App Profile: Sight Reading Factory

Crquinlan

Rating: 3/5

Our chorus director recommended this app, so I’m sure it’s just what my son needs and that’s why I gave it three stars rather than 1. While this may be a great app, there’s no way to create an account in the app! For devices that have Safari disabled for the protection of our kids, setting up an account becomes rather inconvenient. It’s not a deal breaker, but most apps that need an account have a way to do that in app. It’s pretty odd that there’s not even a link to do that. I’ll be trying another app rather than trying to figure out where to go online to create an account.

Andy Kittleson

Rating: 4/5

Update: The developers of this app are INCREDIBLY responsive. In just 2 days of my original review (see below) the developers had released an update that mostly fixed the issue. It’s still not quite as automatic as it used to be which is why I’m giving it 4 stars, but it’s useable again! I LOVE this app and it’s ability to hone in on specific rhythmic and pitch skills. I use it with my students ALL the time. Original Review: First off I would like to say that the ideas behind this app are incredible and it should be a five star app(ORIGINAL RATING OF 2 STARS). I have been a user for years and have been very happy for years. This is unfortunately negated by the viewing issues that were created in the last major update. Previous version of the app automatically zoomed, and resized to make the music fit the best in the available viewing area. The current version relies instead on pinch to zoom, but the app controls are also included in the zoom field so on an iPad it’s very easy to zoom in to the point that you don’t have access to the controls (such as the next button). Please restore the previous viewing/zooming defaults so that it properly displays on whatever screen is being used. Pinch to zoom being essentially required to be used make the app unusable.

KumaDR

Rating: 5/5

This app is AWESOME! Just what I was looking for. Fully customizable for many instrument types, rhythms, intervals, etc. All custom settings can be saved for quick future use. Yes, you need to pay a yearly subscription fee from their website. But it’s totally worth the price! After setting up your melody parameters all it takes is a single tap to generate a whole new melody! You can do this over and over again. Just tap once and boom! A new melody. This is perfect for sight reading practice. And if you think about it, the yearly fee is a lot cheaper than constantly buying new music for practice.