I'm not against monetization per se but I got a bit frustrated by this sudden move of this particular app. It is originally a mobile adaptation of a free desktop app whose author explicitly promises, and I quote, "No ads. No banners. No spyware. No viruses. Just honest software". I find it sad that this philosophy is about to disappear in the only mobile adaptation that exists.
Anyway, I channeled my frustration into building a minimalist, clean, fluff-free, open-source mobile version [1] of the original desktop app. I've been using it exclusively the last few days, it's still rough around the edges but it's usable and it works just as well.
It works like this:
- A I - IV - V - I cadence [2] is played to establish a key.
- A random note is played.
- The user has to identify the note by playing it back on the keyboard.
- A short melody is played to resolve the note to the tonic.
As this process repeats, the user starts to internalize the character of each note in a given tonal context. This helps develop relative pitch [3] and eventually they will have a much easier time to recognize any note as long as a tonal context is clearly established.
I've now opened a public beta on TestFlight [4] to collect feedback, fix bugs/crashes and polish the app before I release on the App Store. If you happen to be a musician (hobbyist, amateur, or professional), I'd appreciate if you could give it a try.
[1] https://github.com/ftchirou/Bemol
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadence