Better Ears vs Patatap

Better Ears is an ear-training and sight-reading app for musicians, students, and teachers, with exercises spanning listening and music reading. Its 15 exercises include rhythm recognition and rhythm reading; rhythm practice can use a count-in, metronome, triplets, and time signatures including 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4. Answers may be sung, played on a real instrument, entered with a virtual keyboard or guitar fretboard, or sent through a MIDI device. Four preset levels are available, and an editor lets users build levels, chords, scales, and chord progressions. The app includes six instruments, supports custom SoundFonts, and the site says Mac can use more than 100 sounds through DLS SoftSynth. It records correct and incorrect answers for each exercise and question. Levels, sounds, and statistics are described as syncing across Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android, with Dropbox syncing for levels, statistics, and settings. Better Ears runs on Android, iOS, and macOS. Android costs CHF 2.60, paid once; the iPhone and iPad app costs $4.99, paid once. A free Mac Beginner edition and a free macOS trial are listed.

Patatap is a web and mobile animation-and-sound instrument for making melodies with moving shapes. On a computer, you click the screen and press keyboard keys to play; touch input is also described for creating melodies. Its makers present animations and melodies as parts of one interactive instrument. While playing, you can switch among multiple color palettes and matching soundscapes. The hosted Web plan is free at free. A listed Patatap iPhone and iPad app costs $1.99, paid once, and is described as the official offline port of the website. The App Store lists Mac compatibility requiring macOS 14.2 or later and an Apple M1 chip or later. The site warns about flashing images. The web version was made with Two.js, a two-dimensional drawing API. The App Store says usage data and diagnostics may be collected without being linked to users, and accessibility support has not been indicated.