# Piano Designer vs Henle Library

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Piano Designer | Henle Library |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.0 (11 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-designer/id901766931/reviews)** | [3.0 (94 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/henle-library/id1021283948/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 11 | **94** |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | **34.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 3 months** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 14 MB | 54 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.3** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Roland Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/387333694) | [Guenter Henle Verlag](https://appshunter.io/developer/1416460395) |

## What reviewers say

### Piano Designer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/piano-designer/id901766931)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Henle Library

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/henle-library/id1021283948)

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.

**Highlights:** Digital Urtext editions, Customizable score purchases, Print and export PDFs, Score modification and annotations, Metronome and recording, Part and score switching, Explanatory notes access

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10 Credits | $0.99 | one-time |
| 22 Credits | $1.99 | one-time |
| 55 Credits | $5.99 | one-time |
| 100 Credits | $9.99 | one-time |
| 200 Credits | $19.99 | one-time |
| 300 Credits | $29.99 | one-time |
| 500 Credits | $49.99 | one-time |
| 1000 Credits | $79.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 📚 High-quality Henle urtext editions
- ✏️ Annotation and marking capabilities
- 🎵 Beautiful score formatting and rendering
- 🎚️ Customizable spacing and sizing options
- 🎹 Multiple fingering/bowing variants available

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Annotations frequently disappear or get lost
- ✏️ Eraser function unreliable and non-intuitive
- 🖊️ Apple Pencil annotation tools difficult to use
- 📖 Multi-movement scores split into individual pieces
- 🖨️ Poor print quality with severe aliasing

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Piano Designer free?

Piano Designer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Henle Library free?

Henle Library is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Piano Designer or Henle Library?

Piano Designer is rated higher. Piano Designer averages 3.0 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Henle Library averages 3.0 from 94 ratings.

### Do Piano Designer or Henle Library have ads?

Neither Piano Designer nor Henle Library shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Piano Designer or Henle Library?

Piano Designer ships an update every 4 months, and Henle Library every 3 months. Most recently, Piano Designer was updated on November 10, 2026 and Henle Library on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*