A toned-ear alternative · 2026

Used to use Toned Ear?

Toned Ear's iOS app hasn't been updated since 2018 and sits at 2.0 stars on the App Store. The web version still works, but the iPhone experience is broken on iOS 17 and later. Aubel is the modern alternative.

· · ·

01What Aubel keeps

The drills that worked.

If you used Toned Ear, the muscle memory carries over. Same interval, scale, and chord drills you already know how to do, refreshed for a modern phone.

Interval recognitionAll 13 intervals, both directions, melodic and harmonic.
Scale identificationMajor, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, and the seven church modes.
Chord qualityMajor, minor, diminished, augmented, plus 7th-chord variants.
Honest pricingFree to download, pay what you want. No subscription, ever.

· · ·

02What Aubel adds

Built around the habit.

Most ear-training apps get the drills right and the habit wrong. People open them once, do a round, and don't come back. Aubel ties the practice to two things you already do every day.

A wider recognition scope.Beyond the by-ear drills, train intonation and add on-the-page work: note reading and note, interval, scale, chord, and key identification.
Adaptive difficulty.The progression engine unlocks harder content as your accuracy improves, instead of dropping every interval on you at once.
4 built-in synth sounds, plus ~30 instrument voices.Sine, saw, square, and triangle waveforms ship free; piano, marimba, strings, brass, woodwinds, and saxophones are optional one-time purchases. Train on whatever you actually play.
Modern UI.Designed for 2026, not 2014. Dark mode, light mode, automatic theme.
An iOS bonus: a morning alarm and Screen Time gate.On iPhone, an optional alarm and Screen Time gate fold practice into your day. Neither is the point of the app.

· · ·

03Side by side

The honest face-off.

Toned Ear

iOS app · status: stale

Last updated 2018. Seven years without a release.

2.0 stars on the App Store. Reviewers report it's broken on iOS 17 and later.

●

Free. Still genuinely free with no ads.

No habit mechanic. You have to remember to open it.

Aubel

iOS app · status: shipping

●

Active development, 2026. Built for iOS 15+. Best on iOS 26.

●

Free to download, pay what you want. No subscription, ever.

●

By-ear and on-the-page. Intervals, scales, chords, and intonation by ear, plus note reading and identification.

●

4 built-in synth sounds. Plus ~30 instrument voices as optional one-time purchases.

●

An iOS bonus: alarm and Screen Time gate. The practice happens whether you remember or not.

· · ·

Still shopping around?

If you're weighing other options, the comparison page lays Aubel out next to EarMaster, Tenuto, Functional Ear Trainer, and the rest. Each one is good at something, and we say so.

Read the full comparison
Aubel vs EarMaster, Tenuto, Functional Ear Trainer, Perfect Ear, Complete Ear Trainer.

→

· · ·

04Why it matters

Toned Ear got the drills right. The phone changed, and nobody updated the app.
Aubel is what that idea looks like in 2026.

Same drills · Wider scope · Free to download, pay what you want

Get Aubel on the App Store →

Free to download · Pay what you want · No subscription