piano Designer or Henle Library?
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