#WeArePlayEurope
We have been spotlighted by Google Play on #WeArePlayEurope!
We are one of 3 companies selected to represent Belgium 🇧🇪
Complete Music Trainer released & Android/iOS apps improvements
Complete Music Trainer
We are very proud to announce that we have just released Complete Music Trainer, an application allowing to access Complete Ear Trainer, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer on a desktop computer!
Complete Music Trainer is available directly in a browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari are supported), or via packaged desktop apps (Windows and macOS), and it contains the entirety of our three acclaimed apps in a single convenient user interface.
The only thing currently missing in it is custom training (you can play your custom drills and custom programs created on Android/iOS, but not create or edit them in Complete Music Trainer yet), but it's already in the work and will be coming real soon.
Complete Music Trainer has a free trial period of 7 days, after which you can either subscribe (0.99€/month), or buy lifetime access (19.99€).
... but that's not all: we have also just released new versions of all our apps on Android and iOS with many improvements! See details below.
Android/iOS apps
In-app achievements
Achievements are now handled inside the apps. There is no need to sign in to Google Play Games or Apple Game Center anymore to unlock and display achievements.
Therefore, achievements are now always enabled, and a switch has been added in the apps' settings to optionally also publish your achievements to Google Play Games / Apple Game Center.
Cross-platform leaderboards
Leaderboards are now handled on our own servers instead of using Google Play Games / Apple Game Center, meaning that leaderboards are now cross-platform and are displaying - on a brand-new user interface! - scores from Android, iOS and Complete Music Trainer users.
Cross-platform cloud sync
We are now using our own servers to sync progression data in the cloud. Signing in to Google Play Games / Apple Game Center is not required anymore.
As a result, cloud sync is now cross-platform: your data will from now on be synced between Android, iOS and the web/desktop version of the apps.
Achievements and Complete Rhythm Trainer's saved free practices are also now synced in the cloud.
Cross-platform license
We are now using our own license server. Consequently - and this was a popular request! -, licenses are now cross-platform: if you buy the full version of the app on Android, the full version will also be available on iOS. And vice-versa.
New images
We were not totally happy with two of the images used in the apps (“custom training” and “achievements”), so we replaced them.
... and more:
- You can now set a profile picture that will be displayed on leaderboards
- You can now delete your account directly from within the apps
- Typography is now bolder in many places to improve readability
- Separators have been added to the app menu
- Custom programs: Leaderboards and Invite friends/students menu items have been added
- You can now reset options to default values in the custom drill options screen
- A lot of bug fixes, minor improvements and under-the-hood structural changes and improvements
What's next?
So, now, what's next? Well, we are definitely not stopping there!
In the next few weeks, we will implement custom training in Complete Music Trainer and finish tweaking and improving the iOS versions of the apps that are still needing a touch of polish in some places.
Once that is done, we have many ideas for the future. We don't know exactly what we will do and in which order, but we have started to think about improving the experience for schools and teachers, adding chord reading to Complete Music Reading Trainer, and adding a new mode in Complete Ear Trainer. If you have some ideas about these subjects, do not hesitate to email us at contact@binaryguilt.com, now is the time!
We are very excited about this new cross-platform architecture and about the ability to access the apps on any device. We hope that you will enjoy it too!
iOS: Polyrhythms and Free Practice modes are now available
Happy to announce that Polyrhythms and Free Practice modes are now available on iOS (in Complete Rhythm Trainer).
Let's practice those 7:11 polyrhythms!
The future of Complete Ear Trainer, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer
First, we would like to start by thanking everyone who uses our apps. We have a lot of incredibly nice feedback and if we usually don't answer them, we sure read them with great pleasure and they are very important to us and what keep us going.
We are currently very happy with the state of the apps on Android, and we have a build compatible with Android 12 ready to be published. On iOS, there is still a lot of things to port and small things to improve, but we are confident that the iOS port of the apps will be on par with their Android counterparts within a few months, with the same features and level of attention to details.
We are also investigating in possibly adding two major features:
• A new mode dedicated to chord progressions in Complete Ear Trainer
• A new drill type (or dedicated mode) in Complete Music Reading Trainer: chord reading
But, and this is the main point and object of this post, we are also thinking about changing some things on a more fundamental level. And as we are not really sure of what would be best both for users and for us, we would be really interested in having your feedback and help us decide what the future of our apps will be.
You might have heard about the recent news of Windows 11 being able to natively execute Android apps. That will definitely be a great feature of the OS. But this feature will use Amazon AppStore, and not Google Play. This means that you will not be able to use any of the apps you bought on Google Play on Windows 11: you will be able to download them, but as they won't be able to access the Google Play services, you will not be able to retrieve your license and sync your progression between Windows 11 and your mobile devices.
It's because the app is a "traditional" app: when you install it on Google Play or Apple AppStore, it uses the features of these stores to handle the licensing and the sync with the cloud. It's a model that really has its advantages: we don't have to build, maintain and operate our own servers. That's why we can offer a "one-time payment that unlocks everything forever" (and one that is quite reasonably priced).
But we don't like the idea that you cannot sync your progression and license between platforms.
Also, we have started to think about making a web and desktop version of the apps.
And that's why we started to look into alternatives.
The alternative to the traditional app/software model is to have what is called a software as a service: you can use the software as a service on any device (Android, iOS, web, desktop), and your license and data are always synced between your different platforms and devices.
This is great, but there is a major problem with this: we cannot rely on Google Play or Apple AppStore services anymore. We have to build, maintain and operate our own servers. And that has a cost.
In other terms: we cannot offer the same "one-time payment that unlocks everything forever" with this model: we will need to have a subscription of some sort to be sure that we can continue operating servers and cover server costs in the future.
There is no way around this. Some companies manage to do software as services that stays free, but they are either huge company with funding that do not care to loose some money, and/or they sell your data. With niche apps for musicians, no funding, and with selling data absolutely out of the question, this is impossible for us.
But we are not sure about what would be the best way to do this. Not doing it at all and keep the traditional approach? Making the subscription optional? Making the subscription mandatory for new users?
That's quite the puzzle for us, and that's why we made a survey that you can take if you have a few minutes to spare: your feedback will be very important in helping us make the right decision.
Last thing: we are thinking of also improving our teacher/school management. If you are concerned by this, please answer the questions at the end of the survey and do not hesitate to be in touch with us and submit feedback and ideas.
Please click on this link to start the survey: https://forms.gle/1jkf6dGULAn6EXUR9
Thank you very much for your time and your help,
The Binary Guilt Software team.
2,000,000 downloads
The three apps that we have created and developed (Complete Ear Trainer, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer) have been downloaded more than 2 million times on Google Play!
We are humbled by this, and hope that these apps have been useful to most of the people that downloaded them.
In addition to continue working on the iOS port (a few features are still missing on iOS), we have started to work on some very cool new features for the near-future, more information coming soon!
Cocoon, Translation and Localization Management System
The translation and localization management system we initially developed to crowdsource the translation of our apps Complete Ear Trainer, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer has just been released publicly as a fully-featured software under the name Cocoon.
You can see more details by going to https://cocoon-translation.com. If you have a game, app, software, website, or any project that would benefit from a crowdsourced translation (or if you want to ease the work of your translators), there is a demo and a free 30 days trial so please have a look!
Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer are now available on iOS!
We are thrilled to announce that Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer are now available for iOS!
You can download them here:
- https://apps.apple.com/app/complete-rhythm-trainer/id1550799056
- https://apps.apple.com/app/complete-music-reading-trainer/id1550798715
A few features are still missing compared to the Android version of these apps, but we have already started to work on them and they are coming in forthcoming updates very soon. Please find below the details of what is missing currently.
Complete Rhythm Trainer
- Free practice mode is not available yet.
- Polyrhythms mode is not available yet.
- Custom drill creation/edition is not yet implemented in the app, but custom programs are. That means that if you are a teacher and have created custom programs on Android for your students, your iOS students can definitely join and play your custom programs on the iOS version of the app. Only the drill creation/edition is not yet available.
- You cannot yet change tempo in drills.
- You cannot yet individually set the metronome/instrument volumes in the app settings.
Complete Music Reading Trainer
- Custom drill creation/edition is not yet implemented in the app, but custom programs are, same as for Complete Rhythm Trainer.
- You can already connect a Bluetooth MIDI controller, but the user interface is not yet implemented. Therefore, the app will automatically connect to any Bluetooth MIDI controller available if you choose Bluetooth in the app menu.
- Statistics are not yet available.
Apart from these, the apps should be identical to our Android versions. They should also be pretty stable, but do not hesitate to report any strange behavior you might encounter by emailing us at contact@binaryguilt.com.
Thank you for your patience, and please help up spread the word!
App updates
Almost a year since we have made a post about Complete Ear Trainer, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer. Time for an update!
First we have a developed a translation management system so anyone can help translating the apps in different languages. You can find it here: https://translate.binaryguilt.com. Thanks to this tool, but above all thanks to the wonderful Maksym Vlasov, Ezequiel Santos, Tomasz Sęczkowski, Christian Plonka and Miranda Roll-Lund:
- Complete Ear Trainer is now available in German, Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian
- Complete Music Reading Trainer is now available in Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian
- Complete Rhythm Trainer is now available in Polish, Portuguese and Ukrainian
Then, these last few months we added two sections to Complete Rhythm Trainer: Polyrhythms (play and practice any polyrhythm) and Free Practice (write and play any rhythm).
On the iOS side, we are hard at work on the iOS port and we finally released custom programs for the iOS version of Complete Ear Trainer. Custom programs are of course cross-platform and you can create custom programs for your students that can be joined and played from both Android and iOS devices. Remaining features are currently ported (additional sound banks, UI update, etc.) and as soon as it is done, Complete Rhythm Trainer and Complete Music Reading Trainer port will start. We hope to release everything this year.
That’s all for now!
Complete Rhythm Trainer
Excited to announce that our brand new app Complete Rhythm Trainer has been released on Android!
About the app:
The ultimate rhythm training app for musicians. Learn to read, recognize, tap and write rhythms from simplest to most advanced. Rhythm is one of the most important aspects of music and one that every musician should become proficient with. Designed like a video game and with strong pedagogical concepts in mind, this app will make you master rhythm while rendering the learning process enjoyable.
Features:
- 252 progressive drills arranged over 4 levels / 30 chapters
- Extensive content: from simple time signatures to compound and asymmetric time signatures, from half notes and quarter notes to thirty-second notes, triplets, swing eighths, double dotted notes, quintuplets, …
- 5 drill types: rhythm imitation drills, rhythm reading drills, rhythm dictations, two-voice reading drills and two-voice dictations
- Play a selection of 11 drills in arcade mode
- Most of the drills are randomly generated, enabling you to practice the studied rhythms as many times as needed
- 21 instrument sound banks with actual recorded sounds: conga, bongo, djembe, darabuka, woodblock, piano, pizzicato violin, …
- 4 sheet music display styles: modern, classic, handwritten and jazz
- … and much more!
Get it here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguilt.completerhythmtrainer
Complete Music Reading Trainer
It is a great pleasure to announce that our brand new app Complete Music Reading Trainer has been released on Android!
About the app:
The ultimate music reading training app. Designed like a video game and with strong pedagogical concepts in mind, Complete Music Reading Trainer is the fastest way to learn to read sheet music and improve your sight-reading skills. Whichever clef you want to learn and whatever your instrument is, the app will make you master any chosen clef or clef combination while rendering the learning process enjoyable.
Features:
- 270 progressive drills covering all seven clefs (treble, bass, alto, tenor, soprano, mezzo-soprano and baritone clefs) over 3 levels / 26 chapters
- Content is organized in such a way that you can choose which levels or chapters are relevant to your instrument and focus on these, whether you play the guitar and only need treble clef, piano and need treble and bass clef, cello and need a mix of bass and tenor clefs, etc.: all instruments are covered
- Practice key signatures up to 6 sharps/flats in progressive key signature drills
- Practice common clef combinations in mixed clef drills
- Play a selection of 19 drills in arcade mode
- 5 octaves of actual recorded grand piano sounds
- 6 additional sound banks are available, all with actual recorded sounds: vintage piano, Rhodes piano, electric guitar, harpsichord, concert harp and pizzicato strings
- 3 ways to input notes: note circle, virtual piano keyboard, or by connecting a MIDI controller to your device
- 4 sheet music display styles: modern, classic, handwritten and jazz
- … and much more!
Get it here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguilt.completemusicreadingtrainer
Complete Ear Trainer v2.0.0
Complete Ear Trainer v2.0.0 has just been released on Android.
It includes:
- New audio engine with improved sound quality
- Updated UI, including new images
- Wizard screens UI updated
- Buttons to play intervals, chords and scales in theory screens
- 4 new chord types in custom drills: m7b13, 7b13, m7b9b13 et 7b9b13
- It is now possible to increase the frequency of an interval or a chord in custom drills
Get it here:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.binaryguilt.completeeartrainer
New in Complete Ear Trainer: Custom Programs
After months of hard work, we are excited to release a whole new feature for Complete Ear Trainer: Custom Programs.
In addition to still be able to create quick single custom drills, you can now create full custom training programs with up to 20 chapters and 20 drills per chapter. Custom programs are really useful if you want to build a personalized training program and are offering many options: chapters/simple drill list, scoring, stars, number of required stars, etc.
But that’s not all, you can invite friends or students to join your custom programs. Each custom program can have its own private leaderboards and for example if you’re a teacher you can create custom programs for your students, add drills every week and see their scores on the leaderboards.
I’ll sure be using this myself when teaching!
200,000 downloads
You are more than 200,000 to have downloaded Complete Ear Trainer on Google Play, and more than 2,000 to have reviewed it for an average score of 4.6/5, thank you!
We are currently working on a new feature that will definitely be useful for teachers and students, stay tuned.
Complete Ear Trainer update
We just published version 1.5.0 of Complete Ear Trainer on Android. New features highlights:
- Easy mode added. A brand new mode specially designed for beginners featuring 51 drills over 12 chapters
- The results screen has been greatly improved with better contextual texts and a brand new secondary screen with detailed result, explanation and statistics
- 6 new sound banks added: vintage piano, Rhodes piano, harpsichord, concert harp, strings and pizzicato strings. There’s now a total of 8 sound banks available
- The guitar sound bank has been remade from scratch
- Sound banks are now handled in a new dedicated screen where you can preview, buy, download and delete them
- New option added: random sound bank. By selecting this, each question will use a different sound bank
- You can now set a number of questions for custom drills. As a result, custom drills with a finite number of questions are behaving like classic drills, with a results screen and a high score kept and displayed on the cards
- To work on specific inversions, it is now possible to chose which inversions to exclude in a custom drill
- The 12 harmonic and melodic minor modes are now available in custom drills
And more, full changelog here:Â Android Changelog
50,000 downloads
You are more than 50,000 to have downloaded Complete Ear Trainer on Google Play, and more than 1,000 to have reviewed it for an average score of 4.5/5. Thank you!